LINUXGAMES

The latest development release of Wine, the Windows emulator for Unix has been released. This release has the following new features:

• Substantial chunks of WinHTTP are implemented.
• More JavaScript support.
• Beginnings of shell AppBar implementation.
• Several fixes for Google Chrome support.
• Chinese translations.
• Various bug fixes.

Download: [ Wine 1.1.4]

Speaking of Flash-based games, the game taking up most of my friends’ time this week has been Fantastic Contraption, a physics-based puzzle game with established challenges for each level and support for saving of your creations, like foo’s conveyor belt thingie.

Edmund McMillen, an author of the Linux game Gish, and the Flash games Triachnid and Coil, let us know about his latest project, Aether:

In the game you play as a boy who leaves the earth in search of life in outer space, someone he can relate to. in the process he discovers lost  planets that need to be saved, solving puzzles on these planet bring life back to them and the galaxy expands.

Please feel free to try the game out yourself, the story is left open to interpretation and if your into exploration and problem solving then you just might really like it.

All the controls and info are in the game.

The Game was created by Myself and Tyler Glaiel of http://www.glaielgames.com/. We made it in 14 days.

I hope you enjoy our labor of love.

James ‘Quasar’ Haley reports that James Monroe from Raven Software has surprisingly released the engine source code to both Heretic and Hexen two days ago, this time as GPL with the approval of copyright holder Activision.

It took many years of nag^Wconvincing to get the engines relicenced. They had been released with a non-profit EULA almost ten years ago. As both are based on the Doom engine, they can now be integrated in all the GPL Doom source ports.

There has also been a new version of Wolf4SDL with the following changes:

• Demos are fully working now (at least for the 1.4 Activision and Spear of Destiny versions).
• Removed last busy waiting (which led to very unstable framerates on BSDs).
• Fizzle fade now works for resolutions up to 8191×4095 (that should be enough for years to come).

And finally, icculus.org’s Rise of the Triad for Linux (with the appropriate abbreviation RotTfL) has reached version 1.1 after five years, with support for higher resolutions (taken from WinRott) and more CPU architectures (taken from Debian package), oh my!

Platinum Arts sent in the following update concerning Sandbox, their educational game design tool:

Platinum Arts Sandbox is the game design tool based on the Cube 2 engine that allows users to quickly and easily create and edit their own worlds in game, even cooperatively. It is free, open source, and easy to use for Kids and Adults! We have lots of updates, many more than I could fit in a single news post so here are some goodies!

For anyone who needs some help with the basics of Platinum Arts Sandbox we have a new video tutorial for you to check out! This is only the first of many tutorials to come so be sure to check back! Watch it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g44Ww2bg2_E

Thanks to Xenios and Malte Fiala Sandbox is now translated into German! If you wish to have the 2.2.0 release in German you need to download the language file and put it in /data/lang/de then when in Sandbox go to options and select German! Here is the file:

http://www.svn.kids.platinumarts.net/32pas32/trunk/data/lang/de/menus.cfg

We have a lot of news on the way, including several new maps, ways to make movies in Sandbox, video tutorials, the results of the Game Design Camp for kids, a new version on the horizon and lot more! Take care and have fun creating!

Download: [ platinumarts.net ]

Yabause, a Sega Saturn emulator, had a new release to fix bugs.

Download: [ yabause.org ]

Not a major thing, but PlanetQuake pointed out a neat singleplayer Quake 1 map (you’ll want to use Fitzquake or DarkPlaces as your client) with a fun gimmick:

“Skinny Norris”
A medium to large tower-like Quoth single player map with an unusual texture theme and independent puzzles/traps routes - the tallest map ever made.

Download: [ tastyspleen.net ]

A reader pointed out the release of Atomic Worm for Linux by Charlie Dog Games; it’s a TuxCap-powered puzzle game in the “snake” genre.

Screenshots: [ View ] Download: [ charliedoggames.com ]

Playdeb, the game-oriented depository from GetDeb for the Ubuntu Linux distribution, is now in public beta testing:

Originally known as Playbuntu (renamed for trademark reasons), Playdeb is a repository for Ubuntu (and it’s derivatives) that will provide all games available on getdeb.net and more in a repository format - allowing you to receive updates for your favourite game via the Update Manager tool.

Gamepark Holdings has announced the upcoming release of their latest Linux-based handheld game console in the GP2X series, the GP2X Wiz. GP2X News has a brochure delineating what’s new, including official games, Flash 7 support, and a redesigned slimmer form factor.

As with its predecessors, the Wiz will use a Linux OS and have an official SDK for homebrew game/application development; you can already pre-order the system from online retailers such as Play-Asia.

