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Games Entertainment

Terminus Demo Released 57

Posted by Hemos from the bring-out-yer-games-bring-out-yer-games dept.
Geert-Jan writes: "The Linux version of the Terminus demo is now available at Maximum Linux. I also have a mirror up at A Talent For War. The Windows and Mac versions should be out later today at the Adrenaline Vault and Inside Mac Games, respectively."
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Terminus Demo Released More

Terminus Demo Released

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  • The reason is, those video cards /suck/. The cursor is either not being rendered properly by the game engine due to graphics slowness, or the graphics subsystem is getting too bogged down to process the blitting operations for cursor movement. Why would you waste a good P2 system with a Mach64?
  • No, it wasn't -- are you so bruised by mass culture that you're incapable of taking anything at face value?

    Sarcastic readings have nothing to do with being 'bruised by mass culture.' Now, if you're talking about 'misreadings' in the Harold Bloom sense ('A Map of Misreading', 'The Anxiety of Influence,' etc.) then, yes, I admit to misreading my predecessors in order to derive a space for my own artistic creations. It's an oedipal thing, according to Bloom, and, sure, it's quite possible that the matrix of mass culture somehow subverted my reading of your 'text'. But I don't think this is what you meant.

    - A core gaming community is an important foundation for any OS.
    - The lack of one doesn't seem to have done Unix any harm.

    Your second sentence is a non-sequitur. Nowhere -- implicitly or explicitly -- did I state that core gaming community was a necessity. I merely stated that it was important. You're right: but so what? That wasn't my (brief) point. It doesn't follow. What are you refuting?

    - Early Apple made the mistake of ignoring games in favor of "productivity apps".
    - Apple survives to this day as an extremely profitable company; what's your point?

    My point is this: why alienate gamers? As much as you (or I) may hate games, they still serve adefinite purpose among computer users. You may devalue their importance -- or even marginalize their importance or purpose -- but why should linux evangelizers pretend that they don't exist? (Much in the same way that Apple did over a decade ago). Obviously, Linux users want games ... so why make the big show of feathers and pretend that they're useless? Says who? You? Okay, games are useless. Fair enough. So what? Hey, shhhh, don't tell the boss?

    -There is absolutely *no* "damage" that an OS can suffer if its core community promotes and evangelizes games.
    -Killed off the Amiga, I seem to recall

    Piracy killed off the Amiga. Games did not.

    - Dude, if you work in place where the mere existence of games threatens acceptance of the OS, then it's time to get a new f*$king job.
    - I don't like computer games. I don't think that corporate computers should have computer games. Unlike you, I don't think that there is any "right" to install games on somebody else's property.

    Where did I state -- implicitly or explicitly -- that I think that users have a "right" to install games on "someone else's property"?

  • More importantly, this is not really a Linux site. It's a technology site, and us nerds (or geeks as I prefer) like our games. So this is a news article for nerds, and it does matter. Most importantly, it highlights the ongoing acceptance of the Linux platform by developers!
    And frankly, I think nerds/geeks are the exact people who would enjoy playing a realistic-physics space-sim... The Linux thing is just a bonus.
    -Chuck
  • The mac version is out, though the main page at Inside Mac Games [insidemacgames.com] doesn't show it yet. You can get it over here [macgamefiles.com], or at A Talent For War [atfw.net] (direct link [atfw.net]).
  • I haven't been able to try it on Linux yet because of lack of space on that partition at the moment.

    But in windoze (I'm running a K6-2 366 /w 64MB RAM and a Voodoo 2), it was really smooth.

    It's not the graphics that I'm looking for to really be the best part of this game though. It's the AI, physics and persistant universe that have got most of us excited about it. I still can't wait to get my autographed copy :)
  • Oh woe is me, I'm not a Redhat/SuSE/Mandrake user; I can't even see the demo. *sigh*

    $ ./terminus
    ./terminus: error in loading shared libraries: libstdc++.so.2.8: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
  • After downloading the tarball, i just ran the execuatable, and - wow - it ran without any reconfiguration of Mesa/GL/X.... it even ran off my voodoo 2 instead of my Rage128, something Q3 won't even do right.....

    I'm glad to see the usability of linux games is getting better. I'm not one to wine about having to compile from source or mess around with my system, but for the average person, this is a step in the right direction. Just wish it had a nice installer like Mozilla.......

