Google Doodle with Pac-Man

Google celebrates 30 years from the release date of Pac-Man (22 May 1980 in Japan) with a doodle that's not just good taste but also very fun. Reach Google today and find their logo changed in a googolized version of the original Pac-Man level. There's more, you can interact with the doodle and play Pac-Man. Click one more time on the "insert coin" button and play a double.
I'm falling more and more in love with Google every passing day.

Valve's Steam game distribution client and Source game engine are coming to Linux!

Modern distribution like Ubuntu are finally in range of competition with the most famous [2] commercial operating system. That's true for a lot of things. For other things they're even superior. But not for gaming. Every Linux user knows that gaming on Linux it's a big pain in the ass. Don't mistake me. There are lots of independent games and you know that I'm especially fond of them. Apart from few exceptions though the major games are lacking.

However the future scenario of Linux gaming is getting a bit brighter. Today Phoronix announced what was a long time speculation and something that they stalked since long: Valve is going to release Steam, their gaming distribution client, for Linux. The good news aren't finished though. Valve will also release their Source game engine for Linux. Source is a modern game engine that powers games like Half Life 2, Portal, Left for Dead 2 and so on.

This is a huge hit for Linux gamers and users in general. The trend of increasing quality some Linux distributions are showing so far is getting more and more users to Linux. It's a drop of water in the sea comparing to major commercial operating systems, yet is improving. Could this be one reason of Valve's bet on Linux? I can't say for sure but I hope this incredibly good news will spawn other good happenings. For one I hope Id Software support to Linux will strengthen. Moreover -and here I can be wrong- but Linux strategy towards game development frameworks sucks, or better is non existent. There are scattered libraries for the management of the basic systems needed for gaming like graphics, sound and controls. However the lack of a unified and solid framework affects game development and keep developers away from Linux. It's far too common to encounter problems when running games for Linux. For example I can easily recall the most recent disappointments trying out the demo of X2 the Threat which had serious audio problems, Little Space Duo with non existent sound, Heroes of Newerth which didn't even start. 

To wrap this article up, Steam for Linux is expected for the end of the summer and a Valve announcement is imminent. Kudos for Valve for what they're doing and I look forward supporting their choice and buying Linux games when available - Portal, Portal 2 and Postal III in particular.

The Linux Game Box #6: ASCIIPORTAL

This week we're gonna talking about a game that is totally and unmistakable AWESOME. Asciiportal is a portal game developed by Joe Larson and inspired by Portile, Super Serif Bros and Portal by Valve. 

Title: ASCIIPORTAL
Genre: Puzzle (portal game)
License: MIT
Website: http://cymonsgames.com/asciiportal/

Installation requirements --> 9

There's no need for installation. You just download the Linux version and double click the bin. That's very straightforward and a always nice when you see something so simple with a Linux game.


Gameplay fun --> 10

Asciiportal is a portal game and that mean that's all fun. You're basically stuck in rooms and must evade by casting portals and walking through them to proceed on your way. Portals are like space wormholes but limited in range by the two way-points that the player places in two location of the map. Once placed, the two portals creates a tunnel as if the reality itself is bent, and the player can travel through it. There are several elements like barriers, spikes, ladders and so on that force you to be cunning in order to clear the levels.


Graphical appeal --> 7

As the name suggests, Asciiportal is completely text based thus every graphical element is in ascii. But don't fool yourself, this doesn't mean asciiportal isn't graphically cute, on the contrary the graphics made the game look stilish and enforce the sensation of being trapped inside some computer guts.

Sound delight --> 9

I'm so glad that this time I can say without a doubt that the sound snd music of the game are great. Music is composed by Steve Fenton. I've played a dozen of levels and I've listen only to two tracks: one for the menu and one for the levels. The music does really a great job in making this game even more enjoyable. The track for the levels is especially nice and creates a sci-fi atmosphere. By the way it reminds me a lot of the kind of music used in the game X2 The Threat. The sound is also noticeable, especially the voice effect that accompanies the instructions / advises of the guiding computer at the beginning of every level.

Story enchantment --> 3

As far as I've understood the story has no practical use in asciiportal. Maybe it is revealed further into the game but as far as I played there was scarce glimpse of it. It seem that whoever your character is, you must escape and to do so there's only one way: reach the exit of each level figuring the way out, overcome all sorts of hazards and of course use portals.

