About a million years ago (it seems) I had to start working with computers to feed my family. Then a few hundred thousand years ago (again it seems) I discovered computer games and actually got to like the things.. sometimes. Then, a couple of years ago, the world became good and I became a Linux person. Damn, that Linux ran well, did its thing, didn't crash, and even began to get a pretty GUI (even if I did usually have a few terminals open in it). Yeah, the world was good, except that, by and large, Linux games, while cute and somewhat entertaining, couldn't hold a candle to Windows games. And now, after a couple of years of Linux, I find it rather painful to voluntarily boot a Windows computer.
Last weekend, a buddy of mine and the local DA had a LAN party. Lots of beer, good munchies, and a Starcraft session. On Windows computers. Now my buddy and I are Linux users, and I won't even begin to go into the BS of installing the game and setting up the LAN for Windows and IPX, and the version errors, hassles with getting the software to install on the different versions of Windows and even getting different versions of Windows to talk to each other. But the prep work alone took a good three hours and about a case of beer and almost half a bottle of Jack Daniels. But then we had a lot of fun playing a really professional game. We had a great time and our wives probably deserve medals of some sort for putting up with us and hauling our drunken and rowdy selves home afterwards.
Anyway.... long preamble... getting more to the point... slowly.... There are now some really nice Linux games available. Last weekend's LAN party pushed me towards seeing what Linux games are now available. I found a couple that some people here might be interested in. The first is Battle for Wesnoth and the second is ASC (Advanced Strategic Command). I downloaded and have been playing Battle for Wesnoth, a really nice turn-based strategy game, and have read up on ASC. I'll probably download and install it this weekend... it's available in my apt repository. I found .rpms for Battle for Wesnoth and had to hit rpmfind.net to fix a minor dependency issue (SDL_ttf_something_or_the_other), but otherwise the install was a piece of cake. I'm going to start looking for commercially available and produced Linux games too. I spent hundreds of dollars on Windows games and can certainly part with a few bucks to support people producing Linux games. Maybe Majesty http://www.linuxgamepublishing.com/info.php?id=8&
I use Linux and computers primarily for work, but it is nice to be able to relax and just play with a computer or to use it as a means of getting together with friends so we can beat the crap out of each other
as well as using it to communicate with other friends as I'm doing now. Linux seems to be finally closing the last gap needed to drive the well-deserved stake through the heart of Windows.Jim Dishaw
