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Games Entertainment

Neverwinter Nights Coming to Linux 105

Posted by justin++ from the from-the-baldur's--gate-people dept.
Lurker writes "Neverwinter Nights is coming to Linux! BioWare, the developer of the hit roleplaying game, Baldur's Gate, recently unveiled their next big project at the annual GenCon conference in Milwaukee. Neverwinter Nights, their new title, will be a multiplayer roleplaying game based on TSR's new 3rd Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons® ruleset. Set in and around the cities of Neverwinter and Luskan, in the far northern reaches of the Forgotten Realms® gameworld, the game will ship with a strong story, a powerful editor suite dubbed the Solstice Toolset, and the ability to enter the gameworld and modify it in real-time as an omniscient Dungeon Master. Neverwinter Nights will be powered by a variation of Omen, BioWare's own 3D engine developed for their visually stunning action game, MDK2, and will be published by Black Isle Studios, a division of Interplay. Make sure to read the last line of the About NWN page "We are developing simultaneously for PC, Mac, and Linux." "
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Neverwinter Nights Coming to Linux

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  • <<'ve stayed away from UO and EQ, for the most part, because they don't run under Linux. >>

    Actually, the UO client has been ported to linux, but its unsupported.

    ---
    mjt
    -----------

  • Baloo was kind enough to make a copy of the chat transcript that TSR held on their chat site. He also has a copy of the FAQ there.

    http://www2.crosswinds.net/~baloosj/ Baloo's page

    -Andrew
  • Possibly because some of us think that Quake* sucks (or at least prefer playing Doom2). Not counting Quake, there's Civ:CTP and MythII, and soon to be Neverwinter Nights. 3 games is not exactly a great selection. I'll stick with my Dungeon Keeper 2, Sim City 3000, and Doom2, thanks.
  • I will be buying one, probably two (for my wife and I) copies of this game.

    I've been waiting for a game like this for a long, long time. Particularly one that lets you run your own server and DM your own campaign.

    --
    Interested in XFMail? New XFMail home page [slappy.org]

  • I'm wondering how this will do now that it will be competing for a part of the same audience that is now involved in MMRPGs like UO and EQ. I love the concept in both games, but there are times that both have frustrated the hell out of me.

    I think you and I are not the only ones who have become frustrated by the shortcomings of MMRPGs. MMRPGs are far from ideal because:

    1. Anonymity encourages (or at least does not discourage) disruptive behavior. I'm part of a pen-and-paper AD&D group. If someone were disruptive to the group, we'd ask them to leave. There is no such incentive when people pay you to be on their server. Even putting aside the PKing (which is a real problem, especially on UO), UO and EQ seem to be largely devoid of role-playing, and are more like irc with pictures.
    2. Server lag seems to be an inevitable part of MMRPG-ing. I have friends who took a liking to Everquest. They felt that the massive scale of EQ would prevent the kind of lag seen in Ultima Online. Still, they play sometimes at 2 AM to avoid server lag.
    3. Campaigns/plots do not really exist in MMRPGs, because there is not a DM available to run such a campaign. When you pay to spend 4 hours/day fishing, I'd say there's a plot problem.
    4. Monthly fees, even if they're low, is still a drag.
    I've stayed away from UO and EQ, for the most part, because they don't run under Linux. It's not so much of a religious OS thing, as a practicality thing. I just don't feel like wasting the space on a Windows installation, and I keep my box up 24/7 and run services on it. These would be interrupted if I was dual-booting to Windows.

    This will allow me to play AD&D with gaming friends who have moved away. For this reason alone, I am anxiously awaiting this game. I hope they announce a ship date soon.

    --
    Interested in XFMail? New XFMail home page [slappy.org]

  • i like games, and the graphics in some of them,
    but i can never play a game for more than a few minutes without mentally disecting how they must
    have done it. think making games be more fun.
  • At last a big RPG title for Linux, a AD&D one no less. If the sales for this game are big enough, I believe that the impression that there are no games for Linux will fade away. Almost all possible genres have been covered already.
  • The restriction on mages has some historical background in certain worlds. IIRC, in some, mages are required by law (of the source of their powers) to only use daggers to act as a check to their power, and also because it is possible that carrying too many metallic items may dampen the magical field around them.

