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Quake First Person Shooters (Games)

Loki to Distribute Quake III Arena 277

Posted by Hemos from the blam-blam-thank-you-ma'am dept.
Everyone in the known universe has been submitting the news that Loki Software will be publishing and distributing Quake III Arena for Linux. The game will be published Dec. 27. The box will be a limited-edition collector's tin box and will include SuSE Linux 6.3. Asking price is 50$.
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Loki to Distribute Quake III Arena More

Loki to Distribute Quake III Arena

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  • Please, please, please... (Score:3)

    by Wah ( 30840 ) on Friday December 03, 1999 @07:28AM (#1482832) Homepage Journal
    ...someone make a "gaming" distro for Linux. Please!!!!

    (1st p0s7)
  • Personally, I might buy it just so I can play with the new improved BFG, but I'd rather see some good flightsims/stragety games come out for linux... thou I know none of that is gonna happen till after Xfree 4.0 and DRI. So hurry up, Xfree! :)

    David

    bash: ispell: command not found

  • Cool! (Score:2)

    by hattig ( 47930 )

    Wow! I can buy a game and get the OS for it too! Brilliant.

    A great marketing idea, sell the Linux version of the game with the OS, so that increases uptake of Linux ("Oh, I won't buy that version, 'cos I can't be bothered to get Linux") and it makes the box heavier, so you must be getting more, right?

    Just buying the game would mean that you could update all those slightly old programs you have for little effort. And it is a great coup for SuSE, as everyone who buys Quake III will have a copy of their distribution, and wouldn't you try it out on a spare partition just because?

  • I dunno... am I the only one not excited about Quake? Sure, I cut my teeth on Doom, like everyone else, but Quake just doesn't hold the attraction to me that other games do.

    It's mostly because it's a FPS, but I do like the Dark Forces games. Then again, maybe that's just the Star Wars aspect.

    Powers&8^]

  • Why isn't it just going to be bundled into the Win32 box? I thought that was id's original idea -- to have both the Win & Linux executables on one CD. Has Activision pulled a GT, i.e. they're not willing just to include an /unsupported folder on the CD?

    Well, until I find a box (tin or not) that has both the Win32 & Linux executables's bundled, I'm not gonna buy.

  • Price (Score:1)

    by fsck ( 120820 )
    Wow only 50$ american, that means that in canada it will be well over 100$. Ill be first in line.
    Not.
  • https://www.lokigames.com/

    Here's to hoping Loki makes some serious cash on this. They've done a damn fine job.

    Question about the Suse bundle tho: can you order q3 without Suse? (I can't seem to find any info on loki's site...)
  • Is it just me or is this the single worst day of the year to release a product?
  • This is interesting to finally find out when quake3 linux will come out. Too bad I cannot even play the demo. All my opengl games run super slow, like 3 frames a minute (quake3 demo, wolfgl) with my voodoo 2 8 MB and MesaGL. does anyone know what my problem is or how to fix it???
  • Dec 27th..... I can't wait that long! I want to support Linux games, but I want to play them now. Is anyone else considering purchasing the Windows version and then the Linux version? Or would that still not help the Linux cause because it will inflat the windows amount being bought?
    BTW Unreal Tournament rocks some serious nads... It will give Quake3Arena a run for it's money.
  • Civ:CTP, Heroes III, Q3A... Ahh, heaven.

    Now if only I could get Ultima IX, Final Fantasy VIII, anything else with cool roman numerals, or Gauntlet: Legends, along with a kickass box to play them on...

    Incidentally, if they keep this up, maybe this will become standard. Loki seems to port games very quickly, and if the games used SDL in the first place, it'd be even quicker...

    (of course Quake is the exception, id has always written games with cross-platform support in mind. Amazing, really.)
    ---
    pb Reply or e-mail rather than vaguely moderate [152.7.41.11].

  • Shipping Info (Score:5)

    by MichaelKVance ( 1663 ) on Friday December 03, 1999 @07:36AM (#1482844)
    The game will be in *stores* on the 27th, but we're shipping CDs as soon as we possibly can, by 2nd day Fed-Ex. You'll get your box later. See

    http://quake3.lokigames.com/ship.html

    m.
    Programmer, Loki Entertainment
  • rpm -Uvh quake2-1.06.i386.rpm
    ##############################

    bofh:~#

    Please pay $49.95 plus s&h now.

  • Have you recompiled Mesa for you Voodoo2? Have you done a:

    export MESA_GLX_FX="fullscreen" to enable hardware acceleration after you build the 3Dfx Mesa?

    Etc.,

    m.
  • Check out Flightgear.org [flightgear.org] if you're looking for a flightsim. It's still under development, but it looks pretty promising!
  • What a great idea - bundle the accelerated servers with the latest kernel and market it at a slightly higher price. I know I would buy it just for convenience sake.

    Why hasn't anyone already done this?

