Torque 3D To Be Released On Github Under The MIT License !

Posted: 10th September 2012 by Maxim Bardin in Uncategorized
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Torque3D will be released as free software under the MIT license !

Why do we care ?
The first engine Torque supported GNU/Linux (and a few GNU/Linux games were released using this engine) but their second TGEA (Torque Game Engine Advanced) sadly didn’t.
With Torque3D porting games to GNU/Linux was possible, but haven’t been actually done yet – and no official GNU/Linux support was given.
Now that this engine will be free software, it could improve to support GNU/Linux and make games like The Age Of The Decadence and Dead State possible to port to GNU/Linux ! (although no official porting plans were announced yet)

It *might* even be possible to port the whole engine to GNU/Linux so people can develop games using T3D on GNU/Linux !

 

Torque 3D to be Released on Github under the MIT license!
 


static.garagegames.com/static/upload/emp-59817/96478475_500px.png
Eleven years ago, The GarageGames founders did an incredibly innovative thing when they sold a full source game engine for $100. We are excited to continue in their footsteps by announcing that we will be releasing Torque 3D as the best open source game technology in the world. Once again, GarageGames will be changing game development.

Why are we doing this?
Nine months ago, we realigned the goals of GarageGames; making Torque 3D available via a permissive open source license is a strategic move towards fulfilling the company vision. Our first goal was to use iTorque to build a new product we call 3 Step Studio. We envisioned a game development tool that requires no programming at all and began to build it. This product is available today for free, but it’s very, very, early in development and we expect to iterate many times before it is a commercially viable product. Our second goal was to build a service division. I’m happy to say that we’ve already booked our first million dollars in service work and we expect the growth trend to continue as we make Torque 3D more accessible. You can visit our services site at services.garagegames.com. We are very well prepared and staffed to provide support, training, and custom development.

Our long term plans are to focus on innovative uses of game technology. Currently, all GarageGames employees have the option to work on any project on Fridays. We are working on some really great projects under the initiative and it’s our hope that we will be able to invest in several of these projects as they evolve. We’ve encouraged our developers to open source these projects. If you think you have what it takes to be an innovative developer using game technology, consider applying for one of our open positions.

Dave Wyand will be leading the T3D open source effort and he has posted a blog describing the details around how we will run the development process. But before you dive into the details with Dave, I’d like to leave you with answers to some expected questions:

Is this version different or a subset of T3D?
We’ve split off some modules as separate downloads and we’ve removed some art to bring down the payload size. Other than those changes, the versions are the same.

Is this just a way for you to dump Torque 3D?
No. We’ve been using T3D internally for service projects and we expect that to continue. In some cases, our service work will directly benefit the core code base.

I recently bought your engine, I feel ripped off.
We will be offering refunds for T3D purchases that happened on or after Sept 1st but before this announcement.

What about other GarageGames engines?
We are starting open source efforts with T3D and learning from this experience. For now, the other engines/products are not available via the MIT license.


Hold on tight, GarageGames is on path to change the way games are made and played.
The Future of Torque 3D is Open Source!
The big news coming out of GarageGames today is that Torque 3D will be going open source under the MIT license. This is huge, and something that we’ve discussed internally for a while. Eric has just posted a blog talking about why Torque 3D is heading in this direction and a little of the history behind the decision. If you haven’t yet read Eric’s blog please head over there and read it first.

The other piece of news that I’m excited to share is that I will be leading the charge on future Torque 3D development with the help of, well, you, of course!


Personal Introduction
While the veterans out there know who I am, many of our newer community members may not. I’ve been a part of the GarageGames community since January 2002, and most of that time I’ve been an Associate. My first commercial game dev product was Torque ShowTool Pro in 2004, which was one of the first 3rd party products sold through the GarageGames online store. Those were exciting times when the whole Indie game development scene was trying to define itself and building momentum.

After the launch of TST Pro I began working closely with GarageGames. I’ve had my hand in nearly every game engine we have launched (plus a few internal ones), and along the way I came on board full-time (and have been for a number of years now). Last year I was the Technical Lead on Torque 3D 1.2, the last retail version of the engine.
www.gnometech.com/torque/images/blog-2012-09-10/2012-09-10-ProductHistory-Tall.jpg
In 2010 I launched my own gaming portal Zworldo that focused on Torque 3D based web games. A lot of what I learned there made its way back into T3D 1.2, which shows that it really helps to use the products you make.

How will the open source version work?

We’ve chosen GitHub to host the Torque 3D repositories. GitHub has taken on the role of the location for Open Source projects on the Internet. It allows for great community interaction, encourages the forking of code bases, and easy merging of changes. And if you’re not yet into git (GitHub for Windows and Mac are tools that really help), GitHub supports both Subversion access and automatic Zip archives of all repositories.

www.gnometech.com/torque/images/blog-2012-09-10/2012-09-10-GitHubLogo.jpg
Anyone may have Read Access to the public Torque 3D repositories. You create your own fork and do your development work there. You can merge updates from the master branch into your own as they become available. And if you have changes you wish to share with the community to be integrated back into the master, you create a pull request and someone with Write Access can review the changes and merge them in.

Who will maintain the repositories?

To maintain the master Torque 3D branch a committee will be set up that has Write Access and may respond to pull requests. This committee is dedicated to making the best core version of Torque 3D so that others can build upon a reliable foundation. Performance, reliability, maintainability and scalability (should turn that into a crest 🙂 are the goals of this committee.

The launch committee will consist of the following GarageGames members:

  • Dave Wyand
  • Eric Preisz
  • David Montgomery-Blake
  • Scott Burns

Quote:Our mission is to build a foundation for a sustainable environment that fosters collaboration and community development of the greatest open source game development platform.

However, we don’t believe that committee members should only come from GarageGames. One of our primary tasks is to seek out and retain qualified core team members that are dedicated to our goals. Over time everyone but myself will be replaced by members of the community and the committee will be allowed to grow as required.

What will be included in the open source version?

The complete Torque 3D 1.2 source code, along with the four starting templates, will be included in the GitHub repository. A separate repository for reference documentation will be set up. Other items, such as the FPS Tutorial template, will be part of a separate download to help keep the main repository to a manageable size.

There are other, closed source components of Torque 3D that I would like to open up following our launch.

Post Launch

Following the launch of Torque 3D on GitHub, another job of the committee will be to come up with a roadmap. We’ve decided to wait until after launch to do this because we want community feedback to help chart our course. My personal list of things I’d like all of us to tackle are:

  • Performance and bugs
  • Further separation of core from other layers
  • Additional platforms (OSX and Linux)

Everything is up for discussion at this point. This really is the most transparent development process we’ve ever had.

Sword Of Justice Tries Again

Posted: 10th September 2012 by Maxim Bardin in Uncategorized
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The Real Time Strategy game Sword Of Justice from 4flash once had a kickstarter campaign which I’ve posted about, but sadly it failed hard.
Now they try again on IndieGoGo with a much more modest goal of $70k and much more time to gather the funds – although sadly it doesn’t seems good either…
They really have something there, their game is at advanced stages of development and they can already show lots of content – I don’t understand why it hasn’t been funded yet.

