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Q3A for Linux Hitting Stores Today
Matt writes "Saw over at Ars Technica that Loki Games has announced that Quake 3 Arena for Linux is hitting stores like EB and Fry's today! I will certainly have to run by EB after work to see if this is true. Man, screw the egg-nog action - I'm gonna need some fraggin' if I'm going to survive a day with the in-laws."
How come people were saying they got it in the mail two weeks ago if it just came out today? I'm confused.
p.s. first post! woohoo!
"Software is like sex- the best is for free"
-Linus Torvalds
Loki sent me Quake3Arena for Linux last week. I have been playing it ever since then, and it's WAY faster then the Windows version. But I still haven't gotten the box yet, just the CD and the CD-Key. It's a great thing that Quake3 for Linux will be sold in the stores!!
I mean, seriously, what is the percentage of the gaming community that runs Linux? It's going to be very interesting to see how many copies they sell for Linux vs. for Windows (and, I suppose, for the Mac). It will be a big indicator of things to come. If this sells well, expect to see more Linux games. If it doesn't... Well, we'll see.
who's idea was it to bring out, what sounds to be a soon-to-be-very successful game on christmas-eve-eve? did they have devolpement problems or was it just bad timing on behalf of the marketers? i dunno, you tell me
Rumor was a copy of SuSE Linux was going to be packed in with the game, but there are kernel requirements listed on the site. Did they opt not to include a distro? I thought that would have been a GREAT way to get more users . . .
Thought? Anyone with a box want to comment?
Bad things often happen to good people,
It is up to them to see that they remain good.
EB = Electronic Botique(sp?) and is a mail order catalog with some stores. Check it out at www.ebworld.com.
Frys is another software store.
Anonymous Hay goes in and I come out...
I'm happy to see that Linux software, in general, is definitely getting more shelf space in retail stores.
This afternoon I took a stroll into the local "Software Etc" franchise store in midtown Manhattan. They had an entire shelf space stuffed with Red Hat 6.1 Deluxe boxes (plus a handful of Mandrakes and SuSE boxes).
Last time I was there was about a month ago. They did have a handful if Red Hat boxes tucked away, but that's about it. Now, they have an entire shelf up front near the entrance, which is not too shabby. Keep in mind that this is midtown Manhattan, where retail estate is pretty expensive, and stores tend to be really tiny (this Software Etc store was about as large as a medium-sized living room). Shelf space is at a premium.
--
EB Online has it here. Interestingly enough, they put the Linux version under Buissness Software!
Anonymous Hay goes in and I come out...
But Man was I surprised!
Apparently, Electronics Boutique only shipped one copy per store!
Here in Albuquerque, NM there are only two EB locations and they were the only stores in town to get a copy. Each store recieved only ONE box! Oh well, at least I got mine. To all the other geeks in town, I'm sorry guys... I needed my fix, guess you'll have to order yours online.
Forgive the rant, but the Linux retail release coming out now is kind of pointless. If idsoftware really wanted to get an accurate measure of how well linux games will sell in the marketplace they should have released simultaneously across both the win32 and linux platforms.
Why, you ask? Simple. Pretty much every diehard Quake fan has already purchased the win32 release and downloaded the linux client and server binaries. Why wait for a later linux retail box when the client and server are available for free download on the web?
I know I would have bought the linux retail game if it was on the shelves when the windows version was released, but that wasn't the case. I expect to see disappointing q3a linux sales along with a questionable market value for future releases... Thumbs down idsoftware.
QUAKE servers would be a logical market for this version of the game. Since multiplayer combat is the game's greatest strength, organizing a gaming group around a fast Linux server would make a lot of sense.
As far as timing: I would make a modest bet that a lot of computer games are sold in the week following Xmas, as gaming geeks cash in their gift certificates. So this might be a useful test of the popularity of Linux-based games.
Honesty. Loyalty. Kindness. Laughter. Generosity. Magic!
