Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Get Your Linux Game On

I've done a number of posts in the past complaining about a lack of support for Linux based operating systems from main-stream game companies. Today I would like to highlight a few different high-calibre game titles that bring Linux support to the table.

Oil Rush

Status: Available Now

Cost: 20 USD

Oil Rush is a truly interesting mash up of a game. From the creator's website:

"Oil Rush is a real-time naval strategy game based on group control. It combines the strategic challenge of a classical RTS with the sheer fun of Tower Defense. "


Savage 2

Status: Available Now

Cost: 0 USD (with premium content available)

I once heard Savage 2 described as a FPS-RTS-MMO-RPG, this description isn't that far from the truth. Savage 2 has combined some of the best elements from all of these types of games.


Deep Black

Status: In Development

Cost: 30 USD

Deep Black is an arcade style, single player, third person shooter. It utilises a variety of different terrains namely water and ground.


Cradle

Status: In Development

Cost: TBA

I'm going to be a bit biased here and admit this is a game I'm waiting excitedly for. From the game's website:

"Cradle is a science-fiction first-person quest with freedom of movement. The story is built around the relations of the protagonist and a mechanical girl, who by enigmatic circumstances find themselves together in a yurt among the desert Mongolian hills. The player is to restore the lost functions of his companion's mechanical body parts and together reveal the mystery of the neglected entertainment park found not far from the yurt."


Whew! Some good entertainment to enjoy now and some to look forward to that all runs natively on my favourite penguin powered operating system.

It is nice to see more game companies are seeing the value in producing cross-platform entertainment. Hopefully more will continue to follow suite.

~Jeff Hoogland

5 comments:

  1. Take a look at "Legends", a free cross platform game based on Garage Game's Torque engine. The game has been around for years and has just as long been overlooked by Linux gamers and sites doing reviews of Linux games. "Legends is a multiplayer game that is very similar in style to an earlier game, "Tribes". An update was released recently and is available from http://legendsthegame.net/index.php?m=fileswap&view=99
    Install is simple, download the script to a folder called legends in your home directory, make script executable if its not already, and fire it off. It will download the latest version. Read various downloaded text files for info. Also be sure to grab the add on BTMappack for Legends to have all the latest community maps. Its available from http://legendsthegame.net/index.php?m=fileswap&view=71
    Be sure to read simple install howto at site to install mappack correctly.

    Currently this game is sitting in limbo with very few players. It would be great if "penguinistas" discovered this game and started filling up the currently empty servers. ;)

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  2. You may want to take a look at freegamer.blogspot.com (not my site, but I do follow it for interesting games), granted mostly non-commercial (mostly open source) titles, but a great many certainly approach and even achieve commercial quality, and all but a few run on linux.

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  3. http://www.heroesofnewerth.com

    Really good DOTA clone.

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  4. Both OilRush and Deep Black have received rather bad ratings overall.. in the case of OilRush, I just gotta agree because the graphics look really nice but the fundamental game design is just weird to me and not really fun.

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  5. Check out last weeks episode of "The Linux Action Show" at jupitorbroadcasting.com to see their latest on Linux gaming. They usually do an episode like this once or twice a year. You might be interested.

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