  • Posted by 11223:

    Why do people care so much about Linux games? Could it be because they can't see the ultamite solution in PC gaming - the NetBSD bootable game disk! That's right, an embedded NetBSD kernel on a CD-Rom boots the game. Data files are conviently stored on your Win9x partition for you. The user doesn't have to mess with installing software, but can choose to copy files over to the hard drive for performance. All open-sourced 3D drivers are integrated. (Remember, we don't write open-source software just so it can stay on Linux.) Gives the user the stability of a superior platform without having to deal with setting up their 3d drivers, getting their joystick to work, performing exorcisms on the sound drivers, mounting the CD-Rom, etc. Why not NetBSD?
  • On the one hand: the voice acting sucks, the character photos are laughable, and the interface is pretty glitchy. And the writing is just this side of atrocious. On the other hand: the graphic design is very cool (the graphics themselves are a bit behind the curve, but the design itself is nice), the overall storyline and concept (the world advancing whether you intervene or not) sounds great, and - the most important thing - the flight model is lots of fun. Gripping hand is: Not sure if I'll buy it. I'm low on cash (gotta pay that tuition!) and I've got two chunks set aside for Descent 3 and Alpha Centauri. This one's getting slotted in as #3 if the price is right, though.
  • Ladies, Gentlemen, fellas who cannot get a wink of sleep before having at least a lightning fast look at this new object of obsession and desire,

    Could someone be so kind to setup a mirror for the Windoze and Mac version of Terminus?

    I know I should be ashamed to use the system of the evil empire (MS; not the fruit). But I promis to better my life in July and August, adopt an all mighty pinguin and regurarly feed him (and others) with some self prepaired Open Source codes.

    Thank You in Advance,

    Sincerely,

    John C. Drashcan

  • Download...install...run...

    Hmmm. Strange graphical artifacts. Quit. Hmm. won't quit. Log in from different computer and kill process.

    Rerun. Artifacts gone. Goody. Adjust detail level down, since I expect default to be for graphic cards above mine... Start training mission.

    Still erratic movement. Almost impossible to centre ship on target. :( Manage to complete 2 training missions, but realise that combat will not be even remotely possible with this behaviour. Log in from other computer and kill process.

    All in all: It's only a demo, so I shouldn't expect everything to be fully optimized yet. And also, my old G200 is most likely starting to show trends of getting a little to old for this kind of work.

    Todo
    Try decreasing X-resolution to 640x480x16 to free up graphics adapter memory.
    Fetch Windows-version and try to see differences.

  • The proper URL to download the Windows demo from AVault is ftp://ftp.avault.com/demos/TerminusDem oWinFull.exe [avault.com]. AVault has a bad link, yet despite this their FTP server seems to have been slashdotted anyways, unless it was intolerably slow to begin with.
  • I fixed that by killing gpm before starting the game - gpm gave me probs with Quakeworld too (it made it completely unplayable, while Terminus jumps around a bit but at least predictably). Try that. -- Shade
  • Try killing gpm first - fixed the erratic movement issue. Artifacts disappeared after enabling antialiasing in setup, too.

    -- Shade
  • > I'd like to hear what hardware you're using (processor/memory), and how the Windows version compares...

    Judging from the email-adress: developer? :)

    I'm running on the following hardware setup:
    Intel Celeron 266 clocked to 400 (popular one. :)
    256MB RAM
    Matrox G200 4MB
    SCSI disks/CD etc...

    Software:
    Xfree 3.3.6 w/Utah-GLX for OpenGL support.
    Linux Mandrake 7.0
    Kernel 2.2.16

    I have not tested the windows-version yet, since I'm currently sitting on a leased modemline, meaning slooow link. (I downloaded the linuxdemo at work, forgot the windows demo today.)

    When I reduced the resolution to 800x600x16 I got it working relatively good. I still have some performance problems when facing other ships, and keyboard controls appear "sluggy" at that point.

    I still cannot quit though. Pressing the big red button result in graphics lockup. Solution: Ctrl-Alt-F1, log in, killall terminus. Has to be done blindly due to a massive amount of "Sound: recording overrun" error-messages flooding the console.

    funny fact: for the game to run there MUST be at least two modes on the current modeline in XF86Config. With only one mode, the game does not start.

  • I believed it had something to do with Asimov's Fundation trilogy (Terminus was the capital world of the Fundation)
  • '... ready for primetime ...' is relative. Working in the 3D/graphics biz, stuff like this is good because it promotes 3D development. The bigger the market there is, the more serious the support is for 3D graphics. The better graphics support, the more likely Alias|Wavefront will port Maya over, etc. I agree with you in spirit, but keep in mind that there's hope for Linux as more than just another office OS.

