LinuxGameCast Weekly EP140 – Crotch Sliding

Dungeons 2 is OUT! Half-Life 2 gets a graphical overhaul, and VALVe loses its goddamn mind. Then SuperTuxKart faces our CHAIRQUISITION! All this, plus your hate mail.

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http://supertuxkart.sourceforge.net/

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Image credit: Moyk

PSA:

Linux Masterrace
http://www.reddit.com/r/linuxmasterrace/

Steam News:

Colour key: Venn Jordan Pedro

Ze Goggles
http://steamcommunity.com/games/250820/announcements/detail/154588645663414820

Sign Up for the HTC (Re)Vive is open to developers.
It’s not for sale, assuming you qualify it’ll be free.

WHAR Zelda
http://store.steampowered.com/app/353380/

Oh, ethernet.
- ~~Yeah, they’re trying to breach the chromacast market. That means as few wires as possible~~
- ~~Shame they didn’t include it as an option~~
I wonder if the controller list is all that will work , or will others work and those are just the officially supported ones
- I’m guessing those are the ones they’ve tested and fully support.
- If it’s going to be running Linux (even if it’s an ARM spin) it may be possible to use most controllers.
  - Push comes to shove xboxdrv is an option for the other, less common controllers.

$upport Workshop Creators
http://steamcommunity.com/workshop/aboutpaidcontent/

Shitestorm in 3.. 2..
People already selling MODs they did not create.
- http://www.pcgamer.com/paid-for-skyrim-mod-removed-in-a-matter-of-hours/
Steam could have done this in a better way that would cause less butthurt. Maybe something like a patreon-style service, or emphasizing pay what you want.
However, make no mistake. Steam is not candyland, it is the product of a successful and wealthy corporation. They were bound to do something like this at some point because they like to make money.
75% is pretty steep
- The type of people who will work for 25% rev share are the type who will actively steal with intent to sell.
Granted, this is only for Skyrim (for now) but we’ve already seen how bad it can get in one day.
That said, I think people who make MODS should get some wet stinky.
Well, every single mod I was subscribed to on Steam for Skyrim is now paid for.
Since Skyrim doesn’t have a Linux port, I sure as hell won’t be paying for any of them nor will I be playing the game for sure anymore.

Will it?
http://store.steampowered.com/app/365670/

I would like to see a “download previous versions” option.
Some things are hella glitchy with the latest version *glares at OpenShot*
I guess it’s useful to someone on OSX or Windows, but I don’t see the difficulty of running yum/apt-get install blender
- Distro abstraction?

Dungeons 2
http://store.steampowered.com/app/262280/?snr=1_7_7_230_150_1

I’m not spending $39.99 on a Unity game.
€40 Dungeon keeper clone in Unity.
At least there’s a native version, remains to be seen how well it works.
- At least one ARCH!!!11 user couldn’t get it to run
System Requriments:
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 or similar with 2 GB of dedicated VRAM, DirectX 11 and Shader Model 5 support
- Sound Card: Integrated or DirectX 9.0c compatible soundcard
- Guess it’ll only work with an AMD card and Gallium nine </sarcasm>
Apparently they should have sprung for more writers and better dialogue
Could be good, but I’d wait for it go on sale

$tarbound Update
http://steamcommunity.com/games/211820/announcements/detail/234527530304810676

In Early Acces since 2013 and as is tradition this FKs previous versions.
- For the most part. If you got auto patched, you’re kinda fucked, but if you held off, and did some stuff you could keep your save intact
I have lost interest in this game.

Interstellar Marines Update 18
http://store.steampowered.com/news/?appids=236370

Just played the tutorial and it got my hopes up ..at first
Unlike several months ago I was able to hit 45 FERPS (@1440) in a square room with nothing going on. Improvement.
Then I hit an “open area” and my poor little 980 could hardly hit 20.
Oh these wacky guys #10
http://steamcommunity.com/app/236370/discussions/0/618459931322808064/

HL-2 Update comes to Linux
http://store.steampowered.com/app/290930/

1.5 Gigajewl DL
Runs fine but it’s not exactly visual amazeballs
Like I said, Half-life 2 still holds up in the visual department.
Having prettier shaders is nice but… meh.

