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Happy new year, a review of 2011

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Well folks another year of our lives down and another to look forward too.

2011 has been a pretty exciting year for Linux gamers all in all with multiple different types of bundles coming from Humble who have been porting games left right and centre to Linux and Mac for their bundles, while some may not agree with the pay what you want model they have been giving us some good games.

Desura launched onto Linux with problems of it's own with developers like Puppy Games saying they will take their game off of the service (which you saw unfold here too which it seems a resolution was figured out!), their Linux developer at the time Keith Poole leaving Desura but with good news to end it for them - They will also be open sourcing the client!

Gameolith also launched this year which has been steadily adding titles to it's line-up and doing some nice sales for you gamers to get games cheaper!

Minecraft 1.0 was hit with Minecon, well I can't leave this one out really, while i haven't played it myself for a couple weeks now due to the newborn arrival it's easily the biggest indie title to ever come to Linux (thanks to Java), I will be watching this closely as they improve it and build upon it, hopefully this month we will see a 1.1 release fixing some annoyances like double doors not working properly.

The Doom 3 engine source code was also release this year paving the way hopefully for some advances in some of the major open source FPS games we enjoy under Linux like Xonotic.

We also had a very good year with lots of news and new faces appearing on the forums so a big thank you to all you regulars who post and keep us going.

Looking at everything that has happened, it's easy to say 2011 was Linux Gamings best year!

This year we should see titles like Oil Rush finally be released and maybe even Steam on Linux (hah yeah right, shall we start a counter at home many times Phoronix will tell us that this year? :)), who knows maybe even 0 A.D. will hit a stable version!

So here's to 2012 let's make it even better. 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

Bumadar Jan 1, 2012
Humble Bundle showed that Linux users pay more then any other OS, but has it really led to anything other then that ? The Indie Royal bundle appeared which did not force developers to make a Linux version so they ignored the extra sales Linux can generate. Yet the Royal bundle is done by the same people who are behind Desura who in return did invest in a Linux client for their store... that one still puzzles me a bit.

Gameolith I have to admit was the one that surprised me the most in a good way, it does not look that big, the launch was rather unspectacular but if I see the support they do via kick-starter for example it shows they got their heart in the right place.

Things I want to see in 2012 .... a [URL='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captive_(video_game)']Captive[/URL] remake, answer to [URL='http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/34255/Humble_Bundle_Backed_By_47_Million_In_Venture_Capital.php']this[/URL], a linux version of [URL='http://www.grimrock.net/']LoG[/URL], the new Steelstorm or a DLC for SteelStorm 2... ooh and probably many things more :)

either way, have a good 2012 all.
Hamish Jan 1, 2012
Well, to be fair to Phoronix, they have not mentioned Steam in months now, and their gaming coverage has improved somewhat.

And with regards to Bumbadar, at the very least the Humble Bundle has been getting some more games ported. Many of the games in the past few bundles have been Ryan Gordon's ports, they did not have Linux versions before.

As to the Indie Royal Bundle, I stand by what I said when I first heard of it: a crass attempt to cash in on someone else's good idea. It does not change how I view Desura, but I am dissaptointed in the company behind them somewhat for it. Especially when I feel the HIB is overstretching it in terms of bundle amounts anyway.

But DesuraNET is doing great things with Desura, and the Linux attention has definitely been good for them. I was just working on improving their Wikipedia article, and it is hard to find media coverage of it that is not related to the Linux release anymore, so much so I had a hell of a time finding a source for the date of its original Windows launch. That bodes well for us, I think.

And Liam, I think the biggest thing to look forward to when it comes to the Doom 3 source code releases is for iodoom3 to continue progressing and see some of the Doom 3 Mods (The Dark Mod, Hexen: Edge of Chaos, etc) go stand-alone. There is not actually that much the Doom 3 source can really teach us otherwise. You brought up Xonotic, which is already on DarkPlaces, which has basically the same feature set of id Tech 4 already.

Still, I can not actually argue with the claim that 2011 was Linux Gamings best year; we have a momentum again that we have not really had since the days of Loki and the heady start-ups and derivatives it original inspired, before it all burned out. Only this time it is built on a wide network of developers and not the cash flow of one software licensing attorney and his wife, and the casual interest of others. With efforts like Humble Bundle, Gameolith, Desura, Unigine, and every single other Linux friendly developer pushing in the right direction, the future does seem bright.
whizse Jan 1, 2012
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I wouldn't be surprised if 2012 is make it or break it time for LGP. I also noticed that their identi.ca/Twitter feed contains a new years greeting. Nice, if it wasn't for the fact that it's one year old...
Liam Dawe Jan 1, 2012
Hah good one whizse I tend to forget about LGP these days. They just can't match anything anyone else is doing nowadays especially with HIB, Desura and Gameolith developers actually have decent incentives to port themselves (or get ported by HIB).

Ps. Welcome to the forum whizse
whizse Jan 1, 2012
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Thanks!

LGP were apparently working on something new which would be announced "soon" so who knows... but yes, there are (fortunately) a lot of other more interesting companies and developers these days. As an example: I really hope that Overgrowth gets a Linux port this year. It's just an alpha, but it's already looking good: View video on youtube.com
Marcus Møller Jan 1, 2012
Quoting: "whizse, post: 3005, member: 126"Thanks!

LGP were apparently working on something new which would be announced "soon" so who knows... but yes, there are (fortunately) a lot of other more interesting com
panies and developers these days. As an example: I really hope that Overgrowth gets a Linux port this year. It's just an alpha, but it's already looking good: View video on youtube.com


Edward Rudd has stated that he is doing the port and we will hopefully see it within a month or two. There still seems to be problems with Awesomium, but we're definetly getting closer.
Hamish Jan 2, 2012
Edward Rudd? I had no idea he had anything to do with Overgrwoth, I thought that was going to be Gordon again. Then again, it was not until yesterday I knew he was porting for the Bundles as well.

He did a good job with Penumbra and Amnesia though, so it is no problem.
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