  • Carmack decided to do this for tracking purposes afaik. He recommended [slashdot.org] that everyone wait for their version of the game so that other game companies would see that there actually *is* a demand for alterative OS games. I think he is absolutely right and strongly suggest you do so :)
  • Closer to $75, actually. A bit on the high-end of the spectrum of game prices, but still cheaper than MS-FS2k
  • Can we expect to see better distribution to brick and mortar stores
    for Quake 3 Arena than we have for previous Loki games?

    I've picked up CTP, MythII and RT2 directly from Loki at tradeshows
    because they simply can't be found on the shelves. I'm very happy
    with the work Loki is doing to make games available on Linux, but
    distribution has always seemed the weak link. In my area I'd
    expect to see the games at Electronic Boutique and Best Buy at a minimum,
    but hopefully also at WalMart, Target, Sams Club, etc. This is a
    college town with a very active LUG.. it is a shame that Linux
    titles aren't available in the stores.

    I was hoping that with the release of Q3A for Linux that we'd see
    wide distribution, but with the announcement that Loki is going to
    distribute it I'm less than encouraged. Hopefully, Loki is planning
    something special for Q3A distribution..

  • Check back through old slashdot articles. Not including it in the box was a plan to give specific numbers to Linux purchases, to try to convince other retailers and distributors to carry other Linux games. This was reported in great detail a couple weeks ago.
  • If you read/remember reading, there was an article about this on /. a few weeks ago. Carmack would like it to have been this way, but the distributors are the ones that make the final decision. As for a hybrid win32/Linux/Mac cd, it looks doubtfull, but id has said that they will release some sort of patch that will allow you to install the win32 binaries on a Linux platform (or Mac, or any combination of the 3). However, they are not going to release this until a few weeks after the Linux and Mac distributions have hit the shelves, so from the looks of it it will be early in 2000 before we have that ability.
  • There is no BFG, only Zuul.
  • Have you tried it? If you have the bandwidth (cable or xDSL) and a good graphics card it really is quite insane.

    Doom was fun for a while but multiplayer Q3Arena rocks. I don't know anything about the Dark Forces games; gotta check the store ...

  • Re:Bad Timing? (Score:3)

    by Eccles ( 932 ) on Friday December 03, 1999 @07:46AM (#1482862) Journal
    Not at all. Think about it, you've got thousands of computer geeks who have been given Windows apps from their well-meaning but non-techno savvy relatives who have little or no idea about the differences between Linux and Windows. So they return "Pokemon Print Studio" and "Tomb Raider: The Implants Are Leaking*", or pull out gift certificate from other relative who realized they didn't know what to get, and what can they buy, but Quake III.

    Heck, a bunch of geeks will return stuff they *can* use, just to get Quake 3...

    ---
    * Other possible tag lines: "It's Just a Padded Bra", "The Lawsuit Against Dow Corning", and no doubt many more...
  • Maybe not. If you're tired of being good; the Xmas music had really been getting to you to the point that you want to take aim at Rudolph; or the thought of mobs in malls just makes you want to scream...

    ...go and relieve some stress. Heh. :)

  • Is it just me or is this the single worst day of the year to release a product?

    It's you.

    The stores will be crowded, full of people returning/exchanging stuff, pockets full of Christmas money, and there, there, in a shining new heap, Quake III for Linux!

    Yeah, honey, wait in line, I'll just go to the 'warez store.

    George
  • Ok, we have seen almost every Linux book come with a CD containing Linux and this can be understood. But to have a game come with OS is preposterous, I don't know anybody who would have an empty computer, buy the game, install the OS included and then play the game.

    How about if we just integrate Quake III and all the other games into the Linux kernel.
    Aside from having to install a new OS/Kernel for every game, it should not be a problem.
    That would be something to see. In the kernel configuration program you have choices on File Systems, hardware, and games. Recompile the kernel to include Quake and Pacman.

    Well, those are my two cents (more than enough to get Linux)

  • From id's Graeme Devine:
    software piracy has become such a serious issue that we need to use schemes such as CD keys to protect our future sales.
    and from the above mentioned page:
    Pre-orders placed on Loki's website will be shipped in two parts. The Quake III CDROM will be shipped via FedEx 2-day delivery beginning 3 days after we receive the Gold Master from id. The tin box, jewel case, manual and other packaging materials will be sent later via parcel post. We hope in this way to get Linux users playing Quake III immediately, without delays for packaging, assembly and stocking retail shelves.
    At least in the case of Half-Life, the CD Key was on the jewel case. Anyone seen the Q3 stuff yet & see where they put it? Oh what kind of hell it would be to have the disk in hand, and no key.
  • Riiiiight. Let's see your Dreamcast compete with a TNT2. Let's see your Dreamcast connect to a master server, snag a list of ongoing games, and let you connect to one of them. Let's see you play Q3:A with a joypad and actually score some frags.

    Blow the Dreamcast. Blow it right into a ditch.

    That said, console games *are* cool (mmm... Soul Blade), and I'll jump to fork over my cash for a PS2.