I was one of those who couldn't wait -- sorry to all diehard Linux fans -- and bought the Win32 version. Getting the demo to run in Win95 was a 5 month feat (mostly because it didn't work when I first tried it, and 5 months later I finally tried again..), in the meanwhile I fragged in Linux, and fragged often.
/.'s user's comments (and maybe some comments from those at Loki / Activision / id).
Now that the full version is out, I have a bigtime question. Is distributing the binaries for either platform considered Warez, even if no crack, CD Key, or PAK file is included? I can only assume that pak0.pk3 is Unchanged from the Wintel / Macintosh / Linux versions, so if I have that and my own valid CD key, am I legally entitled to download the binaries for another platform (in this case, Linux); or would it be considered illegal?
This is fuzzy ground, and I'd really like to hear some
(Please note that for now, I have no plans for pirating Q3 on any platform)
Seriously, I think it would have been in Id's best interest to release all versions of this as far before Christmas as they could. (at least, as far before Christmas, but this month) I don't know what the reasons for the delay were, but I doubt that it was intentional.
I love how the natural superiority of Linux in every possible way is unquestioned here on /.. I mean, if something goes wrong with any sort of Linux-related event or phenomenon, the first conclusion people jump to is some sort of Gatesian conspiracy. I know Linux is a religion, a new Christianity being persecuted in the Roman Empire of Windows, but please, don't go looking in every corner for the latest sign of collaboration against it.
They had 3 in stock when I got mine. In the front of the store too where the latest greatest games go. Too bad I can't get it to run.
.q3a direcotry and it won't wirte a new file. Writes a new .q3a, but leaves it empty. And the it won't run from the CD even though I mounted the CD with th e-o exec option(says it can't find a binary)
It won't write a default config file for me. Have mine from the demo and it won't read it. Even deleted my
Hope someone here can tell me why, doesn't seem to be an answer on any of the forums(loki, linuxgames.com, etc.)
Wish my first experience with a retail linux game was better. But I'm sure it will work eventually.
linux-mags linux howto can be found here
I downloaded the demo and can't get it to run on my box. I have a voodoo2 and installed the drivers off linux.3dfx.com, but q3arena says glide.so not found or something like that. The test3dfx program works fine. Any advice? -doog
Now to undo the evil you have done. You will have to buy one copy of Q3Linux to neutralize your previous buying decision, and another copy of Q3Linux to cast your vote for the new millinium
-Scott scott@surrealistic.org
As if John is going to have any trouble selling these things. People will buy them. Myriads of people will buy them. People will buy anything that he has so much as sneezed on, which is not to say that he doesn't produce amazingly rendered 3d snot. Selling it a couple days before Xmas won't hurt his sales any, as it means a few more people are going to have to make a last-minute trip, which is common around Xmas, and that doesn't even account for the people who already got it via mailorder.
Remember, we're talking about people who respond to Carmack's posts like this, thereby appropriately earning responses like this. And that's just when he posts to slashdot, much less comes out with an actual product that they can pay money for. Products like his just don't need marketing anymore, with such an enormous fanbase.
"If one is really a superior person, the fact is likely to leak out without too much assistance" -- John Andrew Holmes
When they said "simultaneously", I believe they meant as soon as they reasonably could, as opposed to 6 months later. Compared to porting efforts of other games, this is virtually instantaneous. Releasing all 3 versions at exactly the same time would mean they'd all be late; the other 2 wouldn't get done any quicker. Best to get the versions they already have done out as soon as possible, rather than let it sit in some warehouse until the other versions are done.
It's a retail store chain that sells games and some other computer stuff. They are in most malls that I have been to, that is in the US. If you don't know any local stores that is selling Q3A for linux then go online and get it.
Go to Loki Games and order it if you want the tin box http://www.lokigames.com/products/quake3/ Hope this helps you out.
Will this likely ever show up at Best Buy? I'll be very dissapointed if it doesn't. For Christmas I'm getting a $500 gift certificate for there and I was looking forward to getting Q3/Linux.
If retailers like Best Buy don't carry Q3/Linux, then I think id is going to be a tad dissapointed with the number of Linux purchases.... there's just too many factors going against it. Thank god for Loki to offer it online early.