    -- Mishka

  • Linux is already proven in the business arena. The main reason everyone uses MS Windows is "for the games"

    The only reason I dual boot is because I cant get "the Sims" or Starcraft to run in linux. If I could play all my games, I'd never use Windows again. How many of you out there feel the same way? I'd stop using Photoshop and use the Gimp no problem. Games man Games!
  • But look at what first brought computers into the homes of many people - games.

    Sure allowing the latest wizbang blow-em-up for linux is going to boost linux's game playing karma. (BTW Quake is around for linux - and if you didn't know that already it seems the karma of linux's gaming is very low to begin with - see note)

    Having the greatest word processor in the world for linux isn't going to mean much if you are the only person with it in a sea of windows users who have enough trouble not spreading email viruses to worry about opening your postscript attachment.

    All I am saying is for linux to be more accepted it needs a slightly higher userbase. People were I work wouldn't jump on it for office work over their windows 'cause they have windows at home and (for the most part) it does what they need at home. Plays the kids' games, does the taxes, and creates party invitations. If you had a user base where everyone used linux at home for those tasks, then asking them to make the move to a powerful OS coupled with a power office app that everyone on the planet was (without modification or thought) able to share data then we can declare linux a prime time winner. This is not to say that it is not a wonderful server app, or that those in research who currently have $20,000 sun workstations couldn't do the same with a $5,000 intel box with linux - but if your target audience is office users then the world could use a little help in addition to linux.

    Note: As for Quake and Columbine - if these games are driving kids to kill kids then where are all the gigantic walls kids should be making after their addictions to tetris!
  • I think you're missing something really important here. The slashdot name - News for nerds, stuff that matters. It's not Slashdot - News for busexecs, stuff that counts :-)

    More importantly, this is not really a Linux site. It's a technology site, and us nerds (or geeks as I prefer) like our games. So this is a news article for nerds, and it does matter. Most importantly, it highlights the ongoing acceptance of the Linux platform by developers! So I don't really think that this is at all counterproductive!

    My 2c worth.
    /* Wayne Pascoe

  • Fast Mirror (Score:4)

    by drkhwk82 ( 202181 ) on Monday June 19, 2000 @02:29AM (#993500)
    I took the liberty of setting up a mirror (Southeast USA) before the sites get slashdotted. Hopefully you guys won't slashdot mine too heh. Here's the link: Terminus Demo for Linux [216.3.179.242]
  • I assume this is meant to be sarcastic and should be read as such.

    A core gaming community is an important foundation for any OS.

    Early Apple made the mistake of ignoring games in favor of "productivity apps".

    There is absolutely *no* "damage" that an OS can suffer if its core community promotes and evangelizes games.

    Dude, if you work in place where the mere existence of games threatens acceptance of the OS, then it's time to get a new f*$king job.
  • What the hell? Like the abundance of games for the M$ platform is a major factor for corperations. Where do you get off saying that the introduction of another game will affect Linux in the workplace. It will not have any affect at all once your administrator shows that no one can install them, much less play them on a buisness box.
    OTOH, it will make linux more attractive to the end user to know that it is not all about buisness. I use Windows for games only. In fact, the only reason i keep a dual boot config is because of the lack of games for linux.

  • Not really /.'ed, the url for Vicarious Visions os just wrong, it's: http://www.vvisions.com/terminus/

    I've been waiting for this game for to long. Now I'm afraid to download it.

  • Just do a ln -s and ldconfig, dude...
  • Linux does has a word proc. that does footnotes correctly, its called Latex and just so you know, I think your reference to Columbine is horrible.

  • Plays like a dog; 1 thumb down. (Score:3)

    by dibos ( 129766 ) on Monday June 19, 2000 @04:35AM (#993506) Homepage
    Playing with the mouse sensitivity setting didn't help; the mouse is jumpy and erratic. The game overall is not smooth. If this is anything like the final version will be, I'm not buying it. I tried it on two Pentium II class systems, each with over 100M ram and running nothing but X. One had a Mach64 video card, and the other a Trident975. I suppose its *possible* the video card is at fault, but why would that affect the mouse?
  • If I could play all my games, I'd never use Windows again. How many of you out there feel the same way?