  • What I'd like to see... (Score:5)

    by bjb ( 3050 ) on Friday December 03, 1999 @07:52AM (#1482880) Homepage Journal
    What I would like to see is the Linux version of Quake III released on a bootable CD which would detect your configuration and just 'run'. You know, that ancient concept which goes back to the Apple ][ days when you'd just stick a disk in the drive, turn on the machine and the program would just load and run automatically? I think it's certainly feasible, as long as there is at least 100MB available on the CD.

    Of course, you'd also have to be able to run it from your booted system, but it would be a very cool thing (and powerful message?) if the most popular game of 2000 was just boot-and-run, and was powered by Linux.

    --

  • I dunno... am I the only one not excited about Quake?

    Nope. Doom was amusing for about 15 minutes, after which it got pretty boring and tedious. The exploration aspect is cool when you enter a new area, trying to find secret places etc, but it gets old quick. Not enough variety in how to get things done. Tomb Raider (which I know is technically not an FPS) managed to hold my interest longer due to more variety in terms of exploration and things to do to get places (rather than simply "find the key"). But even that got dull after a while. I did win the game, but around by the time I got past The Cisturn(sp?) the only thing keeping me going was the fact that I was so close to the end... and it did improve for the finale. The point being, the same damn thing over and over and over again gets pretty dull after a while. Doom was very very bad in this respect, and Quake hasn't seemed to me to be much of an improvement in any version. Aside from looking prettier, the whole thing still involves running around shooting things and not much else, and with very little variation in how its done (a different looking gun isn't a variation in how its done -- gernades are, but what else?).

    What I want to see most is something like C&C, Warcraft/Starcraft, maybe something like Age of Wonders (Warlords done right), and most of all, an update for my all time favorite game: Master of Orion II.

    --

  • Just FYI: http://www.quake3arena.com/news/index.html [quake3arena.com]

    Now if only they'd announce when the Mac version is coming...

  • Sorry Santa (Score:3)

    by ch-chuck ( 9622 ) on Friday December 03, 1999 @07:53AM (#1482884) Homepage
    but I'm postponing Christmas 2 days :))

    Chuck
  • I'll take uga.edu to be Georgia...If you were out here on the west coast, Fry's seems to have all the Loki games in the Linux/Be section of the store.

    At least they do at the Wilsonville OR store. It's at the front of the software section, right where Macintosh stuff was before Apple got off lifesupport and started walking around again.
  • First, lose the bold. We would have seen your asinine comments anyway.

    Second, why not distribute an OS with the game? It's cheap, and Loki has a vested interest in propagating Linux. Seems reasonable to me.
  • I've seen Call to Power in CompUSA and Railroad Tycoon II in Fry's. In both cases, they were just lumped in with all the windows games, but they were there.
  • Loki and ID Software will be the leaders of other game companies, being the first to have an awakening.
    If they do well through this, than many other games will be available.
    But if they do poorly, than it will be put back a couple of years.
    I myself want games for Linux, I am tired of just playing with linux/fs/coda/upcall.c

    Loki Loki ra ra ra!

  • Am I the only one who thinks this is bizarre?

    I don't really see the rationale... Could they really think that somebody who doesn't have Linux will buy the Linux version of a game and install the O.S. to play it?

    I don't know about other retailers, but at Fry's the Linux games are in the operating systems section, right next to the Linux distributions. There's no way you'd find them unless you specifically went looking for the Linux version.

    Also, I hope they're not expressing a bias toward a particular Linux distribution... That seems like a really bad idea to me. (If I call tech support with problems and they tell me I really should be using SuSE, I'll have some strong words for them)

  • Re:What I'd like to see... (Score:3)

    by Black Art ( 3335 ) on Friday December 03, 1999 @08:01AM (#1482897)
    I think the problem with that is the limitations of bootable CDs. You are limited (incredibly) on the size of your boot image. (The size is about that of a standard floppy.) It can be done, but getting a tight enough kernel to recognise everything is a big pain. Video card and monitor support is still a big problem.

    It would make it simpler that the current installs, but it would also be very slow. Hard drives are faster than cd-roms and most games require alot of data from the drive. Running everything off the rom is going to slow things WAY down.

    Besides, if you have everything based off the cd-rom, where are you going to save your games?
  • I just asked Scott (CEO) about this. He says that we're shipping just the CD to you, but that we are printing the CD key on a label that is affixed to the CD mailer. In order to avoid sending you a mixed CD key on the jewel case/packaging/whatever we'll set aside the boxes for pre-orders and then handle them specially.

    Hope this answers your question.

    m.
    Programmer, Loki Entertainment
  • The speed is very peculiar.
    Do you have the Voodoo GL driver?
    Go to www.3dfxgamers.com [3dfxgamers.com] to get it

  • The official Q3 demo for Windows is out, with Linux and Mac versions following shortly. Start your downloading!
  • Jesus Christ, man! Lay off me!

    I'm not bad!

