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589Chapter 22Gaming Alone and OnlineThe following sections describe a few games that may still be available. Again, thesegames may not be available for long. Civilization: Call to PowerYou can build online civilizations with Civilization: Call to Power (CCP). Like earlierversions and public spinoffs (such as the Freeciv described earlier in this chapter), Civilization: Call to Power for Linux lets you explore the world, build cities, andmanage your empire. The last version offered by Loki Games includes multiplayernetwork competition and extensions that let you extend cities into outer space andunder the sea. If you like Freeciv, you will love CCP. Engaging game play is improved with enhancedgraphics, sound, and animation. English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish ver- sions are available. Freeciv is dependent on the Open Sound System for audio support. The OpenSound home page (www.opensound.com/osshw.html) has a list of supportedsound cards, mostly older devices. If you do not have a card that s on the list, youmay be unable to enjoy the audio. The CCP demo comes with an excellent tutorial to start you out. If you have neverplayed a civilization game before, the tutorial is a great way to start. Figure 22-7shows an example scene from the Civilization: Call to Power for Linux demo. Figure 22-7:Civilization:Call to Power features excellent graphics and network play. Myth II: SoulblighterIf you like knights and dwarves and storming castles, Myth II: Soulblighter for Linuxmight be for you. In Myth II, you are given a mission and some troops with variousskills. From there, you need strategy and the desire to shed lots of virtual blood tomeet your goal. Note30_
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588Part IVRunning ApplicationsLoki Software Game DemosTo encourage people to get to know its games, the now-defunct Loki Software, Inc. offered a demo program that let you choose from among more than a dozen of itsgames to download and try. You can still find some of its games for sale. For example, a recent search for Loki at Amazon.com turned up 16 different Loki games (includingthe ones described here), many selling for $9.99. If you try to download any of the demos described in the following sections, makesure you have plenty of disk space available. It is common for one of these demosto require several hundred megabytes of disk space. The Loki Demo Launcher page (www.lokigames.com/products/demos.php3) stilloffers links to FTP sites from which you can download the Demo Launcher. The filethat you want to save is loki_demos-full-1.0e-x86.run. Save it to a directory(such as /tmp/loki) and do the following: 1.Change to the directory to which you downloaded the demo. For example: # cd /tmp/lokiYou may not need to be root user to install these games. However, the paths wherethe Demo Launcher tries to write by default are accessible only to the root user. 2.As root user, run the following command (the program may have a differentname if it has been updated): # sh loki_demos-full-1.0e.x86.run3.If you have not used the Demo Launcher before, a screen appears asking youto identify the paths used to place the Install Tool. If the default locationsshown are okay with you, click Begin Install. 4.Assuming that there was no problem writing to the install directories, youshould see an Install Complete message. Click Exit. 5.The Uninstall Tool window displays. If the paths for holding the Uninstall Toolare okay, click Begin Install. The Install Complete message appears. Click Exit. 6.The next window enables you to set the locations for installing the DemoPack. If the paths are okay, click Begin Install. 7.A box shows the different demo games that are available. As you move thecursor over each game, the disk space need for the game is displayed. Clickthe games you want to install and then click Continue. 8.A window displays the progress of each download. You may need to click anUpdate button to complete the update and then click Finish to finish it. 9.The demo should now be ready to start. Either click Play or type loki_demosfrom a Terminal window to start the program. 10.Select to start the game, and you re ready to go. NoteCaution30_
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587Chapter 22Gaming Alone and OnlineFigure 22-6:Use the Point2Play window to check computer hardware for Cedega gaming. Other features in the new Point2Play window include the ability to select among different installed versions of Cedega for running applications and tools for individ- ually configuring how each game runs under Cedega. (If a game won t run from theGUI, try launching it from a Terminal window.) To get binary copies (ones that are already compiled to run) of Cedega andPoint2Play, you need to subscribe to TransGaming. For details on how to becomea TransGamer, click the Subscribe Here link on the TransGaming home page(www.transgaming.com). Benefits currently include: .Downloads of the latest version of Cedega .Access to Cedega support forums .Ability to vote on which games you want TransGaming to support next .Subscription to the Cedega newsletterCedega used to be known as WineX. The source code for WineX may become avail- able in the near future if you want to build your own WineX/Cedega package. Tocheck availability, try the SourceForge.net project site for WineX (sourceforge. net/projects/winex).
