Thank you for your response.

Quoting: HamishI do not think that is entirely fair to be honest; as you yourself pointed out, the bigger issue was Loki's tendency to over invest and stretch their resources far further than their income stream could support. Them ordering way too many Collector's Edition tins was just a symptom of a wider problem.

Yes, Loki definitely spent too much money on many projects that were interesting for a small group of users.

I think it would be better if Macmillan Digital Publishing were also a publisher for Quake 3 for Linux in 1999. We probably get a set of rpms packages on the CD, which is weird and problematic on many Linux distributions. On the other hand, Loki could survive as a company if it didn't publish this game.

No one mentioned Quake: The Offering and Quake II: Colossus for Linux as financially problematic for Macmillan Digital Publishing. Of course, Macmillan didn't publish any other games for Linux after it. It was a good deal for Linux users to pay for a base game plus two mods in one box. It wasn’t possible to do something similar with Quake 3 for Linux in 1999.

Quake 3 is a great game and the best-looking product created by Loki, but sadly, users voted with their wallets, and this game lost. Nobody mentions their other games that caused so many financial troubles for Loki. The low sales of Quake 3 didn't help Loki survive, and also scared away many companies. I understand it's difficult to accept what happened with Quake 3 for Linux because it's a bizarre situation.

The availability of the Quake 3 engine gave us a chance for some great games. From a financial perspective, it doesn't change the fact that Quake 3 for Linux wasn't a success for Linux as a platform.

Quoting: HamishRegardless, by black sheep, I meant more Call to Power's standing in relation to the rest of the Civilization franchise more than its standing on Linux. Although based on the small sample here, it does seem to have a more positive reputation among at least a subset of Linux gamers than I have seen elsewhere. Quite effusive in fact.

Ok. I didn't think about comparing it with more modern games.

Quoting: HamishThere are separate patch installers for both version upgrades and language conversion listed:
https://www.lokigames.twolife.be/products/civctp/updates.php [External Link]

I was able to change my Linux install from English to French and then to German. That may have been useful for me to experiment with before as there were several cheap German boxes of Call to Power for Linux listed on eBay, while the English version I did finally buy cost me quite a premium, while also still being shipped from Germany ironically enough. Too late now though.

Thank you for correcting me.

Interestingly, they allowed users to change the language in Civilization: Call to Power for Linux. I guess that my non-English games can stay in a shrink wrap for another year. The language support for German in many Linux games was quite good compared to other languages.

Robin Hood - The Legend of Sherwood for Linux also had a separate German and French release.

Can someone publish screenshots of the French version of Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood for Linux?

Quoting: HamishI did pick up a very cheap French copy of Call to Power for Windows just for the CD audio to prevent further wear on my expensive Linux disc; the eBay listing never mentioned that it was in French, but it was from a Quebec seller and you can see French text if you really squint at the picture of the jewel case, so caveat emptor I guess. By copying over the English data from my Linux install and modifying the civpaths.txt file was able to convert it over myself manually, although again, the CD audio was all I was really after. No idea why French versions of older games sell for as cheap as they do to be honest.

Do you learn French in schools in Canada?

In Poland, we usually learn English or sometimes German, and later both. English is the most popular foreign language here. French was a third language in some specific types of schools, and it was more popular in the past in some countries.
I agree it's easier to find many new games in German, French, Italian, etc. than in English because more people want to buy these English editions.

Quoting: HamishI have never really thought of it in those terms before, but I certainly can not think of any off the top of my head. You certainly listed all of the notable ones from that period.

I hope someone released more games for Linux back then.
Finding simple indie games from that period of time is a challenge.

It was horrible to play all these popular games and then get stuck on Linux without any upcoming games for over a year.

I thought that LinCycles from 1996 was a commercial title, but a comment from the author is odd, and I have some doubts:

https://happypenguin.altervista.org/sheet.php?gameid=57 [External Link]

Quoting: HamishOn a separate but related tangent, whether Call to Power was the first or second Linux game to be sold at retail is somewhat muddied by the fact that Macmillan Publishing announced their boxed Quake releases on May 13, 1999 (my fifth birthday) while Call to Power did not start shipping until May 15, 1999 despite being announced months earlier.
https://web.archive.org/web/20081005014949/http://happypenguin.org/html/qlinux.html [External Link]
https://web.archive.org/web/20011201235040/http://www.lokigames.com/news/archive.php3?051999 [External Link]

So you might need to get into an argument over store stocking, logistics, pre-orders, and the like.

I don't know it. I think MP Entertainment released Hopkins FBI for Linux in April 1999. I'm not sure if it was available in stores like Walmart in the U.S. Maybe some Americans remember it.

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Thank you for writing this article!

I always thought that Quake 3 was a black sheep among games for Linux. I wish this game hadn't been released because this decision could have saved Loki from bankruptcy.

I know it's an important game for Linux, but I didn't spend much time playing it. It's on my list of games that I have get back to playing.