I was rather dissapointed to discover that when I picked up my tin box edition at EB today, it didn't come with SuSE 6.3 included inside, as this article on slashdot originally mentioned.
I guess it isn't all that big of a deal for me (am downloading it right now though the cable modem) but it would have been a much better deal if the CD's for SuSE 6.3 were included. Afterall, the Windows version only cost $39.99, while my Linux edition was another $10 on top of that.
I mean come on now, re-distribution of Linux is free, even if they weren't going to include SuSE (which is admittedly quite a few CD's) they could have released the Redhat 6.1 iso or something like that.
At least that way, any kid whose parents messed up and bought them the wrong version for Xmas would at least have a chance of playing their new game on Christmas morning, and learning something new along the way...
--Steve Castellotti
"You are aware that this is the Linux ver--"
"--of course! I wouldn't buy it if it wasn't!"
(c:
Your Brain + EEG + LEGO Robots = Brainstorms
The story behind this is that they did go gold about the same time. Carmack said, "the retail stores were willing to take extra steps to get the windows version out faster". I think this means that retail stores /distributors must have thrown in some money to get the windows version out extra fast.
$ quake3
Q3 1.11 linux-i386 Nov 24 1999
----- FS_Startup -----
Current search path:
/home/homerj/.q3a/baseq3
./baseq3
----------------------
Running in restricted demo mode.
----- FS_Startup -----
Current search path:
/home/homerj/.q3a/demoq3
./demoq3
----------------------
----- CL_Shutdown -----
-----------------------
----- CL_Shutdown -----
-----------------------
Error: Couldn't load default.cfg
that's what I get, I dunno why it won't write one. I don't know why it wants to try and run in demomode either, the binary it's running is the one that installed from the CD.
Any ideas?
Fed up as we are of not being able to get movies a a decent time (I.e. on release) at the same time as you lot in the USA, us Euros are behind you again. I went around Woolworths today, while waiting for the coach to this years Ladbrokes Social Club Christmas Dinner & Dance (which if you're remotely interested will be at http://www.notout.demon.co.uk/cdad99/ and found the usual complete lack of games that said anything other than 'Requirements: 100% compatible Windows 95/98/NT system'. Not knowing exactly what a 100% compatible windows 95/98/NT system is (given that Windows 95 is not 100% compatible with Windows 95 (or atleast seems that way)), I didn't buy anything.
So, if you are seeing items in store for linux, you're far ahead of us euro-types.
Anyhow, I need sleep. I'm overdue for about a week's worth... One day the revolution will come. Keep working on it guys, we all know it's the right thing to work towards. It's 01:50 now, so I'm going to start catching up on ZZzzzzzz. Goodnight.
I know how cool it is to most of you athiests to look at giant petegrams, and 666 markings
Let me break the news to you, atheists dont worship the devil, certain satanists do.
_joshua_
I haven't bought Q3A yet, but plan to. I'd like to support the Linux game numbers, but right now the only machine I have capable of playing Q3A is my Windows box.
I plan to upgrade my Linux machine in the next month, and at that point would play the Linux version.
If I buy the Linux version now, will I find the Win32 EXEs on it? Or will I have to wait until 1) id releases the patch; 2) I upgrade my Linux?
I'm getting anxious...
Umm.. all of the quakes have had inverted crosses, pentagrams and other symbols normally associated with satanism. You are either talking about Doom or have never played any of the quakes in single player mode. But, if you read any of the articles about id softeare, you would know that id is not full of satanists and they consider they objects placed in levels to be more for atmosphere than for any religous values they might have.
Uh, its called a sig, it doesnt mean anything... It's just me acting stupid
-D0n'+ h$+3 M3 b3C0u5e 1'M 4 1337 Hax0R!-
Yeah, ive only played the demos of quake on and quake two, and i havnt really seen any pentagrams and such, but whether or not its just for adding to the atmosphere I still don't like looknig a t them. I mean, dont get me wronge, i love quake. I just dont really like the pentagrams. I didnt mean to come across as flamebait.
