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Loki to Distribute Quake III Arena
Everyone in the known universe has been submitting the news that Loki Software will be publishing and distributing Quake III Arena for Linux. The game will be published Dec. 27. The box will be a limited-edition collector's tin box and will include SuSE Linux 6.3. Asking price is 50$.
...someone make a "gaming" distro for Linux. Please!!!!
(1st p0s7)
+&x
Personally, I might buy it just so I can play with the new improved BFG, but I'd rather see some good flightsims/stragety games come out for linux... thou I know none of that is gonna happen till after Xfree 4.0 and DRI. So hurry up, Xfree! :)
David
bash: ispell: command not found
This sig left intentionally blank.
Wow! I can buy a game and get the OS for it too! Brilliant.
A great marketing idea, sell the Linux version of the game with the OS, so that increases uptake of Linux ("Oh, I won't buy that version, 'cos I can't be bothered to get Linux") and it makes the box heavier, so you must be getting more, right?
Just buying the game would mean that you could update all those slightly old programs you have for little effort. And it is a great coup for SuSE, as everyone who buys Quake III will have a copy of their distribution, and wouldn't you try it out on a spare partition just because?
..have i been waiting so bad for a game. Its crazy. BTW, any gamers from Monterrey, MX ? Greetz!"
This paid my last vacation, it mi
It's mostly because it's a FPS, but I do like the Dark Forces games. Then again, maybe that's just the Star Wars aspect.
Powers&8^]
Powers&8^]
Why isn't it just going to be bundled into the Win32 box? I thought that was id's original idea -- to have both the Win & Linux executables on one CD. Has Activision pulled a GT, i.e. they're not willing just to include an /unsupported folder on the CD?
Well, until I find a box (tin or not) that has both the Win32 & Linux executables's bundled, I'm not gonna buy.
Wow only 50$ american, that means that in canada it will be well over 100$. Ill be first in line.
Not.
Lars -
https://www.lokigames.com/
Here's to hoping Loki makes some serious cash on this. They've done a damn fine job.
Question about the Suse bundle tho: can you order q3 without Suse? (I can't seem to find any info on loki's site...)
This sig is false.
Is it just me or is this the single worst day of the year to release a product?
God Fucking Damnit
This is interesting to finally find out when quake3 linux will come out. Too bad I cannot even play the demo. All my opengl games run super slow, like 3 frames a minute (quake3 demo, wolfgl) with my voodoo 2 8 MB and MesaGL. does anyone know what my problem is or how to fix it???
Buying a Dell computer is equivalent to dropping the soap in a prison shower.
Dec 27th..... I can't wait that long! I want to support Linux games, but I want to play them now. Is anyone else considering purchasing the Windows version and then the Linux version? Or would that still not help the Linux cause because it will inflat the windows amount being bought?
BTW Unreal Tournament rocks some serious nads... It will give Quake3Arena a run for it's money.
-Tom
Civ:CTP, Heroes III, Q3A... Ahh, heaven.
Now if only I could get Ultima IX, Final Fantasy VIII, anything else with cool roman numerals, or Gauntlet: Legends, along with a kickass box to play them on...
Incidentally, if they keep this up, maybe this will become standard. Loki seems to port games very quickly, and if the games used SDL in the first place, it'd be even quicker...
(of course Quake is the exception, id has always written games with cross-platform support in mind. Amazing, really.)
---
pb Reply or e-mail rather than vaguely moderate.
pb Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate.
The game will be in *stores* on the 27th, but we're shipping CDs as soon as we possibly can, by 2nd day Fed-Ex. You'll get your box later. See
http://quake3.lokigames.com/ship.html
m.
Programmer, Loki Entertainment
"Sebastian you're in a mess. They called you King of all the Hipsters, is it true or are you still the Queen?" -- B
Can we expect to see better distribution to brick and mortar stores
for Quake 3 Arena than we have for previous Loki games?
I've picked up CTP, MythII and RT2 directly from Loki at tradeshows
because they simply can't be found on the shelves. I'm very happy
with the work Loki is doing to make games available on Linux, but
distribution has always seemed the weak link. In my area I'd
expect to see the games at Electronic Boutique and Best Buy at a minimum,
but hopefully also at WalMart, Target, Sams Club, etc. This is a
college town with a very active LUG.. it is a shame that Linux
titles aren't available in the stores.
I was hoping that with the release of Q3A for Linux that we'd see
wide distribution, but with the announcement that Loki is going to
distribute it I'm less than encouraged. Hopefully, Loki is planning
something special for Q3A distribution..
Check back through old slashdot articles. Not including it in the box was a plan to give specific numbers to Linux purchases, to try to convince other retailers and distributors to carry other Linux games. This was reported in great detail a couple weeks ago.
In hopes that Torvalds would soon be there
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Let's not, and say we did.
Can we please have the option of blocking out users? This guy is absolutely not funny, ever.
does this give us the right to flame you?
jesus christ man, lay of the jesus christ man what's he ever done to you what's he ever done to you?