  • Re:Wow (Score:1)

    by larz ( 23116 )
    you can't get 60 fps displaying to a television screen...the NTSC standard in north america is fixed at ~29.7 fps and the PAL standard in europe is 25 fps. Until game consoles display to htdvs, they won't be able to compete with the frame rate of 3d accelerated computer games.
  • I have seen mention that id will release the Linux drivers for the game so that you can play on a linux box using your windows cd.

    My question... Are they going to release the windows exe files as well so that I can play on windows using my linux cd?

    Anyone seen anything about this?

    Lando
  • How about if we just integrate Quake III and all the other games into the Linux kernel.

    I don't know about taking that literally, but I remember the "good old days" when what you did to play a game was stick its disk in the drive and boot it. That's seriously not a bad idea. No worries about conflicts with other things installed on your system, no chewing up all your hard drive space, etc. The developer has complete control over the environment the game is running in.

    The downside? Well, you have to shutdown and reboot your system to play the game, which these days involves a lot more than simply hitting OpenApple-Control-Reset (or whatever three-finger salute you used back in the days of bootable games). The plethora of hardware available must all be supported on the disk, rather than relying on the user having drivers available.

    So there are tradeoffs to booting your own OS vs. using the users. Being a Unix nut these days, I'd rather not have to reboot. But the idea isn't as far fetched as you might think. I remember when all commercially available games came with their own OS...

    --

  • Not a Linux user, but I've ordered it (Score:4)

    by Shadowlion ( 18254 ) on Friday December 03, 1999 @08:26AM (#1482911) Homepage
    I don't run Linux, personally. I have various distributions (Debian, older Red Hats, older Slackware, even a .86 of Stampede), including a recently arrived version of Slackware 7, but Linux isn't installed on my system.

    So why did I order Quake III: Arena for Linux? To support the gaming market for alternative operating systems. That binaries for the other platforms exist will make the game moderately useful (assuming I want to plug in my Windows disk), but in the end I simply want to be counted as having acknowledged that a market exists for all alternative PC operating systems.

    If I can't stand with my platform of choice - BeOS - then I will stand with the people who are most likely to understand, if not respect, that choice.
    And I would rather have been recorded as having stood for the party I most believed, rather than not having participated at all.


  • They will be releasing updated executables of both so that CDs can swap for either OS as you have suggested. It will be a couple of months though, so support Linux today!

  • For those of us who can appreciate humor.

    [Bringing it back to Quake, which was Sig11's original intention [slashdot.org] anyway]

    The campers were dug in like Alabama ticks,
    And the HPB's were up to their usual tricks.
    The other gamers in 'doze-land , and I in my GNU,
    I can't get any Quake3, what am I to do?

  • Oh yeah, that would be so cool. In fact, I would venture to say it might be the most popular distro of all time! For Linux to gain mindshare (and corresponding marketshare), we need to make it the best game platform out there. We really can't settle for being a close second to Windows 98 or even on par with them.

    We can't rest until every game runs a little better, a little faster, a little more reliably on Linux.

    We can't rest until games start coming out a little earlier on linux than windows.

    And we can't rest until Linux finally has unique game titles that do NOT exist on Windows.

    GO, LOKI, GO!


  • This seems a good time to bring up something I've been wondering about. I know my old Matrox Millenium (w 2MB RAM!) couldn't handle Q3, so I plan on upgrading, but to what? TNT? Voodoo? Something else?

    What are the status of X support for newer 3D cards? Any dedicated servers? What about OpenGL/Mesa drivers?

    In short: What would be the ideal 3d card out there in regards to price/performance, X/Linux support, and gaming in general?

    --
  • "Well, until I find a box (tin or not) that has both the Win32 & Linux executables's bundled, I'm not gonna buy."

    Well, I guess you're never going to buy it, then. And I would hope you stick to this statement because I would hate to see you not buy what you want.

    IE: Don't go around shouting out definite statements when you don't even know what's going on.


    Bad Mojo
  • Yes, I'm in Georgia.. Athens, Ga to be specific and while I don't doubt that CompUSA in Atlanta might very well have Loki games.. you won't find any of them here. You *will* (I hazzard to guess) find Q3A for Windows at every store that sells any soft of software.. Walmart, Target, Hi-Fi Buys (sorry I know some of these are regional), K-mart, etc.. It would be nice if Linux software was as well distributed as Windows software.. even for one title.. I thought Quake 3 Arena would be that title...now I'm not so sure. :(
  • If you don't like multi-player networked battles, then quake is just not your cup of tea. There's no reason why everybody has to like the same types of games.
    But some people just enjoy committing virtual bloodbath/execution style murders over and over from the comfort of their own home :)

  • This is not a real problem. AFAIK, it is possible to mount the CDROM as /.
    So, you can create a tiny kernel, then mount /, then add any kernel modules you might want to load (e.g. network, sound and other drivers).

    Might give some problems with SCSI CD-ROMS tough...
  • For companies that don't want to track, or bother with, Linux sales, Loki seems to be invaluable. They can still sell the product to the Linux market, while not distracting themselves from their "core market." And get accurate numbers for the Linux sales. The other methods Carmack suggested using -- letting Linux users download the game binaries and the use a Windows CD, or including Linux binaries in the Windows box -- obscures the true value of the Linux market.