-D0n'+ h$+3 M3 b3C0u5e 1'M 4 1337 Hax0R!-
They even carry some food items and soda. That way, if you're really hard core, you can just do all your shopping there. :-)
They tend to have a much better selection of parts (CPUs, cases, tape drives, etc.) than CompUSA or other non-geek-oriented stores. If you want to see a real geek parade, get into the checkout line after about 8:30 PM on a weeknight. I think some Fry's in California are even open 24 hours.
I'm sorry, I didnt mean atheists. I meant to put santenists. I wasnt thinking when i typed this one in.
-D0n'+ h$+3 M3 b3C0u5e 1'M 4 1337 Hax0R!-
just for the record, pentagrams are celtic, not satanic.
The problem ending up being that the install didn't set the symlink from /usr/local/games/quake3/baseq3 to /mnt/cdrom/baseq3
I set that and it runs great. I guess that was the problem from the install script. Hope this helped out other people that bought q3a.
BTW: I was happy to see that someone from Loki replied. Upped my respect for Loki up a few points. Thanks.
For those in the Wellington, NZ region, Quay Computers is taking names of those interested in the Linux Q3A in preparation for when it hits the country. I've put my name down in antisipation (pant, pant, seen the tin box (Win* of course), pant pant).
Bill - aka taniwha
--
Leave others their otherness. -- Aratak
At my local EB they only had one copy, and it was the special "elite" limited edition tin box version. It was also more expensive than the win9x ver.
I'd buy the Linux version, if it wasn't (mostly) for 3dfx cards... I have a TNT2-Ultra, and I've tried pretty darn hard to get Q3Demo to run on it, to no avail... (I did get it to run on my Diamond Monster 3D - Voodoo Graphics 4MB... it was pretty bad) Anyone have any luck getting it to work on a TNT2? Does it get "decent" performance? Hopefully Xfree86 4 will make 3D games more viable on various unices.
What I was afraid of came true. All the retail stores carry win32 version of Q3 but *none* of them carry the Linux version. I already checked out Future Shop, Compu Centre, and a few others (even Radio Shack). No Linux. The only way you can get it is if you order online, which is *much* more expensive.
___
If you think big enough, you'll never have to do it.
11/17/99
.plans for a couple years now. For those of you who haven't I would recommend them.
Linux version tomorrow night, if nothing horrible happens.
Some advance warning about something that is sure to stir
up some argument:
We should be handing off the masters for all three platforms
within a day or two of each other, but they aren't going to
show up in stores at the same time. Publishers, distributers,
and stores are willing to go out of their way to expedite the
arrival of the pc version, but they just won't go to the
same amount of trouble for mac and linux boxes.
THE EXECUTABLES FOR ALL PLATFORMS WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE FOR
DOWNLOAD UNTIL AFTER CHRISTMAS. This means that if you want
to play on the mac or linux, don't pick up a copy of the pc
version and expect to download the other executables.
Our first update to the game will be for all platforms, and
will allow any version to be converted into any other, but
we intend to hold that off for a little while.
We are doing this at the request of the distributors. The
fear is that everyone will just grab a windows version,
and the separate boxes will be ignored.
A lot of companies are going to be watching the sales
figures for the mac and linux versions of Q3 to see if
the platforms are actually worth supporting. If everyone
bought a windows version and the other boxes sold like crap
in comparison, that would be plenty of evidence for most
executives to can any cross platform development.
I know there are a lot of people that play in both windows
and linux, and this may be a bit of an inconvenience in
the short term, but this is an ideal time to cast a vote
as a consumer.
Its all the same to Id (I like hybrid CD's), and our continued
support of linux and mac (OS X for the next title) is basically
a foregone conclusion, but the results will probably influence
other companies.
11/18/99
--------
Linux version isn't going to make it tonight. We got
too busy with other things. Sorry. Tomorrow.