Bonus point --> 8

The game is totally open source and this means you're not just permitted but also encouraged to take a peek of the code and exploit it. Joe personally wrote me that "ASCIIpOrtal is released MIT open source. It's the closest to a "do whatever you want" license i could find. I'm of the opinion that the world is a better place when everybody shares. ;)".
If you're willing to hack but you're not capable or not comfortable with messing with the code, then there's a map editor, provided by Mads Lund, you can download here and use to create your own level. The editor is a MS Windows .exe but it works flawlessly (or so it seems to me) under wine.

OVERALL SCORE --> 9.4

Maybe my opinion is biased by the fact that I'm a total nerd but asciiportal and its creators are way cool.
Just try this game and drop me a line about what you think.
Below you can see asciiportal in action.

Scummvm for Symbian S60v5

On Scummvm forum Anotherguest opened a thread to present his pre-released Scummvm version including an effort for porting the famous emulator to the S60v5 platform from Nokia.

To all those who don't have a clue, Scummvm is the acronym of Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion Virtual Machine. Scumm itself is a scripting language developed by Lucasfilm Games to create point-and-clicks games of the sort of Maniac Mansion and the following many award winning games. Scummvm then is a free and open source software project to make a portable SCUMM-engine client which allows many of the SCUMM-engine based games to be played on systems where the original versions will not work like MS Windows, Macintosh OS, Linux, AmigaOS, Palm OS, PocketPC, Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS, Wii, Symbian (SeriesXX and UIQ), iPhone/iPod Touch.
If you haven't tried it yet, I strongly advise you to give Scummvm a try because -especially if you're in your thirties as I am- the sensation to play again those title made you dream when you were younger and the world had different nuances of color, is priceless. Speaking of price it's worth to know that Scummvm is totally free and -more of that- released under the GPL (General Public License).

Going back to the very subject of this post, Anotherguest has prepared packages for a pre-release version with the 0.13.0 engine. This version, which will soon substitute the current 0.12.0 stable release, includes support for the touch input system thus making the emulator running on the 5800 XM. Several people replied to the announce with report of tests on their devices, questions and suggestions for Anotherguest. He promptly replied and showed interest in going on with the refining of the 5800 XM support. Some issues are already solved, some others still remain as i.e. an unhappy division of the screen with a lot of space allocated to the virtual keyboard.
Anyway I tested the Scummvm subversion myself. I did a lot of digging in my parents' basement, grabbed all the dust covered game boxes I could find and, for each game, transfered the floppies content in a folder and then copied that folder in my games folder of the 5800 XM device. I found that almost all the games I tried work flawlessly. Up to now I tried Maniac Mansion, Zak McKracken (these two extensively), Loom, Monkey Island 1, Monkey Island 2, Lure of the Temptress (this can be legally downloaded for free from the software house website), Space Quest 1 and 2, leisure suit larry 1 and Simon the Sorcer 1 (this doesn't run well on my device as I can't click on the commands and can't open the menu in any way).
I'm already about to finish Maniac Mansion and can't wait for it so I have time to go on with Zak! Is Scummvm making me forget about my XBox360? Not really, yet I dare to say it's a killer application for the new mobile devices. Right now the project it's quite mature and do cast a new light on a world that is now more evergreen than ever.

My Fallout 3 review (XBox360)

I'm no IGN or Game Spot guy but I anyway want to give my review of a title that's lately stuck into my X-Box360 tray.

Fallout 3 is a first person action RPG and third installment of the Fallout trilogy. The game's developed by Bethesda which is well known for their Morrowind and Oblivion games. As a matter of fact, as soon as I saw the game in action -well maybe just after the first introductory chapter- I felt Oblivion's influence quite much, a sensation which got only stronger as I got diving into the game. I must say this was a nice sensation and a somewhat relieving one because, as we use to say, you don't change the winning horse -or maybe you just customize and improve it a bit.
I am always scared, when awaiting for the sequel of a famous game to be released, that the new episode would spoil the series or spoil the gameplay and feel by attempting to revolutionise the game engine. But this wasn't the case at all. Bethesda pick up the fruit of their tested and appreciated RPG engine and focused on the graphics appeal and story. Graphics and story are two great pros of this awesome game.

