I say… What a coincidence!

When I created my post on Linux gaming yesterday, I had no idea that today – and only today – Codeweavers would be giving away Crossover completely free!

Time to enjoy some Windows games…

So you want Linux games?

Me too! After using Linux for a number of years, I’ve gotten to the point where I know that there are quite a few good-quality games available, but I have a hard time convincing Windows and Mac users of that.

So, I decided to create a post highlighting what are, in my opinion, the top Linux games around. Little did I know what I was getting myself into!

Stylized shading in Blender GE

Blender 2.48 includes some very fancy features – among them, GLSL shading and editing in realtime.

Here’s a shader I created to imitate a comic-book like effect. Feel free to edit it and use it in your projects!

Adjust your Wacom’s pressure support in Linux

If you type in man wacom at the bash prompt, you can find out how to adjust your Wacom’s pressure curve in Linux. That’s the hard way, though. You can also use this nifty little program!

I’m thinking you need to run it as root, because it seems to lose its settings after you restart.

Happy drawing!

I don’t normally get games like this…

I typically don’t purchase fighting/violent games.

Now, that doesn’t mean I don’t play them. Under the excuse that “I’m researching the mechanics”, I’ve played quite a few interesting first-person shooters, realtime strategy games, and more – but I haven’t bought a really violent game in a long time.

So, I’m currently trying to justify purchasing Lugaru – a game about a ninja-rabbit looking to avenge the slaughter of his family.

Is the plot a little cliche? Yes, but I’ve only played the demo.

Are the graphics terrific? Not exactly, but they fit the purpose and in places look like a Beatrix Potter illustration.

Is the gameplay good? Absolutely! Admittedly there’s not much more to it that entering a level and killing everything in sight, but the fighting system is so good that I’m not sure I care. According to their website,

Lugaru’s primary feature is its unique combat system. Instead of relying on confusing button combinations to perform moves, Lugaru’s moves are all logical and context sensitive.

It’s 100% true. It takes a little thinking sometimes, and I am slightly disappointed when a strategy I worked out begins to break under the pressure of multiple assailants, but in the end I feel like it’s my fault, and not the game’s.

In addition, the game is available for Linux, Mac OSX, and Windows. Why haven’t I heard about this before? I have a feeling there are more commercial Linux games around than I originally thought. The real icing on the cake, though, is that a sequel called Overgrowth is coming out next year. I’m excited!

Read everything here – quick!

Sometimes the Internet makes me nervous… You’ll run across a forum that appears to be a real gem, only to discover that the last post was in 2003. Sometimes, you don’t even get that far… *sigh*

That’s why I’m planning to go back and reread as much as I can from this goldmine.

http://www.casualgamedesign.com/

If I ever dig up my old game-design links (and if they don’t give a 404), I may post them here in a continuation of this post.

Happy game-developing!

The best way to get Ubuntu games?

I just found this excellent site.

http://www.playdeb.net

I would love to use this with the Pandora!

Pandora pre-orders!

There’s still a chance for you to get an Open Pandora handheld! Their frontpage reports that 2000 units were sold in the first 6 hours, but implies that there are a few left still.

Good luck!

(edit: The final orders are in, and they decided to manufacture as many units as they got orders for instead of capping it at 3000. Almost 4000 Pandoras were sold!)