He is quite right, the quake 3 iso is appearing on w4rez d00dz sites today. Its too bad too because this game is really worth supporting due to its cross platform support angle, unlike the DrunkX games for MicroSoft. Exerpt(s?) from the w4rez nfo:
Ú Ù Quake 3 Arena (c) ID Software ÚÙ Ä ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙÙ .040 Ä
ÚÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
: Supplied by: xxxxxxxx
: : Release Date: December 2 1999 :
Cracked by: xxxxxxxx
Game Type: FPS
Packaged by: xxxxxxxx
Image Format: BIN/CUE
ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ-----ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
CDS: 1 Protection: Serial Check
CD1 archives: 40 x 15 MB
CD1: FLT-Q3.001 ->
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ
System Requirements: Windows 95/98 Pentium 266 MHz, 32 MB RAM
ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
but check this lovely part out:
Please note, when you are asked to enter a cd Key, enter anything or just Hit escape. While this game is INET play based, we have cracked this release so directplay (IP to IP) or Lan play works. If you want to play Online fully (on all servers) _you will need a valid key_ (like Half-life).
good thing the w4rez d00dz wont be online with this masterpeice.
Jesus Christ, man!
I'm not bad! Flame me only if you are pure.
I have to agree with you on that. Signal 11 is a fucking retard. When he tries to be serious on issues he comes off as a fucking ignoramus too.
Signal 11 <======== Poster Boy for Keeping Abortion alive
Yeah yeah. Frankly, id's model is Good Enough for me (at least for games).
JESUS CHRIST MAN WE JUST ALL NEED TO RELAX!
JESUS CHRIST MAN JESUS CHRIST MAN LEAVE JESUS CHRIST AND/ OR MAN ALONE MAN
How about if we just integrate Quake III and all the other games into the Linux kernel.
Aside from having to install a new OS/Kernel for every game, it should not be a problem.
That would be something to see. In the kernel configuration program you have choices on File Systems, hardware, and games. Recompile the kernel to include Quake and Pacman.
Well, those are my two cents (more than enough to get Linux)
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Jesus Christ, man! You forgot to say I'm not bad. But thanks for trying to get these guys to lay off me. You're not bad!
OH give me a freakin' break.
Why is it that there is now a peanut gallery that just HAS to cry foul every time something is released non-GPL? Chripes.
Stuff your principles. Not everything needs to be open sourced and free.
A few days ago on the Register it mentioned that MS are dropping OGL support in W2K, and also mentioned that Quake is overrated (sic).
Of course, you'd also have to be able to run it from your booted system, but it would be a very cool thing (and powerful message?) if the most popular game of 2000 was just boot-and-run, and was powered by Linux.
--
Never hit your grandmother with a shovel, for it leaves a bad impression on her mind...
Just FYI: http://www.quake3arena.com/news/index.html
Now if only they'd announce when the Mac version is coming...
you guys don't fuck ryhme
but I'm postponing Christmas 2 days :))
Chuck
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
Oh for christ's sake, this is offtopic?! It's about *Quake*! I'm trying to have alittle fun here, and it gets -1'd? Jeez....
JeZuZ K-RiST MaN OWNz j00!!!
Shit, that is just a minor set back, I will either get pure or a new plan, and then Jesus Christ Man shalt be my deamcast! :)
Jesus Christ, man! Jesus Christ Man cannot be stopped! He's unstoppable! He's not bad! Lay off him! No moderator can stop Jesus Christ Man from his reign of TERROR!!!!
Jesus Christ, man! Lay off the moderators!
What'd they ever do to you? They're not bad!
If they do well through this, than many other games will be available.
But if they do poorly, than it will be put back a couple of years.
I myself want games for Linux, I am tired of just playing with linux/fs/coda/upcall.c
Loki Loki ra ra ra!
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Am I the only one who thinks this is bizarre?
I don't really see the rationale... Could they really think that somebody who doesn't have Linux will buy the Linux version of a game and install the O.S. to play it?
I don't know about other retailers, but at Fry's the Linux games are in the operating systems section, right next to the Linux distributions. There's no way you'd find them unless you specifically went looking for the Linux version.
Also, I hope they're not expressing a bias toward a particular Linux distribution... That seems like a really bad idea to me. (If I call tech support with problems and they tell me I really should be using SuSE, I'll have some strong words for them)
/* The beatings will continue until morale improves. */
who said any thing about the moderators, Jesus Christ Man lay off the moderators and Jesus Christ Man, what'd they ever do to you? They're not bad! And for the last time, Jesus Christ, man Lay off me, what'd I ever do to you? I am not bad!
JESUS H Q FLAMIN BLOODY CHRIST MAN, WHAT'S THE COBBER EVER DONE TO YOU MATE? THE CUNT'S NOT TOO BAD! TRUE BLUE YEAH?
The official Q3 demo for Windows is out, with Linux and Mac versions following shortly. Start your downloading!
Interested in open source engine management for your Subaru?
Jesus Christ, man wtf are you trying to say
Jesus Christ, man! Lay off me!
I'm not bad!
I have seen mention that id will release the Linux drivers for the game so that you can play on a linux box using your windows cd.
My question... Are they going to release the windows exe files as well so that I can play on windows using my linux cd?
Anyone seen anything about this?
Lando
/* TODO: Spawn child process, interest child in technology, have child write a new sig */
I have looked at the Quake 3 Arena test for Linux, and noticed an option for joystick support...but it didn't actually work. I realize that a lot of Linux gamers prefer a mouse and a keyboard anyway, but I and several of the people I play Quake/Tribes/UT with would really prefer to use our Panther XLs. The group of people that did joystick support for Linux did an excellent job. The kernel supports just about every kind of oddball joystick that plugs into a standard game port... ...so when are the games going to start taking advantage of this?? I try to buy a copy of every major game released for Linux, but this lack of joystick support is really starting to get to me. I hate having to reboot into Windows to play a game, and then reboot it again and again...argh!
