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devilutionX, based upon the reverse engineered code from Devilution, has a big 1.0 release for playing the original Diablo on modern systems. Note: You need a copy of the original data to play, which you can get easily from GOG.com.

With the 1.0 release comes some huge improvements like:

  • FPS no longer capped at 20hz; smoother mouse and transitions
  • Full-featured gamepad support
  • All movies can now be skipped via ESC
  • Implement --help, --version and --data-dir
  • Implement FPS counter (-f)
  • Force windowed mode with -x
  • Skip startup movies with -n
  • Implement scroll wheel navigation
  • Implement touch support
  • Load assets from the same folder as the mpq
  • Faster loading

It's still currently limited to quite a low screen resolution, but the coders responsible for the project did say widescreen support is a goal for it. They're also currently working on supporting the Hellfire expansion. See the release notes here on GitHub.

Love seeing open source revival projects like this, even when it's somewhat of a legal grey area since unlike other open source game engines (openXcom, OpenRA, OpenMW and so on) it was made by reverse engineering the original code. Even so, since it does require the original game files (GOG.com), perhaps that's why Activision Blizzard have left it alone? Or it's so old they just don't care.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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7 comments

Seegras Jan 2, 2020
Quoting: GuestThere are compiled builds which work on many distros thanks to very kind members of the GoL community.
Which aren't that important, because it compiles out of the box with only two warnings. And works.
Pit Jan 2, 2020
Quoting: Seegras
Quoting: GuestThere are compiled builds which work on many distros thanks to very kind members of the GoL community.
Which aren't that important, because it compiles out of the box with only two warnings. And works.

I'm afraid you overestimate the average todays gamers willingness to do more than press one button to play a game.....
Purple Library Guy Jan 2, 2020
Quoting: Pit
Quoting: Seegras
Quoting: GuestThere are compiled builds which work on many distros thanks to very kind members of the GoL community.
Which aren't that important, because it compiles out of the box with only two warnings. And works.

I'm afraid you overestimate the average todays gamers willingness to do more than press one button to play a game.....
Well, considering how many games I can play by pressing one button . . . life is short.
Avehicle7887 Jan 2, 2020
For those interested I maintain up to date compiled builds for Debian 9 and older distros (as far as old as Ubuntu 14.04).

Details can be found at this link: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/forum/topic/3806/post_id=24920

Feel free to bookmark it as I edit the same post.
Cyril Jan 2, 2020
I just love devilutionX, good work AJenbo and all the contributors!
I would love something similar for Diablo II... For now just projects in WIP.
Wendigo Jan 3, 2020
Currently playing DevilutionX on my RG350 an OpenDingux bases handheld console. It runs absolutely smooth and with auto aim you can even hit enemies with a gamepad.

Here is a video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaU187Kph1I
AJenbo Jan 3, 2020
Quoting: CyrilI just love devilutionX, good work AJenbo and all the contributors!
Thanks :)

Quoting: Avehicle7887For those interested I maintain up to date compiled builds for Debian 9
The official builds are also done on Debian 9 are there any other benefits to yours that we maybe should consider upstream?
(there are also nightly builds on CircleCI if you are wanting more frequent prebuild test versions)

Quoting: WendigoCurrently playing DevilutionX on my RG350 an OpenDingux bases handheld console. It runs absolutely smooth and with auto aim you can even hit enemies with a gamepad.
Glad you like it. It was really fun working with Glebm on getting this version solid. Just did a playthrough of 1.0.0 on a RG300, as so sorcerer, so now I know that the game is fully playable using a controller 😅

Thanks to all for testing and reporting issues. Now it's time to make it even better than the original :o
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