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Petemac
11-25-2003, 01:03 PM
I cannot and will not include games in this list that I have not played. The obvious reason due to lack of experience.

The ratings are based on a 10 point system. The overall is NOT an average of the other three statistics.

Games with a * require WineX to run.

20. TuxRacer - This game (the full version), though a little cheesy, is a great game to sit down and play for 10 minutes when bored. It's got some pretty fun race tracks, and very interesting things can happen. The game runs flawlessly on a number of systems that I have put together, and the graphics aren't bad at all.

Graphics - 7
Fun Factor - 7
Ease of installation/Use - 9
Overalll - 7

19. ZSnes - This is the best emulator I have seen hands down. It emulates SNES games flawlessly and with no trouble at all. I highly recommend using this emulator, if you have SNES roms.

Graphics - NA
Fun Factor - NA
Ease of installation/use - 8
Overall - NA

18. Myth II: Soul Blighter - This game, though I have not played it from start to finish is a very fun game for it's time, and still is fun. It's a real-time strategy game which I'd recommend to anyone who enjoys strategy based games.

Graphics - 7.5
Fun Factor - 7
Ease of installation/use - 9
Overall - 7.5

17. Anvil of Thyrion - Ports of games by private, non-funded programmers/gamers are simply a tremendous blessing to this community. The fact that this guy brought Hexen 2 and it's expansion pack over to Linux is simply great. The game itself installs excellently, but I am having trouble with the OpenGL renderer due to lack of documentation, and their seems to be no real joystick support, which is a bummer for people like me who use keyboard-style joysticks such as the Nostromo Speedpad. As a FPS with RPG elements, it is a great game. Anyone looking for a strong singleplayer/multiplayer cooperative game, stop looking and get this game. Just make sure you have the Hexen 2 CD (s).

Graphics - 7.5
Fun Factor - 7.5
Ease of installation/use - 6
Overall - 7.5

16. Heavy Gear II - Of the mech games, this one has some very interesting and creative twists from the typical Mechwarrior games. It is a game which is very fun and easy to play, and keep one glued to the screen for long periods of time. The graphics aren't the best we've ever seen, but it's no sweat off my back.

Graphics - 7
Fun Factor - 8
Ease of installation/use - 9
Overall - 7.5

15. Descent III - The Descent games are in a class of their own. If anyone enjoys first person shooters OR flight sims this game is a definite must have. This game was the commercial game to introduce sectors above sectors and still is one of the only games which uses all 6 degrees of movement (X, Y, Z, Pitch, Yaw, Roll). I know some people have been known to get nauseous playing this game.

Graphics - 8
Fun Factor - 8.5
Ease of installation/use - 9
Overall - 8

14. Rune - One of the two best TPS's (Third Person Shooter) around. Many elements in this game make it a great game. The only thing I've found is that towards the end of the game it gets slightly repetitive. Outside of that, it's a great game.

Graphics - 8
Fun Factor - 8
Ease of installation/use - 9
Overall - 8

12. Black & White* - Very innovative, interesting game play, great graphics, fun, but yet again gets a little tedious. Creatures aren't too useful unfortunately.

Graphics - 8
Fun Factor - 8
Ease of installation/use - 8.5
Overall - 8

13. Quake II - This is one of the greatest games ever, for it's time. It's got pretty much everything. No need to say much more about this game. Definitely check this game out.

Graphics - 7.5
Fun Factor - 8
Ease of installation/use - 8
Overall - 8.5

11. Heretic II - This is one of the only games which I couldn't stop playing. I played it for 5 hours a day for about a week straight if I recall correctly. Between the plot and the interesting worlds, this game doesn't get boring ever. It is hands down the best TPS of all time. On the other hand, it's a HUGE issue getting it to run properly on most systems. First, you've gotta install the game, then figure out that it doesn't install the executable binary, go into the cdrom, copy the executable over, configure your XF86Config for 16 bit mode, get issues with XF86Config not being set to 16-bit mode regardless of whether or not you set your desktop to 16-bit, scream for 2 hours straight, finally try installing the patch, find out that it won't install because you've edited the config files too heavily, reinstall the whole game, install the patch, then configure it for OpenGL support. YAY, THAT WAS FUN! :-/

Graphics - 7.5
Fun Factor - 9
Ease of installation/use - 3
Overall - 8.5

10. UT 2003 - Vanilla FPS. Very good game though. Flavor-of-the-month. (That's a bad thing - doesn't hold interest for too long.)

