I contacted a VU PR representative today to inquire about the possiblity of a release of the Linux version of Tribes 2. As you may know, Tribes 2 is sold out at TuxGames, so obviously anyone wanting to play it now is mostly out of luck. If and when I receive a response, I will post news here. If anyone else manages to get a response via other means, please post your information in the comments below.

Editorial comment: When Free Isn't Free Enough.

People who had a closer look at the FreeSCI web page recently might have noticed that we released 0.6.1, and immediately pulled it a few days after. The reason for this was a licencing issue (elaborated on a little bit more on the FreeSCI web page) that we have now resolved. The improvements in the stable and unstable versions are (approximately) the following:

0.3.4c (vs. 0.3.4a/b):

* Removed libxft dependency for plain xlib+RENDER driver
* Win32 timer fix (Walter van Niftrik)
* Reverted fmopl to Tatsuyuki Satoh's version to avoid licencing trouble

0.6.1b (vs. 0.6.0):

* Lots of bug fixes
* Implemented new sound subsystem with support for real-time PCM mixing (feedback and help on this one are particularly welcome!)
* Per-resource palette configurations to allow some degree of game graphics customisation
* Preliminary(!) SCI1 game support
* Variable port offset support for SCI01/SCI1 games (must be adjusted manually for SCI0/SCI01 games ATM)

Note that 0.6.1b is still fairly unstable; while we have no concrete proof for this yet, it seems unlikely that any games can be completed with this branch at the moment. People interested in actually playing games are therefore advised to stick with the stable releases.

• *FINAL* patch for stuck on the net problem
• patch for ball passing over the net bug
• collision mechanisms improved
• sound support added (sounds can be found in theme packages)
• Players classes hierarchy re-designed
• AI Player improved

• Fixed attack miscalculation for offensive units which ignored time of day.
• Fixed active player not recieveing labels and messages immidiately while it was his/her turn.
• Fixed networking problems which caused out-of-syncs.
• View mode to show possible enemy moves.
• Improved multiplayer chatting.
• Graphics improvements.
• Scenario and unit balancing.

Editorial comment: An opposing view can be read on Curmudgeon Gamer.

FlightGear 0.9.4 Download: [ flightgear.org ]

I'm lazy this year. To make up for it, this will be a "What are you playing right now?" post. Feel free to list open source or commercial titles, or even projects you're developing that haven't been mentioned here in a while (or ever).

My list:

• Unreal Tournament 2004 - Assault and Onslaught
• Neverwinter Nights - Shadowrealm Genesis PW Server

Finally, here's a LG flashback to 1998 courtesy of the Internet Archive.

Linux/amd64 retail people should use this build for now:
http://icculus.org/~icculus/tmp/ut2004-linux-amd64-03222004.tar.bz2

This fixes the following things over retail:

• Network compatibility is fixed.
• Using WebAdmin doesn't crash your server.
• Dynamic lighting works.
• VoIP crash fixed.
• Probably other things.

This is ONLY for 64-bit Linux. If you don't have an Opteron/Athlon64 with a 64-bit version of Linux, you can't use this! If you aren't sure: you can't!

Linux (amd64 or x86) clients are seeing the KIntersect crash. I'm still looking into it. The above binary doesn't fix it.

This version should close all known uscript holes in the game. If anyone out there finds a way to bypass it feel free to email me how. I have also published an update to the master server that should accept UTSecure and Anti-TCC as part of the default packages.

DrSiN also notes stats tracking will be down until they determine what's causing load spikes on the master server. However, they have re-enabled the script which generates the free dedicated server-only cdkey:

http://unreal.epicgames.com/ut2004server/cdkey.php

You can download the 777MB server package from Atari here.

• Fixed pathfinding
• Fixed network desynchronisation
• Map editor can delete flags
• The player can choose which ressources are cleared in a clearing flag
• Clearing flags don't request units when there is no ressource inside
• Lots of minor bug fixed

• Over 440 community creatures
• 14 completely new weapon types
• New components for thousands of unique weapons, armor and clothing types
• Over 1,400 new placeables
• 121 new NPC portraits

Neverwinter Nights Community Expansion Pack Download: [ IGN.com ]

• Trackballs 1.0.0 has been released (screenshot); a forum for the game can be found here. Binaries and source downloads are available.
• Scorched 3D v37, inspired by the classic DOS title Scorched Earth, is now available (screenshots). Changes include variable landscapes (including trees and waves), an economic model, a new GUI, and various bugfixes. The source code package is linked from the project's download page.
• The owners of Linuxgangster.org wrote in with news that they've launched their site, which offers aid in configuring game servers among other community features.
• There's a highlights article concerning the Linux gaming roundtable we mentioned earlier in the month up at LinuxWorld. You can also see a cover blurb about the feature (with a UT2004 player model) here.
• Andreas Henningsson let us know that he's developed Eremit (screenshot), a game created using the ClanLib library. Edit (Mar 30 06:01:38 CST) - A reader pointed out the current project no longer utilizes ClanLib; my apologies for any confusion.