I appreciate that Loki ported Civilization: Call to Power to Linux. Some games created by other companies from 1999 didn't always support the fullscreen mode: Quake: The Offering, Quake II: Colossus, Hopkins FBI, Theocracy, etc. You can use failsafe session to force a fullscreen mode in them.

Weirdly, the first Loki game had some unresolved bugs because they invested a lot of time and money in building installers for Linux x86/PowerPC/Alpha/Sparc. Additionally, they created boxed versions of games that support four different language versions, and I don't even mention other releases. It was a huge investment made by Loki for a system like Linux, with one or two games released every year between 1994 and 1998. I don't know any other games that have so many boxed versions for Linux. The list of patches is also long, and some names are confusing:

CivCTP-1.2-alpha-german.run
CivCTP-1.2-alpha-europe.run

I even see patches for the Italian version, but I'm not sure if the box version for Linux was published.

Does anyone have the Italian version of Civilization: Call to Power for Linux?

@Hamish

Loki also bolted on extra multiplayer modes, as well as putting out a sprite editor and installers for switching languages.

I could be wrong about it because I didn't check it out. I have other language releases of Civilization: Call to Power for Linux, but I only opened the English version. I suspect that you can't use any of the French/German/Spanish installers with your English version. These boxes are a bit smaller than the English version of Civilization: Call to Power for Linux.

For example, you probably need the French version of Civilization: Call to Power for Linux to use installers and patches for this specific version, but you can't change it to English. Please correct me if someone tried it.

LGP didn't make this mistake, and they always released one patch for all architectures, and their games frequently had different language versions on the same CD/DVD.

@Hamish

Did you find any commercial games for Linux published in 1997?

It's the only year when I didn't find any commercial games released for Linux. I hope it's not true because it would be depressing to wait for over a year for Quake 2 and Ultima Online:

1994 Doom, Doom 2
1995 Abuse, SimCity
1996 Inner Worlds, Quake
1997 Nothing?
1998 Quake 2, Ultima Online

Maybe someone remembers it.

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Free in the Dark still exists support the GOG version, but not too many people use it:

https://github.com/yaz0r/FITD [External Link]

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Thank you for your response.

Quoting: HamishThe changelog just mentions it was "rebuilt using futureproof libraries" so I don't think there were any internal bug fixes and the newer libraries might actually be counterproductive on a retro system.

It's still a commercial game, and I don't know what they fixed with many of these patches. You can't access a bug tracker anymore, and it's one of the companies that tested their games on much older systems. You can see the software requirements, which aren't demanding.

I understand that you don't want modern features released many years later, and I played older versions of games myself for fun. However, it could be an interesting tidbit for other users if you want to include it.

I think it's still the retro version of the game if LGP created patches for older systems. Of course, they did it many years after releasing it.

Quoting: HamishIt reminds me of when I tried installing my Desura version of the Penumbra Collection on a period system that did not have SDL 2 built for it. The original binaries would have ran fine but not the update.

I had to upgrade my system to play the first version of Penumbra many years ago. Some companies focus only on the current distributions, which is bad.

I played some other games when the installer was much more modern than the game.

I won't reveal too many details because it could be a subject for your articles. For example, I played the LGP game from 2005 on a Linux distribution from 2003, and the other one was from 2009 running on a system from 2006 with patches from 2012.

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Quoting: Hamish

Quoting: gbudnyWhat version of Candy Cruncher did you play?

You can see it in the titlebar of the screenshot. Version 1.51.03 of the game.
Changlog [External Link]

Thank you for your response.

I'm sorry, I have to look more carefully at these screenshots.

These names of patches and installers are quite confusing, so I have to use archive.org

The new installer is from 2007, but it contains an older version of the game than the patch released in 2006. The patch from 2006 is candycruncher-1.52-x86.run, and after installing it, it displays version 1.53.00. I checked it out, and it's the last patch that doesn't support PenguinPlay:

https://web.archive.org/web/20131225032146/http://updatefiles.linuxgamepublishing.com//candycruncher [External Link]

I don't know if this patch works with Red Hat 7.3, but it could fix some of the issues.

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Thank you for your response.

Quoting: HamishI'm guessing that PenguinPlay can now cause some issues in Candy Cruncher because this website was closed.

The installer that I used patched the game up to just before they added in support for PenguinPlay, so that sidestepped that particular issue for me.

What version of Candy Cruncher did you play?

Quoting: HamishI have never been that invested in competing for the highest possible score myself, but for those who are so inclined, I can definitely see it adding an appreciated extra dimension to the game.

I have never been a fan of multiplayer games, and I very rarely play them. I don't like competing with other users, and I have never been very good at it. However, this game was an exception because I was interested in checking a high score table with PenguinPlay. It made Candy Cruncher more addictive for me.

It's an interesting idea for LGP to add the multiplayer mode, which was available only for the Linux version of Candy Cruncher.

It's a shame that LGP never made PenguinPlay accessible for the Linux versions of commercial games that weren't published by LGP. However, it would be impossible to make money out of it and keep it online.