    Fighters can't use magic, because they don't know magic.

    Diablo was a big step backward, I think. What sort of mage can stand there casting fireballs non-stop? Very unrealistic and too arcade for my tastes.

  • I'd like to see Homeworld, C&C 2, and Jagged Alliance 2 for Linux.

  • Games are great for Linux. Having them announced on Slashdot sure does help to find them. However, posting what clearly was written by some stupid marketing department is definitely Not Keen.

  • If you find this commercial Neverwinter Nights game interesting, you will probably find the WorldForge project (www.worldforge.org) interesting. If you are a good artist, musician, or programmer, and have time to dedicate to helping, we'd love to have you. And we're of course always open to positive encouragement!

    The WorldForge Project is building systems for massively multiplayer online roleplaying games, to be released freely under the GPL and OpenContent Public License.

    WorldForge's approach is not to create a single game but instead a flexible framework that can support a variety of different kinds of servers, clients, rule sets, worlds, and so forth. We are developing a standardized protocol called Atlas to permit a "common language" between the various programs.

    The screenshots [worldforge.org] and music [worldforge.org] are definitely worth checking out. We've also got a prototype demo client/server put together, which you can snag from our CVS archive if you're interested. We'll release distros and such in a week or so if there's interest.

    -- Bryce

  • Stay Alert

    Trust No-one

    Keep Your Laser Handy


    Citizen: Are you Happy?
  • The Amber Diceless Role-Playing Game has the fastest combat system (not only no HP, but no dice rolling, weapon damage tables, etc.) and least burdensome rules. Unfortunately, no computer will ever be able to run it (barring some unprecedented advances in AI). "Roll-playing" games like AD&D make for much better computer games.

    --

  • If they do it right, most of the development is platform independant. If they plan to do more mulit-platform games later, this is a good habit for their developers. Starting now gives them a real advantage over other companies later.

    This is also an excelent time for building brand loyalty. Making a few games now when there aren't as many companies building games for Linux could pay off later when the Linux market is larger.

    The Linux market is growing. It could also be argued that the growth in the Linux market consists of more sophisticated users than the growth in say the Windows market.

    And there are certainly more users switching from Windows to Linux than from Linux to Windows.

    It seems painfully obvious that the Linux market is worth spending a bit extra on development.

  • I am just happy to see all this attention from
    commercial game manufactures

    keep it coming
  • I can finally waste as many Brain Cells in Linux having fun. Than I could by bashing my head against the keyboard out of the frustration of windows just freezing and me losing my final term paper...
    This is definitely a Good Thing(TM)

  • Easy, play whilst compileing.
  • Aw, calm down. One of the fantastic things about being human is you can make decisions independant of what you're told.

    Personally, I didn't even read the post, skipped right to the web page and the comments :-)
  • I'm not really sure if your specific complaints are addressed in the new ruleset (which debuts with Neverwinter Nights), but I know that the abilty to use two weapons (doubling the number of attacks) is an added feature.

    Baldur's Gate rocked. The only other CRPG I've ever really liked was Wasteland (granted I haven't played too many of them, and I have never played a pen and paper), but I'm really excited about Neverwinter Nights.

    I mean... it's from the same people who brought the world Baldur's Gate. It has to be good, but this time I get to play it from Linux, which makes it even better.

  • Also, AD&D has probably the easiest combat and movement system to implement in a game -- to say nothing of explaining the rules for people that have never played an RPG...

    As for being fantasy, I've played an admittedly silly campaign that mixed high fantasy and sci-fi. The ruleset is so transparent and flexible that it was very easy to introduce (a few) pistols ("wand of missile"), machine guns ("staff of tearing") and comsets ("boxes of clairaudience") through a space-time rift :)
  • Mmmmm.... Paranoia... I always love to play a character from R but then, my favourite AD&D race is the tinkerer gnomes of Dragonlance fame :)

  • It's also based on the yet to be released but just announced 3rd edition rule set which moves toward gnome paladin mages which is mentioned in the 3rd edition faq that's somewhere
  • I'm just sick of AD&D period. It's TRITE. Every fantasy RPG land, and especially the CRPG's are worlds where every commonor reads, where every town has a weapons and armor shop, a magic shop, and a half-dozen generic taverns. Lands infested with generic monsters (in the mines when I started BG, I thought, "how about that... a DUNGEON").