    Yay, ID! Yay, Loki!

  • First of all, what's up with the bold print. We understand that your "mad as hell and not going to take it anymore", but do you need to shout at us?

    Also, how in any way does this hurt Linux. It is just another distribution point for Linux. If a handful of users convert to Linux because it comes with quake III, then the trouble was well worth it.

    Maybe every game should come with it's own distribution. How cool would that be? Why not I mean, how does it hurt anything? How funny would it be if Microsoft included Windows with every program they sold? At least you would never lose a copy!

  • CD Key Warning (Score:4)

    by Evangelion ( 2145 ) on Friday December 03, 1999 @08:41AM (#1482931) Homepage

    From Here [planetquake.com]:


    On another note, I thought it important to address a security issue with your
    Quake 3 config files for the commercial release.

    When you enter your CD Key, we store it in q3config.cfg in the cl_cdkey cvar.
    Unencrypted. Please treat your retail config files as you would the alarm code
    to your house, or the PIN number on your bank card. If you must send your configs
    to someone, please make sure to edit out the "set cl_cdkey xxx..." line.

    It was brought to my attention that there was a scam with Half-Life CD Keys a
    while back where people were asked to e-mail their configs to HLSupport@hotmail.com
    or something to that effect, and I'd hate to see an innocent customer unknowingly
    succumb to a similar scam with Q3A.

    Cheers,

    -Xian

  • Yeah, that's nice and all, including SuSE 6.3. Just wish I'd known that 3 days ago when I ordered 6.3 by itself... such is the nature of my life.
  • Jesus Christ, man! What are you saying?
  • Jesus Christ, man!

    In an attempt to appease you, I have created a user account. So no more Anonymous Coward from Jesus Christ Man.

    So lay off me! I'm not bad!
  • A good 2D/3D card for Linux users is the Voodoo3 3000. It works in 3D in Linux and the X server is in the XFree86 3.3.5 SVGA driver. Regardless of what you may think of 3dfx or their cards, the voodoo3 is still very fast. A TNT2 Ultra of course is faster and does 32 bit color, but you'd have to wait to get good 3D performance in Linux.

    -W.W.

  • Re:CD Key Warning (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I'm sure we'll have a key generator available to us soon enough anyway.
  • I suspect it is a two-fold thing: customer support and marketing.

    Only fairly recent XFree86 and LibC releases work reliably with some of the fancy mouse and video stuff they are doing. When a user calls tech support, and they have to say "you will need to upgrade to a later XFree86/LibC/whatever", at least they will also be able to say "and we included one in the box."

    It's common practice to throw a fairly useless freebie in with another product for marketing reasons. Have you never bought a game and found an AOL or CompuServe disk in there? Hell, DataComm warehouse throws an AOL CD in the box with every purchase. ("Hmm, he is buying some Cat 5 cable, a crimper and a 16-port hub... I'll bet he needs an AOL disk!")

    At least I can give teh SuSE disk away to either a newbie who needs a Linux distribution or a buddy who uses SuSE but hasn't yet got 6.3. I've yet to find anything useful to do with Yet Another AOL CD besides using it as a coaster or putting it in the microwave.

  • on the other hand, if they choose to bundle a distribution w/ the game - how do you choose which one to include? RedHat? Would that be sending a monopoly message?

    I think it's a great idea. Just as AOL distributed IE (blecchh) it still got the binaries out into the hands of the people.

  • I'm buying both; it sucks that I have to pay for it twice. But I can always make a gift of the windoze version once I get my linux version.
  • Does anybody besides me feel icky to read "near simultaneous release" from Loki? In the world of gaming a difference of 20-30 days seems like an eternity.. all your friends running Windows have had (and mastered) a game by the time the "near simultaneous release" is available for Linux. I can't wait for the days of *real* simultaneous release... at least progress is being made and Loki deserves the credit for making it with Linux games. I'm just impatient dammit.
  • Well, having never used linux before, and cringing at the idea of paying $60+ for RH at Best Buy, and wanting to buy Q3A, I think that this a great solution... I will definitely get this game/OS combo and try linux Q3A for myself...

    However, will they release windows binaries for d/l? In that case that they dont, the purchase of this bundle becomes a much more difficult choice...

  • I agree that there has been too much repetition within the previous generation of first person shooters, however I believe this has as much to do with the players as the developers. A prime example is Tribes, a wonderful team based multiplayer game. What annoys me however, is the amount of servers playing the same original maps over and over. Yes, there have been almost as many new and creative maps created for Tribes as other FPS out there, but in general there are two many players who only want the maps they know only too well, and balk at trying new areas. For myself, playing on new maps is a wonderful experience. The exploration of a strange area, combined with the fact that others won't have as great an advantage in knowing the map completely, makes for some intense online experiences. I personally go through the list of Unreal servers looking for maps I've never played before. Finally, as for the gameplay itself, take a look at the new game types for Unreal Tournament. Whether you like the engine or not, games like Assault add new spice to the online mix.

