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Building a Retro Linux Gaming Computer Part 34: Abusing the System
7 November 2023 at 10:00 pm UTC Likes: 1

Quoting: lejimsterI never expected Abuse to be talked about on this site ever. I was only just talking about this game with a friend the other month as I was getting nostalgic. I didn't even know they did a Linux release. Neat.
I have touched on it in another article before, although it was sandwiched alongside the original Linux port of Doom after I got support for a.out binaries working.

Quoting: gbudnyOn the other hand, the application CD was added frequently to the boxed versions of Red Hat, and it would be difficult to check their content. The application CD contained many commercial and shareware applications for Linux.
I can at least confirm that Abuse is absent from the Red Hat Linux 5.2 EXTRA! package as I have been able to explore all the discs included with that, but seeing as this box set was from 1998 when Crack dot Com was already out of business and a.out support was being dropped, even this might be too late for it to have been included.

Finding Red Hat Linux packages from earlier than that also gets quite tricky, but I can confirm that the Abuse shareware RPM package was supplied with several of them.

Quoting: slaapliedjehttps://archive.org/details/abuse-v0-33
How about this one? Old crack dot com version.
Pretty sure that is the MS DOS shareware release as it only has the first four levels included. Regardless, I am avoiding covering abandonware for this series in favour of actual discs or free releases.

I was actually for a time quite skeptical that the mail order registered version of Abuse even existed, but I did eventually find some images of the packaging material and CD-ROM online, as well as a patch for MS DOS users to convert their Abuse 1.05 registered version to the Abuse 2.0 retail release.

Building a Retro Linux Gaming Computer Part 34: Abusing the System
7 November 2023 at 2:43 am UTC Likes: 2

Further links and resources can be found on the official website:
https://icculus.org/~hamish/retro/part34.html

Quoting: gbudnyI know that Abuse was on the CD with old versions of Red Hat Linux. I don't know which version of Red Hat had the most recent version of this game. Maybe, it will be easier for you to check old versions of Red Hat. Then, you can try to find this specific version of Red Hat with Abuse on eBay or other places.
I have looked into this, and best as I can tell, it was only the shareware version of Abuse that Red Hat packaged alongside their distribution without the full registered data. Hence the RPM package that I grabbed from their servers, which in fact is what I used to install the shareware version for my article back when I played it in February.

Red Hat did sign a publishing deal for Golgotha but that of course was never finished:
https://www.redhat.com/en/about/press-releases/press-crackdotcom

Not long after Red Hat stated that they had no further interest in publishing games:
https://slashdot.org/story/98/11/05/105224/red-hat-not-interested-in-publishing-id-games

Building a Retro Linux Gaming Computer Part 33: I Hate Mondays
30 October 2023 at 7:07 pm UTC Likes: 3

Further links and resources can be found on the official website:
https://icculus.org/~hamish/retro/part33.html

Building a Retro Linux Gaming Computer Part 32: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back
8 September 2023 at 1:53 am UTC

Quoting: gbudnyHow was your experience with the serial mouse on Linux?
Better than on Windows 98 as Red Hat still had drivers for it, so I just had to figure out the right serial device. Mouse was a cranky old beast as you would expect.

Quoting: gbudnySome people connected the SSD to old computers with Windows 98 and Mac OS X Tiger. You have this size limit, so I don't know if it will work on this hardware with the old version of Linux.
Ha, well, I do not even have SSDs in my main Arch Linux box yet; the two Western Digital 2 TB Greens and the 500 GB Blue that I installed 10 years ago are still going strong, so I never had a compelling reason to replace them.

Quoting: chickenb00I really love this series! Some like reading about repairing old muscle cars; I like reading about repairing period accurate 90s Linux desktops. Keep up the good work please, I need more!
I have a big list of planned future articles, and have a stack of games and boxes to work through yet. It is just a matter of finding the time for them. Cheers though.

Building a Retro Linux Gaming Computer Part 32: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back
4 September 2023 at 10:53 pm UTC Likes: 2

Further links and resources can be found on the official website:
https://icculus.org/~hamish/retro/part32.html

Building a Retro Linux Gaming Computer Part 31: The Fear of Loss
8 August 2023 at 1:56 pm UTC Likes: 2

As usual further links and resources can be found on the official website:
https://icculus.org/~hamish/retro/part31.html

Building a Retro Linux Gaming Computer Part 30: Imperial Purple
15 July 2023 at 2:36 am UTC Likes: 1

Quoting: gbudnyThese activation keys that require a server connection are annoying and make some games useless. On the other hand, it probably won't be an issue if you have a backup of the hidden folder from the activated game.
Sadly in the case of the Ignition DRM that was included with Marble Blast Gold not even that may be an option, as it also ties itself to your specific hardware configuration.

After being removed from Steam, Betrayer is now free on GOG
13 July 2023 at 3:35 pm UTC Likes: 1

Quoting: rustybroomhandleIndie does not mean amateur. A lot of indie studios are packed with industry veterans.
Sure, but it is a question of expectation management. You would assume more of a level of polish from the guys who made F.E.A.R. than you would from a true bedroom coder say.

Certainly my main interest comes as someone who has played Hubbard's earlier games going back to Shogo.

After being removed from Steam, Betrayer is now free on GOG
12 July 2023 at 11:00 pm UTC

I would not exactly call Betrayer that much of an Indie game though; it was designed by Craig Hubbard of Monolith Productions fame as well as whole bunch of other Monolith veterans.

Building a Retro Linux Gaming Computer Part 30: Imperial Purple
12 July 2023 at 1:00 am UTC

Quoting: gbudnyI see it on their website, but it's hard to say if it was included on the CD with the game.
Looking at more eBay listings it seems that the boxes that were published by Eagle Games (including the Annie Duke endorsed "Collector’s Edition") just have the Windows and Mac version on the disc, although I suspect the activation keys would also work on Linux, but a later "Tournament Edition" distributed by Encore (and endorsed this time by Phil Gordon) does actually mention Linux directly on the box.

Does this mean I have to learn how to play poker now?