linux posts

Download: Machinarium Linux Demo and Soundtrack

by Steven Wong Nov 25th 2009 @ 3:35PM

The playable demo for Machinarium is now available for Linux systems. A full version of this independently developed, award-winning, puzzle/platform game is expected to release later this fall and can be purchased through the official website or via digital download stores like Steam. The demo is also available for the PC and Mac. As an added bonus, the game's official soundtrack can be downloaded here.

"Machinarium is independent puzzle / adventure game developed by the makers of popular web-games Samorost and Samorost2. A little robot who's been thrown out to the scrap yard behind the city must return and confront the Black Cap Brotherhood and save his robot-girl friend."

Download Machinarium Soundtrack (31 MB)

Download Machinarium Linux Demo (33 MB)
Download Machinarium Mac Demo (36 MB)
Download Machinarium PC Demo (35 MB)

Gallery: Machinarium

Filed under: Downloads, Demos, Adventure

Big Iron: You WIMP

by Rafe Brox May 21st 2009 @ 1:00PM

WIMP Environment [noun]: Window, Icon, Menu, Pointing device (or Pull-down menu) - A graphical-user-interface environment such as X or the Macintosh interface, esp. as described by a hacker who prefers command-line interfaces.
- The Jargon File

These wonderful, powerful, magic boxes of ours can turn long strings of ones and zeroes into dazzling graphics with breathtaking speed, perform tremendous, complicated mathematical computations in the blink of an eye, and, in a pinch, do a fair impersonation of a space heater. They are ours to command, ready to do our (possibly nefarious) bidding. Whether we know what we want or not, if it's within the operational parameters and capabilities, a PC will do exactly what we tell it to do.

Of course, there's a catch or two. First, we need to know how to tell it to what we want. Heuristics be damned, other than on-the-fly spell-checking, no matter how sophisticated the modern PC is, it's not clairvoyant. Ask anyone who's done time in a call center how much disconnect can exist between what a user wants, and what they say they want. Unlike our not-so-hypothetical phone staffer, the computer can't ask questions or make inferences. They're fabulously literal.

The second catch is having some way to communicate our wants and needs to our willing digital minions. And that's where our input devices come into play.

Continue reading Big Iron: You WIMP

Filed under: Hardware, Opinion

Download: World of Goo v1.3 Patch, Linux demo and updated Mac demo

by Steven Wong Feb 23rd 2009 @ 5:30PM

2D Boy, developers of the physics puzzle game World of Goo, has released a demo of the game for Linux. Additionally, there's also a patch that updates the Windows release to version 1.3, which fixes bugs and improves stability. Lastly, there's an updated Mac demo available for download.

Download World of Goo Linux Demo (31 MB)
Download World of Goo v1.3 Patch [Windows] (10 MB)
Download World of Goo v1.2 Mac Demo (31 MB)
Check out all World of Goo downloads

Filed under: Downloads, Demos, Patches, Puzzle

Download: Call of Duty: World at War Linux 1.2 Dedicated Server

by Steven Wong Feb 23rd 2009 @ 3:45PM

This is the latest version of the dedicated server Linux software for Call of Duty: World at War. This application is for server hosting only and does not include a playable game.

Download Call of Duty: World at War Linux 1.2 Dedicated Server (415 MB)
Check out all Call of Duty: World at War downloads

Gallery: Call of Duty: World at War Screenshots

Filed under: Downloads, FPS, Multiplayer

Big Iron: The 64 bit question

by Rafe Brox Oct 8th 2008 @ 1:00PM

Which bitter flavor of OS do you currently use? BI isn't interested in XP vs Vista or Windows vs Mac vs Linux, simply:

32 vs 64?
32 Bit OS	276 (41.4%)
64 Bit OS	391 (58.6%)

The basic argument in favor of entering 64 bit address space is simplicity itself -- absolutely ridiculous amounts of RAM can be utilized (16 exabytes; ie, ~16.8 million TB, or ~17.2 billion GB). More memory is, in the grand scheme of things, a fine and lovely thing. To anyone who can afford an exabyte or two of quality DDR3, my contact information is in the .sig at the bottom of this article -- I have a slightly-used New York bridge and some quality Florida swampland I'd like to gauge your interest in.

The current counter-argument is two-pronged, but fundamentally variations on a single theme -- sketchy driver support and a paucity of consumer applications (and, more to the point here, games) able to take advantage of the additional memory headroom. 64 bit operating systems have only recently begun to enter the mainstream, primarily courtesy of Vista Ultimate and various flavors of Unix/Linux-based OS (including Apple's Leopard).

Continue reading Big Iron: The 64 bit question

Filed under: Culture, Features, Hardware, Opinion

Linux gaming admin grilled on history, state of the industry

by Samuel Axon May 27th 2008 @ 9:00AM

For Linux users, gaming doesn't always come easy. That said, Linux itself is a labor of love, and people with a passion for the operating system and what it stands for have worked hard over the years to make Linux a viable gaming platform.

Bob Zimbinksi is one of those people. He has operated the Linux Game Tome website for going on 10 years now. Gamasutra ran an interview with him over the holiday weekend, speaking about his personal experiences and his view of both the history and the future of gaming in Linux.

He described two Linux gaming "scenes" -- one made up of free software, and one of commercial products. He reminisced about Doom ("the greatest game that humans had produced to that point") and credited Loki Entertainment Software's bold port of Civilization: Call to Power with starting the commercial scene up. Unfortunately, he also shared a somewhat pessimistic view of the future of the platform. It's all worth a read if you have any interest in Linux.

Filed under: Biz, Culture, Interviews