    I've seen D&D GM's (DM is considered an insult) pull out some amazingly well-crafted and creative stories out of these worlds, mostly by just overlaying their ideas of what makes a decent gameworld over the dross supplied by the authors. I don't have the same amount of faith in the makers of Baldur's Gate, that's for certain.
  • This is just great. I first saw Baldurs Gate a few months back at my brothers and dribbled all over his keyboard. Then discovered that some of my AD&D group have it too (we're a bunch of '30 somethings' that meet once a month to play a campaign that's nearly 3 years old now) and for the first time in a very long time questioned my exclusively Linux home setup.

    Neverwinter Nights on Linix will be a dream come true for me. Good call guys! And thanks Slashdot for the article, I love this site :-)

    Macka
  • Why should a mage be allowed to use a heavy sword or a fighter magical scrolls?? It doesn't make a lot of sense for them to be able to, does it? What is the point of having classes if they are all the same?
  • Of course I'm happy Friend Computer.
    Happiness is mandatory...
  • I've started flipping through the new 2nd edition expansion rulebooks at the local bookstore when no one's looking lately. The 3rd edition is going to pound my wallet yet again. Who can resist those cute little metal hobgoblins?
  • Way cool man. If they even keep half their promises... I especially like the bit about being able to build your own worlds. This has to rock. I want news like that every morning please!

    Then again, there goes my intention to spend more time on "meaningful" things....


    "No Games for Linux" begins to sound like a bad joke. World Domination in five years?


  • The whole DM access & host your own server thing is the clincher for me. My old gaming friends are spread thin across the entire country. Logging onto a lagging public server for a non-DMable game like Diablo pales before sitting around in a room with friends, playing with pencil, paper, and dice, and having a blast.

    Hopefully this model will come closer to capturing the pen & paper games than the other so-called "RPG" computer games out there.
  • Damn, talk about a pessimist! The game has only just been announced, and already you're whining about "how bad it will be". Get a life, and give the thing a chance!

    The original NWN had sucky graphics compared to today's, nowhere near as many spells, monsters, or other cool options. It was a *great* game for the time, but the new one would have to be one hideous monstrosity to not whup ass.

    As for how big the game is, I fail to see what that has to do with anything. Smaller != better. DOS is a smaller OS than Linux, does that mean it's better?

    Geez...
  • On the Neverwinter Nights website, it mentions that all classes require the same amount of experience to level, and instead level limits are imposed. (or something.) Sounds stupid to me. Now humans have no advantage over demi-humans. (Well, except for dual-class.) Level limits suck. Anyway, second edition still looks better than 3rd addition sounds (from your post.) Not to mention I have no intention of dumping any more cash into AD&D.

    kmj
    The only reason I keep my ms-dos partition is so I can mount it like the b*tch it is.

  • Actually, nobody knows what changes will be made in 3rd edition rules as they are not out yet. (Another big announcement at GenCon '99 was that 3rd edition will be released at GenCon '00)

    2nd edition is what's in the stores now, and what Baldur's Gate and Planescape:Torment are based on.
  • I'll wait for this one to come out. I was just talking to my cousins about this one, and I hoped it would be coming out for linux! roxin!
  • Um...it has the same name and it's the same general type of game, but it's not the same thing as the old AOL version. It's being developed from scratch, it will use a 3D engine so it will have a zoomable, rotatable camera, and it's based on the 3rd edition AD&D rules. While I've never played the old AOL version ('cause I've never used AOL), I don't think you have to worry about it not having the same playability. Have you ever played Baldur's Gate? In my opinion, it's the best roleplaying game ever. Period. Bioware knows their stuff.

    I've been a serious gamer for a while now, and I find myself spending an absurd amount of time anticipating yet to be released titles, but this one takes the cake. I have never been more excited about an upcoming release. The fact that there's a Linux version is just an unexpected bonus. I want this game.
  • Months ago, while waiting for Civ:CTP to hit the shelves, I bought Q1+Q2 with all the mission packs (having never played through the mission packs). Just last night I finished Q1's missions, and installed Q2 this morning. After I finish those, I'll have Civ:CTP to tackle. Then, MythII. Then, Neverwinter Nights. Then, something else.