The year is 2277 and the location's Washington DC wasteland. In 2077 United States fought a nuclear war against China resulting in the complete devastation of the American nation (what about China and the World we don't know). After World War 2 Fallout's timeline split from ours and in 2077 the World was in the verge of its development, relying on robotics and nuclear power for even the more trivial tasks as powering cars and trucks. Despite this technical and scientific advancement, society values remained those of the 50' in our timeline. The society structure and values are pictured and described so well to be very present and strong in the game. By roaming the wasteland you can almost taste the ancient flavours even if they're just a mere reflect and survive only through devastated structures, forgotten objects and worn out posters.
The game starts with your birth and the death of your mother (what a good sign uh..). You then play some brief sequence related to your childhood and adolescence sheltered in the safety of Vault 101 with your father. Vaults are huge and very advanced nuclear shelters manufactured by Vault-Tec before the nuclear mayhem and designed to protect just a selected number of humans from the devastation and fallout. You will soon discover that there are a few of Vaults in the DC area. However you will soon be forced to leave the comfort and protection of your home and experience a new strange, dangerous, devastated world.
You begin your adventure -and new life- in an effort to track down your father who escaped the Vault without giving any explanation to anyone including his only and beloved son. The outside world is shattered and you will soon meet the desolated ruins of what once used to be a suburb called Spring Vale. In my play session it was nigh time when I exited Vault 101 and the desolating effect of the destroyed houses, the smashed and rusted furniture and the occasional ancient skeletons, was impressive.

Despite the holocaust humanity hasn't given up and the outside world is full of life. But humans aren't the only one roaming the capital wasteland, radiation turned either human beings or animal into monsters. There are the so called Ghouls which are mangled figures of those that once were humans. They're usually discriminated if not loathed mostly because of their aspect and because some of them are driven crazy by the radiation and get turned in Feral Ghouls which attack anyone who encounters them. Washington DC ruins swarm with Super Mutants, another human derived monster which are much more dangerous than the Feral Ghouls. The Super Mutants, whose origin I won't discuss here, usually haunt downtown DC streets and buildings in packs and can master a wide range of lethal weapons, from hunting rifles to miniguns and rocket launchers. Speaking of mutated animals there are rad-ants, rad-scorpions, Yao Guais (a sorta freaking ferocious bear), Mirelurks (super armored biped crabs), molerats, and abominations like the Centaur (a puke-stimulating Super Mutant pet), and Deathclaws (freaking fast and deadly ferocious).
Humans are present in a variaty of factions. Within the Capital Wasteland humans live in towns made of whatever piece of scraps of pre war metal they can find, like parts of airplanes, like Megaton, or caravans, like Arefu. Beached on the Potomac shore a rusty aircraft carrier hosts Rivet City one of the most important and largest human settlement in the game.
Where downtown DC streets are deprived from human colonization, because they're basically taken by the Super Mutants), they are also home of the Citadel, the stronghold of the local detachment of the Brotherhood of Steel, a national organization going back to the U.S. Army which struggles to somewhat normalize the nation by fighting minions (in this case mostly Super Mutants) with soldiers wearing Power Armors. Always present in your radio is the frequency of the Enclave, a mysterious organization which sports itself as the legitimate successor of the U.S. government. Other organizations present in the game are mercenaries, raiders (evil psychopaths, sociopaths killers), slavers, Brotherhood of Steel Outcasts and regulators (a sorta rangers who kill evil characters).

Fallout 3 sports several game features very well developed. I've already talked about the story; another of these prized aspect is the Karma system. Fallout 3 gives ample free choice to the player. There are countless way to proceed in the game. Karma is a dynamic picture of what is Dungeons & Dragons alignment. Depending on how you choose to behave your character can be good, neutral or evil. There are actions which give you different amount of Karma points. For example, if you choose to set off the A-bomb resting in Megaton, instead of disarming it, you'll get a huge amount of evil Karma points. More of that, by doing so several consequences in the game take place. The town is destroyed and the inhabitants killed, you can't access certain missions, your home will be somewhere else and so on. If you're evil then, raiders won't attack you, slavers will recognize you as a friend, etc... Words travel fast in the Capital Wasteland. Every situation has at least one good and one evil way to be solved, but usually the options are many more.