I don't run Linux, personally. I have various distributions (Debian, older Red Hats, older Slackware, even a .86 of Stampede), including a recently arrived version of Slackware 7, but Linux isn't installed on my system.
So why did I order Quake III: Arena for Linux? To support the gaming market for alternative operating systems. That binaries for the other platforms exist will make the game moderately useful (assuming I want to plug in my Windows disk), but in the end I simply want to be counted as having acknowledged that a market exists for all alternative PC operating systems.
If I can't stand with my platform of choice - BeOS - then I will stand with the people who are most likely to understand, if not respect, that choice.
And I would rather have been recorded as having stood for the party I most believed, rather than not having participated at all.
try to say Jesus Christ Man, shutup
For those of us who can appreciate humor.
[Bringing it back to Quake, which was Sig11's original intention anyway]
The campers were dug in like Alabama ticks,
And the HPB's were up to their usual tricks.
The other gamers in 'doze-land , and I in my GNU,
I can't get any Quake3, what am I to do?
This sig is false.
Dreamcast, since PS2 won't be out until next fall.
This seems a good time to bring up something I've been wondering about. I know my old Matrox Millenium (w 2MB RAM!) couldn't handle Q3, so I plan on upgrading, but to what? TNT? Voodoo? Something else?
What are the status of X support for newer 3D cards? Any dedicated servers? What about OpenGL/Mesa drivers?
In short: What would be the ideal 3d card out there in regards to price/performance, X/Linux support, and gaming in general?
--
this game goes on sale next week at WALMART.COM
(it's old news)
The Windows version is in stores *NOW* While I'll still buy the Linux version it sucks to have to wait until Dec. 27.
Seriously, windows has optomized drivers for 3d hardware. If anyone can prove that linux runs quake faster with opengl then please supply the timedemo scores to back it up
I find it sad that over the past week a lot of people have taken to dumping anonymous coward crap over Slashdot. Anonymous Cowards are an important part of Slashdot, they allow people to post stuff without being traced back, this is great if used correctly, but when used incorrectly, as has been done this week by those we all know and love, has caused great strife.
There are solutions to this though:
Not wanting to agravate the discussion further though.
On Topic: I can't wait for Xfree version 4 to be released, so that games can be catered for even better!
Expect a key generator to handle this problem within the next week or 2.
For companies that don't want to track, or bother with, Linux sales, Loki seems to be invaluable. They can still sell the product to the Linux market, while not distracting themselves from their "core market." And get accurate numbers for the Linux sales. The other methods Carmack suggested using -- letting Linux users download the game binaries and the use a Windows CD, or including Linux binaries in the Windows box -- obscures the true value of the Linux market.
Yay, ID! Yay, Loki!
Napster-to-go says "Fill and refill your compatible MP3 player", which is a lie. It's not MP3. It's WMA with DRM.
From Here:
On another note, I thought it important to address a security issue with your
Quake 3 config files for the commercial release.
When you enter your CD Key, we store it in q3config.cfg in the cl_cdkey cvar.
Unencrypted. Please treat your retail config files as you would the alarm code
to your house, or the PIN number on your bank card. If you must send your configs
to someone, please make sure to edit out the "set cl_cdkey xxx..." line.
It was brought to my attention that there was a scam with Half-Life CD Keys a
while back where people were asked to e-mail their configs to HLSupport@hotmail.com
or something to that effect, and I'd hate to see an innocent customer unknowingly
succumb to a similar scam with Q3A.
Cheers,
-Xian
Yeah, that's nice and all, including SuSE 6.3. Just wish I'd known that 3 days ago when I ordered 6.3 by itself... such is the nature of my life.
Does anybody besides me feel icky to read "near simultaneous release" from Loki? In the world of gaming a difference of 20-30 days seems like an eternity.. all your friends running Windows have had (and mastered) a game by the time the "near simultaneous release" is available for Linux. I can't wait for the days of *real* simultaneous release... at least progress is being made and Loki deserves the credit for making it with Linux games. I'm just impatient dammit.
I agree that there has been too much repetition within the previous generation of first person shooters, however I believe this has as much to do with the players as the developers. A prime example is Tribes, a wonderful team based multiplayer game. What annoys me however, is the amount of servers playing the same original maps over and over. Yes, there have been almost as many new and creative maps created for Tribes as other FPS out there, but in general there are two many players who only want the maps they know only too well, and balk at trying new areas. For myself, playing on new maps is a wonderful experience. The exploration of a strange area, combined with the fact that others won't have as great an advantage in knowing the map completely, makes for some intense online experiences. I personally go through the list of Unreal servers looking for maps I've never played before. Finally, as for the gameplay itself, take a look at the new game types for Unreal Tournament. Whether you like the engine or not, games like Assault add new spice to the online mix.
What? that only gives me 3-4 days to practice up for the real apocalypse...
: )
- passion
Why did someone make me lose my karma?
It is the person who started this poem who may have swerved off-topic.
Don't hate me because I'm different
To do: Get better poetry
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A good game and good Linux distro for under the price of RedHat 6.x....
:) Just an observation.
Something to think about Redhat...
*note* I'm not bashing RH, they're my distro of choice
Finkployd
Yes, the kernel does support most joysticks, but make sure it's either
/lib/modules/misc... Load away!
- compiled in the kernel or;
- make sure you load the joystick modules
Check
Please go away. We don't want to have to reboot into windoze just to play a game. From recent reports of Q3a demo with the new Xfree 3.9 (built in OpenGL), there is no speed difference between windoze and Linux, so progress has been made. There goes the last reason to keep that old windoze partiton around!