Skeet skeet
http://store.steampowered.com/app/363460

“Each uterus is procedurally generated”
Done in the jMonkeyEngine and it does not support Intel HD graphics according to the SysReqs.
I wonder how much they’re actually going to charge for this game. This looks like a rehash of every FMV shooter ever. It’s microcosm! With vaginas!
Looks like some of these babies should be aborted. Like this game
Needs more Wallace Shawn

JumpJet Rex
http://store.steampowered.com/app/329460/?snr=1_7_7_230_150_1

Another DirectX 9 graphics requirement.
“A punishing, old school 2-D platformer with a time-trial twist!”
- Translation: “Youtube-bait, rage platformer”.
Chiptunes wub-wub soundtrack
Local co-op only.

Armikrog
http://store.steampowered.com/app/334120/?snr=1_7_7_230_150_1

See, I would be excited if Doug Tennapel wasn’t a giant douchecanoe
At the end of the day this will be another point-and-click game that will attempt to dip its ladle into the almost dry bucket of nostalgia sauce.
- I can smell the 90s from here.

Coffin Dodgers
http://store.steampowered.com/app/320540/

I really really like it but FFS don’t drop 19.99 on this critter until multiplayer is added.
- Dell was giving this away for free last week. We all got copies,
- Hahaha
You can nix the single player campaign in 30min.

Top-down Unity Unreal 3 shooter #
http://store.steampowered.com/app/232090

No Linux version as of yet.
- They say it will be coming later during the early access process.
- And now we play the waiting game.
  - …
    - Waiting Game sucks. Let’s play hungry hungry hippos
Only has 4 classes, but they don’t restrict you at to which weapons you can use.
- More classes and maps to be introduced later as well.

Dark Castle demo
http://store.steampowered.com/app/349460/?snr=1_7_7_230_150_1

Wow, a Java game in 2015.
The Unity of 1999
The devels asked if we wanted review copies but I kinda never got back to them.
Why Early Access?
“This game is ready for release, but would like to get Early Access community feedback/proposals…
- In other words, we want money without people judging us too harshly on our top-down nostalgia-grab rpg.
Holy shit, their video is a powerpoint presentation.
And this is fucking paid vulture’s claw/eye

News:

Red Hat Joins Khronos
https://blogs.gnome.org/uraeus/2015/04/17/red-hat-joins-khronos/

I wonder how this will affect the MESA implementation of vulkan
Still, it’s good that a heavy hitter in our corner is helping to shape openGL

AMDGPU initial commit released
http://lists.freedesktop.org/archives/dri-devel/2015-April/081501.html

It will only support radeonsi cards. (Desktop Radeon 7000 series and up).
- APUs with the 7000 series graphics still use the r600 spec.
If you were hoping to have Vulkan support for a 5k or 6k series card, you can start thinking about acquiring a 750ti.
- It’s unreasonable to hope that Vulkan support would be included in the initial commit. It’s very likely kept nice and isolated on a separate internal AMD branch, collecting dust while the Devs neglect it

PlayOnLinux/PlayOnMac 4.2.7
https://www.playonlinux.com/en/comments-1293.html

Includes two new scripts for STO and Neverwinter Online.
- Pedro must be ecstatic
- I’m really not.
- Also, I thought that after the PortMyApp deal we weren’t doing PlayOnLinux anymore.

Why do we keep forgiving Double Fine?
http://www.gamesradar.com/why-do-we-keep-forgiving-double-fine/

No matter how reasonably you may put it, saying the words “Bobby Kotick had a point” without sarcasm is a sure fire way to make my eyes glaze in disinterest and making me close the browser tab.
- Motherfkr had a point.
- Schafer couldn’t manage a schedule/budget with a loaded chainsaw held to his head-organ.
- E.G. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-11-24-double-fine-lays-off-a-dozen-staff-cancels-unannounced-project
  - They really could use some better management
I wouldn’t call myself a double fine fanboy, but they have put out some pretty solid games and have been awesome with the linux support, so I think we should be grateful for that.
Spacebase was a horrible game though, and no amount of development was going to fix that.