Another polished feature of Fallout 3 is the V.A.T.S. combat system. Before speaking of that though I must say something about the Pip-Boy 3000, the ultimate gadget Vault-Tec originally gave to those blessed people selected to be sheltered inside the Vaults. Pip-Boy is Fallout 3's green screen H.U.D. and provides the player several tools as the Geiger counter, the inventory, the map and much more. Among this more is the V.A.T.S. (Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System), the ultimate tactical software for those player who like to take a breath from the action and have a more rational approach to killing. Once V.A.T.S. is enabled the action freezes and the Pip-Boy 3000 shows the image of the target with a part of its body coloured in green. According to the number of Action Points the character has, the player can aim one or more shots to different part of the enemy's body or weapon. Each body part has an energy level which, once drained, causes the body part to become crippled, with evident consequences to the enemy combat behaviour.

Like all the GDRs games, in Fallout 3 the character is governed by main features and abilities which are improved or accumulated by means of Experience Points. S.P.E.C.I.A.L., which stands for Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, and Luck, are the main characteristics which are mainly chosen at the beginning of the game and can marginally be improved during the game by certain abilities or items. The Skills are the various abilities (i.e. Energy Weapons, Medicine, Lockpick, etc..) that the main character can learn through the game. Each of them is related to a certain S.P.E.C.I.A.L.. Now, Fallout 3 gives the player one more way to improve the character by means of the so-called Perks. These are very special abilities (i.e. Computer Whiz, Cyborg, Gun Nut, etc..) which enable the character to do some special thing (like have access to the slavers or regulators organizations) or do something regular (like shooting or hacking) better.

Speaking of the general appeal, Fallout 3 graphics is definitely very good. The fact is that technically it doesn't show anything like a big leap from what seen with Oblivion. This isn't a cons at all though. It's clear that, having already an engine which was doing its job quite well, Bethesda teams focused on the story and the gameplay. However, apart from pure technique, the style and detail of the graphic representation of the world is impressive. The world is huge and, despite the prevailing desolation, there are many distinct location to go sightseeing. Downtown Washington DC you can come across the remains of the pre war monuments like the Jefferson Memorial, the National Library or the ruins of the Washington monument with the radioactive pool. Walking on the deserted streets of the Capital, looking at the grey and massive buildings, all focused to hear the sign of Super Mutant ambushes, it's a rather disturbing experience.

Something that's seen of one of the best aspect (and one helping the game to be awarded of X-Box 360 game of the year by IGN) of this awesome game is the Audio. From the metallic screeching of the doors to the frequency noises of the radio, the sound is all aimed to increase the sensation of loneliness and fall of the civilization. What has mostly struck me is anyway the music. The soundtrack is outstanding. All the songs are in perfect fifties style and as a matter of fact they're all old songs from historical American singers like Cole Porter, The Ink Spots, Tex Beneke and Roy Brown). Walking on radiation scorched land listening to The Ink Spots singing "I don't want to set the world on fire" is just priceless.

Well, I suppose this is enough for now. I could certainly go on ages writing about this wonderful game and I'm certain you'll just like reading along, but you know.. I must go and play right now :D

If you like GDR games you better don't miss Fallout 3.

Here below you can see the official E3 2008 trailer which shows some of the various aspects of the game

Fallout 3 Editor released

I am currently preparing my review of Fallout 3. The review will be out soon but I have just discovered on the official Fallout 3 web site that Bethesda Softworks released G.E.C.K. also known as Garden of Eden Creation Kit. Beside being a main element of the game, G.E.C.K.'s the ultimate goodie for the Fallout 3 nerd.
Basically we're speaking of an editor which enables PC gamers to to expand the Fallout3 world with customized content created with this editor.
The tool should be somewhat similar to the Elder Scrolls Construction Set editor for those who're familiar with it.
Guys at Bethesda already created a wiki with detailed instructions, tutorials and videos to walk you though the usage of G.E.C.K. To make feel those who're not used to mods safe at home, the basic tutorial series is called "My First Vault".. ;)
You can download G.E.C.K. from here.
Here below the first youtube video tutorial.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2xskfNS8HE&eurl=http://bethblog.com/index.php/2008/12/11/the-geck-is-here/]
I have an Xbox360 version of the game so I won't be the pleasure to mod the game... :( But for those having the PC version, have fun folks!