You have supported the projects of innumerable known and unknown groups, helping them to completion. In our story we have counted on you, the players also…

…Long-long time ago, in a distant land in Central Europe, after the disbandment of EIDOS Hungary, a few of us remained together and decided that we would try and continue to work together on the name of 4Flash. It was then that the idea came to start into bringing to realization one of the innumerable game-ideas. This became the Sword Of Justice RTS game. The aim was nothing less than to rebuild our group through our game. Thus, anybody supporting our project not only helps the completion of the game but reunites and brings into being a new development group. Firms where members of the group have worked: Eidos, Digital Reality, Most Wanted Entertainment, 3D Brigade, Glass Fish Games… Projects: Battlestation Pacific; Dance! It’s Your Stage; Jaws Unleashed…

 

The project was started two years ago and we would like it to be completed it by Christmas this year. For this to be achieved we considered the Indiegogo to be the best solution for you to finance the project. If we succeed to collect the necessary support then we would prepare the game not only for theWindows but for the iPad, OSX, and Linux as well. Unfortunately there is still a lot of work to be done but we hope that together it will be possible to realize the project. Since this group has no capital reserves we can not achieve this aim other than with your help. This is also helpful since you can express continual opinion concerning it while we will listen to your ideas. This was such a game can be accomplished that is fitted to the requirements of the gamers.

 

To whom would they offer the game:

It is to those who loved C&C and Sudden Strike; to those who like when AI not to react in a pre-ordained manner; when the gamer with good tactics is able to win even against overwhelming odds; To those who like to upgrade the given units and use them in a manner that takes best advantage of them.

The game presents a post WWII fictive story. The campaign consists of 12 principal fields. Each field is made up of one principal mission and two subsidiary missions. At the end of each field the player receives experience-points and upgrade tokens. There is no pre-determined difficulty level in the game. Each field starts with parameters suitable for normal level. If during the game, based on losses and other data the regime determines that we can not cope with the machine, then the game changes to an easier level. If the gamer plays better than the AI, the program advances to a higher level of difficulty and the field continues with those settings. According to plans, two gamers may  play a single campaign in cooperative mode. Naturally the level of difficulty also is considerably greater.

The multi-player mode consists of two parts: In one, during the usual choice of field we can play free battles ranging from 1 against 1 to 4 against 4. Each player has own profile in which he/she sets initially the colors of the nation he/she starts in. It is here possible to inspect how many battles have been won and lost by the gamer and the number of points credited. If e. g., from a battle between a more and a less experienced gamer the weaker comes out on top that gamer receives a higher number of points than would be the case were a more experienced gamer to win. The pother type of multi-player mode is part of a game of global territorial occupation. In this each player starts in the colors of his/her nation On the map each state (gamer) initially lords over a given territory. He may then attack states with common boundaries to these.

We receive a player from among the ones of the attacked state who will play with us on the given field. The territory joins the state that has more battles won on the given field. In this manner a state can expand on the greater map.
Gameplay Video :

The Project

The game primarily presents the military might of the Eastern European States. (Slovakia, Hungary, Russia, Rumania – in the case of multi-player mode only –in conjunction with the units of Japan (initially). With this these games no longer conform to the market of earlier WWII strategic games, in which mostly we can only meet with British, American and German forces.

The upgrading of units takes place in three categories for which we pay with tokens. There is scope for training of the selected type in the area of defense, attack strength and manpower. Each of them in six steps. In the course of these we can obtain such extra options as intelligent choice of aim or cooperation with other units or the possibility of calling for reinforcements or retreat in the case of critical injury…

In the course of playing against the machine following the possibly fleeing unit the player can easily run into a trap or run onto a  minefields having been settled. The aim is that the AI (artificial intelligence) should try to bring logical decisions adjusting itself to the style of the player, rather than follow pre-generated road maps and plans.

From among our units, it is the commander whose role also diverges from the usual ones. E. g., he can not see further but his role is to coordinate the units within his radius of action. Thanks to this –if allowed –he can call reinforcements for a tank engaged in battle or even send a damaged tank to a more protected area or he can tell the unit which enemy to attack and order priorities. Thus e. g. our tanks do not attack the nearer infantry that are less dangerous to them, but attack the farther situated tanks even if they came within the area of sight later. It is possible with the commander unit to provide aiming points for artillery or bombing aircraft.

A further characteristic of the game is the delay of orders. Here the player can switch in this situation temporarily for the given unit . Here if he gives the order where to go, or what to attack it continues to wait until we give a global order to carry out the action. In this case all units move together and one need not be a wizard with the mouse in order to move more units and to different points at the same time.

 

So if you want to support this project and help make it happen, please pledge to their Indiegogo campaign.

Star Shipping Inc. – Pledge And Share The Profit !

Posted: 6th September 2012 by Maxim Bardin in Uncategorized
Tags:
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Star Shipping Inc. was already released for the iOS a few years ago, and now there is a campaign to bring this game to GNU/Linux and Android (Android version might be free).

Moreover, you can actually make money by backing a project via  appback ,

As Appbacker gives it’s backers a % of the sales when the product is finished (or in this case – as the game is already on sale for the iOS you might get a profit right away !) , by pledging $10 for Star Shipping Inc. you might get $13 profit later on !

So it’s a win-win situation !

 

About the game
Travel through space and get rich with Star Shipping Inc. Visit the new frontier colonies and battle space monsters and pirates in your quest to be the number one space trader the galaxy have ever known.

Take the role of the captain of of a cargo ship traveling between star systems to trade goods and commodities in strive to become the richest star ship captain in the galaxy. Your weapon is a mighty cargo ship that has to defend itself against space pirates, monsters and other less-than-friendly encounters.

Star Shipping is a turn based, strategy game, where in each turn your choices and a number of events and encounters can happen, affecting the outcome of the entire game.
When you play, choose your strategy well, and think twice before every journey, your choice between playing with a ship that’s fast, or one that is large, or strong makes the game totally different, and it’s all your choice.

Play at your own pace, as unlike many other games today, this one offers the player a mental challenges that doesn’t rely on the ability to hit stuff on the screen, and doesn’t require you to be 100% focus on the game at all times, instead you can play at your own pace, and use your economical planning skills and your intellect to trade various commodities between stars, and climb up the score ladder as you accomplish your goal of becoming the richest space captain in the galaxy.

Quotes from players:
“It’s like solitaire, in space.”

“Totally addictive”

“Takes a few game sessions to fully realize the full potential of the game, but when you do, it’s awesome!”

Star shipping features high resolution beautiful space backdrops, planets, aliens, nebulae, space ships, items, and characters.

 

Features Include:
– Beautiful graphic set in a space age universe.
– Clever economy system that keeps you from being too greedy.
– Mass amount of events to keep you sharp as you travel.
– Encounter space monsters, bandits, and pirates who will try to kill you.
– Choose from several types of ships to maximize your strategy.
– Visit the shop to upgrade your vessel, so you’ll be the mightiest cruiser to have ever sail the frontiers.
– Defend yourself with battle drones or newly bought weapons.
– Tons of achievement and ranks to discover for high replay value.
– Random colonies and commodities that will sometimes make you laugh.
– Easter Eggs.
– Made by two guys, but not from Andromeda.

 

Screenshots

 

Gameplay Video

Sample Review
http://www.thirteen1.com/Issues/1313910/mag.php#28

Star Shipping website can be found here:
http://starshipping.corbomitegames.com/

 

Why Should You Back This App?