As much as we all love warez, I STRONGLY suggest that you not warez quake 3, especially a version on an "alternative" OS like Linux or Mac OS. A lot of people are going to be watching the sales of q3a on those two platforms. If it sells well enough, it could mean many more games on Mac and linux. If everybody downloads the game from their friendly neighborhood warez site, you kill what everybody has been working so hard to achieve: more games for Mac OS and Linux. Companies know they can make money off a Win32 game, but mac os and linux are risky and "unprofitable" markets to them. The gamers of the world need to prove them wrong. The same thing goes for Unreal Tournament.
It seems to me that SuSE are getting involved in the Linux Gaming Scene heavily at the moment.
;-)
6.3 comes with a demo of Civ CTP and Railroad Tycoon II, given the well roundedness of their ditro, might they not stand to gain from this state, and us all my the positive influence that this will have on the Linux Games market as a whole.
Anyway getting a copy of YAST 2 alone would be nice
Larard.
blah blah blah. You stupid bozo!
... this post started at a two and has since gone full circle..
Moderation Totals:Offtopic=1, Insightful=1, Overrated=1, Underrated=1, Total=4.
lol, someone needs to moderate it as funny and flamebait and then the bases will all be loaded but the score will stay the same.
+&x
Slashdot doesn't seem to want to run this story, so I'm going to point it out here. Tribes2 (being developed by Dynamix) is going to be ported to Linux. If you go to the URL here you will see that they have plans to make a Linux and Mac port and are looking for help on the sound systems for those platforms and such. I am a HUGe fan of Tribes and am EXTREMELY happy that Tribes2 is going to be on the Linux platform.
"Out, OUT! You demons of STUPIDITY!" - Dogbert
What would be cool would be to have a bootable CD that starts up Suse, auto probes for hardware, and runs Q3. I know that auto probes for hardware may be a bit tricky, but people can always install it themselves if they want to play it from harddrive/have wacky hardware configurations. I thought about this before. You put games on CD's in any case. You can boot from CD's. Linux is free. Hardware support for Linux is excellent. Why not just boot and play from CD.
There's a lot of Linux/Windows dual booters out there who aren't willing to wait three more weeks to get the right version of the game. The number of purchases of the Linux version thus won't reflect the number of people who would prefer a Linux game to a Windows game, but will more closely reflect the number of people who wouldn't have bought Quake 3 at all if it hadn't had a Linux version.
Which is what companies need to know to make their porting decisions, I guess... but it's still annoying to know that there's going to be some skewed, easily misinterpreted marketing data out there because of this.
I'm with you in principle :), but I also want to support Linux games, so I'll buy the Linux version. :).
If you want to remain principled just pirate it like everybody else...
I'm not advocating piracy. I'm just advocating standing by your principles
-Tom
Exactly what do they mean by SuSe 6.3? The evaluation CD or all 6 cds? I would think the evaluation CD ....
DOWN with the MAN...Whomever that is
Now that we're getting more OpenGL games than ever coming out for Linux, I think it might be a good time to address the problem of video card hardware support.
Many of us don't have 3D accelerators that work under Linux. While I'd like to have my hardware working under Linux, I realize that it's probably not going to happen any time this millenium.
So instead, I have a suggestion. Mesa currently has only one mode for software rendering--high quality. Is there any way that a low-quality software rendering mode could be introduced into Mesa? How difficult would it be to add this to the libraries, maybe have it switched on/off by an environment variable? How much of a slow-down would it introduce into the libraries, by having forked logic like this?
Because honestly, if I were to buy a copy of Quake III right now, I'd have to buy the Windows version because I haven't the "right" hardware 3D-accelerator. A sped-up, but much less visually correct, version of Mesa might make it easier for someone like me to bite the bullet and buy the Linux version, so that when I upgrade/if I upgrade to a 3D accelerated card, I'll have it under the OS I prefer.
(I realize this is pretty selfish, but it's also one of the reasons why you're not going to see many Windows users switching over to Linux any time soon. If I can't install Linux on someone else's 600Mhz Athalon, and be able to show them a kick-ass 3D game with a frame rate higher than 1.5/s...)
James
Is there a Key generator for the game yet?
and you dont know how to spell which is worse, ASS ???
I hope Jon Carmack reads this.
1. Availability. Most if not all retail stores will carry only win32 version. I already checked Future Shop -- you can preorder win32 version of Q3 but there's no mention of Linux or Mac versions.
2. Price. It is *much* cheaper to buy the game in a store then to order it online. Future Shop sells it for $70 Cnd. Loki sells it for $50 US (approx $76 Cnd) + shipping and handling. If you include the s&h plus the tax they always charge on the border, the total comes to well over $90.
Considering that with a cable modem you can download the Linux binaries in just a couple minutes, I'll most likely do just that. Unless the Linux version appears on the shelves.
___
If you think big enough, you'll never have to do it.
Hmm....12-2-99 doesn't look like a few weeks ago. Try again?
Let the numbers speak for themselves. I don't want to hear "it just seems faster in linux"
How does quake2 get 65fps when my monitor refresh rate is set to 60? Explain that.
About half of all dedicated quake servers on the internet (many thousands) run Linux. Just in the past two weeks I have helped several people set up Linux systems in order run dedicated Quake or Half-Life servers. In any case the SuSE disks are free so who cares if they aren't needed.