    I don't know why people are saying there are no games, I'm having a blast.

  • Yeah, but it's also full of non-dweeby fuckups and non-fucked-up dweebs, not to mention a lot of people who just give a damn about software. Sometimes I get the impression that we're not welcome in the clubhouse. Other times I don't get that impression at all, but I just feel like being an asshole; that would be today, for example :)

    hehehehe...AC, whomever you are IRL, I hear you ;-)

    When I was in my early teens, I tried D&D. I sat down with the books for about a week, tried to decipher the rules so that I could play with my (then) friends. I gave it an honest shot. After playing a couple of games, I said I really didn't like it, and when they asked why, I gave a few reasons. They proceeded to *scream* at me, and their arguments basically came down to that because there was more of them, their tastes were correct and mine weren't. Have you ever seen this type of argument on Slashdot? ;-)

    I can say I have. When there was a discussion of Tolkien, I stated in one thread that I really didn't like LOTR, and I asked if anyone felt the same way. I remeber one person replied, and he stated that I was the only one that didn't like it, and then proceeded to insinuate that there was something wrong with me. It was like a flashback form my past. :-)

    Am I perfect about remaining calm and objective? Heck no. When someone says something bad about DMB[1], I do get a bit miffed...I try not to let it get to me, but if they continue pestering me with childish arguments, I'm not always pleasent. But, I keep *trying* to remeber that its their tastes, and they are entitled to their own opinions. So, Joe Reader, remeber, just because we have similar intrests and read the same web site does not mean we're one and the same.

    Now, as far as acting like an asshole goes, well I can't say I approve. But, a certain resentment does build up to the zealots on /. ... their superior attitude and assumptions do get to be a bit grating, espically when you're looking for intelligent discussion and all you find is their crap. So, to borrow something from Chris Rock, when it comes to you acting like an asshole "I can't say I approve -- but I understand"[2] ;-)


    [1] Dave Matthews' Band...*duh* :-)
    [2] I *think* this was the phrase...
    --------------------------
  • You need to say something positive. All you post is parental, critical crap. Try offering some suggestions instead of just going around debunking people everytime you post. :-) Thanks
  • Oh yes, someone needs to make something like this for Steve Jackson Game's GURPS [sjgames.com] rules... any ruleset that is as effective for swords and magic as it is for cars, carbines, and laser rapiers get's my vote! I love that system... ok so I'm a teeny bit fanatical ;)

    -mudge
  • I agree. I love the idea of being able to do the 'small hosted environment' with a small bunch of friends. Baldur's Gate MP originally had some of this promise, being able to get with friends, and have a blast.

    I'm wondering how this will do now that it will be competing for a part of the same audience that is now involved in MMRPGs like UO and EQ. I love the concept in both games, but there are times that both have frustrated the hell out of me.

    Having a small, informal party setting like this would be akin to hosting those get-together murder mystery party games. The best part would be that every week another person could throw together a new adventure.

    Looks like some fun could be had...
  • The game is now called "Dungeons and Dragons 3rd Edition". WotC has dropped the "Advanced".
  • There is an FAQ for Third Edition somewhere, but WotC has done a good job hiding it. (The official site is here [wizards.com] but I don't recommend it; 500+KB flash applet with almost no content.)

    But for all who haven't been paying attention to r.g.f.d (*tsk tsk*), here's a very quick summary of the changes (that I can remember, anyway):

    Inititaive is rolled at the beginning of combat, not every round, but per-round is still supported as an option.

    Proficiencies (W&NW) and THAC0 are gone, replaced by a skill system. AC's are reversed and used as the target # for a skill roll (so AC 0 is now AC 20).

    Weapons no longer have speed factors.

    They've brought back several 1st Ed classes, including assassins and monksThere's also been mention of a sorcerer class, but I can't find any info about it.

    There are apparently no longer racial limitations on classes--somewhere I saw a Gnome Paladin/Mage metioned as a viable option.

    There were some hints that kits are gone, or changed considerably.

    Demihumans now have unlimited advancement.

    The Options books are gone, some features have been folded into the main rules.