Graphics - 9.5
Fun Factor - 8.5
Ease of Installation - 8
Overall - 8.5

9. Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast* - Great, great game. No joystick support though, maybe they'll fix that in later WIneX releases. Very solid singleplayer mode, very, very fun multiplayer mode. Unfortunately the competition wasn't organized enough for the multiplayer mode to stay with me. It's great to pick up for 20 minutes at a time and play.

Graphics - 9
Fun Factor - 8.5
Ease of installation/use - 8
Overall - 8.5

8. Return to Castle Wolfenstein - Not so vanilla, yet another FPS. Good game. Flavor-of-the-month (that's a bad thing).

Graphics - 9
Fun Factor - 8.5
Ease of installation/use - 8
Overall - 8.5

7. Battlefeld 1942* - This game would be higher on my list if it held my attention for more than 2 weeks. Unfortunately it's just another flavor-of-the-month. Great graphics, very

6. Savage - Playing right now. I feel like this game deserves to be up on the list, but I don't have enough info on it to give a proper review.

5. Neverwinter Nights - Best RPG I have seen yet. It installs nicely, has great graphics, good plot, excellent multiplayer support, and it's the first real RPG to offer serious control to playrs via the Tool set. Having to download the NWN resources is a royal pain. If I had the CD, then my 'ease of installation/use' score would probably go up to 8.5

Graphics - 9
Fun Factor - 8.5
Ease of installation/use - 7.5/8.5
Overall - 9

4. Warcraft III* - Awesome game. Great singleplayer, great multiplayer, great graphics, great plot, tons of 'mods', very, very fun. Highly, Highly recommended for people who like real-time strategy games. A long lasting Flavor-of-the-month. Though I would classify it as an FOTM, it still stuck around far longer than any of the other FOTM's.

Graphics - 9
Fun Factor - 9.5
Ease of installation/use - 8
Overall - 9

3. Diablo II* - The only game I have ever played for 13 hours straight. I am HOPING and PLEADING that a Diablo III some how comes out (plot in Diablo III is the only real question). The graphics are dated, but everything else makes up for it.

Graphics - 7
Fun Factor - 10
Ease of installation/use - 8
Overall - 9.5

2. ThinkTanks - Of all the games that you can sit down and play for 10-30 minutes at a time, this is THE game. I play this game several times a day, and have done so for a very long time. Graphics aren't in competition with games like Q3A or UT2K3, but they are good enough that I never get bored looking at them. The fun factor of this game is off the charts.

Graphics - 8
Fun Factor - 10
Ease of installation/use - 8.5
Overall - 9.5

1. Quake III Arena - The perfect game. The graphics are still some of the very best around, the feel of the game just makes the UT series, Battlefield 1942, the HL series, and others just feel jaded. When you buy this game you are actually getting dozens of games in one - Urban Terror, Weapons Factory Arena, True Combat, OSP/Rocket Arena/Threewave, Freeze Tag just to name a few. It is fully supported in Linux and I had absolutely no hitches trying to get it running. When people say they have problems with it, 99% of the time they are actually having an OpenGL issue, which is what I had when I first tried to install this game a couple years ago.

Graphics - 10
Fun Factor - 10
Ease of installation/use - 10
Overall - 10

bwkaz
11-25-2003, 09:19 PM
Well I'd have to say I wouldn't put Quake 3 at the top, and I'd put Descent 3 and Rune higher, but hey whatever. ;)

Maybe Chromium BSU or Neverball or (some variant of) xkobo should be on the list?

mirthrandir63
11-26-2003, 10:41 AM
Yeah, Blizzard sure has a great track record with the Diablo and Warcraft Series. I once played them both for a mind numbing 26 hours straight, with only a half hour worth of breaks to bring food down, use the john and to let the dog out.

I'd definetly put UT2003 on that list somewhere. Not much of 1942 or Wolfenstein fan though.

ph34r
11-26-2003, 10:48 AM
You left out Enemy Territory. Great game, not Free, but free.

