I haven't had much gaming time of late and may have zero for the next month, but here's what I've been doing:

Linux:
Rocket League: Just. Can't. Stop.

Helium Rain: Early access, I just don't have the time to sink into it. It's great though. Super excited about the changes the devs are working on (better economy, and skirmish mode!)

Astrokill: Another EA title. May have my favorite space sim flight model since XW vs TF. It's a near perfect blend of Newtonian and arcade (better than even IWar 2 on that front). Graphics look like a million bucks, especially for a budget title. A shame the missions are a wee thin right now and that it's been in EA since '16 (and that's before multiplayer and other things are done yet). Dev is super responsive and Linux version technically is flawless right now on NVidia. However the game does once done, once this engine gets in the hands of modders (which the dev says will be possible) to do SW or ST or whatever with it, it'll be legendary....

Ravenfield: I should be tired of this, but something keeps pulling me back and sucking me in... There's some glorious chaos in this game. Some new community made maps are great too...

Everspace: After Salivating over it, I can't fully get into it now that it's out. Astrokill kind of spoiled me with that flight model. I can't get back into a more "arcade" shooter...

Wine:
Homeworld Remastered: Trying to figure out why this is so revered. Gave up on it on the PC years ago. The same research like mad, build like mad, and then rush, rush, rush dynamics don't seem to have changed... Bored.

House of the Dying Sun: Some days it works on Wine, some days it doesn't. Some days it works on Wine on machine A, others machine B. Have no idea why. A complete flight sim sleeper that is the best mission based sim since the golden era of XW vs TF and Freespace 2 as far as I'm concerned.

Freespace 2/Diaspora Mod: Diaspora mod nails BSG, but the flight model now really shows its age compared to contemporary space sims like ED, Astrokill, etc.

IWar 2: See Freespace 2 above. Same for this title.

Richard Burns Rally: Astonishingly good rally sim. I actually prefer it to Dirt Rally on Linux, and it's what, like, 10+ years older?

Booting Windows 10:
EA Star Wars Battlefront: Playing to excite myself for the new title. I'm not so sure why this was reviewed so harshly. I think it's an outstanding FPS and space sim. It suffers from being console oriented, and sure it's not as integrated and fluid as the classic 2005 Battlefront 2, but it's so gorgeous it brings tears to your eyes and as close as one can get to feeling like you are in the Star Wars universe.

Allegiance: Why doesn't this 2000 title work with Wine yet or have a Linux version? Wanted to see what I was missing. Not much, it appears, so far...

Void Destroyer: So wish this (and the upcoming sequel) were on Linux. Not sure what I think about it yet. It's either brilliant and I'm just not playing it well or not good at it, or it's really ambitious and poorly implemented. Not sure which yet. Not sure either scenario is fun. The sequel in EA looks better, but not sure I'm going to do it based upon 1 so far...

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Quoting: GuestI just can't stop playing Rocket League.

Me too. And it runs sooooo wellllll on Linux. I think it's in my rare pantheon of Most Perfect Computer Games Ever. Games that, no matter how old, are still nearly perfect fun to play and in which I can completely loose myself. In that category for me are:

* Rocket League
If it has flaws, I can't name them... I mean, it's crack cocaine for every level of player.

* Jedi Knight: Jedi Outcast
Ooozes Star Wars, and light saber combat was never better. The best multiplayer experience I've ever had with other players/teammates online...

* Star Control 2 Melee
Nearly matches Rocket League for, "Just one more game" addiction. The only game I can think of where the weakest unit in sufficiently skilled hands can defeat the strongest unit. Balance between units is supernaturally perfect and why none of its reboots or sequels measured up.

* X-Wing vs Tie Fighter/Tie Fighter series
Still the best space sim flight model without peer. In-game strategy, decision-making, and puzzle-solving have never been matched in the genre.

* Speedball 2 (Amiga)
The Rocket League before Rocket League. Addictive as all get out. You're completely convinced you can master it until you can't.