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586Part IVRunning ApplicationsTo get Windows games to run in Linux, Cedega particularly needs to developMicrosoft DirectX features that are required by many of today s games. There arealso issues relating to CD keys and hooks into the Windows operating system thatmust be overcome (such as requiring Microsoft Active Desktop). In fact, a Cedegasubscription has value, in part, because it lets you vote on which games you d liketo see TransGaming work on next. A full list of games supported by TransGaming, as well as indications of how popu- lar they are and how well they work, is available from the TransGaming site (searchfor the games that interest you by going to www.transgaming.comand clicking onGames). More than 100 games are currently listed with a rating of 4 out of 5 (mean- ing that the game will run well, if not flawlessly). Eight games are rated a 5 (meaningthat they run flawlessly). You can use TransGaming s Cedega software to run Doom 3 right out of the box. For news about other product milestones, check out the Hot off the Press link onthe TransGaming home page. Support or major enhancements for the following games were recently added toCedega 4.0.1: Doom 3City of HerosMorrowwindSteamHere is a list of some of the new and popular games that are being used by theTransGaming community and that are said to run well in Cedega (rated a 4 or 5): James Bond 007: NightFireEverquest 2Tron 2.0Jagged Alliance 2: WildfireDoom 3Star Craft: Brood WarWarlords Battlecry IIIFar CryHitman ContractsWorld of WarcraftCheck the TransGaming list yourself for additions and changes. With Cedega 4.0.1, TransGaming added several new Point2Play features. Point2Playprovides a graphical window for installing, configuring, and testing Cedega on yourcomputer. This OpenGL-dependent application also lets you install and organizeyour games so you can launch them graphically. Figure 22-6 shows an example ofthe TransGaming Point2Play window: Note30_
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585Chapter 22Gaming Alone and OnlineIdownloaded the installer called wolf-linux-1.31.x86.runfrom www.idsoftware.com/games/wolfenstein/rtcw/index.php?game_section=updates. The INSTALLfile (in /usr/local/games/wolfenstein) describes what files youneed to copy from the Windows CD. To get a demo of Return to Castle Wolfenstein, go to www.idsoftware.com/games/ wolfenstein/rtcw/index.php?game_section=overview. Both single-player andmultiplayer demos are available. You need an NVIDIA card to run Return to Castle Wolfenstein. Figure 22-5 is a screenshot from Return to Castle Wolfenstein running in Linux. Figure 22-5:Return to Castle Wolfenstein combines strange creatures and WW II battles. TransGaming and Cedega GamingTransGaming Technologies brings to Linux some of the most popular games that cur- rently run on the Windows platforms. Working with WINE developers, TransGaming isdeveloping Cedega, which enables you to run many different games on Linux thatwere originally developed for Windows. Although TransGaming is producing a fewgames that are packaged separately and tuned for Linux, in most cases it sells you asubscription service to Cedega instead of the games. That subscription service letsyou stay up-to-date on the continuing development of Cedega so you can run moreand more Windows games. Depending on your distribution, you may need to get the vanilla kernel from kernel.organd boot that on your system before running games with Cedega. NoteCaution30_
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584Part IVRunning ApplicationsQuake III ArenaQuake III Arena is a first-person, shooter-type game where you can choose from lotsof weapons (lightning guns, shotguns, grenade launchers, and so on) and passthrough scenes with highly detailed 3D surfaces. You can play alone or against yourfriends. There are multiplayer death-match and capture-the-flag competitions. Standalone play allows you to advance through a tournament structure of skilledAIopponents. This version of the game has a selectable difficulty level, from fairlyeasy to beat to downright impossible. A demo version of Quake III Arena for Linux is available from the id Software Website (click the demo link at www.idsoftware.com/games/quake/quake3-gold/ and then look for the Linux demo). Figure 22-4 shows a screenshot from Quake IIIArena. Figure 22-4:Quake III Arena is a popular first-person shooter game that runs in Linux. Return to Castle WolfensteinYou battle with the Allies to destroy the Third Reich in Return to Castle Wolfenstein, which mixes World War II action with creatures conjured up by Nazi scientists. It sbased on the Quake III Arena engine and offers single-player mode as well as team- based multiplayer mode. If you purchase Return to Castle Wolfenstein for Linux, you actually get the Windowsversion with an extra Linux installer. If you already have the Windows version, youcan download the Linux installer and follow some instructions to get it going.