Star Shipping Inc. has been released to the appstore over 2 years ago, it has over 100k downloads and while it has reached it’s long tail it holds the potential to become something bigger with the various improvements we’re planning.
This game have reached the top 10’s in many countries and can reach them again after the AppBackr campaign.
Right now the game sells a few hundred copies a month.
You can make some nice profit from supporting this game,

 

Additional Backr Rewards
$100 or more get listed in the game’s credits as backr.
$250 and more we will name either a planet or a commodity in the game to your name (or any name you choose)
$1000 get involved in the next development cycle of the app as we’ll discuss new features with you before we implement them. (limited to the first 5 backrs)
$5000 get your name/logo in the splash screen of the app visible to our many existing and new players to see for at least one month. (limited to the first backr)

 
What Will The Money Be Used For?

We want to make new updates to Star Shipping improving the game play according to the many comments we got and add a bunch of nifty new features, depends on how many units we will sell.
One example – is we want to make the game longer and add way more content .

We also want to upgrade our game engine to the the version 4.0 of the unity3d to support new features, and make the game compatible to iPad3’s.

Moreover we want to add Linux as a new platform for the game, and add a free-to-play android version. if we get enough unit sold we will be able to afford it.

 
About Corbomite Games,
Founded in 2006, Corbomite Games is an Israeli game development studio initially focusing on episodic adventure games. Corbomite Games released several adventure game titles such as “Pizza Morgana”, “Zbang”, and “Knights in Shining Armor” an Action-adventure game called “Heavenly Hell” , and “Star Shipping Inc.” a cross platform space based strategy game.

in 2012 Corbomite Games have spun off to start another sister company called Adventure Mob, focusing on Adventure Games (such as a demo for a Kickstarter Campaign for Leisure Suit Larry), while Corbomite continues development of it’s original IPs.

For more information, on Corbomite Games, please visit:
http://corbomitegames.com

Member Since May 2012

 

About Appbacker

appbackr is the first crowdfunding marketplace for mobile apps. Developers connect with ‘backrs’ to help fund, market, and distribute their apps.

Backrs make a profit as the app sells in retail app stores. appbackr allows anyone to take part in the new app economy…and make some $$$.

Some apps are finished and some are still being developed. Backing an app early gives you the opportunity to make a higher return.

Creating an app is hard work. Developers work tirelessly to build, perfect, and promote their apps in a very competitive market. appbackr gives them a place to find like-minded people to help support them in their journey.

We’re glad you’re here…welcome to appbackr!

 

Portas Aurora: Arrival – Turn Based Strategy Space Game !

Posted: 5th September 2012 by Maxim Bardin in Uncategorized
Tags:
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Portas Aurora: Arrival is a turn based strategy space game that will be somewhat similar the Final Fantasy in combat.
As they use the Unity4 engine, they recently announced a GNU/Linux support.

Embrace the civility of Luxvatio or let it be thrown into the jaws of war. Join us in this turn-based strategy game set in space.

What is Portas Aurora: Arrival?

Portas Aurora: Arrival is a DRM free turn-based strategy game set in space. You are a newly minted Galactic Senate Officer. Your knowledge outside of the Citadel is limited and generations of peace have not prepared you for this day. The day, the civility of Luxvatio was not embraced, but thrown into the jaws of war. As one of only a handful of witnesses to their arrival you will be challenged daily to maintain the balance between Peace and Survival. Pressures from both allies and enemies will shape the galaxy of Luxvatio. The choice, and the results is yours to bear.

 

Ships

Victory will not be as simple as crush the enemy with the sharp pointy end of the stick. Strategy will be your main weapon. Your decisions during fleet creation and ship design will re-enforce your strategy and your ability to keep an edge in battle. Stacking a single ship does not mean you will breeze through your enemy. However, the game is designed to be flexible and allow experimentation. Are you ready to test your might?

 

GamePlay:

The gameplay as mention above will be focused on a turn-based strategy. Turn-Base Game Play Similar to Final Fantasy Tactics and Advance Wars. The map and objects will effect the players tactics. In addition, the units actions will be displayed through a specific color scheme’s. Color will help the user identity different actions such as sensor range, attacking, and movement.

 

Ship Control Interface

Why Kickstarter?

With the Kickstarter funding we will be able to add:

      • 3D Ship Class Models
      • Ship team skins
      • Graphics for ship design UI
      • Combat Animation
      • More Map objects
      • More Map backgrounds

Team

Daniel Randall – Lead Programer
James Hentze – Lead Game Designer
Nick Ogata – UI Designer
Ashley Yamaguchi – Linguist / Voice of Dea Carina
Josh Figueira – Business Guy

Special thanks to Councilor

 

Thank You

Thank you for having a look and I hope I can count on your support for Portas Aurora: Arrival. It’s been a longtime dream of mine to create a video game like this. Hopefully through the power of Kickstarter you find as much enjoyment out of playing Portas Aurora: Arrival as I have crafting it.

Want more information about the game check our website:

www.PortasAurora.com

 

If you like this project, please pledge for it’s support.

Interview with Clive Crous – The CEO Of Linux Game Publishing !

Posted: 3rd September 2012 by Maxim Bardin in Uncategorized
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After a very long time of waiting the interview with Clive Crous the CEO of Linux Game Publishing is finally ready !

 

1. Please tell us about yourself, where do you live ? how did you start with Linux ? games ? porting ? LGP ? and how did you end up as the CEO of LGP ?

I live in Cape Town, South Africa and started with Linux early 90’s.
I’d been using DOS primarily and didn’t like this whole new “Windows” that had come out and was introduced to Linux through a friend.

I think, if my memory serves me correctly it was a truly ugly early version of RedHat back then, probably the most popular desktop editions of Linux at that point.
I’ve always been interested in games and even designed and created my first few games while still at school.
Porting came hand in hand with my move from DOS to Linux.
At that time hardly any companies used Linux themselves so a work day involved Windows primarily but at home I was doing things in and on Linux.
Most of my early porting was of utilities I created to make my own life easier both from home (Linux) to work (Windows) and vice versa.
I’ve always been active within the Linux open source community, from the tiniest of patches to utilities I used every day to jumping on and being a devteam member for projects I truly loved.
I had my hands in several open source game engines over the years and would often be found on the Freenode IRC network, it was here that I met Michael and eventually started working for LGP.
I’d been with LGP for many years by the time Michael became ill and decided he could no longer be involved as much as he was, it was at this point that Michael approached me and asked if I would be interested in taking over his dream.

2. It’s been several months now that you took over the company, what have you managed to do in this short time ?

Sadly most of my work has been behind the scenes as the handover to myself has been far more complicated than Michael and I ever imagined.
I have however streamlined several internal functions that required work, first and foremost being the handling of support queries.
I also spend a significant amount of time with Michael assimilating his massive amount of knowledge of Linux gaming he’s accumulated over the years.
Sadly many of the new things I have been working on I’m not at liberty to tell you just yet, but there will be announcements in the short term, specifically with regards to the distribution of our games which has been a huge problem up till now.
Most recently a lot of LGP’s focus has been on fixing a problem introduced in the latest release of Ubuntu.
Several of our games that run without issue on other distributions and even on prior versions of Ubuntu simply fail to run since the 12.04 Ubuntu release.
Obviously our existing customers who have bought games that “suddenly” don’t work have to be a priority and we’ve been working with Canonical looking into this
problem.
This is the primary delay at the moment and has to be fixed before any new titles are announced and/or released.