The Linux Game Box #4: Beyond the Red Line (Battlestar Galactica)

Welcome to episode 4 of The Linux Game Box.
Today I'm gonna talk of Beyond the Red Line, a space combat simulation and unofficial spin-off of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica show.
Title:        Beyond the Red Line
Genre:     Platform
License:  Unknown but free
Website: http://www.beyondtheredline.net/

Beyond the red line is a standalone conversion (hooray!) of the award winning FreeSpace 2 game by Volition, Inc. The game released in 2007 it's only a demo featuring three single player missions and multiplayer support. A full game version (commercial?) is announced but no release date is specified. The official website provide scarce information and on October 2008 part of the team left Beyond the Red Line to work on a different project. We can thus fear that the full Beyond the Red Line full game is a vapoware.

INSTALLATION REQUIREMENTS → 5
To install the demo first thing you must download the install script. You can do so using this tracker for your torrent client. If you don't have a torrent client you can just download the script directly from on of the mirrors on the official web site.
After having downloaded the file you must set the script to be executable. To do this right click on the file, choose the permission tab and click the executable check box and run the script by double clicking it. At this point you could face a library problem like "error while loading shared libraries: libgtk-1.2.so.0: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory". If you have this issue just install the last version of libgtk from Synaptic or Adept. At this point you can double click again on the install script and install the game.   Alternatively to solve the dependency and install the the game you could type this on the console:

$: sudo apt-get install libgtk1.2
$: sh BtRLDemoInstaller.run

The installer will create a btrl_demo folder on your /home folder.
Run the btlr_demo script to run the game.
Linux system requirements:
• Operating System: Linux x86 compatible
• CPU: Pentium® 1 GHz or AMD Athlon 800 MHz processor
• Memory: 512 MB RAM, 1 GB recommended
• Graphics Card: 64 MB NVIDIA® GeForce 3 or ATI Radeon with closed source drivers, Mesa 6 or better with S3TC extension available for open source drivers
• Input Device: Mouse and keyboard
• Installation: 800 MB free HD space

GAMEPLAY FUN → 8

BTRL is a space combat simulator game so the gameplay is similar to that of glorious games of the past like Wing Commander and the Lucasfilm X-Wing series. Thus the concept is basically you sit into the cockpit of a colonial Viper to do the fighter pilot's job: escort ships and do a lot of dogfight against the cylons. The game implement semi Newtonian physics flight to enable the player to perform all the manouvers seen on the show. Also the weaponry and ship instrumentation are replica of those designed for the SciFi tv show. Similar to its predecessors also BTRD features a full set of commands which requires a certain amount of practice to be learnt and mastered. This can be see as a drawback but in my opinion that's not the case. At the beginning can be hard to mess around with all the keys -somewhat contortionist- but as you learn and use them you get accustomed to them and acquire more control on the ship and this is quite rewarding. 

GRAPHICS APPEAL → 9.5

From the visual point of view BTRL is quite satisfactory. The ships are accurately modeled and contain high-resolution textures. The environment is fascinating and immersing. Performing flybys of asteroids while chasing down cylon fighters with a gigantic alien planet in the background is something which provides breathtaking experience. Some effects, like explosions, could have been better and some others, like the shaking of the ship in afterburner, are really nice.

SOUND DELIGHT → 9

The sound is a real plus of this game. Even if BTRL is not an official Battlestar Galactica game the guys of the development team put pieces by Bear McCreary and Richard Gibbs which, useless to say, create a unique atmosphere. Music apart, the game is rich of actor speech either during briefing or during space combat. This especially helps you to bathe into the pilot character; you will hear pilots chatting, swearing "frak!" and screaming for their life, this all melted with the crackling of the laser and the humming of the cylon fighters brushing your ship.

STORY ENCHANTMENT → 7

The story is set during Battlestar Galactica Season 2. You are a pilot recruit draft and pressed into service by the not-so-gentle folks of the Battlestar Pegasus. Who watched the show's already aware that the philosophy of the Pegasus captain concerned a struggle to survive which implied dismantling of the civilian ships it was supposed to protect. Your objective is do your job and becoming a first class pilot of the Pegasus forces and possibly not to get killed also.
I must say that the story is not that well told or present in the game. There's a lot of briefing (all spoken by actors) but no introductory sequences, no cinematics, and no after mission chill out activities such as interaction with the mother ship personnel or environment. Although this is only a demo of a future game, I must list this aspect within the cons.