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583Chapter 22Gaming Alone and OnlineCommercial Linux GamesWhen Loki Software, Inc. closed its doors a few years ago, the landscape of com- mercial gaming in Linux changed. Loki produced Linux ports of popular games, including Myth II and Civilization: Call to Power, to name a couple. Since then, noother company has stepped up to port that wide a range of best-selling games toLinux. Today, commercial games that run natively are led by several popular gamesfrom id Software (described in the next section) and a few gaming companies thathave ported individual titles to Linux. Some Loki games are still available for purchase on the Web. They sell for a fractionof their original price, but you are on your own if they don t work because LokiSoftware is no longer there to support them. The Loki Games Demo is still around, ifyou want to get a feel for a particular Loki game before it disappears completely(Idescribe how to find demo and packaged Loki Games later in this chapter). In the wake of Loki s demise, TransGaming Technologies has been working on anapproach to bringing popular games to Linux that relies on a version of WINE calledCedega. In most cases, instead of having different ports of popular games (as Lokidid), TransGaming lets users run existing Windows games in Linux by adaptingCedega to each game that needs a tweak here and there. While the state of Linux gaming has improved somewhat in the last few years, Linuxleaves much to be desired as a gaming platform. Linux has some of the technologyneeded to support advanced games, but the technology and developer support havenot yet really come together. Most serious gamers still maintain a Windows partitionto support their gaming habits. According to top game developers, there are signifi- cant hurdles both technological and economic that hinder development ofgames for Linux. Issues with video and audio hardware, as well as problems withGNU/Linux development itself (in particular, glibc), have made new games difficultto produce. In addition, the relatively small size of the Linux gaming market meansthat incentives to overcome these issues are not particularly strong. However, theselimitations are not overwhelming. As you ll see later in this chapter, even the hard- core game nut can successfully use Linux. id Software GamesAmong the most popular games running natively in Linux are Quake III Arena andReturn to Castle Wolfenstein from id Software, Inc. You can purchase Linux versionsof these games or download demos of each game before you buy. If you have trouble getting any id Software games running in Linux, refer to the LinuxFAQs available from id Software at: http://zerowing.idsoftware.com/ linux. Note30_
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582Part IVRunning Applications3.Click the City to see the city window. Notice that information about the cityhas been updated. In particular, you should see food storage increase. Closethe city window. 4.Continue exploring and build a road. With the Explorer flashing, use thenumeric keypad to move it another three sections. When the Settler beginsblinking, press R to build a road. A small R appears on the square to remindyou that the Settler is busy building a road. Click Turn Done. Using More Controls and ActionsNow that you have some understanding of the controls and actions, the game canbegin taking a lot of different directions. Here are a few things that might happennext and things you can do: .After you take a turn, the computer gets a chance to play. As it plays, itsactions are reported to you. You can make decisions on what to do aboutthose actions. Choose Game.Message Options. The Message Options windowappears, containing a listing of different kinds of messages that can come fromthe server and how they will be presented to you. .As you explore, you will run into other explorers and eventually other civiliza- tions. Continue exploring by selecting different directions on your numerickeypad. .Continue to move the Settler one square at a time, after it has finished creatingthe road. (The Settler will blink again when it is available.) Click Turn Done. .At this point, you should see a message that your city has finished buildingWarriors. When buildings and units are complete, you should usually checkout what has happened. Click the message associated with the city, and thenclick Popup City. The city window appears, showing you that it has additionalpopulation. The food storage may appear empty, but the new citizens areworking to increase the food and trade. You may see an additional warrior unit. .A science advisory may also appear to let you choose your city s researchgoals. Click Change and select Writing as your new research goal. You canthen select a different long-term goal as well. Click Close when you are done. .If your new Warrior is now blinking, press the S key to assign sentry mode tothe Warrior. .Select Reports from time to time to keep track of statistics about your Cities, Units, Economy, Science, and other attributes of your world. Those moves provided familiarity with some of the actions of Freeciv. To learnsome basic strategies for playing the game, choose Help.Help Playing.