  • What? that only gives me 3-4 days to practice up for the real apocalypse...

    : )

  • Electronic Boutique Carries a wide variety of Linux products including Distrobutions, Games, and Apps. At one local store I found over 15 different Linux products...
  • Yes, you are.

    1) S-T-U-P-I-D Spelling is fun!
    2) If the video card's refresh rate is higher than the screen's refresh rate, how do you expect to see it?

    Bye, idiot!
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • The above post is why they are bundled together. A good idea, IMHO.


  • Yes, the kernel does support most joysticks, but make sure it's either

    - compiled in the kernel or;
    - make sure you load the joystick modules

    Check /lib/modules/misc... Load away!

  • Ah, but they're also selling Debian separately ($19.95). Loki has, in the past, taken a distribution-neutral stance, and I expect this to continue. More likely, SuSE worked out some sort of deal to get SuSE in front of more Linux people in North America.

  • Heck..I was just about to order SUSE and now I get Quake III with it! Only thing...has anybody tried it with TNT GL drivers?
  • It seems to me that SuSE are getting involved in the Linux Gaming Scene heavily at the moment.

    6.3 comes with a demo of Civ CTP and Railroad Tycoon II, given the well roundedness of their ditro, might they not stand to gain from this state, and us all my the positive influence that this will have on the Linux Games market as a whole.

    Anyway getting a copy of YAST 2 alone would be nice ;-)


    Larard.

  • I'd love to go to lokigames and get in on the preorder... but I can't seem to get to anything in the *.lokigames.com domain. Did DNS change recently?


    http://209.223.115.151/ doesn't work
    neither does
    http://63.80.144.66/ :(


    Any more IPs to try?
  • I don't want to reboot just to play a game of quake.
    Plus I also want my web & ftp servers to keep running. I think linux users are used to keep their mashines up 24 hours anyway :)
    So what I'd like to see. Is a game that can be "auto run" from a CD under linux, but does not replace your currently running system.
    Btw. q3test ran ok on my dual P166MMX+Voodoo2system - but q3demotest is segfaulting :(((((((((((
  • ... this post started at a two and has since gone full circle..

    Moderation Totals:Offtopic=1, Insightful=1, Overrated=1, Underrated=1, Total=4.

    lol, someone needs to moderate it as funny and flamebait and then the bases will all be loaded but the score will stay the same.
  • It's common practice to throw a fairly useless freebie in with another product for marketing reasons.

    Only problem is that SuSE is far from being freebie

  • OT: Yet another game going Linux (Score:5)

    by TheFitz ( 113719 ) on Friday December 03, 1999 @09:23AM (#1482967)
    Slashdot doesn't seem to want to run this story, so I'm going to point it out here. Tribes2 (being developed by Dynamix) is going to be ported to Linux. If you go to the URL here [tribesplayers.com] you will see that they have plans to make a Linux and Mac port and are looking for help on the sound systems for those platforms and such. I am a HUGe fan of Tribes and am EXTREMELY happy that Tribes2 is going to be on the Linux platform.
  • What would be cool would be to have a bootable CD that starts up Suse, auto probes for hardware, and runs Q3. I know that auto probes for hardware may be a bit tricky, but people can always install it themselves if they want to play it from harddrive/have wacky hardware configurations. I thought about this before. You put games on CD's in any case. You can boot from CD's. Linux is free. Hardware support for Linux is excellent. Why not just boot and play from CD.

  • Fine with me, but... (Score:4)

    by roystgnr ( 4015 ) <roy AT stogners DOT org> on Friday December 03, 1999 @09:26AM (#1482969) Homepage
    There's a lot of Linux/Windows dual booters out there who aren't willing to wait three more weeks to get the right version of the game. The number of purchases of the Linux version thus won't reflect the number of people who would prefer a Linux game to a Windows game, but will more closely reflect the number of people who wouldn't have bought Quake 3 at all if it hadn't had a Linux version.

    Which is what companies need to know to make their porting decisions, I guess... but it's still annoying to know that there's going to be some skewed, easily misinterpreted marketing data out there because of this.
  • Hmm. a lot of the problem is familarity - a person that knows a map well will do much better than someone who hasn't seen it. While variety is good, a new map really means downloading it, going offline and doing serious practice in the new level until you know your way around. A dedicated player would enjoy this, an average one probably just wants to get online and shooting, then wrap up for the day and do the same tomorrow :+)
    I *do* like Classic Doom and Doom2 though - mostly because I have enough low-spec machines to set up a lan game at home :+)
    --
  • I'm with you in principle :), but I also want to support Linux games, so I'll buy the Linux version.
    If you want to remain principled just pirate [gnu.org] it like everybody else...
    I'm not advocating piracy. I'm just advocating standing by your principles :).
  • Exactly what do they mean by SuSe 6.3? The evaluation CD or all 6 cds? I would think the evaluation CD ....