Hayl
11-26-2003, 10:56 AM
Originally posted by Petemac
5. Neverwinter Nights - Best RPG I have seen yet. It installs nicely, has great graphics, good plot, excellent multiplayer support, and it's the first real RPG to offer serious control to playrs via the Tool set. Having to download the NWN resources is a royal pain. If I had the CD, then my 'ease of installation/use' score would probably go up to 8.5

Graphics - 9
Fun Factor - 8.5
Ease of installation/use - 7.5/8.5
Overall - 9


Does "if I had the CD" mean that you are running pirated software?

Satanic Atheist
11-26-2003, 11:22 AM
Originally posted by Hayl
Does "if I had the CD" mean that you are running pirated software?
Nah, I think he means he has the original Windows version and the Linux binaries are available separately for download. I guess there's also a full Linux disc available.

You should also include Soldier of Fortune (now with native Linux binaries), Half-Life, Counterstrike and Sim City 3000 (which doesn't run under Slackware 9.1 - X incompatibility?

Adonthell is good for a laugh as well (open-source, sort of a working demo version of a future game).

The only problem I have with Linux games is that there's no real guarantee that they'll work until standards for things such as X settle down. That's what I found with Sim City 3000 which I borrowed off a friend to see if it would work. I'm glad I didn't pay for it, now knowing that it wouldn't work.

Personally, the best way to release these games for the moment is the "Linux binary packs" which simple replace the installer on the CD. You still need to CD for the libraries, with most games...

James

sharth
11-26-2003, 11:24 AM
afaik there is a downloadable linux installer that gets what it needs from the cds.

Satanic Atheist
11-26-2003, 11:46 AM
Originally posted by sharth
afaik there is a downloadable linux installer that gets what it needs from the cds.
Depends on the game... Most of them are being done this way, but a few of them are commercially available as a CD with the Linux binaries already available for a Windows-like installation.

Of course, some games are available through Wine (RtCW must be installed through Wine and the data files copied across) but I always find this a very ugly approach in any situation. After all, I didn't install Linux to play Windows games!

James

Petemac
11-27-2003, 03:05 AM
Hayl - I have the windows CD of NWN, not the linux CD. I am curious though, considering you took such great attention to such a small detail, does this mean that I would have gotten banned from this site, or something to that effect had I pirated it? (For clarification, I am extremely against piracy, but it just makes me giggle seeing someone point out that little tiny 3-5 word section of such a large post).

mrBen
11-27-2003, 05:22 AM
Originally posted by Petemac
Hayl - I have the windows CD of NWN, not the linux CD. I am curious though, considering you took such great attention to such a small detail, does this mean that I would have gotten banned from this site, or something to that effect had I pirated it? (For clarification, I am extremely against piracy, but it just makes me giggle seeing someone point out that little tiny 3-5 word section of such a large post).

Promoting or advising on Piracy is against the AUP of the site (for obvious reasons) and so the post may have been deleted. It is unlikely something like that would get you banned - we're not that crass.

In response to the original question, one of my top games is HopkinsFBI, a point and click game - top cartoon graphics (although very gory), thumping soundtrack (including some work by the Troggs), great p-n-c gameplay. Definitely worth a look if you liked the old LucasArts stuff.

http://www.hopkinsfbi.com

Lemming
11-27-2003, 01:11 PM
WHAT??? NO UPLINK??? NO TRIBES 2???

List needs some revision methinks:)

raz0rblade
11-27-2003, 07:15 PM
Originally posted by Satanic Atheist

<snip>
Of course, some games are available through Wine (RtCW must be installed through Wine and the data files copied across) but I always find this a very ugly approach in any situation. After all, I didn't install Linux to play Windows games!

James

They fixed that problem in the GOTY edition, PK3 files can be pulled right from the disc like q3.

hadding
11-28-2003, 03:34 PM
These aren't games per se but I can't believe you guys left out ScummVM http://www.scummvm.org/ ("Beneath A Steel Sky" is now freeware thanks to their efforts). DOSBox http://dosbox.sourceforge.net/news.php?show_news=1 . And you can't forget the Exult Project http://exult.sourceforge.net/. Others, such as FreeSCI, etc.


OMG, I can't believe I forgot CoreWar (the geek game par excellence :D )


_h

lagitus
12-02-2003, 04:59 PM
Sacrifice (with WineX) is also quite addictive! Too bad the multiplayer doesn't work (for me).

Xkenichi
12-02-2003, 05:45 PM
Hey thanks alot, Petemac!

I didn't know zsnes was ported to linux.