I browse with my threshold at 2 so I can't read my own comments :-)
Which site was this on? I was looking for it, but havent had any luck.
I have 3 friends (so far) that I have convinced to purchase the Linux copy of Q3A simply based on the fact that it also happens to have a copy of SuSE. These friends don't have Linux, and planned on purchasing Q3A anyway, and if they want they'll still be able to play it on a Win32 platform if they so choose (Carmack said the utility to convert from one version to another will be out shortly after X-Mas).
These are friends who have read alot about Linux, but never had a real reason/excuse to take the time and see what it is all about. This is the perfect thing to get them to give Linux a closer look.
I've preordered my copy and am awaiting its arrival. I'm happy to support Linux, id, and Loki.
I hardly play games these days (too much else to do), only AoE 1&2, Starcraft, Quake 2&3, and Civ3.
It's nice that for the latter two, I don't have to reboot. Quake isn't quite as playable as on Windows, but it *is* playable. Hopefully the coming RIVA TNT2 drivers, and XFree86 4.0, will bring things more in line.
--
--
Marc A. Lepage
Software Developer
I havent been able to come across a single place which lists which cards are supported and which are not. And what kind of hacks are needed to support some of the cards?
Any pointers...anyone? This should be nice info even for home linux users.
CP
I havent been able to come across a single place which lists which cards are supported and which are not. And what kind of hacks are needed to support some of the cards?
Any pointers...anyone? This should be nice info even for home (read layman) linux users.
CP
Now that Quake 3: Arena is done and available for Windows already, there's an
important issue to think about as it affects all versions (Win, Mac, Linux) and
possibly the future of software in general: Central authentication servers. The
latest kind of copy-protection for software online. You can only play on the
Internet when your code (usually CD key) is authorized by a special server
that's maintained by the producers. Not a new way of fighting software piracy
but the very fact that now even id Software's Quake is relying on this means it
could become a standard in future times.
Another great game, Half-Life, already used it. When I found out about that, I
stopped playing online, and still regret that I bought it. I always buy the few
games I can play in my limited time, modifyable games like most of the 3D
shooters really offer so much that the cost is nothing compared to the fun, and
I recommend that to others as well. But the latest copy-protection crazyness is
so frustrating, warez-dudes simply download the cracked programs for free while
I pay for an original to show my support for the producer, but then I'm the one
who has to deal with the stupid protection stuff and can't even make a backup
of it or use it over the LAN on several machines simulatenously. Yet central
authentication is even worse than that for three reasons:
1. If the authentication server goes down, so does the game, nobody would be
authorized to play. Only cracked games could be played on cracked servers. We
who pay are left out, even if it's temporarily, it is a problem. Especially if
the central servers get flooded or cracked...
2. When a CD key is used to identify and authorize players, legit users will be
locked out if their codes are stolen or generated with a key generator utility.
If all software was protected with unique keys, breaking into a computer and
stealing them would immediately render all your paid software unusable. You
can't use it while the key is used by another user or when it's been blocked
because of abuse or for any other reason.
3. We're, once again, at the whim of the producer. It's very similar to DIVX.
You don't have to pay to play online, at least not yet, but it could be
implemented easily. Pay-per-Play, no thanks, either Pay-to-Own or nothing.
Besides, what about privacy, if your unique ID number is transmitted (with
hardware information, as harmless as it might seem, and who knows what else at
a later time or by another entity) each time you want to connect to a server.
I've been thinking about all of this since I got Half-Life. Now Quake 3: Arena
is coming out and I'm waiting for the Linux Elite Edition. But I'm no longer so
sure if I really want to buy it, of course I want to show my support for Linux,
but I'm not going to support authentication copy protection. Just say no? It's
hard if it's my favorite game! But if I make a mistake now, my next favorite
game will have the same problem, so it's time to choose. We all have to make
that decision. The point of this article is to raise awareness of the issue so
you can make your own choice consciously.
PS: I'm also interested in id Software's opinion on this issue (Johnc and Zoid
are registered Slashdot readers). The latest happenings are so different from
what they did before! Would John Carmack really prefer a world where all
software that's used online requires central authentication servers? In many
ways, id often sets a precedent, think about it...
-- Eavy (: Linux Is Not UniX
High Five!!! LET THE KARMA WHORE BURN!!
Mwahahahahaha
The FAQ on nvidia.com says
w are_drivers.html
". Due to the high demands Quake 3 puts on the client/server architecture of this implemetation, running Quake3 is not recommended. XFree86 4.0 will have a direct rendering architecture needed to use the 3D hardware effectively with Quake 3."
URL : http://www.nvidia.com/Products.nsf/htmlmedia/soft
Alright, here's what's funny about all you guys...a PC is not a gaming platform, a N64, Dreamcast, etc. is a gaming platform. The argument is funny. So, for example, I can buy a Dodge Ram V10 and drive it really, really fast, maybe over 134 MPH. The thought of that was really thrilling. Now, I can buy a Mitsubishi Eclipse GT or something and drive it really, really fast, maybe over 134MPH. Sure, they both go over 134MPH. But, the Dodge Ram is going to cost you approx. $20-30,000 extra dollars to customize it to the point where it would be safe to drive it at this high of a speed. The Mitsubishi comes that way standard, because it was made to drive fast, unlike the Dodge. This is the exact point of the argument. A PC can do games, but it was never designed, intended, or (without a shitload of extra crap) properly runs games. Now, the Dreamcast or whatever was made specifically to play games. That's it. The Dreamcast does not come with a word processor, because it was not supposed to. The hardware in a PC cannot possibly compete, at any level, which a custom 64-bit ASIC chip, like the ones found in console systems. The PC motherboard and video to RAM to CPU paths were never designed for gaming. They will never compete with a custom RISC machine designed for one specific purpose. If you want to play games, buy a console. End of argument.