3. Are the sales from LGP/Tuxgames steady over the years or are they in decline because the lack of new titles ?

There has definitely been a decline of late, but I’d put that down to Michael’s unfortunate illness and his inability to put the time into LGP which it required.
This is exactly the reason I’ve taken over and although they have declined, it’s not near as large a decline as some would think, I’d rather say it’s a decline in growth than an actual decline.
New titles would certainly help in that regard and as everyone knows we do have two that we’ve announced on the way, namely Disciples 2 and Bandits.
Once the game distribution problems have been solved and I’m able to move forward with releasing these new titles we have a few more waiting in the wings which I’m positive will receive an excited response.

4. You mentioned digital distribution, please tell us more about it and when can we expect to see and use it.

We’ve had our own digital distribution platform available for many years for our resellers to use, not only for game purchase but also for monthly rental of titles.
It has been there and will continue to run as it always had.
With the advent of game specific platforms, of which there are many, we’ve been looking seriously into expansion into these.
In the short term there are three we will be making an appearance on and have already got titles prepared for release, namely: Desura, the Ubuntu Software Centre and Gameolith.
LGP can already be visited on Desura  and announcements on these platforms will of course happen within the platform itself as well as on our blog and other social media pages.

5. You said that there are a lot of things that needs to be changed at LGP, please explain in more depth and what is being done about them.

I think I’ve already answered quite a bit related to this question above.
I don’t think it’s a “lot” necessarily, but changes have already been made and several more are on the way.
I’d prefer to see LGP focus on what it knows best: porting games.
The primary change coming in the short term is the distribution of our physical games, although LGP will always do this, I think it’s best served in the short term by focusing more on digital distribution and working with our partners to make this simpler and easier for end users as well.

6. Are you going to be more involved in the community ? update your websites/blog more often ? maybe even make a forum ?

Absolutely. We have growing communities in many arenas: Our blog, Facebook, twitter and more recently on Desura and the like.
LGP has a dedicated community manager as well as myself and both of us keep a keen eye on the goings on in all these realms.
As far as a forum goes, I think for now there’s more than enough ways to communicate directly with us in a public manner, the Facebook page would be a good example
of one way which is quite similar to how forums generally function.
This again comes down to focus, I don’t want LGP too thinly spread and ideally we can spend the majority of our time updating our existing titles and getting new titles out there faster. You can find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/linuxgamepublishing

7. LGP haven’t published/ported a game since 2009, why the huge delay ?
Although we’ve not published in a while, due primarily to Michael’s illness and then my taking over of LGP, porting has been ongoing in the background.
It’s important to me that things are running smoothly before any new titles are released.
Once the delay is over and our first new titles start rolling out the delays will decrease.

8. LGP ported 8 game till now (taken from wikipedia), while Ryan Gordon ported 26 games … why it’s taking LGP (which is a company) so long to port games when Ryan Gordon alone does this so much faster ? how can LGP speed up the porting process ?
For one, LGP has ported many more than just 8 titles. Keep in mind that Ryan is hired and paid to port games, LGP pays licence fees to port games which LGP then distributes – it’s a completely different process that’s happening.
Ryan has in fact ported for LGP as well.
The process as it stands is sound and we ensure we bring quality to a first release – that said, once this transition period stabilises and once I’ve improved our distribution, the process will again perform as it should and we’ll be bringing out titles in a more regular fashion.

9. The Humble Indie Bundle gave a huge boost to Linux gaming, why don’t you take advantage of it and port games for the HiB (or other indie bundles) like Ryan does ? or maybe even kickstarter projects which Ryan received many emails from ?

This isn’t what LGP does. We port and distribute our own titles, which is what we love to do and will continue doing.
The team at LGP is passionate about our games and we want to be able to focus on the titles we’ve publishing and ensure that quality is put above profit.
I agree that the Humble Bundles are giving a huge boost, especially to the amount of people that now consider Linux a gaming platform where they didn’t before.
We’re very excited about that and it can only do us all good.

10. Except Disciples II: Dark Prophecy which is in porting for years and Bandits: Phoenix Rising, what other titles can we expect ported/published in the near future ?
We do have a few we’re working on, but I’m unfortunately not ready to make those announcements just yet 😉

11. Licensing titles to port, publish and sell is very expensive, why don’t you go with a different approach and instead of licensing titles – just collaborate with (usually indie) game developers in bringing their titles to Linux and making shared profit of the Linux sells, for example 40% to LGP and 60% to the game developers.
This seems far cheaper and make for a better profit.
Our business model has worked really well for us for going on 12 years now.
LGP is not about profit, but about the love of games and the love of the titles we’ve chosen to work on and add to our selection.
I share Michael’s vision here in bringing quality titles we’ve vetted thoroughly and ensuring that we port games our customers will love, even if they’re not quantity.
When we’ve completed a project, it’s ours and we’re proud of it first and foremost, better profits come second.

12. There are titles which are very hard to port (disciples for example) and there are much easier to port titles.
Why won’t you chose titles which are easier to port ? this way you can port more titles and be more productive.
I wish it were that simple. Unfortunately one generally only gets to see how easy, or how difficult, a port will be once the process has already started.
Disciples 2 is probably a worst case example and I really doubt we’ll face a port that’s taken this long or delayed as much as this one ever again.

13. LGP helped a lot to Linux several years ago but now there were discussions that LGP might no longer be relevant that we have more and more games and engines that support Linux : Humble Indie Bundle gave a major push to Linux gaming, Unity4 that now supports Linux is getting many new titles to Linux , Source, Steam, Desura ,more indie games etc…what LGP intends to do to stay relevant ? bringing all it’s old titles to Desura just won’t gonna cut it I’m afraid…

LGP will continue to do what it does best: port games to Linux.
Yes some companies are embracing engines that now support Linux but not all companies will take advantage of that or even want to work on multiple-platforms even if they are making use of these engines.
There will always be games and there will always be games that only have Windows releases.
LGP will continue to find the gems amongst these and port them.
Engines like these would hopefully just make our process simpler and we’ll be able to get titles like these ported faster.

Thanks Clive Crous for this interview.

I wish Michael Simms a fast recovery, he has done a lot for the GNU/Linux Gaming.

If you want to support LGP, buy their games from Linux Game Publishing official website, Tuxgames, Ubuntu Software Ccenter, Desura, Gameolight and other resellers !
Sacred Gold is already released on Ubuntu Software Center !

Jack Houston And The Necronauts Developer Opens Direct Funding After $10k Kickstarter Pledge Falls Through

Posted: 30th August 2012 by Maxim Bardin in Uncategorized
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Jack Houston And The Necronauts kickstarter campaign was a success, however after the campaign was over the $10k backer backed down from his pledge leaving the campaign short by 2k from it’s goal.
Luckily they still managed to get most of the money (~54k) from Kickstarter/Amazon – but they still need to reach their goal.

“Why” you ask ?
If they managed to get only $12k more they will be able to upgrade to Unity4 which will allow them to support GNU/Linux !
All kickstarter pledge tiers are still in effect, so if you donate (via Paypal) $15, you will get the game !

Detailed Announcement :

Warbird Games, an indie games studio in Fort Worth, Texas, is asking for direct donations via its website after a $10k Kickstarter pledge fell through, leaving them short of their target amount.

Earlier this month, the studio raised $64,256 via a successful Kickstarter for Jack Houston and the Necronauts, a classic point and click adventure for the PC with stop-motion animation visuals. However, celebration turned to distress when their largest donor failed to honor a $10,000 pledge.