    That's pretty much how I feel. I keep Windows around mostly for the games, though there *are* two apps that are indespensible to me that I run on Windows: Quicken and MS Publisher. Progress is being made on GnuCash so maybe one day I won't need Quicken any more. And perhaps I'll eventually get Framemaker to run on my system and won't need Publisher either. When that day comes, the *only* excuse I'll have for running Windows is for the games.
  • Well, let's hope it isn't :-p
  • I found an alternative to the overcrowded and tricky (does not download through a web browser) Adrenaline Vault [avault.com] and I believe other users may be equally interested: A Talent for War has just started mirroring it (faster than the above mentionned avault.com). [atfw.net]

    Sorry, no more time, have to defend the Universe this night,

    Drashcan

  • The reason a card that is not working right would make the mouse appear to be jumpy is really rather simple. The cursor you are moving when you move the mouse is being moved by the gaming engine thus if your video card was not working right it would cause the mouse to seem jumpy. (I am really tired but I think that makes my point) For example imagine how jumpy the mouse would seem trying to play Q3 on a 4 meg ATI card. This is the reason your mouse might look jumpy. Please note I have not played this yet but I have seen this effect with other games. In particular the trident has these problems.
  • Games of this quality are a landmark in Linux gaming and continuing commercial acceptance. The demo worked out of the box and is impressive.

    Who knows, by this time next year ppl might be able to buy A0L Linux boxen in department stores by the dozen :)

  • I assume this is meant to be sarcastic and should be read as such.

    No, it wasn't -- are you so bruised by mass culture that you're incapable of taking anything at face value?

    A core gaming community is an important foundation for any OS.

    The lack of one doesn't seem to have done Unix any harm.

    Early Apple made the mistake of ignoring games in favor of "productivity apps".

    Apple survives to this day as an extremely profitable company; what's your point?

    There is absolutely *no* "damage" that an OS can suffer if its core community promotes and evangelizes games.

    Killed off the Amiga, I seem to recall

    Dude, if you work in place where the mere existence of games threatens acceptance of the OS, then it's time to get a new f*$king job.

    I don't like computer games. I don't think that corporate computers should have computer games. Unlike you, I don't think that there is any "right" to install games on somebody else's property.

  • OK, this sounds great at first, but what happens when you get a piece of hardware that came out after the game was produced? Why not use a kernel that's already set up for the user's hardware?

  • Your assertion that promoting gaming projects may in some way be damaging to Linux is just a little silly.
    Firstly, any project, and I do mean ANY project targeted at the GNU Linux platform simply widens the userbase and assists in locating areas where the operating system needs work.
    Secondly, gaming is a multi-billion dollar industry, and if every other app project were to fold tomorrow, linux could still find a financially comfortable niche as a gaming platform.
    Finally, by suggesting that post-columbine hysteria may have some sort of bearing on the future of Linux is ludicrous and only feeds more fuel to the ignorant, sustaining their obnoxious rhetoric.
  • Grr. The tar.gz file unzips in the current directory instead of creating one like the release-HOWTO says :(. Make sure you mkdir terminus; mv Ter^I.tar.gz terminus if you don't want to hunt around for the files.

    I would comment on the game, but I don't have a 3d card right now. Looks pretty interesting, though :).

  • I sent an email off to the webmaster of Adrenaline Vault, and he pointed out that cdrom.com is now hosting the windows version of the Terminus demo.

    ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/p ub/3dfiles/games/terminusdemowinfull.exe [cdrom.com]

  • Has anyone got this working on a Matrox G400?

    I can run the game and view the various menus and briefing screens, but when it goes to 3d space combat the screen goes black or shows a bunch of garbage. (I assume it is the 3d part from the sound effects that are playing).

    on the VV web page it says you need Xfree 4.0, but I am only running 3.3.6 w/ utah-glx. I'm not particularly eager to install 4.0 since I hear it is not very stable yet. I'd just like to know if it works with XFree 4.0 before I try to upgrade. So has anyone got it working?

  • Can anyone set up a discussion board for troubleshooting the demo? I'd do it myself, but my site's not working right now.

    If not, might as well start right here:
    I'm using a USB mouse and joystick.

    I'm getting erratic super rapid mouse movement, jerky keyboard movement, and no recognition of the joystick even though I can 'cat /dev/input/js0' and get output.

    Using a V3 3000, with Glide, XFree86-3.3, 1024x768 16bit. It runs, but its not playable.

    Wildamge

  • Re:Matrox support (Score:3)

    by chuck ( 477 ) on Monday June 19, 2000 @04:13PM (#993519) Homepage
    Has anyone got this working on a Matrox G400?
    Hi... I developed using the G400, so yes it works! It says you need XFree 4.0 on the web page because you really really really need XFree 4.0... Why would we lie about that?