The ScummVM team has switched to a bi-yearly release schedule, thus here comes the “ ” release already.
There still has been quite some work in the meantime:

• The newly supported games are:
• New Alcachofa Soft Drascula engine for Dráscula: El Vampiro (Drascula: The Vampire Strikes Back).
• Westwood Studios Kyra engine: The Legend of Kyrandia Book Two: Hand of Fate and The Legend of Kyrandia Book Three: Malcolm’s Revenge, making the series complete.
• Coktel Vision Gob engine: Woodruff and the Schnibble of Azimuth (The Bizarre Adventures of Woodruff and the Schnibble) and Lost in Time.
• Humongous Entertainment SPU™ engine: Blue’s 123 Time Activities.
• Waxworks for MS-DOS and I Have no Mouth, and I Must Scream for Macintosh are now supported as well.
• Audio fixes in Flight of the Amazon Queen, The Secret of Monkey Island, in Amiga versions of Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, Simon the Sorcerer, and Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders as well as in iMUSE, used in later LucasArts games.
• Lotsa other bugfixes.

Lots of memory leaks have been taken care of, which was part of a GSoC task but all other improvements will have to wait till winter.

Also, Rock, Paper, Shotgun.

Screenshots: [ View ] Download: [ scummvm.org ]

Linux.com has posted a look at the open source first-person shooter Sauerbraten:

This open source game might not have the visual finesse of other FPSes, but what it lacks in the graphics department, Sauerbraten more than makes up for with its various single and multiplayer modes, including an experimental role-playing game mode, and a unique WYSIWYG in-game map editor.

Thanks to vadi4 for pointing out that S2 Games will be selling Savage 2: A Tortured Soul at a reduced price this weekend:

Starting on Friday 8/29 and ending Sunday 8/31 we will run $9.99 pricing through our native client and via our website.

Savage 2 is a mixed-genre fantasy-themed multiplayer game that was released for Linux earlier this year.

I was skeptical, but Engadget recently reported that the Pandora project has reached a prototype stage. The community effort to build an open Linux-based handheld game console has produced a development model that can run various emulators and, most importantly, Quake 2!

The FAQ states they intend to offer Pandora for $330 US when it hits production stage.

The latest development build of Wine is out; this release of the open source implementation of the Windows API has the following changes:

• Beginnings of ddraw overlay support.
• Many more crypt32 functions.
• Improved support for tables in Richedit.
• Support for NETWM window maximization.
• Many installer fixes.
• Tweaks for better PulseAudio support.
• Various bug fixes.

Download: [ Wine 1.1.3 ]

AMD has released their monthly Linux ATI Catalyst display driver package for their graphics cards; the requisite release notes include these new features and changes, in addition to many more listed in the release notes:

• This release of ATI Catalyst™ Linux introduces support for CrossFireX configurations using the ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series on systems running the Linux operating system.
• This release of ATI Catalyst™ Linux introduces Adaptive Anti-Aliasing support for the ATI Radeon HD 4800, ATI Radeon HD 3000 Series, ATI Radeon HD 2000 Series, and ATI Radeon X1000 Series of products installed on systems running the Linux operating system. Adaptive Anti-Aliasing substantially improves image quality by anti-aliasing transparent textures. This option is available in the Catalyst Control Center Linux Edition.
• RHEL 5.2 production support
• RHEL 4.7 early look
• A command-line overclocking utility, “OverDrive”

Download: [ amd.com ]

Splash Damage has posted a new installment of Snap to Grid, their Enemy Territory: Quake Wars community project column. This article examines two maps for the Wheels of War action driving modification, and highlights a few other user-made maps being created.

Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup, a roguelike game where players seek the Orb of Zot, had a new release with a few bugfixes:

• Fixed lack of mouse actions in Tiles version.
• Fixed Evaporate not working with potions of water.
• Fixed Evaporate trailing clouds before explosion.
• Fixed buggy inscription prompt.
• For DGAMELAUNCH, use gmtime() instead of localtime().
• Only prompt for unsuitable weapons if you can see the target.
• Don’t discard Stoneskin when using non-conflicting transformations.
• Allow examining items in end-game inventory and while browsing shops.

Download: [ sourceforge.net ]

Thanks to vadi4 for pointing out that the Playbuntu project is now known as Playdeb; moreover, the game-oriented depository from GetDeb for the Ubuntu Linux distribution will start public testing soon:

The good news is that a beta for the Playdeb repository will be starting on September 1st! Everyone will be welcome to participate in the beta, so you don’t have to wait long until Playdeb is available.

Please keep in mind that Playdeb is not another version of Ubuntu, but an “add-on” (a repository of software that you add) to your existing Ubuntu installation.

Additionally, we are still looking for mirrors - the basic requirements are 20gb space, rsync client, and a web server. If you’re interested in helping us out, please contact me at (vadim.peretokin@getdeb.net). Thank you!

Introversion Software, the developers of Uplink and Defcon, have been posting tutorials for Multiwinia: Survival of the Flattest, the upcoming multiplayer sequel to their real-time strategy game Darwinia, in their weekly Multiwinia Mondays feature. The first installment describes Domination mode, where the player must battle for spawn points, while the second gives an overview of King of the Hill, which adds additional point-laden zones.