  • Mesa on non-hardware-accelerated computers (Score:5)

    by Forkenhoppen ( 16574 ) on Friday December 03, 1999 @09:34AM (#1482975)
    Now that we're getting more OpenGL games than ever coming out for Linux, I think it might be a good time to address the problem of video card hardware support.

    Many of us don't have 3D accelerators that work under Linux. While I'd like to have my hardware working under Linux, I realize that it's probably not going to happen any time this millenium.

    So instead, I have a suggestion. Mesa currently has only one mode for software rendering--high quality. Is there any way that a low-quality software rendering mode could be introduced into Mesa? How difficult would it be to add this to the libraries, maybe have it switched on/off by an environment variable? How much of a slow-down would it introduce into the libraries, by having forked logic like this?

    Because honestly, if I were to buy a copy of Quake III right now, I'd have to buy the Windows version because I haven't the "right" hardware 3D-accelerator. A sped-up, but much less visually correct, version of Mesa might make it easier for someone like me to bite the bullet and buy the Linux version, so that when I upgrade/if I upgrade to a 3D accelerated card, I'll have it under the OS I prefer.

    (I realize this is pretty selfish, but it's also one of the reasons why you're not going to see many Windows users switching over to Linux any time soon. If I can't install Linux on someone else's 600Mhz Athalon, and be able to show them a kick-ass 3D game with a frame rate higher than 1.5/s...)


    James
  • No one with a gamepad will ever be able to stop the Mouse+Kbd (Or in my case, ergonomic Cyberman 2 pad) fraggers. I know because I tried. I am actually using only the buttons on the Cyberman with my left hand, and my right hand on the 3 button mouse. It works perfectly, and no hand cramps.>:)
    Dreamcast is all good for fighting games like Soul Caliber (Bought DC and SC at once, MMMmmm!), but for FPSs and strategy games like Civ, or Warcraft you just can't beat the mouse. Of course, when the DC mouse and Kbd get popular over here... Well... Who needs a PC? >:)

    Kintanon
  • That Novell guy will have to be careful :)
  • James,
    The work Precision Insight Inc. (PI) is doing will provide the 3D hardware acceleration in an X Window that these games need for Linux. Check out 3dfxgamers.com under "drivers" to find the pre-release of our first DRI based Mesa driver. If you get to check it out, I'd appreciate your feedback on the frame rate that you get on your system. Three other drivers are scheduled to be released by PI before April of 2000. ATI has announced that one of the drivers will be for the Rage 128, the other two have not yet been announced. Both announced drivers will have full source code and will become part of XFree86 4.0. At least one of the other two will also have full source code.
    Frank

  • Quake, Privacy & Piracy (Score:4)

    by EAVY ( 2121 ) on Friday December 03, 1999 @10:52AM (#1483012) Homepage
    Now that Quake 3: Arena is done and available for Windows already, there's an
    important issue to think about as it affects all versions (Win, Mac, Linux) and
    possibly the future of software in general: Central authentication servers. The
    latest kind of copy-protection for software online. You can only play on the
    Internet when your code (usually CD key) is authorized by a special server
    that's maintained by the producers. Not a new way of fighting software piracy
    but the very fact that now even id Software's Quake is relying on this means it
    could become a standard in future times.

    Another great game, Half-Life, already used it. When I found out about that, I
    stopped playing online, and still regret that I bought it. I always buy the few
    games I can play in my limited time, modifyable games like most of the 3D
    shooters really offer so much that the cost is nothing compared to the fun, and
    I recommend that to others as well. But the latest copy-protection crazyness is
    so frustrating, warez-dudes simply download the cracked programs for free while
    I pay for an original to show my support for the producer, but then I'm the one
    who has to deal with the stupid protection stuff and can't even make a backup
    of it or use it over the LAN on several machines simulatenously. Yet central
    authentication is even worse than that for three reasons:

    1. If the authentication server goes down, so does the game, nobody would be
    authorized to play. Only cracked games could be played on cracked servers. We
    who pay are left out, even if it's temporarily, it is a problem. Especially if
    the central servers get flooded or cracked...

    2. When a CD key is used to identify and authorize players, legit users will be
    locked out if their codes are stolen or generated with a key generator utility.
    If all software was protected with unique keys, breaking into a computer and
    stealing them would immediately render all your paid software unusable. You
    can't use it while the key is used by another user or when it's been blocked
    because of abuse or for any other reason.

    3. We're, once again, at the whim of the producer. It's very similar to DIVX.
    You don't have to pay to play online, at least not yet, but it could be
    implemented easily. Pay-per-Play, no thanks, either Pay-to-Own or nothing.
    Besides, what about privacy, if your unique ID number is transmitted (with
    hardware information, as harmless as it might seem, and who knows what else at
    a later time or by another entity) each time you want to connect to a server.

    I've been thinking about all of this since I got Half-Life. Now Quake 3: Arena
    is coming out and I'm waiting for the Linux Elite Edition. But I'm no longer so
    sure if I really want to buy it, of course I want to show my support for Linux,
    but I'm not going to support authentication copy protection. Just say no? It's
    hard if it's my favorite game! But if I make a mistake now, my next favorite
    game will have the same problem, so it's time to choose. We all have to make
    that decision. The point of this article is to raise awareness of the issue so
    you can make your own choice consciously.