* Gridiron Football (Amiga)
I may be the only person on Earth who adored this (Bethesda!) sports game from the 80's, but a completely top down, X's and O's (literally) perspective is actually the most fun and strategic way to play American Football. Damn Madden for convincing everyone to go 3D isometric! It's ruined the genre for 30 years!

And the best news is that, thanks to Linux and emulation, I can play them all on my Linux laptop!

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This is how you know that Linux gaming has arrived... When the genre, odd, off-beat, WTF games arrive. I remember the Windows freeware scene and shareware gaming scene of the late 80's and early 90's and it was filled with titles like this.

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Quoting: musojon74Working nicely for me now. On my Alpha, I officially deleted the Windows partition. I have enough cool space stuff now natively on Ubuntu :)

With Helium Rain, Astrokill, Everspace, the X series, and Strike Suit Zero natively, plus House of the Dying Sun working via wine (as does most of the best stuff from the past), I'm *almost* at Windows partition deletion for space stuff. I just need someone to get Elite Dangerous working in Wine, then I can do it :).

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Mine was turned on by default. I have to press 'T' to go full Newtonian...

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[quote=liamdawe]

Quoting: g000hNever played Elite Dangerous, but from what I know none are like it.

For Linux, the EA Helium Rain is the closest new title to the space economy and trading of Elite Dangerous, although Helium rain doesn't have quite the scope of the massive and advanced Elite Dangerous. Going back into the past, the X series on Linux also is similar to Elite Dangerous (although apparently we are not getting the upcoming X4, at least not yet). The prior Linux title closest to Astrokill and Everspace might be Strike Suit Zero.

Elite Dangerous and Star Citizen are the only reasons I ever occasionally return to Windows. Overall, though, it's amazing that while graphics and engines have advanced, the historical high water mark for space combat and 3D space strategy on any platform were titles from 10-20 years ago. Ones like Freespace 2, IWar/IWar 2, XWing/Tie Fighter, Homeworld/2, SW: Empires at War, Freelancer/Allegiance have yet to be bested, IMHO, by any "modern" title (and happily most run on Wine on Linux). If you install any of these today (especially with modded graphical updates by the modding communities) they are just as amazing to play now and feel fresh and contemporary. Elite Dangerous, Star Citizen, Astrokill, Helium Rain, etc are all great and "new," but none have really added anything dramatic or deeper than the greats. Only Star Citizen is really striving to advance the genre, and time will tell if the gameplay ever comes together or is really any fun...

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Here's a gameplay trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn7iUPN458E [External Link]

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[quote=Cheeseness]

Quoting: AlveKattUnlike Freespace 2 and just about every other space combat sim, AstroKill has inertia (you can turn to face a different direction from the one you're travelling in, and it takes extra thrust to counteract that if you want to change directions), and that impacts heavily on how those 6 degrees of freedom can be used.

Actually, if you press 'T,' the automatic inertial compensation goes away and you can play and thust in a completely zero-g fashion! I haven't played the game that way yet, though... Given how fast the action is, it might be tough. I'll be great in missions where you need to strafe fire on capital ships, though!

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Yeah, that's what the developer is doing. Slow roll out to the Linux community via sites like this one to squash the bugs and refine it before slapping on the Linux/SteamOS logo. The dev has a Discord channel and has been super responsive there.

It's a GREAT space combat engine. While longer term they have more work to do on things like more diverse missions and balance, for an EA title, the action is smooth, refined, hot, and heavy. LOTS of fun. It's not as deep mission-wise as, say, Freespace 2 or XWing, being more action oriented, but boy does combat feel chaotic and white knuckle... I'm not sure there's anything else on Linux quite like it.

EDIT: BTW, still amazes me we have two EA space titles within a month of each other. This and Helium Rain. I think they both use UE4, but could not be or feel more different (both in great ways).

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This looks fantastic. Looking forward to it.

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