Maybe I'm overseeing something, but I'm wondering about one thing. The previous Linux Doom and Quake were distributed over ftp by idsoftware themselves, and they looked for the Windows retail CD for their data files.
If I buy this Loki version, will I be able to use it as a key cd for the Windows version? Cause you just KNOW the Windows one will always be at least one revision ahead.
I don't really care which platform I play it on. I'd like to buy the Linux version to show my support, but if it means that I won't be able to play with all the Windows users just because I have to wait a week longer for the latest patch, then it's not much good. I'd like to be able to switch to Windows just as long as is necessary. Also, the graphic card drivers for Windows tend to be more highly optimised, another reason why I want flexibility. What about authentication, will I get a license number from Loki that'll get me equivalent rights on the authentication servers?
Florin
Quite honestly, that is what you want. The problem with a console though is you don't have the same amount of play with them. The 3D renderer cannot be changed, the CD-ROM speed can't be upgraded, and it's usually hard to put unusual hardware in them because they don't have the same connectors as PCs. Then there is what Carmack agrees is the most important ability of games to last, modifications. You'd either have to buy multiple CDs all with q3 and the modification (CTF, TF, etc.) and reboot just to switch, install them on a hard drive (defeating the purpose of a bootable CD), or just not play them. It would also get hard to play maps that did not come on the CD. Downloading the map and keeping it in memory would get to be a pain on slow connections.
-- "Well, Hello, Mr. Fancy-pants. I've got news for you pal, you ain't in control but two things right now, Jack and s
All good but where is the BeOS version? I heard there was going to be one. I could play on Windoze, ish, gag, retch. I don't have Linux loaded right now, but maybe with a version of SuSE. SG, O.S.D.
Why do they include Linux?
Why do they include SuSE Linux?
IMHO SuSE is just not the best distro...
"For x86 compatible" Hey, how about us PowerPC users then? Q3test runs great on an iMac. We'll have to wait a bit I guess till the folks over at ID recognize the x86 for the weenie processor architecture it is and start supporting some REAL hardware.
I ran it at 60hz to purposely show that you can get high fps with lower refresh rates.
Many of us don't have 3D accelerators that work under Linux. While I'd like to have my hardware working under Linux, I realize that it's probably not going to happen any time this millenium.
So instead, I have a suggestion. Mesa currently has only one mode for software rendering--high quality. Is there any way that a low-quality software rendering mode could be introduced into Mesa? How difficult would it be to add this to the libraries, maybe have it switched on/off by an environment variable? How much of a slow-down would it introduce into the libraries, by having forked logic like this?
What a terrif idea. Let's send the message that Linux can't cope unless you specially cripple your games as a workaround for shitty driver support.
That will bring the converts rolling in.
Okay, the Linux package of Quake 3 will have SuSE Linux 6.3. However, the Linux drivers for my 3D graphics card (the 3dfx Voodoo3 2000 -- OC'd to 166MHz in Windoze) from 3dfxgamers.com are in RPM format. Is the installation routine for these drivers going to be a pain (from all of them dependency messages) for non-RedHat Linux distributions? I don't want to miss even one thing that I have to install.
/dev/3dfx module idea, for as I feel more comfortable with a monolithic (module-less) kernel.
I know that I can get the RPM program from the Linux distro installation routine, but I'm not sure about what to download, what to update, and what to install yet. I don't feel right typing in the "nodeps" option in RPM if I'm not sure I have everything right. I have yet to know how to work with the
Will there be any extra instructions included for Linux newbies like myself to work with the software necessary for running Q3A in the first place?
Now *thats* a game I'd love to have under Linux, especially the level editor.
Don't label something "offtopic" unless you know the topic well enough to tell what's on topic.
I wonder how many Quake III games he'll get?
-----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- Version: 3.1 GCS/M/Sd?s-:a---->?c++UL+++P++++L++++ E+++W+++N+K-w---M-PSY+t+5?XtvbDI++
BUy a new latest card of the store, damn no drivers for linux.... why wait 6-9months for beta drivers, when by that time there is another generation of Video cards to get above the previous, by the time the drivers are ready for Card#1, its so slow and shitty that you could buy card#2 and run 4x faster!!! so you buy card#2 and reapeat the whole process again!
Linux support for3d cards is SHIT 100%
Why bother, if you are serious about 3d and games, just run two machines for god sakes, have one machine running linux with your geeky tools and have another pure 100% windos box with latest 3d hardware, celeron433 etc.... for games.
Why dont you guys include a free Quake1 and Quake2 in the same box.
Q1 will surely fly on a P500 with a Voodoo3500 or something.
I think FastGL does just that. Mabey you should read linuxgames.com more often. :-)
I have often heard that many companies do not port games to Linux siting that some of the ports that have been made have not done too well. Most of the problem is that these games had been around for a while when they were port to Linux and thus were old news having made their sales already. If a company truly wanted to see the full impact of a Linux game, that game would need to be released at the same time as the Windows release, otherwise people will just buy the windows version out of impatience. Pretty much, with the exception of Loki, most ports to Linux have been half assed IMHO. I just hope that this trend of getting the game out within a reasonable time in comparison to the other releases will be more common. I believe it is more robust then some realize.