“After the exhilaration of passing our goal by almost $10k, I was expecting to spend the next few days getting ready to start production on the project.” said lead designer, Stacy Davidson. “Instead, I spent them frantically trying to find out what was going on with the donation, whether we’d even get the other funds and glued to email for any news.”

The developer have now opened up direct funding via the Warbird Games website in the hope of filling this gap in funding. The same rewards as Kickstarter will be offered to backers supporting the project through this method.

Additionally, the studio has been able to dramatically lower its stretch targets to bring the game to iPad, Android, Mac and Linux and into FIGS localisation after renegotiating with contractors and receiving offers of help with translation from backers.

 

More details on Jack Houston and the Necronauts:

Join legendary test pilot Jack Houston on the adventure of a lifetime. Set in an alternate universe heavily inspired by classic sci-fi authors and artists, Jack Houston mans a mission to Venus in 1999, only to have a terrible accident leaving him in stasis for 1000 years. When he awakes on the savage world, the life he once knew has long gone, and he heads out into the unknown.

Key features:

Old meets new – combining classic click and point adventure gameplay with amazing HD visuals, the game will feel both familiar and incredibly new to anyone who loved adventure games in the 80’s and 90’s

Rip-roaring story – join captain Jack Houston as he faces the perils of Venus in a journey that will have you travelling through space and time to seek the truth.

Story and art inspired by the masters – enjoy a truly vintage experience with a captivating story and unique art based upon esteemed sci-fi masters such as Chesley Bonestell, Robert E. Howard and Frank Frazetta.

Stop-motion animation – a unique technique that was used to create 1950s sci-fi serials such as Flash Gordon is being used to create a truly authentic experience in-game and a unique visual aesthetic

World-class soundtrack – produced by Iain Kelso, internationally acclaimed for his work on the feature movie Jacob.

 

Development History
Warbird Games is a brand new studio formed by industry veteran Stacy Davidson, who started developing text adventures and RPG prototypes on his Commodore 64.He then spent a year in Quality Assurance at Origin Systems during their last days before stepping out on his own, publishing Shadow of the Lost Citadel via Shareware services.Davidson has spent the last 11 years working in the film industry as a director, producer, cinematographer, editor, sound designer and visual effects supervisor at his own studio, Odyssee Pictures.He returned to the games industry in 2010 after his fan-game project, Han Solo Adventureswas featured in Star Wars: Uncut and The People vs. George Lucas. After gaining serious momentum and a fan-base, Jack Houston and the Necronauts was born.Using a combination of game and film design, the team at Warbird Games are striving to make something that is both visually striking and has a strong story to tell.

CONCEPT ART

 

So if you want to help bring this game to GNU/Linux, feel free to help !

Tales of Illyria – An Unique Episodic Party-Based RPG

Posted: 28th August 2012 by Maxim Bardin in Uncategorized
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Tales of Illyria is an unique episodic party-based role playing experience that simulates the experience of playing a pen and paper role playing game.

The RPG aspect of the game is played somewhat like the good old classic Darklands, and the combat is like Disciples 2  but in platform view.

But unlike Disciples 2, you can equip your party with armor and weapons.

The graphic is 2D and each character change it’s avatar depends on what armor/items he has.

The development stage is very advanced, the game engine is already complete and the first episode could be out in several months, if funded.

If you pledge $20, you will get all the future episodes (3 are currently planned) of the series.

New tiers were added !

New Video has been uploaded !

Tales of Illyria is a unique episodic party-based role playing game that simulates the experience of a pen and paper role playing game. It will be released on Windows, GNI/Linux, IOS, and Android.
Gameplay Video – Animation will be improved if funded !

An Epic Story

Tales of Illyria borrows the dark fantasy tone of Game of Thrones and mixes it with the high fantasy elements found in Lord or the Rings and role playing games such as The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim.

The lands of Illyria are split into disparate kingdoms on the verge of a civil war. The kingdom of Hysperia, which rules the rest of Illyria, has its allies and its enemies. The player steps into the role of Elric, who is brought in by the lord of Hysperia’s greatest enemy to bring down the tyrannical rule of King Gareth and allow the kingdoms of Illyria to rule on their own in peace.

The story is wrapped in an engaging soundtrack, with music composed specifically for this game. Nearly a hundred individual tracks set the mood in places such as taverns and towns, as well as quicken the pulse in battle.

The story is full of developed characters – not just your party members, but also characters you come across in your journey show a great deal of personality. All characters have different loyalties, alignments, morale, and reputations, keeping the cast diverse and believable. As you travel, you will be engaged in many conversations, in which the characters show their true personalities.

Illyria is not only populated by humans. Elves, ogres, and even sea people dot the landscape, while far more intimidating monsters lurk in the darkness of caves. These non-human people are accepted as equals in some communities, such as the more tribal kingdom of Kourmar, but are shunned and considered monsters in others.

Travel the World

One of our main sources of inspiration is Oregon Trail. Like Oregon Trail, you are on an epic journey. Your party is subject to all the dangers of pre-modern era travel. The weather, disease, access to food and water, and bandits provide a constant threat to your party and mission. As the party travels, seasons change. Each season brings a new challenge, be it from different monsters that are active, or from different challenges the weather brings.

The travel screen features parallax scrolling, helping to submerge the player into the richly developed world. As with all of the art, each layer of the environment was carefully painted to make the world feel real.

Dangers of Illyria

We have developed a very unique feeling real-time order based combat system. As the battle commences, each party member can be selected and commanded to perform an action, be it cast a spell, use a skill, or simply attack. The characters will continue that action until told to do otherwise. The characters aren’t completely helpless without you, however. As enemies fall, your party members will shift into better position to damage the enemy.

The party battle area has two rows: a front row, for your main melee attacks, and a back row for ranged attacks and spells. If a party member in the back row can’t act, and there is a space in front of them, they will move into position to better face the threat at hand.

With battle comes arms and armor, and Tales of Illyria makes sure the player has plenty to choose from. Players can choose from a wide range of helmets, armor, swords, axes, and even horses to help them in their journey. Each weapon type has a different way it damages, some ignoring armor at the cost of speed, while others being quick but less effective against heavily armored opponents.

Equipped armors will change the character’s appearance appropriately, in their talking portraits, travel animations, and battle animations. We have created over 5,000 unique images to reflect the individual appearance of each piece of equipment.

Battles aren’t the only danger in Tales of Illyria. Party members can be stricken with disease from drinking spoiled water, or break a limb while hunting. These status ailments will impact the party member’s ability to perform well in combat and in their skill-based actions.

Skills, Karma, and Reputation

There are many non-battle events that the player will come across in the game that will require the characters to rely on specific skills, rather than physical prowess, to succeed in. Characters can increase these skills by using them in events, as well as by visiting different guild halls.

The decisions the player makes while playing the game makes a large impact in how other characters react to them. We have developed Karma and Reputation systems, which will determine how not only people you pass act, but also your party members. Do too much evil, and you will lose the morale of your good characters. Act to purely, and your evil party members won’t be happy.

Your decisions will also affect your reputation with the different kingdoms. If you harass too many people or cause too much trouble in a kingdom, you will find that people are less willing to work with you, and you may have more trouble with guards. That said, causing trouble in a kingdom can raise your reputation with that kingdom’s enemies.