Applications for Beta Testers for Northland are now open. If you wish to join the beta, please go to betas.linuxgamepublishing.com and sign up. For those that don`t make it into the beta, you will be able to send us a proof of preorder of Northland from any of our resellers, and you will be admitted into the beta as a registered owner.

LGP is pleased to announce that Hyperspace Delivery Boy has now gone gold. We expect to have HDB in stock in 2-3 weeks.

A demo for HDB will soon available.

You cannot currently order HDB from us until it is in stock, but please feel free to check out our resellers who may offer the ability to preorder it.

Pre-orders @ TuxGames:

• Northland ($44)
• HDB ($20)

[other LGP resellers]

• The last version of SAS has been released for Unreal Tournament 2003; subsequent releases will be for 2004. Changes include the addition of an Objective gametype. You can download v1.1 here.
• The BBC has a short review of the first-person shooter up.
• UT2004's publisher, Atari, is now offering a dedicated server rental program. Public servers cost $8 (US) per allocated player slot and private servers cost $4 per slot.
• Epic's DrSiN pointed out an anti-cheating mutator for UT2004 server admins: Anti TCC (download) from Wormbo, which blocks aimbots and skin cheats among other things. DrSiN released an anti-cheating mutator of his own, UTSecure, but based on the announcement thread it's had a few teething problems that should be fixed in the next version.
• For the curious, BeyondUnreal posted this breakdown of UT2004's contributors from Epic's Steve "ReaperBot" Polge.

On that topic, Carmack mentioned that they were hoping to re-use some of the assets created for DOOM 3 to help speed up development of whatever they do next, but even that would have a tradeoff. "That sort of gives us a restriction on our possible game designs," said Carmack, "it would have to be some present-day or near-future thing where we can re-use the fire extinguisher or wastebaskets or things like that on the game."

• Fixed licensing issues
• Downloading updates is now clean
• Proper OSX support
• Lots of other miscellaneous stuff including more patterns.

If you're installing the retail version (DVD or CD-ROM) on Linux, please note the following:

1) If you don't have Joliet support in your kernel, the thing will ask you to insert the disc and not be able to find it, and thus will just keep prompting you to insert it. Rebuild your kernel with Joliet.

2) If you are on an amd64 chip running a 64-bit OS, you'll get the amd64 binaries installed. If you wanted the 32-bit ones, install on a 32-bit OS or rip up the installer (email me for details on this).

3) amd64 build is broken for net play...win32 developer broke it right before we went gold, but the fix is trivial. It'll be fixed soon.

Epic announced that they will be merging with Scion Studios, whose founder was lead designer for America's Army, also available for Linux. The press release can be found here. Also, as per a post by Epic's DrSin on the official UT2004 forums, Epic will ban players from UT2004 entirely for cheating, a policy now reflected in the revised EULA. Everyone with at least one brain cell dislikes cheaters, so be sure your online victories are on the up and up.

The official UT2004 site linked a few online reviews of the title, which has an average 94% rating at Game Rankings.

For server admins, the Unreal Admin Page has several tutorials updated for the retail version; please note that the "Running as a Service" documents only apply to the Windows version.

Finally, feel free to post impressions and war stories from your game experience to date below!

Here is the list of what's new - some of which were only available previously by downloading the CVS version:

• New games: UT2004, Postal2, BF1942 (Wine). All without official master.
• Improved --launch parameter. Now only requires IP address and asks for type if needed. It's possible now to use this together with e.g. XChat.
• Add --add parameter to just add a server to favorites
• Fix LAN browsing
• Add LAN masters by default
• Support password on Savage servers
• New server properties: Comment and "this server sucks"
• Add exec function for Hexenworld (anyone ever played that game?)
• Switch to intltool for i18n
• Install desktop files