So Linus, what are we going to do tonight?
The same thing we do every night Tux. Try to take over the world!
Now there's a sweet game without any of this key business. Heck, you don't even need the CD after installing it. :) Yet, somehow they sell billions * and have a big following. I think much of that was due to it's cheapness ($19.99), and being fun. Hmm, even those deer huntin' games are like $19.99 and are in the top 10 sold games all the time. I think there's a trend there somewhere. Anyway, hopefully Tribes 2 will follow in the tradition.
* Margin of error, +/- a few billion.
Here a link to some unofficial Stats reguarding Tribes2. Enjoy!
Tribes2 FAQs...Posted by Star Lord
"I have lost my way in life, because I have lost my mind. I would go and search for it, but I'm afraid of what I'd find
"just run two machines for god sakes, have one machine running linux with your geeky tools and have another pure 100% windos box with latest 3d hardware, celeron433 etc.... for games."
:-)
Most if us do.
we call it "Wintendo"
OpenGL's rendering model is going to make it "slow" except on the fastest machines- even if you lowered the quality. It's why they're not making it for LinuxPPC or AlphaLinux- yet.
Which chipset do you have?
ATI? In progress.
NVidia? Provided- though slow. DRI promises to be a winner there.
Matrox? Still a developer's release- but with persistance, a G200 or G400 is likely to be one of your better choices.
S3 Rumor has it there's work started on it.
SiS Data available, but work's waiting on someone to start it...
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas
NVidia chose to not release details of the chip and recieve the same benefits of Open Source work like Matrox (and soon ATI) now enjoy. The drivers, while still are a developer release, seem to be faster in at least the Quake3 context than the Windows ICD for the same card. This is through those inefficient layers DRI removes. In theory, the GLX team could do the same thing for NVidia- if they would release register level specs for the chip like Matrox and ATI already have...
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas
I havent played an FPS in a while (month or two), but after trying out q3demotest with my TNT under linux, the performance was fine. My definition of fine is 5+ fps, but q3demotest scores 3 times that:)
Try it. Download demotest overnight, and see how it is.
I know I will be moderated down for this, but . . . Vincent
I wasn't talking about new versions. I was mentioning the creative 3rd party changes to the gameplay that usually require maps, textures, models, and client code additions.
Playstation games tend to be more stable because they only have one platform to run on and they have only one shot since they can't issue updates.
Not all playstation games work perfectly. Bushido Blade had a problem with the broadsword hitting the corpse. The bugs are harder to uncover, but they are there.
-- "Well, Hello, Mr. Fancy-pants. I've got news for you pal, you ain't in control but two things right now, Jack and s
I'm not even a Linux user (but I have used it before, and am familiar with it), but I still bought Quake III Linux edition to support it. I can always download the Win32 binaries and use them with the Linux CD.
Besides, the limited-edition tin box is cool. And I'm sure by now the Win32 limited-edtion sets must be sold out. Get your copy of Quake III from http://quake3.lokigames.com/ now!
That's your problem - you're using Xfree-3.3.5. The latest q3a demo uses Xfree-3.9.16, with the built-in OpenGL. That version has gained a lot performance-wise over the earlier ones. What, did you think there is some inherent superiority in windoze, that Linux drivers would never catch up?
NT does use the El-Torito format and shows up as a hard-disk. Of course it shows up as a VERY SMALL hard disk because as soon as you kick into protected mode you can't see it (since it's basically hacking INT 13 to emulate an HD).
Basically what the NT CD does is instead of those 3 floppies you get a small virtual hard-disk on the CD and you tell it which drivers you need and it loads them then starts the kernel.
Right now at least with RH 6, RH is still emulating a floppy drive and just using their 1st boot disk as the image. It would probably be a better idea to emulate a hard-drive so that you wouldn't need other disks for weird SCSI adapters (you could just put the modules for ALL the SCSI adapters on the hard-disk image). That is (again) exactly what NT does.
I was thinking about a bootable game CD myself. I think it'd be a VERY cool idea, the only problems I would see is that you need somewhere to save games. I suppose floppies would work, or maybe allow you to mount a partition and save files in some directory would work too.
Hmm.. actually, the more I think about it, the more this becomes a good idea. Imagine: Software like the old days where you just put the disk in, and turned on the computer!
That'd be cool!
Dave.
...its nice that id is supporting Lin'ucks, and including a good distro is a great idea.
/. doesn't mean we are any kind of large group. Our group is very small, while computer gamers in general are just small. Id decided to be a stand out (and rack up free sales, I mean hard core gamers have to run a windows partition to get all the games, and we have to buy two copies of Q3!) and the rest of the industry is going to watch the unspectacular sales. I think we are going to get hurt. IMHO now isn't quite the right time to try and open the linux gaming market.
.plan files, so we will never hear shit about it!
:)
But, is it me, or has id 'sold out'?
-No multiplatform CD. They want to 'track' sales. Ok I love linux, linux loves me and you and Slashdot, but the linux version is not going to push a lot of sales because there simply are not that many linux gamers in the marketplace. Just because we post everyday on
-No download of other platforms until after the worlds biggest retail sales generator, xmas. This supports the above move.