Not Vaporware

Tales of Illyria has been in the works for two years. Our team is small, but dedicated, and we want to be able to share our project with the world. If we are able to be funded, we will be able to cut the release date back from over a year to mere months.

As this is just the first chapter in a much longer saga, we have developed a unique game engine that handles everything from travel to random events, as well as a complete battle engine that engages the player while allowing the characters to behave semi-autonomously.

Features

• Over 5,000 unique sprites for full character customization
• Passage of time & seasons
• Cinematic Parallax travel
• Epic story
• Food & water, attrition of goods
• Interacting characters
• Diverse land with individually developed kingdoms
• Event based Dungeon Master system
• Real-time order based combat
• Weapon and armor weaknesses
• Alignment, Morale, Karma & Reputation systems
• Custom music – Include full intro music, Text
• Game Engine Complete – Video & Text
• Tools & Technology fully developed – Video & Text
• Translated into different languages – Realtime Google Translation
• Not vaporware: Once funded, the game could be completed in mere months

Thanks for taking an interest in our project. Stay tuned for updates.
Check out our other games, too: ‘Legends Arcana’, and our free game ‘The Ultimate Bad-Ass Game of All Time’, both on the Android platform.

Clockwork Empires: The Press Release

Posted: 28th August 2012 by Maxim Bardin in Uncategorized
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Clockwork Empires: The Press Release

aka: “Project Odin”

August 27th, 2012 – Gaslamp Games, Inc., independent game developers and makers of the critically acclaimed Dungeons of Dredmor, are pleased to announce their new title, Clockwork Empires, for the Windows, OS X, and Linux platforms.

The Clockwork Empire is expanding! Brave people, seeking glory and wealth, are setting forth for uncharted lands in search of fame and fortune. This is a new age of Science – fearless naturalists, clever tinkerers, and brilliant inventors hold sway over the imagination of the common folk, wielding voltaic energies and constructing chromed brass clockwork engines. It is an age of The Arts – poets lie expiring on every street corner, crying for Reform and more laudanum, while the Empire Times spews forth from the great presses of the Capitol, filled with stories of inspiring hubris and adventure from The Colonies. It is an age of Trade – the many arms of the Imperial Chartered Antipodean Trading Company lurch across the oceans like the limbs of a commodity-crazed octopus, dredging untapped markets for wealth and glory. It is an age of Politics – scheming agents of the Empire skulk through the slums and grottoes of the colonies, dodging anarchist schemes and cultists’ rituals, and fulfilling secretive missions on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen. Meanwhile, in the Capitol, favours are curried in the Houses of Parliament and the Panopticon between the artistocratic Lords and the rising classes of Industrial Barons.

Fly the Union Cog over all three identified corners of the world!

But not all is well in the Empire. Strangers gather under lampposts and in bars, telling stories of Those That Live Beyond The Stars, operating in invisible geometries from another dimension. The Queen, some whisper, has been locked away at the behest of her own Prime Minister… but to what end? The Church of the Holy Cog prays for the salvation of the Empire, yet everybody fears the indescribable colors that trace lines through the darkest woods and beyond the reassuring glow of the gas-lamps. The fortunes of the Clockwork Empire are watched, silently, by unseen eye-clusters and malevolent entities trying to breach the walls of reality into this world.

Take on the role of a Junior Bureaucrat (Colonial Grade), sent forth to seek fame, promotions, and natural resources to feed the ever-hungry maw of industry and commerce. Build mighty colonies, fill them with magnificent factories and tortured machinery, and harness the power of steam and energies brought forth by determined, unregulated men and women of Science!

Glory is yours to seize; the world is yours to do with as you please. For fame and fortune, for Science, and for the Queen and the glory of the Clockwork Empires!

But wait, there’s more!

Herein, the good folk of Gaslamp Games present a small selection of their “penny dreadful” game development features, demonstrating wonders never-before seen in plebian entertainment:

  • Dynamic, city-building, citizen-simulating action. Every imperial subject has a purpose and agenda of their own, and their interactions are rich, exciting, and often lethal!
  • New “procedural extrusion” technology lets you design your colony the way you want! Buildings are procedurally generated and extruded directly from the aether to your specifications!
  • Tame the uncharted continents by land, sea, and air! Set forth in mighty Zeppelins to do battle with Sky Pirates, or take to the seas in search of fortune and probably sea serpents!
  • Create magnificent acts of plumbing, link together mighty gears, and build ominous Megaprojects!
  • Tangle with the machinations of malevolent entities! Scry the legacy of the Invisible Geometers, fumigate the baleful moon-fungus of the Selenian Polyps, and cleanse the scuttling creepiness and poor personal and moral hygiene of your everyday, average cultist.
  • Losing is still fun! When your colony fails miserably, earn medals, promotions, and titles as befits a true politician and scion of the Empire!
  • Multi-player mode, with up to 4 players, lets you co-operate with your closest friends to build a glorious city… or fight a horrifying economic battle to total annihilation!
  • Round-Robin mode lets you share your Clockwork Empires with friends! Take turns running a colony directly into the ground then argue for fun-filled hours about whose fault it was! (Like Monopoly but with more exploding Zeppelins!)
  • Rendered in glorious GaslampVision! Thrill as the colours are brought to life by Gaslamp’s team of caffeine-addled artists labouring under the technical specifications of our elite programmers* to bring you a game that is rendered in Each of the Three Dimensions! New multi-core technology by Actual University Students lets you use every last ounce of power in your computer to run a thrilling and vivid simulation!
    (* We’ll see about that, Nicholas. Soon. – David)
  • Featuring the new Dynamic Soundtrack Orchestra – the Soundtrack that Adjusts to Your Gameplay! (Mr. M. Steele, conductor)
  • No always-online DRM requirement, unlike certain other games we don’t want to mention. You know who you are and your mothers are very disappointed.
  • Comes complete with the Gaslamp Games Quality of Excellence that you know and love, and if you don’t like something you can mod it yourself in the best tradition of Empire Craftsmanship!

 

Scope Creep Hack-Venture – Learn GNU/Linux And Hacking!

Posted: 27th August 2012 by Maxim Bardin in Uncategorized
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Scope Creep Hack-venture is a very unique game in which you learn real life useful GNU/Linux and Windows hacking skills while playing the game !

The first module will be released for free, while there are still options to get exclusive and non-free content if you pledge :

  • A modded version of the game with the focus of teaching you GNU/Linux skills
  • A detailed walk trough of the game in PDF format – for learning purposes
  • A video walk trough of the game (completes the PDF)
  • And more…


Like many other games today, this game also uses the Unity game engine, and the most interesting/strange/absurd/shocking part, is that the developer never really intended for this game to have a GNU/Linux client in the 1st place, only after Unity4 offered a GNU/Linux support – he said he will try to make it work (and as we seen before, it’s easy to port to GNU/Linux using Unity4).

 

Here is our little mail exchange :

LGN:

“Hello !

While Unity4 should support Linux it’s a bit odd that you chose Unity for such a game even before you knew that there will be a Linux support.
I mean, most (or at least a huge part) of the people who want to pledge are…Linux users.
So you better make your game run on Linux, specially that it is ABOUT Linux.

It’s like making a Penguin games and making it only run on Windows (yep, that happened)

Maxim.”

