Check out our Monthly Survey Page to see what our users are running.
We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.

How about a little open source to start your Tuesday morning? Work is going into the openblack project, to create a modern open source game engine for Black & White.

Originally released in 2001, Black & White is a "god game" developed by Lionhead Studios which closed down back in 2016. It's considered a classic and even now it's well love, with plenty of new games describing it as an inspiration.

Like a lot of other FOSS projects, openblack does require you have a copy of the original game assets (art, music, video and so on). Might be tricky in this case though, as my searching earlier was a bit fruitless on where to pick up a copy. Probably a good one for GOG to look at reviving like they do with a lot of other classic games.

Check out openblack on GitHub if interested. I'll be following the project along myself now, so hopefully I can let you know when it's properly playable.

Hat tip to dpanter in our Discord.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
12 Likes
About the author -
author picture
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.
See more from me
The comments on this article are closed.
10 comments

Tchey Sep 3, 2019
I can't believe after all these years, no other game manage to catch the same feeling from Black & White.
Ananace Sep 3, 2019
Happy to see that handsomematt has gotten quite a lot of progress done on this since I last heard about it, always great to see people keeping the old classics alive and modern.
Zlopez Sep 3, 2019
  • Supporter Plus
Quoting: TcheyI can't believe after all these years, no other game manage to catch the same feeling from Black & White.

Even the Black & White II failed in this.
TheSHEEEP Sep 3, 2019
View PC info
  • Supporter Plus
Quoting: Zlopez
Quoting: TcheyI can't believe after all these years, no other game manage to catch the same feeling from Black & White.

Even the Black & White II failed in this.
And Black & White I was a gigantic mess to begin with.
A great idea, really, and unique, but it had so many problems in all areas...

Maybe an open source engine can fix some of them, as was the case with OpenXCom.
FireBurn Sep 3, 2019
I loved this game!!

I hope they figure out a deal with the owners to get the old assets and the new code paired up and selling on Steam & GOG
x_wing Sep 3, 2019
You will have a hard time finding the game, Liam. It completely vanished from earth unfortunately.

Fortunately I still have my copy somewhere (Spanish version), if I have the time I'll test this during the weekend :D
Liam Dawe Sep 3, 2019
Quoting: x_wingYou will have a hard time finding the game, Liam. It completely vanished from earth unfortunately.

Fortunately I still have my copy somewhere (Spanish version), if I have the time I'll test this during the weekend :D
There's always ebay...
Mountain Man Sep 3, 2019
Quoting: TcheyI can't believe after all these years, no other game manage to catch the same feeling from Black & White.
You mean that feeling of disappointment when you realized that Peter Molyneux blatantly lied about a number of promised features, and that the game was little more than a short-lived novelty?
Cyril Sep 3, 2019
Every time I find a engine reimplementation project, I'm happy!

If you don't know about it, go check out Julius.


Last edited by Cyril on 3 September 2019 at 4:32 pm UTC
BOYSSSSS Sep 4, 2019
Great game, but the graphics didn't age well. Wish they could make it work with B&W2 graphic assets somehow.
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
The comments on this article are closed.