-Putting the sale until after xmas...[sarcasm] GEE HMMMMM AND THAT WONT SKEW THE SALES RESULTS DOWN NOW WILL IT? [/sarcasm]
-Bullshit like the 'video card tracking'. I don't give a fuck if cl_motd 0 disables it, that also loses you a feature (simple update notification, which could be done without retrieving info from your computer...have all the friggin programmers in the world forgotten what passive means?!) and opens the door for the rest of the marketing weasels to put in in their games. Of course they don't have
Also q3 is DM only...cmon tell me how Q3 dm is going to be soooooooooo much better than q2 and q1 dm?! Bots suck too, no matter who programs them. Until real AI shows up, I will always insist on human-human play above all else. Sure the computer can always beat you if done right: it can respond within nanoseconds with an instant hit weapon. No amount of faking (intentionally slow bots) will cover this fact up.
Who is really going to buy q3 for the dm? One good week of dm, and you will be very sick of it: you will know who you can beat and who you can't, no special move or insight will change this much excpet for newbies learning how to strafe or whatever. The best will be the best and the rest the rest. All the good stuff comes from third parties and mods...wait wait wait.
Bottom line: Id wants bottom dollar, and will sell us out to do it. They sold out the the distributor weasels bigtime. Id could fucking ship the game out from Podunk TX themselves and still make a shitload of money, but the bigger dollar sign has been traded for the soul of the company. They have enough clout to be and/or create their own distribution (quake2 sales alone would assure them shelf space) but noooooo. Well it was inevitable though, a company is founded to make $$$ above all else, and this truth is self evident over time.
Yeah, I'm buying q3 of course. But if I had to choose between q3 and a well thought out game not as pretty...3 guesses as to what would happen, and the first 2 don't count. Thankfully my wallet allows me quite a few purchases this xmas season
[end rant]
Hello Sam. I've played Civilization: Call To Power for Linux, Railroad Tycoon II Gold Edition for Linux, Myth II: Soulblighter for Linux, Eric's Ultimate Solitaire for Linux. Great fun. I have a problem you just might have an expertise about. I installed NetBSD now. Lately I haven't been able to play Myth II. I get an error message because NetBSD's /proc does not have the same design as Linux's /proc. Are there any other way myth2 will read memory size or so?
G400, hands down.
High quality card, very fast, has a glx driver now, and is developed by an traditional open source project. They haven't even gotten to multitexturing yet and it's already faster than the windows driver in 1024x768. And this is the driver that John Carmack himself is working on.
Matrox has a reputation for quality cards and cooperation with open source types. Full specs == better drivers.
See glx.on.openprojects.net for more info.
marc@oranje$ cd /usr/compat/linux/proc/ ./ ../
marc@oranje$ ll
total 3
dr-xr-xr-x 2 root wheel - 512 Feb 6 1996
drwxr-xr-x 17 root wheel - 512 Dec 2 02:08
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel - 318 Aug 17 23:37
meminfo
marc@oranje$ cat meminfo
total: used: free: shared: buffers: cached:
Mem: 131194880 128024576 3170304 32817152 2682880 82337792
Swap: 131567616 6393856 125173760
MemTotal: 128120 kB
MemFree: 3096 kB
MemShared: 32048 kB
Buffers: 2620 kB
Cached: 80408 kB
SwapTotal: 128484 kB
SwapFree: 122240 kB
marc@oranje$
You should have posted with e-mail, so I would have sent you this hint.
Thanks marc. Havoc reported the bug for FreeBSD: http://fenris.lokigames.com/show_bug.cgi?id=418 nice fake :) Best regards, Mikkel
Rant -- Please bare with me.
"CD Key systems are a necessary evil."
They certainly are evil. Necessary? Hardly.
I "prohibitedly copied" Quake 2 like a freak. To this day I install off a Class release of Quake 2 and then upgrade to 3.20.
Know what?
3.14+ doesn't require a CD to play. Know what else?
I BOUGHT Quake 3 for Linux.
Why? Because I support Linux games.
Do I support CD-Keys? Not at all. I don't play half-life, starcraft, or any of them.
A game should sell itself on its on merits not because "if we put a CD-Key in it the pirates will just go buy it". And that's not being theortical, that's being practical. If Quake 3 had licensed / bought / whatever the CD-illa technology so a CD could not be copied it still would have been a pointless endevour. Need a crack? That's what the 'net is for. Need a server? Use Shareware Gamespy. ID gets screwed and whatever cost it was for CD-illa was just wasted.
If a game is good *most* people are going to buy it. If you artifically try to inflate sales with flashy graphics, lots of hype, but no substance, you won't make any money and for good cause! The world needs less crap anyway.
Now Quake 3 for instance.... Would have sold any damn way! It's got the Quake name on it and the gameplay to match.
Why did you add a CD-Key?
Because Activision, the all mighty publisher, wanted greater protection on their investment?
Well fuck them!
Because the few people that came on board to ID aren't rich yet?
Same to them!
Can please somebody learn a lesson from that damn game Deer Hunter? Price point. $20.
Make any game $20 and they sell like NUTS! Even crappy games like Deer Hunter! It's not like it's the crack addict with no money turning to stealing to get more crack. It's a game! Price it like one!
Lastly,
Do I support properity software? No.
Then why did I buy Doom, Heroes of Might and Magic, Quake 1, Quake 3, Fallout?
Because just like in the OS market (as if there was one...) the change will come. Open Source software (the GPL'd kind with little restrictions available to the maker) will provail.
If I have to buy the Linux Version of Quake 3 to get the word out on Linux so be it. But I, for one, don't intended to pay for closed source games in the very near future.