 

MidGames :

“Hi Maxim,

I am an avid Linux user myself and want the game to have Linux support. That being said, I am limited by both budget, and time constraints. Unity3D seemed the best platform for this particular game based on these factors. Needless to say, when I heard that Unity4 will potentially offer Linux support I was ecstatic (and doubtful!)

Scope Creep is focused on teaching Ethical Hacking and in my experience it is not long before beginning hackers will quickly move away from Windows and start using either Mac or Linux. Most of the ‘missions’ in the game will require some Linux knowledge to run the tools, if the users do not have the required skills they will have the guidance needed to continue playing and hopefully gain some valuable practice. The commands used in the game will emulate a mix of Operating systems including (mostly) Linux but are not being run on actual virtual instances of these machine types.

The Linux training mod that will be available for Kickstarter backers only will have strictly Linux based challenges and allow a player to learn the basics and intermediate command line skills necessary to get around and administrate a Linux machine. I imagine that many of the people that are looking forward to playing this mod are not already using Linux as their primary OS and that they need/want to know more about how to actually use the OS on a day to day basis. – I could be wrong. 🙂

All of that being said – I agree that this game series needs to be available on Linux one way or the other and I will make it a priority if it turns out that Unity4 drops the ball on us.

Thanks for the insight and advice and have a great weekend!

Lee Allen

PS: I did not know about the penguin games that only run on Windows!!! ACK!”

 

About the game
 

Learn Linux or Ethical Hacking from the ground up while playing a 3D fully immersive and interactive adventure game. Web/GNU/Linux/Windows/Mac
 

I would like to introduce you to a unique approach that combines adventure gaming and blended learning.

Take on the role of Merl McPenrite, an ethical Hacker that unwittingly gets involved in a conspiracy far beyond his control. He will need a combination of hacking, computer, and problem solving skills to be able to get out of the mess he finds himself in. Do you have what it takes to get him out alive?

In case you were curious as to where the characters name came from: MERL is an acronym for May Emulate Real Life.

It is my firm belief that learning should be fun. Some people spend thousands of hours playing repetitive games that require a wealth of knowledge to be successful. Why not use that time to learn something that is actually useful and beneficial!  Hacking and other computer skills are generally best learned through repetitive action. People go as far as to create virtual labs with hundreds of systems to be able to practice their art. Why go through all of that when you could start up a game and lose track of time while your are practicing skills that you need to know in the real world?

Scope Creep is but one of many projects that MidGames will be producing over the next several years that focuses on bridging the gap between learning and fun.

The game will have several different difficulty levels:

  • Easy – If you are just starting to learn about hacking then this is the level for you. Challenging enough to keep you entertained and yet basic enough to prevent frustration from setting in. You are able to use a menu driven approach when attempting do things such as scanning a network or hacking a computer within the game. You get to try things multiple times so that you can learn as you progress. This difficulty level requires very little real world knowledge and is a great starting point for people that that just want to enjoy a fun game and possibly learn something valuable along the way!
  • Medium – You will still have a menu driven approach available but now you will also be able to type in the actual commands necessary to make the systems do what you need it to. Do not expect this level to be easy. This is the level that most beginning ethical hackers should already be at. Bad decisions will have a minor impact on the game world. You may get second chances.
  • Hard – You want hard, you get it. This attempts to simulate the real world as closely as possible. You will have to know the commands for the challenges you will face. Bad decisions will have a huge impact on the game.

There will be a collection of mini-games made specifically to reinforce the skills necessary to make it through the game.  Why should you read a boring book when you can practice your knowledge in a game?

The game is set in a interactive 3D world where the character can interact with NPC’s, pick up items, use items and more. The computer simulations are clear and crisp and emulate the types of tools that you would need to know and understand to get through the challenges that Merl will face. The challenges are not all computer based as the ethical hacking field requires a large subset of skills such as hardware hacking, social engineering and more.

Here is an early screenshot of the first office area that Merl McPenrite begins his journey in.

There are several other areas but I do not want to give away the plot or the challenges in the game. 

Screen shot of the initial office 'tutorial' area. Realtime shadows are off and we did not fully lightbake yet.
Screen shot of the initial office ‘tutorial’ area. Realtime shadows are off and we did not fully lightbake yet.
This is the receptions tutorial area. No post processing and real time shadows are off.
This is the receptions tutorial area. No post processing and real time shadows are off.

It will be playable in your Browser, your PC, Mac, or just maybe even on your Linux box (Dependent on Unity 4.0 release date. We will also need to test the port at that time to ensure it actually works as expected.)

Although we are fully dedicated to this project and willing to put hundreds, even thousands of hours into making this learning experience something unique, entertaining, and well… Awesome, we still need to buy licenses and handle other expenses. If funded, the project will be released much sooner and will contain features otherwise unavailable. We are willing to spend the hours, but we still need the financial assistance to make this happen. The funding goal is the absolute minimum we still require to get the game released in a timely manner. Any additional funding would be used to make the game better in many different ways such as graphics improvements, additional features, etc.

Midgames (Pronounced similar to ‘Mighty-Games’) is a small startup led by myself. I have managed to recruit a few (2..) members to share my dreams and spend some time working on level design, graphics, and story line. You may be surprised at how difficult it was to convince talented individuals that they should invest their time on projects that will be given away for free :-).

The MidGames mission is to provide innovative interactive blended learning for various fields. As previously mentioned, Merl is but one of many areas we would like to move forward with. We are building out a reusable framework that will be viable for various other areas of focus as well. If the skill requires repetitive action, memorization, and quick thinking we believe that we can probably make it less painful to practice using our techniques.

About Me

I am an experienced security professional with over 20 years of experience in the Information Technology industry. I hold many industry certifications such as the CISSP, MCSE, Net+, OSWP, and more. I am also an avid Unity 3d fan.

I am also the author of “Advanced Penetration Testing for Highly-Secured Environments: The Ultimate Security Guide” published by PacktPub.

I am the author of this book.
I am the author of this book.

If by chance the demand is high and we start to hit higher funding levels we will post a listing for what our reach goals would enable us to accomplish. This project is but the tip of the iceberg and we have a lot of plans for expansion down the road. Right now we are just managing scope creep and working within our means to get a solid product delivered to the community in a reasonable time frame.

If you made it this far, I would like to thank you for your time. This dream is going to become a reality one way or the other and I would love to have you join my adventure through assisting in this KickStarter.

FAQ

How much will the training materials cost if I do not get them as part of the Kickstarter campaign?

We are offering our backers at the $25 level and higher a complete technical walk-through (in PDF) of the game. This training will not make any skill level assumptions and will cost at least $50.00 after the campaign has stopped. Basically, our backers at this level get the training at half price. (Not to mention that you make this project possible in the first place!!!)

At the $85 level and higher our backers receive a fully detailed video training module that goes along with the PDF they will also receive. This training will cover all scenarios available in the game such as password cracking, wireless hacking, system enumeration and more. This is targeted at the beginning level user and does not assume any skill level other than typical computer skills. It will be broken down in a clear and concise manner along with additional exercises to solidify your new or existing skill set. After the campaign is over this training will only be available at the rate of $250 dollars. This ensures that our $85 backers receive the best deal possible. Without your assistance the game may not be published for another year or so. Thank you so much!

 

How far along is the development of this game?