MALUS POINTS → -5

Even is Beyond the Red Line is amazing under many aspects, to have only 3 single player missions to play which is simply disappointing.

Note: the source code of FreeSpace2 was released by Voliton, Inc. under a non commercial license. The source code can be used to produce mods and stand alone games and it's currently developed and maintained by the FreeSpace 2 Source Code Project

OVERALL SCORE → 6.7

Here below you can see a video footage showing the game in action.
If you want browse more videos you can check the Beyond the Red Line YouTube channel here

The Linux Game Box #2: UFO: Alien Invasion

In this installment of The Linux Game Box I will discuss about UFO: Alien Invasion (U:AI), a turn based strategy game in which humans must fight back aliens attempting to invade Earth.
You play both the head of PHALANX, an agency whose aim is to fight and study the alien invaders, and the several soldiers members of the tactical teams.
The game is heavily influenced by the well known and appreciated X-COM and especially by the X-COM: UFO Defense episode.
U:AI is licensed under the GNU General Public License.

The project is alive and very active. The team is well coordinated and always looking for help in various aspect of the game production. Help is needed in many fields ranging from coding to 3D modelling and animating, translating, etc...

This is indeed one of the most interesting aspect of open source games which give the chance to common people to be part of an amazing project in the area where their skill can be more of help. As a matter of fact, giving my chronic lack of spare time, I found an ideal way of helping this project by translating part of the game text (which is quite massive in this case) to Italian.

If you want to get involved in the project you may refer to the wiki for the full list of areas you can contribute to develop. The easiest way to meet up with the community however is perhaps joining them at this IRC channel (irc://irc.freenode.org/ufo:ai).

INSTALLATION REQUIREMENTS → 10

U:AI is already present in the repositories and can thus been easily installed via Synaptic or Adept. If you run (K)Ubuntu you will also find the game inside the list of the add/remove tool.
Apart from Linux, the game runs also on Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X.
However instructions can be found here and the download trunk can be found here.

GAMEPLAY FUN → 9
There are two main gameplays sections that compose the game: a strategy/management part and a tactical/action part.

In the strategy/management part you take the role of the head of PHALANX and must take high level decision like arranging the base facility, hire personnel, start researches, schedule equipment and vehicle production and send squads to intercept alien fighters and engage alien troops on the ground. The time management system for this phase is based on the calendar in the way of other famous games like Sim City or The Sims. You can adjust the time speed in order to increase or decrease the chance of an alien ambush to take place during this phase (thus pushing you to the tactical phase).
In the tactical part you command the privateers and specialists of the tactical team to perform the mission objective. The action is split in turns and every character has a defined amount of Time Units (TU) to perform each desired action (i.e. walk, recharge the weapon, throw a frag grenade, etc..).
If you like strategy games you will find the gameplay mechanism of U:AI well calibrated thus providing a large amount of fun.
There's also the possibility for multiplayer game either via LAN or Internet connection.

GRAPHICS APPEAL → 8

U:AI's game engine is based on a heavily modified version of ID Software's Quake2 engine. The graphics quality is thus quite high and there's clearly the evidence of an effort to give the game a touch of professionalism. As the matter of fact the open source team has the target of producing a game which increases and surpasses, in all aspects, the game experience and overall quality of the original 1992 title. The updated OpenGL graphics shows well polished 3D models, several detailed environments, special effects, high resolution textures and nice characters animations.

SOUND DELIGHT → 9

A big attention is given to the music and sound effects (more to the first to be honest) in order to create the right atmosphere for the game. This is another aspect which tells you how much care the team puts into this project.

STORY ENCHANTMENT → 10

This is the game's strongest plus.
U:AI takes place in 2084 in a planet Earth with a geopolitical configuration pretty different to the present real one. The various countries around the world did solidify and unify in huge blocks, with The Greater European Union and The Asian Republic being the most powerful and rich ones. Humanity is on the verge of welfare and peace at a level never experienced in its whole history. In this idyllic scenario aliens come out of the blue and attack the Indian city of Mumbai causing thousands of casualties among civilians and troops of The Commonwealth . The new UN meet and Earth declares war to the unknown aliens. Standard army approaches show poor results thus leading to the creation of PHALANX: an secret agency, established under UN banner, which summons the best of the best of Earth resources to eliminate the alien menace.
Every aspect of the game is rich of detail. The story literally rises from the player's progress in the game. For this reason every mission performed contains a cliffhanger, in the shape of an upcoming research on alien specimen or equipments, or story developments resulting from the mission accomplishment.