    Greyhawk is being resurrected as the default setting. FR will still be the primary advanced setting, and DragonLance will still be around, but mostly as novels and novel-derived adventures.

    Ravenloft, Dark Sun, etc are no more. Planescape was been eliminated because WotC decided it would be more fun for DM's to invent their own cosmology. Gee, thanks.

    The core books (PH, DMG, MM) are slated for release in one month intervals beginning *next* August, priced at $20US. There will conversion rules, but there were hints that WotC is encouraging DM to "wind their campaigns down" before switching. (In other words, it may not be possible to convert everything.)

    As for NWN, there is an article here [ga-source.com] and a much more informative interview here [vaultnetwork.com].
  • Call me old fashioned, but the art they've posted on their site is sweet.

    Why old-fashioned? It's been 14 years since I seriously played AD&D... I probably still have my books somewhere. Geez, I remember dreaming stuff like this up, but it just lost it's appeal after a while. I guess the folks I played with ran out of imagination, and things were just too predictable. (Oh, well.)

    I like the mage... I just wish I could set my office up like that... It'd sure slow the flow of stupid questions...

    Also, their background makes nice wallpaper!

  • I like your "eat 'em all!" idea, it rocks. I think that it would be hilarious!

    I mean, have a !@#%$ day at work, come home, log on, grab that joystick (not that one, the other one! sick perverts...) and munch my way through a party of adventurers... BURP!

    God, sometimes that would just make my day.

  • AD&D is actually one of the more complex rules systems out there. Not quite as bad as GURPS with all the options turned on, but the only reason AD&D is considered "newbie friendly", I think, it the fact that it's older than dirt. You can find people who know the system everywhere.
  • ... could you possibly fit in a couple more incorrect stereotypes?

    Yeah, there's a lot of unbathing, overweight geeks who play D&D (or other roleplaying games).
    There's a lot of "normal people" who do too. I like to count myself amongst those normal people.

    Gaming *is* my interest.

    On another note, I can understand slamming Piers Anthony... but PRATCHETT!? Someone needs to install a sense of humor. Like yesterday.
  • Humor is definitely personal. I love Spider Robinson's Callahan's Place stories; others can't get past the puns. (But I still think people who can't get Pratchett are fooey. neener, neener.)

  • Wasn't Fallout originally designed under the GURPS? I seem to recally Interplay having a falling-out (no pun intended) with Steve Jackson... which forced them to design the SPECIAL system for the current FO1 and FO2.
  • What are the chances of Bioware/Interplay teaming up with Bullfrog to come up with AD&D vs. Dungeon Keeper?

    mmm... getting your army of goblins to drop your best friend's paladin onto your favourite torture rack...
  • I played NWN on AOL as well, and really enjoyed it (to the tune of ~100 hours per month at the rate of $4/hr., plus long distance charges). I was very dissappointed when the game was closed down and am glad to see it revived so---hopefully they'll balance playability, character advancement, etc. I wonder if they have the old character records and would be able/willing to restore them as a reward for those of us who supported the game early on? William -- Lettering Art in Modern Use http://members.aol.com/willadams
  • You don't quit gaming because you get old - you get old because you quit gaming ^_^
  • I remember this game while using AOL *hack* *cough*. Back in those day, it used EGA grapics (no fancy 256 color VGA, this was beautiful 16 EGA), the PC speaker for beautiful sound (and noone can forget the classic title music), and took up only 1.3 megs disk space.

    So now what? It's coming for linux, which is good, but because it's 1999, they're gonna find a way to bloat a game from 1.3 megs to 400+.

    While playing NWN in it's AOL incarnation probably wouldn't pass as fun these days, I bet anything that this game isn't going to come close to playability that the original had. It's a shame too.. With all the storage space, grapics capabilities, sound capabilites, and multi-platform development, you'd think they'd be able to do something with it.

    I guess we can only wait and see how it turns out. I'm hoping for the better, but expecting nothing.
  • My entire point is that it won't be the same, and that a 3d fully scalable engine isn't going to make a great game. We have much better looking games now, but are they more fun to play then the classics? NWN was one of the first massively multiplayer games (I think 500 people at the same time, same server, same world). There's very little Bioware can do to bring back the magic the original had.