Madblox! with the PenguinPlay support would be great for me.

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Thank you so much for the article!

You are definitely better at playing it because I didn't get so far. I'm guessing that PenguinPlay can now cause some issues in Candy Cruncher because this website was closed.

I played the full version of Candy Cruncher 16 years ago, and it's one of the most addictive games for Linux. I was easily losing track of time with Candy Cruncher. I eventually decided I'm not going to play it anymore. I ran it last year, but I decided to play a few times. I didn't want to get stuck playing for hours. Losing motivated me to improve my score. It was too much fun for me.

It's a great game, and it was even more entertaining with PenguinPlay. You could compare your scores with those of other users. This feature wasn't available for Windows and Mac users.

The most interesting part is that the box version of Candy Cruncher was available exclusively for Linux users. The box version of Candy Cruncher for Windows and Mac doesn't exist. Additionally, LGP had been regularly publishing new patches only for the Linux version for many years.

You can also find the PowerPC and Sparc versions on the CD, which is only available for Linux users. You can probably play it on PlayStation 2 (and other PowerPC computers), which is amazing, but I don't have this console. It's the only Linux game where you can see Sparc on the box in the system requirements.

Linux had this advantage over Windows that commercial games weren't limited to x86/x86-64. Companies like Loki and LGP were investing time in porting some games to Alpha and Sparc. Interestingly, Microsoft never tried to port any commercial games, even for Windows NT PPC/DEC Alpha. LGP was one of the five companies that published commercial games for PowerPC. Of course, I have never heard about the company that ported a commercial Linux or Windows game to MIPS.

I was disappointed seeing a piece of paper instead of a manual. LGP also didn't include any manuals on the CD.

Lastly, Candy Cruncher for Linux was a much better product back then than the digital versions for Windows and Mac.

@Hamish, you should try playing Madblox! for Linux. I keep it on my Desktop, and play it when other games start to get too annoying for me.

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Quoting: HamishIt is all part of the experience. If I wanted stable and supported I would just be playing the game through Crispy Hexen on my modern Arch Linux computer after all.

You are right.

You reminded me why is I still like playing the beta version of Mohaa even if OpenMoHAA is more advanced in many ways like a support for official mods. Both versions are great, but I have more memories of the first version of this game.

I frequently play the first versions of other games like Doom 3 or RTCW on the old PCs.

Quoting: HamishNext article should not take nearly as long to publish though.

Great!

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Thank you for the article.

I wonder if you have stability issues if you used the same distributions as authors of these ports.

I have to admit that I liked reading how you sorted out all these issues. It probably wasn't fun for you to frequently encounter them.

You reminded me this video when NCommander wanted to play Doom on AIX with a source port:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzhCGSE7KKw [External Link]

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Quoting: PenglingYou know that an awful lot of people here, including those you're trying to avoid responding to, were there to witness all of that personally, right? :tongue:

We have the views we have on Linux gaming history because we saw how things were on less-popular platforms too; GOL has plenty of people who used those before shifting to Linux.

I know some people here used Linux before 2010 or earlier. I don't think that is the majority of users on this website. Unfortunately, I have doubts that people know what was released back then because more Linux users knew about ID software, Epic games, and a few other companies. That's it.

You had to use websites like holarse, linuxgames.com, or happypenguin.org to get only some news. Tracking promotions was also almost impossible because you had to use the RSS feeds. You didn't have a store that had no more than 60 titles for Linux on sale. I suspect users share their opinions based on the LGP/Runesoft resellers. The Linux games lists were sometimes the better source of information.

Now you have wishlists and big online stores with games for Linux.

Users cared more about the AAA titles for Windows or the game consoles than indie games for Linux. We have Linux as the gaming platform that has existed for 30 years. The Linux retro community is tiny compared to the other platforms like Amiga or Mac.

Why did Amiga and Mac users know more about the gaming history of their systems?

I know about a few issues with it.
It had something to do with the prices of games, shipping costs, and customs duties. We had a community of Cedega users who also strongly believed it solved all their problems, just like Proton users today. I think it will always be the version of Wine that people think about too seriously.
It's a repetitive process thinking about Linux with the different versions of Wine as the new OS/2. IBM had the source code from Microsoft, and it didn't help.

Let's say that Wine/Proton is the future of Windows games on Linux.
Linux need Microsoft to support Wine to see the radical change in the market. Otherwise, Linux will be in the same position as Mac OS X for many years. I don't know if Microsoft will ever do it.

Why they should do it is the better question.

Can you give me an example of a system, or a game console that achieved success based mainly on games created for their competitors?

I don't care how buggy or unstable are some Linux games because you can see this issue on other operating systems or game consoles. That's the part of the gaming experience on every platform. Users can accept this situation, or reject it.

I think every successful gaming platform needs users who will generate enough money for companies to keep it alive. Linux achieved it with mainly indie games.

Is it enough for everyone?

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