    At the time we tried it, the worst sin of utah-glx was the fact that glIsTexture() was not even implemented! And worse, whenever someone pointed that out, the response was basically ``yeah, we know...'' So... DRI.

    I'm using XFree 4.0 on both my boxen right now, and it seems rock solid. And runs Terminus very nicely on my G400.

    -Chuck
  • I'd like to hear what hardware you're using (processor/memory), and how the Windows version compares...
    -Chuck
  • The site does not appear to be /.'ed since the main link's domain name loads a site...

    I did find another site, however, this isn't a mirror of the listed site, but it seems to be a site for the game. For those who do not know what this is all about check out this link [stationterminus.com]

    Now let's not /. the poll there!

  • Correct links (Score:3)

    by Spirilis ( 3338 ) on Monday June 19, 2000 @02:10AM (#993522)
    ftp://ftp.maximumlinux.com/ TerminusDemoLinuxFull.tar.gz [maximumlinux.com] to get straight to the file; the article poster got the first 2 links wrong :) And that's http://www.maximumlinux.com/ [maximumlinux.com] for the homepage, not http://ftp.maximumlinux.com/ ;-)

  • Correct link (Score:3)

    by levendis ( 67993 ) on Monday June 19, 2000 @02:15AM (#993523) Homepage
    The main page is http://www.vvisions.com/terminus/ [vvisions.com], not http://www.vvision.com/terminus/.
  • Ok, the one site has been /.ed and there are no screen shots on the other to keep my taste buds busy until I get home.
  • I notice that if you try to use a browser to log on to the ftp site, you'll be SOL. Use ncftp (or your client of choice) instead.
  • I've said this time and again, but if Slashdot is going to become a software announcement area like Freshmeat, can we at least get a little more info in the posts? This "news" is absolutely useless to me. The only two links with actual information are already Slashdotted, so even if this *was* something cool, it's going into my circular file.
  • where are all the gigantic walls kids should be making after their addictions to tetris
    They've all disappeared as each layer was completed. Seriously, though, why isn't the problem of skiers recklessly running across freeways to get to the ski shop being addressed?
  • Then why are you waisting your time checking the URL's? Naturaly you should have gone for the "First p0st!!!!!".

    :-)

    Thimo
    --
  • Yeah sorry about that, I could have sworn I got it right in the post, but I guess not. Unless it's some kind of conspiracy ;)
  • hmmm... this is actualkly a good game. Aside from some rendering problems (maybe it's just my GL drivers), I might try this game out fully when I have some time.

    It's nice to get the Linux version first once in a while.
  • Thankfully I downloaded it before the post, I've also played through the training and storyline.

    Its pretty good on my tnt2u, with the latest nvidia drivers.

    Starting it up and browsing the setup options I noticed it defaulted to 1600x1200 for opengl, and I thought it'd really run like a dog, but it really plays well. I'm going to try and find more absurd options to turn on :)
  • OK, fair enough. Here's some more info:

    Terminus is a space combat sim featuring newtonian physics, a persistent universe, dynamic economy, a campaign that can be played both in multi- and single player and from 3 differented "perspectives" (Earth Military, Mars Military and pirate/mercenary). Shipping date is June 27th, and it will ship with Windows, Linux (x86 only) and Mac binaries in one box. You can pre-order the game here [vvisions.com]. More info can be found at the fan site Station Terminus [stationterminus.com].

  • Hey! wheres the windows demo? I cant seem to find it.
  • Speaking as an enthusiastic outsider, I'm not sure that Slashdot should be promoting and giving kudos to projects that are ultimately going to damage the Linux project.
    You don't think you're overreacting slightly? Check out freshmeat any day and see what percentage are games. head on over to linuxtoday and see how many announcements are for games.
    And wtf is a columbine-style massacre simulator? Is ridge racer a multi-car-pile up trauma simulator?

    Get a word processor that counts footnotes correctly, then we can all sit down and play "Terminus".
    In one sentence you've managed to betray your total ignorance of the main advantage of linux and/or free software. If you're interested in it, write it. If you're not, don't. Just because you've a fascination with footnotes doesn't mean we should all drop our rocket launchers and rush to cvs. There are plenty of people already working on footnote counters, and I'm sure more are arriving every day.
  • Damn right that's a fast mirror....

    260+ k/sec off a cable modem?

    That's sweet! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

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