    I played Baldur's gate, and not being a big pen-and-pencil RPG fan (mostly console RPGs now), nor a big AD&D fan anymore, it didn't impress me nearly as much as NWN did when I first jumped in there. I'll never forget long nights on the server hunting for dracoliches at level 3, just hoping that the more experienced people would kill it so I could get my share of items / experience, knowing that in a few months I'll be doing what they are for the younger generation.

    I'm about willing to go back to Pools of Darkness (the first Forgotten Realms AD&D game to have SVGA graphics), if I can find the CD I kept it on.

    I know it won't be based on the original NWN. I'm also saying that the original NWN was one of the -best- online games. Period. Given that, the new NWN has alot to live up to.

  • "RPG geeks make most people sick"

    Evidence?

    "Deal with it; it's a fact."

    Urrm, no. It's not in Lawson's Factionary. And Lawson is 100% canonical. If it ain't in there, it ain't a fact.

    Sorry.

  • ahahahah
    ahah
    ha

    OK, I'm fine now.

    You believe the D&D stereotype? Dude, you deserve *everything* you get, and what's more, you're lucky if that's all you get...

    Lives and interests? How much do you know about D&Ders' lives? What the f##k is D&D if it's not an interest? You diss imaginative, passionate, creative, social people... Come on AC, what the f$%k is so good about your life that enables you to be such a t&*t?

    Troll, or f@@kwit.

    (I don't play D&D, but this guy is out of order...)
  • "If they do it right, most of the development is platform independant. If they plan to do more mulit-platform games later, this is a good habit for their developers. Starting now gives them a real advantage over other companies later. "

    This is true, but most developers have been doing platform independant stuff for years. Only they haven't been supporting Linux. When did Linux become a popular games platform? OK I understand the chicken/egg thing here. But it's going to happen slowly, if at all.

    "This is also an excelent time for building brand loyalty. Making a few games now when there aren't as many companies building games for Linux could pay off later when the Linux market is larger."

    Heh, that's a good one. As if your average Linux user is really going to fall in love with a commercial, closed source game developer. I don't see it happening. Maybe I've just been reading /. for too long...

    "The Linux market is growing. It could also be argued that the growth in the Linux market consists of more sophisticated users than the growth in say the Windows market"

    So effing what? It could be argued, but it's probably not true. Anyway, what has sophistication (read: ability, willingness [and need] to fart around with .rc files) got to do with games? Is there something about a Linux-head that's going to make him/her buy more games than a Windows user? In fact, shouldn't Linux people be writing their own games? (Open source copies of existing games, naturally... Sorry, couldn't resist :)

    "And there are certainly more users switching from Windows to Linux than from Linux to Windows. "

    You didn't count the people that tried Linux and then realised how good life was with Windows (although wouldn't it be nice if Windows had a decent command line shell...) "Oh look, he's a Windoze Luser"... Yeah, and I have SuSE 6.0 on the other partition, and I haven't used it for months because it began to p!$s me off...

    "It seems painfully obvious that the Linux market is worth spending a bit extra on development."

    My advice is, take something for the pain, but we will both be interested in the growth of the Linux games market. Cos, like, it couldn't exactly shrink, could it?

    Perhaps decent support for 3D accelerators would help... And I don't mean the odd one or two, I mean *all* of them. I do understand that this is currently in progress, but until it happens, the games thing is going nowhere.
  • Er, OK, I was joking.

    There is no such publication.

    Happy now?

    Or do you want me to explain it to you?
  • AD&D a way to avoid political issues? Wow, when I was a Junior High kid I got accused by a schoolteacher (behind my back) of being a Satanist in front of a class of my peers, because one of my friends tried to defend AD&D by telling the teacher I also played it. After that I got a reputation around the school, people thought I was some kind of warlock. I learned to completely hide the fact that I ever played and eventually stopped. I don't know, have things really changed that much? (I feel old ;-) I know Jerry Falwell tried to bring up D&D post-Columbine, though he didn't get any milage from it.