Ultimate Chicken Horse
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/292879712/ultimate-chicken-horse

Kickstarter for a Youtube-bait rage platformer?
- At least they have a demo, good on them!
Goddamn French Canadians
Input handling on this game for keyboard and mouse sucks, because it grabs your cursor and doesn’t let it go
If they can fix it, it could be a pretty cool party game though

Tasukete Tako-San
http://www.indiedb.com/games/tasukete-tako-san-save-me-mr-tako

Relive the eye-strain of owning the original Gameboy!
Okay, maybe it won’t be so bad since your screen probably doesn’t ghost as much as the original Gameboy did.
It’s just a free demo for now, it only comes with Runner mode.
Plans include: Multiplayer, Story Mode and releasing it on Steam twice!
It’s not a bad little platformer either.

SuperTuxKart 0.9 Official
http://supertuxkart.blogspot.ca/2015/04/supertuxkart-09-released.html

What’s this? Initial online support? I thought it was getting a little chilly.
New graphics options, slightly less janky physics.

CHAIRQUISITION:
– Nooope

– Not sure if want

– Check it out

– Shutupandtakemymonies

Game: SuperTuxKart 0.9 (it’s time we did a FOSS game)
Webzone: http://supertuxkart.sourceforge.net/
Devel: STK Development Team
Engine: Irrlicht
Price: Free/Zilch/Nada/Rien

Wazzat: SuperTuxKart is a Free 3D kart racing game. See the great lighthouse or drive through the sand and visit the pyramids. Race underwater or in space, watching the stars passing by. Have some rest under the palms on the beach. But don’t eat the bananas!

Makes with the working

V-

I used the pre-build binary and had no issues.
The load times were a little WTF long but not unacceptable

J-

It’s not out on most distro’s repos yet. The compile is dirt simple, but may be beyond the ability of certain ARCH!!!11 users

P-

Total-

Shiny / Sounds

V-

LOUD! I didn’t even have my headset on and I could clearly hear the intro music.
The new engine looks nice and the carts look moderately better.
This game could use some proper lighting. Everything looks flat as FK all.

J-

Let’s face it, this is an open source game. The graphics aren’t going to be stellar
Still, it gets the job done.

P-

Soundtrack got noped the moment the game was done loading and it started blaring in my ears.
With all the talk of new graphics I was severely disappointed.
- Your kart still floats 3 inches off the track and the textures are still pretty bad.
I had to find some side-by-side comparisons and I still had trouble telling which was which sometimes.

Total-

Control

V-

The Xclone controlla works and (for the most part) the default layout was logical.
It still feels like you are a static image sliding around a track.
This makes power slides extremely iffy.

J-

The controls do feel very frictionless
Default binding was a bit weird, but you can at least sort it out

P-

You get to rebind controls,
It also recognized the NVidia Shield Controller after I told XInput to let it go.

Total-

FUN

V-

It still has the feel of the cart not really being connected to the track.
Then we have that cheating A.I.
First place by a mile-organ until the last few seconds of the race and second place shows up out of FK and ALL nowhere and nopes you.
I’ve given up trying to unlock tracks because of this.
Hell, I’ve ragequit a few times.
Now why would I put myself through such hell?
Because you have to win races to unlock tracks.

J-

It’s super tux kart. For the longest time, it was one of the only playable racing games under linux
It’s not great, but it’s not horrible either

P-

Racing doesn’t really work when there are no physics.
No matter how janky they may be, you need them to be consistent
The karts turns in place, it’s not like you have 4 tires or anything.
The bots are like concrete walls.
- What’s that? Want to ram them off the road? Not going to happen.

Total-

Final –

Hate Mail:

Zombies
http://slexy.org/view/s207wNMTSs

Something something 30fps on a 980
- AMD CPUs are hard, you know.

Matt
http://slexy.org/view/s2YpTFeJI4

Do you believe in Linux gaming?
http://slexy.org/view/s29uIljqey

How about you give me 3K and I will fly over and click export for you.
Do you believe in life after love?

AMD
http://slexy.org/view/s2ySg4qkhA
http://i.imgur.com/mboaeOY.png

Well, if you were to present me with a Phoronix link to say my performance sucks I’d be pretty disappointed too.
Joking aside, you really can’t expect a reasonable discussion with AMD.
- Bigger websites and magazines than us have tried to talk some sense into them, and they don’t listen.