OVERALL SCORE → 9.2

here below you can see a video trailer of the game

The Linux Game Box #1: Astromenace

Astromenace is a vertical scrolling shooter of the likes of the classic shot ‘em up like Xenon2 Megablaster.
The concept behind the game is fairly simple and all focused on piloting a space ship and fighting swarms of alien invaders.
The game is made by the Ukrainian software house Viewizard and is released as freeware for the Linux platform. A demo version is also available for Windows.

INSTALLATION REQUIREMENTS → 10

After downloading a 34 or so tar.bz2 file from this page it’s just enough to unzip it and double click on the bin in order to start the game.

For those who prefer to add the game to the apt repository a simple procedure is explained.

Minimum requirements:
Linux OS
Pentium 1+ GHz
128 MB RAM
3D video accelerator with 32+ MB on board
Runtime dependencies:
libSDL (ver 1.2.6+), libopenal (ver 1.0+), libalut (ver 1.0+), libogg (ver 1.1+), libvorbis (ver 1.1+), libvorbisfile (ver 1.1+), libjpeg (ver 6b+).

GAMEPLAY FUN → 8

Astromenace is a great fun. The alien ships are huge in number and relentless in their effort to attack the human homeland (bosses included). The alien swarms remember well those of the arcade games of the 80’ as they seem much more like automated and stupid drones than manoeuvred by an intelligent form of life. However on the human side of the war the game offers interesting features. There are something like 20 different ships that can be purchased and upgraded with a whole stock of equipments and weaponry.

GRAPHICS APPEAL → 9

The overall graphic design is neat. The ships, equipments, aliens and environment are all carefully designed and will make you remember of several sci-fi movies and video games. Astromenace is all 3D accelerated graphics which provides a whole range of special effects that make the game one of the most graphically polished of the Linux games landscape.

SOUND DELIGHT → 7

The sound and music are just fine and provide the right atmosphere for the game

STORY ENCHANTMENT → 6

There’s no much to say here. As I told before Astromenace aim is not that of charming the gamer with its refined and complicated story. For this reason I give it a 6.

BONUS POINTS → 8

It’s possible to modify the game quite easily by editing an xml file. Viewizard provides a guide to help the user handling with the scripts.

OVERALL SCORE → 8

In the video below you can have a look at the game play and graphics

The Linux Game Box

Linux is well known as a poor platform for the hardcore video game user. If you look for the video game market hits you won't find them running under Linux. For that you'd better choose a PC or mostly a last generation game console such as Xbox360, PS3 or the more niche oriented one Nintendo Wii.

The Linux game panorama is not completely bare though. Just for this I want to start this new column to periodically present one Linux game I installed and played with my laptop. The use of a laptop takes a specific role here. Having said that Linux is -at the moment- completely alien to the massively marketed and leading technology games, then to play games on Linux which are playable and enjoyable on a honest average laptop it's something lots of people can be interested in. We're not speaking of a game oriented machine but something that you more likely already use for work or in school.

The machine I will play the games to review is the following:

Packard Bell EasyNote (2005)
Graphic card: Ati Mobility Radeon X1600
CPU: Centrino Duo T2300
RAM: 1Gb
OS: Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron

So, I will periodically look for one game (I already have a bunch of them noted down in tomboy) install it and play it. Then I will write something like a draft review (nothing like an IGN behemot) in this column. I will give my opinion on the basis of the following aspects:

- Installation pain
- Gameplay fun
- Graphical appeal
- Sound delight
- Story enchantment

The choice of the games is completely biased. At first I will start from games do have an appeal to me and then move on from those. Of course you can let me know your suggestions.

I do hope with this work to help sharing the know how of the Linux free and open source (and commercial maybe) scenario as well as paying tribute to those teams of enthusiasts who do such a great job and supply us Linux lovers with wonderful games.

The first review is about AstroMenace so stay tuned folks!