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581Chapter 22Gaming Alone and Online .When you have made all your moves for a turn, click Turn Done. Next to that, a light bulb indicates the progress of your research (increasing at each turn). A sun icon starts clear, but becomes brighter from pollution to warn of possi- ble global warming. A government symbol indicates that you begin with adespotic government. The last icon tells you how much time is left in a turn. .The Unit box shows information about your current unit. You begin with twoSettlers units (covered wagon icons) and one Explorer (a man icon) unit. Clickon a Settler, Explorer, city, or other unit to use it or learn about it. Building Your CivilizationStart building your civilization. The Freeciv manual makes these suggestions: .To change the distribution of money, choose Kingdom.Tax Rates. Move theslider bars to redistribute the percentage of assets assigned to luxury, science, and taxes. Try increasing science and reducing taxes to start off. .Change the current unit to be a settler as follows: Click the stack of units onthe map and click one of the Settlers from the menu that appears. .Begin building a city by clicking on Orders.Build City. When prompted, typea name for the city and click OK. The window that appears shows informationabout the city. It starts with one happy citizen, represented by a single icon(more citizens will appear as the game progresses). .The Food, Prod, and Trade lines reflect the raw productivity statistics for thecity. The first number shows how much is being produced; the second (inparentheses) shows the surplus above what is needed to support the units. The Gold, Luxury, and Science lines indicate the city s trade output. Granarynumbers show how much food is stored and the size of the food store. Thepollution level begins at zero. .Close the city window by clicking Close. Exploring Your WorldTo begin exploring, move the Settlers and the Explorer: 1.Using the numeric keypad, press the 9 key three times to begin exploring. Youcan move the Explorer up to three times per turn. You begin to see more ofthe world. 2.When the next unit (a Settler) begins blinking, move it one square in anotherdirection. When you have made all the moves you want to make (or all thatthe game allows), the Turn Done button is highlighted. Click Turn Done tostart your next turn. Information for the city is updated (the city changesandgrows, simply through the passage of time reflected in the turns).
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580Part IVRunning Applications6.At this point, you should have a Terminal window (running the server) andthe Freeciv window (running the client) open on your desktop. Click theFreeciv window title bar to return to that window to start the game. Beginning with FreecivCheck out the Freeciv window before you start playing the game: .Click the Help button for topical information on many different subjects thatwill be useful to you as you play. (You can find more help at the Freeciv site.) .The world (by default) is 80 x 50 squares, with 11 x 8 squares visible at a time. .The active square contains an icon of the active unit (flashing alternativelywith the square s terrain). .Some squares contain special resources. Press and hold the middle mousebutton for information on what special resources a square contains. (With atwo-button mouse, hold the Ctrl key and click the right mouse button.) Trythis a few times to get a feel for the land around you. This action also identi- fies any units on the terrain, as well as statistics for the unit. .To see the world outside your 11 x 8 viewing area, click the scroll bars outsidethe map. At first, the part of the world you haven t explored yet will be black. As units are added, areas closer to those units will be visible. (Press C toreturn to the active part of your map.) .An overview map is in the upper-left corner of the Freeciv window. As theworld becomes more civilized, this provides a good way to get an overview ofwhat is going on. Right-click a spot on the overview map to have your view- port centered there. .The menu bar contains buttons you can use to play the game. The Gamemenu lets you change settings and options, view player data, view messages, and clear your log. The Kingdom menu lets you change tax rates, find cities, and start revolutions. The View menu lets you place a grid on the map or cen- ter the view. The Orders menu is where you choose the items you build andthe actions you take. The Reports menu lets you display reports related tocities, military, trade, and science, as well as other special reports. .A summary of the economy of your civilization appears under the overviewmap. Information includes number of people, current year, and money in thetreasury. .Ten icons below the overview information represent how money is dividedamong luxuries (an entertainer), science (a researcher), and taxes (a tax col- lector). Essentially, these icons represent how much of your resources areplaced into improving each of those attributes of your community.
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