    Of course, I haven't really looked at much of the new editions of AD&D, after TSR started their "let's appease the witch-hunters" policy... (I only found out recently they were bought by Wizards of the Coast.)
  • I still have every issue of Dragon and, later, Dungeon magazine I ever bought (except for two that were stolen, grr), plus all the original books (um, well, you know the first hardbound Monster Manual, Players Handbook and Dungeon Masters Guide, you know the ones with the cool Demon Idol (with the thieves stealing the jewel eye) and the DMG Efreeti on the cover. Oh, and the original Ravenloft module... but I only have the reprint of Tomb of Horrors ;_;

    (I always preferred Dr. Who to Star Trek though, I think just because I liked the continuing storylines as well as the Daleks and the Cybermen.)

    Anybody else out there remember What's New? (with Phil and Dixie?) or Snarfquest? those were some great comic strips, sigh....
  • Say what!? I sure don't see how it's logical to think that a mage would be unable to figure out how to swing a sword. Maybe if said mage spends all his time studying, he wouldn't be very skilled with a sword. Maybe he wouldn't be very conditioned, and he would tire quickly... but as a fencing enthusiast I can tell you he'd damned well be able to at least use it. In fact I think it would be tough to imagine a time when a mage (or any half way healthy and moble person) would be better off in an open fight with a dagger than a light saber or rapier. Sure no studious guy with 10' biceps is going to be swining a no-dachi or a claymore... but whoever decided that being a mage precludes using anything but a dagger, staff, or sling is smoking ass.

    What would make the classes different, you ask? They would be good at different things. But I don't see the need to have classes at all. It's sort of a restrictive crutch. Sure a person could have a proffesion, but I don't think it should be anything more inflexible than that. Let's try to get a GURPS game out there, eh?
  • Could you post the right one? I'd really like to check out those new rules.
  • Hmm, on re-reading my post I think maybe I was too critical. But hey, that's all the fun of /. !!!
    I did post a suggestion - sort out the 3D card situation, for a start. Oh, and the sound card situation.
    Is Linux in a state where it's realistic to expect someone to buy a boxed game from a retailer, bring it home, whack in the CD, install and play? Without editing a few files and/or recompiling? It's getting there, sure.
    I think that when Linux is in such a state, when it really is easy to port stuff to it, then you will see a lot more games.
    Console manufacturers win the support of game developers by making it easy to port stuff to their machines. Witness Sony v Sega. The Playstation was much easier to code for than the Saturn, and Sony were really helpful. People advocating Linux as a game platform need to spend some time making it viable.
    What about a HOWTO or FAQ about the current state of play w.r.t. all the stuff that game developers require? (I'm making suggestions now OK? :) How am I going to do my sound, my 3D graphics (accelerated please, software Mesa will not suffice...) What about keyboard & joystick access?
    I understand that I come across as not knowing much about the current state of affairs. I realise that the information that I seek is probably available, if maybe not all in one place. But perhaps it would be good for the Linux community to get organised on this issue and produce something for [extremely busy] game programmers [without a long involvement in the Linux scene] that helps them get started.
    Because right now, you must understand that even if a Linux port is done, it must necessarily be the lowest priority, after the various consoles, and if it takes a long time to gather all the information together, it's going to be a problem.
    Although personally I'd shoot myself before I did a Mac version :)
  • Hmm, on re-reading my post I think maybe I was too critical. But hey, that's all the fun of /. !!!
    I did post a suggestion - sort out the 3D card situation, for a start. Oh, and the sound card situation.
    Is Linux in a state where it's realistic to expect someone to buy a boxed game from a retailer, bring it home, whack in the CD, install and play? Without editing a few files and/or recompiling? It's getting there, sure.
    I think that when Linux is in such a state, when it really is easy to port stuff to it, then you will see a lot more games.
    Console manufacturers win the support of game developers by making it easy to port stuff to their machines. Witness Sony v Sega. The Playstation was much easier to code for than the Saturn, and Sony were really helpful. People advocating Linux as a game platform need to spend some time making it viable.
    What about a HOWTO or FAQ about the current state of play w.r.t. all the stuff that game developers require? (I'm making suggestions now OK? :) How am I going to do my sound, my 3D graphics (accelerated please, software Mesa will not suffice...) What about keyboard & joystick access?
    I understand that I come across as not knowing much about the current state of affairs. I realise that the information that I seek is probably available, if maybe not all in one place. But perhaps it would be good for the Linux community to get organised on this issue and produce something for [extremely busy] game programmers [without a long involvement in the Linux scene] that helps them get started.
    Because right now, you must understand that even if a Linux port is done, it must necessarily be the lowest priority, after the various consoles, and if it takes a long time to gather all the information together, it's going to be a problem.
    Although personally I'd shoot myself before I did a Mac version :)

