Latest Comments by kaiman
Unique and stylish looking survival adventure 'Help Will Come Tomorrow' released with Linux support
21 Apr 2020 at 5:48 pm UTC Likes: 1
21 Apr 2020 at 5:48 pm UTC Likes: 1
I've had my eyes on that for a while, but I fear it could be quite depressing ... will wait for some reviews. The style looks ... stylish, however!
Minigalaxy, the FOSS Linux client for GOG adds support for Wine
21 Apr 2020 at 5:38 pm UTC
While Wine support is nice in theory, in practice if I have to use wine for the game, I can also use wine to run the official GOG client.
Support for (incremental) updates of Linux games would be a more valuable feature in my opinion. But as it stands, plenty of games either have their final patch available by the time I get around to playing them, or, if it's really a game I must have at release, I might already be done before the first patch is ready :-).
21 Apr 2020 at 5:38 pm UTC
Quoting: scainewhich is based on Ubuntu 18.04 - which MiniGalaxy doesn't support due to, apparently, a lack of an up to date pygobjectThat's what broke it for me as well.
While Wine support is nice in theory, in practice if I have to use wine for the game, I can also use wine to run the official GOG client.
Support for (incremental) updates of Linux games would be a more valuable feature in my opinion. But as it stands, plenty of games either have their final patch available by the time I get around to playing them, or, if it's really a game I must have at release, I might already be done before the first patch is ready :-).
FOSS Ultima 7 game engine 'Exult' has a new big stable update after 16 years
21 Apr 2020 at 5:00 pm UTC Likes: 2
21 Apr 2020 at 5:00 pm UTC Likes: 2
Nice to see an official release, though at least on Linux, compiling from source wasn't that hard.
As for Ultima VII, that's still one of my favorite RPGs of all times. There are games with better graphics, games with better combat (definitely!), probably games with better anything. But there's hardly a game that beats the package as a whole.
So I'm immensely grateful to the Exult team for all the work they did so far to keep that gem alive on modern hardware!
As for Ultima VII, that's still one of my favorite RPGs of all times. There are games with better graphics, games with better combat (definitely!), probably games with better anything. But there's hardly a game that beats the package as a whole.
So I'm immensely grateful to the Exult team for all the work they did so far to keep that gem alive on modern hardware!
City-building strategy 'Kingdoms and Castles' adds Steam Workshop support ahead of AI kingdoms update
6 Apr 2020 at 8:43 pm UTC
6 Apr 2020 at 8:43 pm UTC
Quoting: ChronariusSure, will be lot of fun if you have bought it on GOG!My thought exactly.
Wine 5.5 development release out with new features and fixes
28 Mar 2020 at 12:39 pm UTC Likes: 4
28 Mar 2020 at 12:39 pm UTC Likes: 4
The ongoing MediaFoundation work is the current highlight for me. Apparently, a lot of modern Unity-based games without native support rely on that for video playback. I have set up a prefix with native (Windows 7) mf dll overrides, which plays these games just fine, but getting it to work was nontrivial and required grabbing the dlls from an actual Windows 7 installation. So I am looking forward to this work being complete.
Mostly though, I'll hope that developers using Unity will export their games for Linux as well :-).
Mostly though, I'll hope that developers using Unity will export their games for Linux as well :-).
Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition is out dumping RPG Maker for Unity, adds in Linux support
27 Mar 2020 at 4:17 pm UTC
27 Mar 2020 at 4:17 pm UTC
Quoting: Alm888Wishlisted for now. :)Me too. I'm currently playing Divinity: Original Sin 2, and if I'm in the mood for more RPG afterwards that might be a good candidate. Watched a bit of gameplay, and it looks quite lovely indeed!
Lair of the Clockwork God, Darklands and NAM arrive on GOG with Linux builds
23 Mar 2020 at 12:14 pm UTC
23 Mar 2020 at 12:14 pm UTC
I already wondered why Darklands showed up as new, because if I'm not totally mistaken it has been on GOG for quite some time. Being a DOS game, running it on Linux shouldn't have been an issue either, but nice to see explicit support.
That said, for a brief moment I was tempted once more to buy it, because boy was I looking forward to this game in 1992! Unfortunately, the Amiga version was cancelled, and I never got the chance to play when it was fresh. Nowadays, just looking at those low-fidelity graphics and barely legible font, I am not sure if it would live up to my expectation. Though I don't think any of the games published by MicroProse ever disappointed.
But no, unless someone convinces me otherwise, Darklands will always remain one of those great games I've never played.
That said, for a brief moment I was tempted once more to buy it, because boy was I looking forward to this game in 1992! Unfortunately, the Amiga version was cancelled, and I never got the chance to play when it was fresh. Nowadays, just looking at those low-fidelity graphics and barely legible font, I am not sure if it would live up to my expectation. Though I don't think any of the games published by MicroProse ever disappointed.