Proof of concept modules have been created for all technical aspects of the game. We have the art we need ready for production but it still needs to be finalized and incorporated into several areas of the game such as the graphical user interface, and the final game play area (The equivalent to a final boss in typical games).  We are currently working on the missions and making sure that everything fits together in a logical manner. The game has a basic linear structure with side ‘missions’ that can be completed along the way.

Items completed and currently being merged with the game:

Computer Emulation \ Hacking System – Fully tested. Now we are filling out the gaps and making sure it has everything that people will expect a hacking game to have such as working file systems, etc.

Mission System – Implemented. Adding missions every day followed by lots of testing. Similar to some popular games on the market today you will have dialog choices that will have an indicator as to how ‘good’ or ‘evil’ the choices are. Some things are not as clear and will need to be learned through playing or just understood to ensure that you know the difference between ethical hacking and what would be considered black hat activity.

GUI – Still trying to find something that is intuitive but still powerful. We have something that works already, what we are looking for now is something that is awesome.

Ethical Status Indicator – Every decision in the game is measured by typical ethical standards. This is represented on your Heads Up Display (HUD) by a hat that changes color from White to Grey to Black based on the choices Merl makes throughout the game.

Item interaction mechanisms- Implemented!

Animations – Working out the bugs. We will be spending at least a month on additional cut scenes and improving the animations.

Achievements – Technology has been implemented, we are still discussing if we even really want this. 🙂

Mini games – 1 memory game (we hope to surprise you with the way we handled this one) and a coder graphics version of our ‘race and learn’ minigames have been created. These still need work. The final release will include at least these two mini-game. We hope for more but a lot of that is resource limited and depends on funding, etc.

 

Do I need to be a hacker\penetration tester\security guru to play this game?

Simple answer – No.

You can play the game from start to finish by choosing the ‘Easy’ game play mode. This mode provides ‘Hollywood Hacking’ in that there are GUI menus for all tasks such as scanning a network or cracking a password. You will be presented with option icons and your choices will allow you to play the game as if it were a standard adventure game with lots of options and puzzles. For instance, instead of having to pick the proper lockpicks when trying to open a door you would be able to choose the ‘Pick the Lock’ button (If you have picked up the lockpicks along the way!!)

In the medium and hard modes you will need to have a certain skill level. These modes are for people that want to practice and learn. The medium level will have menu options but instead of icons or simple descriptions they will need to pick the right commands from the choices when doing any hacking. The hard level just provides a computer terminal with whichever operating system is on the system you selected in the game.

One thing to keep in mind is that the Merl McPenrite series will be provided in ‘episodes’ with each episode increasing in difficulty with each episode.  Each episode will have a distinctive and logical start and end point. This first episode will focus on hacking basics and then move on to some intermediate ‘missions’ to get Merl out of the mess he gets into.

 

How does the hacking mechanic work?

In easy mode we use a mechanic that allows you to choose options. If you choose the right options you get to move on. For some of the harder scenarios there are clues around that will help you pick the right answers. Easy to use for all but still based on real procedures or techniques.

In the other modes this is a bit different: For instance, if you are asked to crack a password file on a system in the office. You would walk to the work station, use the GUI menu option to ‘Use’ the computer at which point the screen fills up with the computer terminal or screen. You will be able to use this emulated system to accomplish your task.

In the medium difficulty you would still have menu options available to help you out, in hard mode it will all be based on what you already know and the clues we have provided. Many of the more obscure options in certain tools we emulate will not be available. Those options that are available would work in a virtual lab you build just as well as they do in the game (That is how we know what to expect from certain commands that are typed, at this point we cannot place real virtual machines in the game.) Maybe with funding and time we could eventually add that feature.

 

Starry Expanse – 3D Riven: The Sequel To MYST Port !

Posted: 23rd August 2012 by Maxim Bardin in Uncategorized
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Starry Expanse is an attempted to create a realtime 3D port of Riven: The Sequel to Myst.

The developers (who are also looking for volunteers to help them developing the project) use the Unity game engine and say that GNU/ Linux port is definitely on the table.

 

About

The Starry Expanse Project is a collaborative attempt to create a realtime 3D port of Riven: The Sequel to Myst. We carefully study screenshots and videos taken from the Riven game and recreate it to the best of our ability.

Starry Expanse is a long-term project; the original game took dozens of artists years to complete. We are a much smaller team and do not have the same freedom of time as the original creators, and so we must take our time and ensure that every detail is as accurate, realistic, and true to the original game as possible. Eventually, we expect to release a beta program which will let users test various interactive parts of our recreations. Our goal is to recreate the game of Riven in its interactive entirety.

For more information, watch the presentations given at Mysterium 2010 , 2011 and 2012. You can also follow our progress on Twitter, by following @starry_expanse, although the best place to find news and updates is this website.

 

 

Recently they had an interesting IamA in which they gave insights about their project :

 

“We’re currently targeting the main platforms that Unity supports, Windows and OS X. Future versions of Unity will support Linux, so that may be a possibility in the future, as well.”

 

“Years at this rate. Maybe two, maybe three. Unless we actually decided to work on this full time, at the expense of our real jobs and schoolwork, the work is going to remain slow and steady. Riven is a big, big place to recreate.”

 

“The atmosphere is absolutely something we want to retain from the original. It’s a reason we love Riven too. Retaining atmosphere is an issue that sometimes even conflicts with the freedom we’re trying to inject, yes. For example, sometimes in the original, the feeling of a certain scene is dependent on the direction the player is looking. We may have to limit the player’s view for scenes like that, to get them to see everything that needs to be seen, but questions like that are still up in the air.

In terms of content, we’re changing very little. We want the puzzles to play the same, we want the player to be just as well guided and we want the story to be told exactly the same way. The changes we want to make are purely aesthetic.”

 

“We have most of the islands in the game at least a little bit under-way. Prison Island is near completion, and Boiler Island is pretty far along, as well. We’re still nowhere near a concrete date for beta testing, however.

For a number of areas throughout the game, we’re going to have custom actions that are only performable at that location. This includes places like the gate on Temple Island, the submarine on Jungle, the maglevs, and the cart between Jungle and Boiler. These will all require custom camera actions, which wouldn’t really make sense at any other point in the game.

There’s been a lot of discussion on invisible walls. In general, we really don’t like them. At the same time, Riven is a complicated enough game as it is, if we let the player roam truly free, it gets even more confusing. For that reason, we’re probably still going to be constraining the player a lot, and that includes keeping them away from cliff edges and deep water.

While there’s always the possibility of ‘backstabbing’, it’s extremely unlikely as we’ve picked our group pretty carefully. Also, not having to deal with Hollywood, or any overseeing corporation/group (outside Cyan), we have a much more hands-on level of control with the project. I think that this means fewer fights, less drama, and a more cohesive group overall.

We want to have things be as dynamic as possible, so as much as we can, yes, little objects will be at least a little moveable.

Being huge fans ourselves, we would love to have more of Tay explorable. Our main concern with Tay, however, is that The Stranger would not plausibly be able to explore much more of the hive, or surrounding area. Catherine trusts us, but her people do not – there’s a reason that door was locked in the first place.

And no, the Stranger cannot see his or her reflection.”

 

“Ubisoft actually lost the rights to the games a few years ago. They were held by GameTap and its parent company for a while, but by now all of the rights for the Myst series have returned to Cyan Worlds.”

 

Early Gameplay Video

 

It’s still early and it will take a few years, but it looks good even at this early stage and for those who love the classic – it will be a good refreshment and update to our current technology.

 

 

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