* shrink zone, grow hunk
* flush memory on an error
* fixed crash pasting from clipboard
* test all compiler optimizations -- 5% speedup
* fixed major slowdown in team games with large
numbers of players and location markers
I didn't see him specify when the linux version was actually sent to the presses. I apologize for the quoting all of this, but I felt like it was necessary for everyone to read what the man actually said instead of all the hearsay and speculation. I've been reading Carmack's
www.bluesnews.com
Does anyone know if there will be versions for non-x86 systems? Specifically Alpha?
Thanks!
LONG LIVE ALPHA!!!
Now, I will admit that this sort of makes sense, as those are the only `creative' entities in their belief system, but still, just because it's not of God, doesn't mean it's of Satan.
Bill - aka taniwha
--
Leave others their otherness. -- Aratak
Play along with me here:
Doom: Pushed adoption of 486's.
Quake: Pushed the first crop of Pentiums. I'm not saying it was the main reason anyone bought Pentiums or anything like that, but how many of you first saw Quake and whined to your parents until they bought you a Pentium?
Quake 2: Hardware 3D acceleration. At first I thought, that's insane! Who would buy a $250 Voodoo2 card to play a game? Nowadays you can't find a video card that doesn't have some sort of 3D acceleration.
Now we got Quake 3. Carmack's meeting with Steve Jobs back in '98 is why Mac's have OpenGL and Quake3 now. The almost-simultaneous release of Q3A for Win32, Linux and Mac has been a big boost of legitimacy for gaming on alternative platforms. I'd say Carmack isn't just the biggest influence on linux- and open-source gaming, I'd say he had a pretty big influence on the computer industry in general.
Am I talking out of my butt, or does it sound like it makes sense?
Sure I do! :-) Pentagrams and 666 are both signs of the beast. Things people of "my Religion" are suppose to be warry of. When I mention that I don't care for the pentagrams and 666 I am just being warry of it.
-D0n'+ h$+3 M3 b3C0u5e 1'M 4 1337 Hax0R!-
That is very true. I believe what he (and I) are talking about are pentacles (pentagrams, the star sits on 2 points, pantacles sit on one).
Pentacles are satanic.
my mom got me quake 3 for christmas, but she got the windows version... so would someone put the linux binary up on a free www site or ftp so i can play it or you can email it to me at no0ne@midsouth.rr.com;) i don't want to wait till the first patch is released so that i can use it in linux...
For anyone interested, this is my vague rememberance of the Doom or Quake FAQ:
Q: Are you guys satan worshippers?
A: No, just like we're not Nazis.
So there you have it, the reason there are satanic symbols is because you're fighting the bad guys.
Eh? Why the doubt? As a fellow Christian, I find it almost amusing that you love a game like Quake but quibble about the satanic markings on the walls. Stop wasting your time! There is nothing profitable about 3d killer games, even less so for a Christian! If you must play games on your computer, play something that will expand your intellect while you waste your time, like chess. Seriously. You only have one life you know.
Merry CHRISTmas!
I shouldn't have expected much, seeing as how they had both the 6.0 and 6.5 versions of "The Complete Linux" (Mandrake) on the shelf right next to each other.
So he's an elite hacker... NOT Cracker... means he codes, not breaking into computers... moron!
that is, the mac version is here.Hello? Santa? Can you hear me? :)
You can order Q3A for Linux (in the metal box, of course!) from Handeye.com for US$47.99. We're quite a bit more supportive of the Open Source movement than, say, Electronics Boutique. Jab jab.
Ooh, right, we wrote a review, too. Read all about Q3A here.
One little question - is the game really 500mb? yeesh! Back in my day... :)
I've bought the Linux version of Quake III from Loki using the preorder thing. I got my CD a few days back. I have no intention of running it under Linux though. I bought the Linux version for 2 reasons:
a) Support Cross-Platform Games
b) Cool Tin Box
Its amazingly easy to run it under Win32. All you need is a quake3.exe from one of your Windows buddies (844kb). Dump it in a directory with the BaseQ3 directory and then run quake3.exe. That simple.
And i'd like to congratulate id on a kickass game.