But no, unless someone convinces me otherwise, Darklands will always remain one of those great games I've never played.
What have you been playing recently and what are your thoughts?
9 Mar 2020 at 7:23 pm UTC
9 Mar 2020 at 7:23 pm UTC
Aside from the ongoing F1 2017 season, I've picked up and completed Yes, Your Grace. A narrative game with a very casual management component tacked on, that would be quite unremarkable were it not for the lovely pixel aesthetics and the beautiful soundtrack. The story is standard fantasy fare, but it's redeemed by the small cast of likable family members whose well-being lies mostly in the hand of the player.
Since the setting draws from Eastern European mythology, it did have a bit of a Witcher feeling to it, with some not so subtle references on top. And as with most of today's fantasy, there were a few grimdark elements throughout the plot, but for the biggest part it was fairly lighthearted and enjoyable (or maybe I've just grown indifferent to the overabundance of cruelty and violence in the genre).
Since the setting draws from Eastern European mythology, it did have a bit of a Witcher feeling to it, with some not so subtle references on top. And as with most of today's fantasy, there were a few grimdark elements throughout the plot, but for the biggest part it was fairly lighthearted and enjoyable (or maybe I've just grown indifferent to the overabundance of cruelty and violence in the genre).
What have you been playing recently and what do you think about it?
23 Feb 2020 at 8:55 pm UTC Likes: 1
23 Feb 2020 at 8:55 pm UTC Likes: 1
Been playing F1 2017 a lot lately, with mixed feelings. Hadn't played a Formula One game since Geoff Crammond stopped making them, but last year I suddenly felt the urge. So I got the latest one running natively, drove some laps and then all but forgot about it. When staying home with a cold in January, I decided to finally start my championship career. At first I was a bit dismayed at all the fluff that surrounds the actual race, but by now I think it's the most enjoyable part of the game. I kinda wish for a steering wheel and pedals (my old set has long since been trashed), but it seems an excessive investment for just one game, so a gamepad must make do. It's bearable, given the more arcade-like driving model, but not optimal.
The one area where I am disappointed is stability. The game doesn't have any issues while on track, but it likes to crash once a session is complete. So far it did do its autosave in time, so it was only a minor nuisance, but today of all days I lost half an hour of excellent racing :-(. (I redid it and came out even one position higher, but it just wasn't the same). Not sure if the game is to blame, though; might also be the graphics driver, as it's always a Vulkan error that comes up.
Anyway, now that I am hooked, I'd absolutely buy a newer release, if Feral ever decided to make another port. Maybe F1 2020 ... ? :).
The one area where I am disappointed is stability. The game doesn't have any issues while on track, but it likes to crash once a session is complete. So far it did do its autosave in time, so it was only a minor nuisance, but today of all days I lost half an hour of excellent racing :-(. (I redid it and came out even one position higher, but it just wasn't the same). Not sure if the game is to blame, though; might also be the graphics driver, as it's always a Vulkan error that comes up.
Anyway, now that I am hooked, I'd absolutely buy a newer release, if Feral ever decided to make another port. Maybe F1 2020 ... ? :).
NVIDIA talk up bringing DirectX Ray Tracing to Vulkan
23 Feb 2020 at 10:58 am UTC Likes: 2
Though I'll concede one thing: better graphics (and graphic effects) don't automatically make better games. I'd rather have great gameplay with mediocre visuals than great visuals with mediocre gameplay. So I am skeptical about the usefulness of ray tracing as it is implemented by NVIDIA today, as it's just a bit of extra eye candy. It certainly wouldn't be a decisive feature when shopping for a new GPU; on the contrary, I'd rather not have it if it makes the package cheaper.
23 Feb 2020 at 10:58 am UTC Likes: 2
Quoting: ShmerlIt is a gimmick. More of a marketing tool than a really useful feature. To achieve good quality real time ray tracing, you need really powerful hardware.I remember viewing an impressive demonstration by SGI at CeBIT, ca. 20 years ago: the rotating earth viewed from space, and then it zoomed in down to street level. Back then it was inconceivable that consumer grade hardware would deliver that in the foreseeable future, if ever. Nowadays, every smartphone could do it, likely in better quality, too. So yeah, real time ray tracing might be a gimmick now, but give it some time and it will be ubiquitous.
Though I'll concede one thing: better graphics (and graphic effects) don't automatically make better games. I'd rather have great gameplay with mediocre visuals than great visuals with mediocre gameplay. So I am skeptical about the usefulness of ray tracing as it is implemented by NVIDIA today, as it's just a bit of extra eye candy. It certainly wouldn't be a decisive feature when shopping for a new GPU; on the contrary, I'd rather not have it if it makes the package cheaper.
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