Seven years after the unofficial fan sequel to the 80s classic Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders was released in German for Windows, a director's cut has been made available in English for Linux.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GadPR9tORiY
So far I haven't played much of the game, but it looks and feels very impressive for a fan effort. There are many items to interact with, and several verbs to choose between for interaction, so it has the mold of a classic adventure game. Once you get past the opening sequence, you're presented with two difficulty levels, so it seems like the creators have aimed to make a game that should appeal to both veterans and novices.
I did run into a technical snag shortly after starting the game though: When I tried to make a savegame right after the opening cutscene, like I always do, the game immediately crashed. I recently experienced this same issue with another game running on Visionaire Studio 4 though, and it can be worked around easily. Since I downloaded the game this morning, the developers have put up a message with the workaround on the download page and in the readme file, so make sure you read it and apply the solution before you spend too much time on the game without being able to save your progress.
I've also noticed that the inventory does a strange reshuffle every time I save, but it's more of a curiosity than a problem, as it doesn't affect the game at all.
This game is of course free of charge, but if you like what you see, you might consider backing a Kickstarter campaign called The Mystery of Oak Island. The campaign is created by Visionaire Studio, and the game will be developed by the team behind Zak McKracken: Between Time and Space.
And if you missed it, the original Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders was released on GOG in March, along with Lucasfilm classics LOOM and The Dig. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GadPR9tORiY
So far I haven't played much of the game, but it looks and feels very impressive for a fan effort. There are many items to interact with, and several verbs to choose between for interaction, so it has the mold of a classic adventure game. Once you get past the opening sequence, you're presented with two difficulty levels, so it seems like the creators have aimed to make a game that should appeal to both veterans and novices.
I did run into a technical snag shortly after starting the game though: When I tried to make a savegame right after the opening cutscene, like I always do, the game immediately crashed. I recently experienced this same issue with another game running on Visionaire Studio 4 though, and it can be worked around easily. Since I downloaded the game this morning, the developers have put up a message with the workaround on the download page and in the readme file, so make sure you read it and apply the solution before you spend too much time on the game without being able to save your progress.
QuotePlease have a look to the readme file. If you have troubles with savegames in the Linux version please try that: Just manually create "Savegames" under "~/.local/share/Zak2/Zak McKracken", and the game should work.
I've also noticed that the inventory does a strange reshuffle every time I save, but it's more of a curiosity than a problem, as it doesn't affect the game at all.
This game is of course free of charge, but if you like what you see, you might consider backing a Kickstarter campaign called The Mystery of Oak Island. The campaign is created by Visionaire Studio, and the game will be developed by the team behind Zak McKracken: Between Time and Space.
And if you missed it, the original Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders was released on GOG in March, along with Lucasfilm classics LOOM and The Dig. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Pretty cool. I'll take a look at this. Starting with a free game to prove your chops before moving on to becoma a real commercial company seems like a good way to go for a startup. That's how Phoenix Online got their start with the King's Quest fan game (now if only the Linux version of Cognition and Moebius ever show up). Best of luck to them. If I like the Zak McKracken fan game, I might throw them some money for Oak Island.
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Thanks for the heads up, looking really good and working very well too.
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Huh, I was sure I already played that one on Linux years ago... Or did I use Wine? Or was that in German? Or both?
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I run the Hidden Linux Gems group on Steam, where we highlight good indie games for Linux that we feel deserve more attention.
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