2. Uninstall q3demo using its uninstall script
3. Reinstall quake3
Q3A ist so damn lousy that it took me one hour just to figure out how to install it. Even worse, the paths on CD and in the install script are messed up somehow (it doesnt look for bin/x86/glibc-something), and I had to build a new CD in order to make tty install (setup.sh) work.
While the game itself might be one of the best things ever for the Linux community, its installation is bad, bad, bad (did I say bad) promotion.
probably the same physics that applies to hossman's gut.
Boojum
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
I'm a little confused now: what exactly are they shipping ?
If I understood correctly, Loki secured the rights to worldwide distribution of Q3A for Linux. On the Loki website, they only talk about a "tin box special edition" that is "for Linux users only".
But I remember from previous reports on Blue's News etc. that the tin box (also called "Elite Edition" I think) was going to be a limited edition for hardcore fans with the Linux binaries thrown in as a bonus.
So are there actually two different tin boxes ? Or is the tin box advertised on Loki's site the same "Elite Edition" and a regular Linux package will follow ? If the tin box contains both Linux and Windows binaries, those sales won't show up in the Linux statistics I guess.
Someone is wrong on the Internet!
Heh, cool.
:/
I just happened to visit Fry's Electronics last night and on my way to get some memory, I saw the Linux tins. It was $50 but I bought it anyway.
Fry's (in Tempe, AZ) has a whole rack at the end of an aisle filled with the Linux version. I didn't see any missing when I took one.
> Umm.. all of the quakes have had inverted crosses, pentagrams and other symbols normally associated with satanism.
Quake 2 didn't have them. And I was glad for it, because the motif was getting really worn out for this atheist (too bad it didn't sport terribly original appearance, it looked like doom with cyborgs instead of demons)
I've finally had it: until slashdot gets article moderation, I am not coming back.
I live in ABQ as well, and though I haven't looked yet (Too broke Christmas shopping to endulge in my own pleasures) most Loki games have shown up at CompUSA, and even Hastings. Well, the other Linux Quakes have been at Hastings. So they may have some as well. But, like I said, I haven't looked yet. I'll go check around today.
Personally, I think Unreal Tournament is the better game. It runs great on my Debian 2.2 box and is more smooth, and more FUN, than Quake 3. Of course, that's just my personal opinion. I've already sent off for the full version of Unreal Tournament and I can't wait to play it on my Linux box!
How does the Lucy model _run_ with those??? :)
:) She's got an iron boobsack -- metal
;)
Easy.
can, theoretically, withstand such stresses and
strains, and any ligaments naturally supporting
those (since she's cyborg) can be made of
super-strong, non-ductile alloys -- no excessive sag.
Mechanical Engineers, help me out here.
Lynnaea
The principle of aggrandizement is the fundamental law of every government. - Frederick the Great
Although ID is correct, they often take down their older products in order to hype their newer ones. Carmack, in PC Gamer in the Quake 2 feature issue, called Quake one's development 'a competition to see who could make the best deathmatch map'. Quake Two was described in Gamespot's recent article as having tons of mapfixes up to the final hour before it went gold.
:)
Everyone from the Quake Talk days knows of the quotes that describe Quake making Doom look like pong.
This strategy works for ID, because their games are great, and pole vaulting off of them gets the expectations even higher.
When Doom Two came out, for another example, it was cited as having maps better suited to deathmatch than Doom one.
I'll speculate that Quake 3's distribution of separate versions will be cited by ID when their next game comes close to shipping. Also, in order to hype their new product, they might describe Quake 3 as having to force detail out of the maps because the curves were a new technology and took a lot of triangles. Hardware will be newer, and it won't be such a big deal. Hence the cooler maps.
Furthermore, the bots will be improved upon, and mentioned in hype.
I'll bet you, internally at Id, this is a promoted strategy for hyping their games.
These markings mean only one thing: Q3A won't run in Jesux.
sup
hmmm...
P2/400/128MB/G400MAX
Q3A: 1024x768x32
The result? 50+fps on average. 128MB of DRAM probably helps.
This is under Win98 too...
life is a canvas/and the paint is hope and promise/the world is ours/no one can ever take it from us.