I think this is the key here:

Zenimax doesn't have any policy of 'unofficial binaries' like Id used to have, I have argued for their value (mostly in the context of experimental Windows features, but Linux would also benefit), but my forceful internal pushes have been for the continuation of Id Software's open source code releases, which I feel have broader benefits than unsupported Linux binaries.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/121945-John-Carmack-Argues-Against-Native-Linux-Games [External Link]

And Carmack is right - objectively source code releases are more important. But Zenimax should never have been around to bully id in the first place.

Whenever I hear Carmack speak it is like a captive man, forced to say things and bend his own thoughts to accept a paradigm he would never have assented to even ten years ago. I do not know what catastrophe occurred to make id willingly be forced under their thumb, but the fact that it has left a hollow shell of a developer is probably the saddest part of all of this.

At least we have still gotten the source code to Doom 3 and Doom 3: BFG. Hopefully Rage as well somewhere down the line.

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Quoting: Quote from Mike FrettThanks for that DRM Free list scaine, that was news to me. Actually Hamish, I have a 6670 and the Open Source Radeon drivers work really good, in some instances, better than fglrx. Nothing to be ashamed of, and if anything it's Nvidia who should be ashamed not to even have an Open Source driver of their own, some guys had to reverse engineer one.

Hey, I am not ashamed - I love my Radeon HD 4670 running on R600g. One of the best $40s I ever spent. ^_^

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Quoting: Quote from fabertaweThis is not aimed at anyone specifically... I still don't understand why anyone who not only doesn't use Steam but detests what it stands for, would want to post in a thread celebrating it! It doesn't add anything :P

I generally do not come and rain on other people's parades without a reason, but here Liam left in the invitation.

Quoting: Quote from philip550cYou use the open source drivers right?

Yes, I do. I do not see why that is relevant, except as another example of how my gaming experience has improved by leaps and bounds over the past few years with or without Valve.

Quoting: Quote from DrMcCoy

Quoting: Quote from HadBabitsEveryone agrees that Canonical has done a lot of good in promoting Linux

I wish people would stop trying to speak for everyone. I sure as hell don't agree!

Indeed, that bothers me to. There is a reason why languages include quantifier words - because a lot of things are not so easily quantified.

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I think my thoughts on Steam have been made quite clear here already: I do not use it, and do not plan to.

My gaming world really opened up more with the Humble Indie Bundles than anything else - and while I do have more games purchased over the past few months than I can currently play, something which was unthinkable a few years ago, I really do not know if Steam's arrival can take any of the credit for it.

Obviously since I am not using Steam I will not receive any direct benefits from Valve's work, but there are claims by some that Steam alone is the champion of the Linux gaming industry, and that even those who do not use it will feel the effects. Well, for me the industry was growing long before Valve showed up, and almost all of the games I am playing and have purchased recently seemingly arrived on our platform independent of Valve's efforts.

So for me the past year has been great in terms of games, but not due to Valve.

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Quoting: Quote from CheesenessMy spider senses tell me something new and big is on the way.

If Frozenbyte does endeavour to do another IP I would actually like it to be a first-person game, since they have experimented with top-down and platforming already, and I could see them doing interesting things with it.

Quoting: Quote from CheesenessI found myself being less creative, to be honest. On my first runthroughs, I didn't bother with magnetism much at all, opting to reallocate points to skills that I was more familiar with the use of instead of really exploring it. This lead to me being thoroughly confused by a seemingly impossible to reach chest in the ice level.

Well, I never really used the magnetism either, but I know for a fact that I would have used even less of the skills in the game if they were hard set, especially in the expansion. Without trading points to try many of the more expensive esoteric skills I probably would have never gotten around to trying them at all. It would have added more incentive to collect more of the experience points though.

Quoting: Quote from CheesenessMy understanding was that there were plans to allow DRM free and Steam players to play together, though I'm not sure what came of that. It's not really a big deal though. I have both ^_^

Well, perhaps when we both have a bit more time on our hands we could try it - I have never been much of an online gamer due to my internet, but after successfully playing a large Blood II bloodbath on Halloween with a bunch of people from the Transfusion forums I am little more bullish to try it.

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I usually have a strong aversion to Steampunk but this actually does look fun. It is nice to see a game about the 19th century with a social conscious instead of it all being about a stylistic look which most Steampunk followers seem to cling to without actually knowing that what they are celebrating was a time of great suffering and exploitation. Knowing Gaslamp I am fairly confident that all of this will be handled with a nice satirical element. I am not surprised that this came out of a game studio in Victoria though - no one out here in the prairies ever really shared such a view on Empire, while some there still feel they are bound to be loyal subjects of the Queen.

Still, whyfor art thou Cthullu? :P

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Quoting: Quote from killx_denIt was in the Humble Indie Bundle 4 and 5 :)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humble_Indie_Bundle [External Link]

But it isn't available DRM free anymore afaik :/

Ryan says the HIB builds will also receive updates.

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Quoting: Quote from CheesenessGosh, what a delight it was to finally get to glide with Pontius' shield. The franchise had been crying out for it since day one, with its spiritual predecessor, The Lost Vikings, having set precedence for "the fat guy should fly".

Has Frozenbyte ever acknowledged a connection between the two? It seems to be the great assumption with regards to Trine is that it is based on The Lost Vikings, but I have never seen Frozenbyte themselves make the connection.

Quoting: Quote from CheesenessI do feel that it'd be nice if Pontius could hurt enemies by jumping on them with the shield below, but maybe we'll get that in Trine 3 :D

I do wonder what Frozenbyte's next move is going to be. When the expansion was announced there was word of a new IP, but now they seem to be talking up the idea of a new Trine game instead. I personally feel that it would be better for Frozenbyte to try something new; while there are a few more places it could go (as you mentioned, hurting enemies with the shield) the sequel was already getting rather abstract with the powers and the plot and characters only have so much more life in them. But they could always surprise me.

Quoting: Quote from CheesenessI'm unsure about how good a thing the flexible skill point allocation is. On one hand, it's nice to be able to experiment and try different things, but not having the skills lock in at all means that you often find yourself pausing the game to switch skill configurations instead of using what abilities you currently have to solve a problem (which is more interesting from a puzzle/critical thinking perspective).

It is a trade off between flexibility and economy - while it does indeed diminish the need to select powers carefully and figure out how best they are used, it does also allow the player to come up with more creative solutions to problems. For my part, I basically treated the skills as as being hard set after I selected them until I reached the Goblin Menace levels, where all of the new powers with higher skill prices prompted me to do a bit more experience exchanges.

Quoting: Quote from CheesenessII now have an itching to play the game again. We should have a co-op runthrough at some stage! It'd be neat to attempt to stream a GOL playthrough or something.

I assume that the Steam and DRM free versions can not communicate with each other, which would be problematic?

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Quoting: Quote from HadBabitsWish I could say the same for Edmund of Team Meat :\

Just do the world a favour and ignore him.

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Quoting: Quote from JopWhy would you want the source code of a game :/

Not been on Linux long have you Jop?

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