    PS: I'm also interested in id Software's opinion on this issue (Johnc and Zoid
    are registered Slashdot readers). The latest happenings are so different from
    what they did before! Would John Carmack really prefer a world where all
    software that's used online requires central authentication servers? In many
    ways, id often sets a precedent, think about it...
  • The El Torito format allows for many different booting methods.

    The most commonly used is where the bios treats an area of the CD as a floppy disk. Therefore it has to be 360k/720k/1.2M/1.44M/2.88M.

    It is also possible to have it appear as a hard disk image, but I've never seen this.
  • Maybe I'm overseeing something, but I'm wondering about one thing. The previous Linux Doom and Quake were distributed over ftp by idsoftware themselves, and they looked for the Windows retail CD for their data files.
    If I buy this Loki version, will I be able to use it as a key cd for the Windows version? Cause you just KNOW the Windows one will always be at least one revision ahead.
    I don't really care which platform I play it on. I'd like to buy the Linux version to show my support, but if it means that I won't be able to play with all the Windows users just because I have to wait a week longer for the latest patch, then it's not much good. I'd like to be able to switch to Windows just as long as is necessary. Also, the graphic card drivers for Windows tend to be more highly optimised, another reason why I want flexibility. What about authentication, will I get a license number from Loki that'll get me equivalent rights on the authentication servers?
    Florin

  • Re:Quake, Privacy & Piracy (Score:5)

    by Zoid ( 8837 ) <zoidctf@gmail.com> on Friday December 03, 1999 @11:44AM (#1483027) Homepage
    We thought long and hard about CD Key issues before we decided to go with them. With a game like Quake3: Arena where multiplayer is an essential focus of the game--protecting against unlicensed use is a necessity.

    I'd like to address some of your points directly tho.

    1. The authentication code only denies when we are sure you aren't using a valid key. If the authentication server can't be reached, we allow the player on. We only deny when we're sure you're not legit. This may allow some unlicensed people to play, but overall the idea is to only annoy (and mostly deny) people who didn't buy the game.

    2. Stolen keys can be a problem. However, we have a pretty long key string and the chances of guessing (generating) one are several billions to one. The biggest concern I have is people ripping open boxes in stores and writing down keys (it happened with Half Life). I think there's a return policy for that. Activision would have more information about that.

    3. Yes, it can be viewed you are mostly at the whim of the producer. It is our game and you license it, not purchase it from us. You get unlimited play when you spend that one time purchase fee.

    In regards to LAN play, no keys are used when playing on a local LAN, so you can spawn LAN games with your friends.

    CD Key systems are a necessary evil. I'd wish we could go without one, but in the era of digital copying and licensing, it's one of the best solutions out there right now.

    Honestly, I think key based solutions for network specific software (The keys in Q3 are only used in multiplayer) is probably the way the future is heading.

    DIVX is an interesting comparison. The problem with DIVX is that it would track much more general information that we can with CDKeys. DIVX would tell them not only that you watch movies, but what movies, when and how many times. With CDKeys, all we know is that you bought our game and play it sometimes.

    As for privacy issues, sites like the CLQ, http://www.theclq.com [theclq.com], do much more tracking than CDKeys do. They poll all the servers everywhere and keep track of players and generate stats. We don't have any ability to attached a CDKey to player name (the name is not sent with the authorization request).

    I will agree that the privacy issues with unique identifier (key) based systems can be a little scary. We'll do our best to make sure that our system is used for what its intended for--to stop people from stealing our game.
  • Pardon. I meant they have done a good job in the past. Sorry about that.
  • Yes, if you buy the Linux version, you will be able to download the Win32 version from ID's website in January.

    --Sam
  • Here a link to some unofficial Stats reguarding Tribes2. Enjoy!

    Tribes2 FAQs...Posted by Star Lord [sierra.com]

  • Re: /proc (Score:2)

    by mvw ( 2916 )
    Include this fake:

    marc@oranje$ cd /usr/compat/linux/proc/
    marc@oranje$ ll
    total 3
    dr-xr-xr-x 2 root wheel - 512 Feb 6 1996 ./
    drwxr-xr-x 17 root wheel - 512 Dec 2 02:08 ../
    -rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel - 318 Aug 17 23:37
    meminfo
    marc@oranje$ cat meminfo
    total: used: free: shared: buffers: cached:
    Mem: 131194880 128024576 3170304 32817152 2682880 82337792
    Swap: 131567616 6393856 125173760
    MemTotal: 128120 kB
    MemFree: 3096 kB
    MemShared: 32048 kB
    Buffers: 2620 kB
    Cached: 80408 kB
    SwapTotal: 128484 kB
    SwapFree: 122240 kB
    marc@oranje$

    You should have posted with e-mail, so I would have sent you this hint.

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