    BTW, what do you mean by "parental"? Thanks
  • Arse, sorry about that.
    Here's a suggestion: If I somehow manage to screw up and post twice (because the post confirmation page failed to load) I'd like to be able to sort it out. But I don't think I can as /. is currently set up... Feel free to slap me with the way to do it, if there is one...
  • yesssss! its about frickin time game publishers
    recognized hackers need to play games on the
    boxes they try so hard to '0wn'... :-)
  • Great, I managed to quit the AD&D habit 3 years ago, and now I know that I am gonna fall off the wagon again. Thanks...
  • It wasn't a valid viewpoint, it's blatant namecalling. Don't rush to fscking judgement there, bucko.


    S/he has a valid point: RPG geeks make most people sick.


    Correction: Most people don't give a rat's arse about RPG geeks. They're too busy leading their own lives to be sick about a small minority of the populace.

  • Ugh, I can't *believe* so many RP'ers are concentrated in one /. topic and this is the most imflammatory troll someone can come up with. HeeHee. Yes, we're all losers. Grossly overweight. Yeah, sure...we're all in league with Satan too(until MS buys them out)! Why, the other day I broke into a church and filled the altar service with peas and carrots...I make crank calls to the 700 Club claiming to be Hell's lawyer after royalties! You know, I could ramble on, but bandwidth is sacred. I shall sum up: "When you can grab the irony from my hand, Grasshopper, then you will be ready to troll" or possibly "Methinks you protest too much."
  • No monthly fee? The ability for any ol' homey to set up a server? DM access? Dev for multiple platforms?

    Hm. Sounds like the 3rd ed. changed a bit, 'tho, from the rules I'm used to. Interesting; dunno if that's good or bad, 'tho.

    The fact that they've considered how to balance characters 'tween, say, Monty Haul games and more stingy modules is a positive sign.

    If only they allowed players to control monsters for a lark... it might be amusing to compete, say, as Trolls to see how many PCs one can eat within a given time. ;-)
  • ...so, like "Call of Cthulhu", "Shadowrun", or "GURPS"? Dunno if there've been many CRPGs (online or not) based on 'em or similar systems.

    AD&D is probably the most familiar model to many, and thus would draw in the most potential customers. It's also clearly fantasy, which avoids certain political issues regarding games in contemporary settings...
  • Hmmm. "Paranoia" has a FAST combat system (no HP, even...), it's a lot of fun (in a twisted way...), and heck -- the player's aren't supposed to even be burdened by knowing the rules (most of which are classified above their security clearance.) :-)

    It is *not* a game, however, that easily allows attachment to one's character, nor promotes long campaigns full of detailed advancement, growth and development. Heh. But it can be great fun.
  • I was mostly thinking that ya don't go around gunning people down in AD&D... there's not that much ranting about Satanism these days, as there is 'bout armed juvvies. {shrug}
  • Hmmm. Are there limits? I've never played _Fallout_...

    I did have some *powerful* _Wasteland_ characters, which was also skill-based. Notably, WL prevented players from being too god-like by limiting the number of skills one could have; there came a point where even if you had free skill points, you couldn't use 'em. That, plus making the end base *nasty*...

    A mage, arguably, might need to gesture, fiddle with components, or otherwise focus. In addition, there's the game balance reasons; in AD&D, high-level mages become *really* powerful under certain conditions (i.e. not having used up all their spells/item. GoI + protection from normal missiles + fire shield + haste self is a nifty combination), while, say, single-classed thieves don't gain that much.
  • You have to just love how that point always somehow manages to come up when you start arguing the differences between multiple OSes. I know it comes up a lot when arging re MacOS. A lot of the same useless facts used in Mac vs Windows has been ported over linux. Once this is released it will slowly diminish the validity of that argument (as useless and almost pointless as it is).


    Most people can't even put up a decent argument worth arguing. The more intelligent ones seem to understand that each OS has its place. There is no "Ultimate" OS. Linux still has a bit to go before it can come close.

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