Overlord and the Overlord: Raising Hell expansion have been ported to Linux thanks to Virtual Programming. I was able to get advanced access yesterday and here are some thoughts.
Note: The Linux release is not yet on Steam. This is a DRM free release from their own store. It's using MojoSetup, so you can install it wherever you please.
I was only sent it late yesterday, so you will forgive me if this isn’t as in-depth as I would have hoped it would be.
While I do have issues with previous ports from VP, I always take each game with a fresh mind as some are really are fantastic (like Bioshock and DiRT Showdown) and some not so (Saints Row series ports).
I’m pretty damn happy that Overlord is now on Linux, as I’m pretty sure a good 90% of games see you being some sort of hero and rarely the bad guy. Somehow being the bad guy in games just seems more exciting.
Port report
I’m really impressed. First of all it has a decent launcher to pick resolution and game options before loading. I always like being able to do this before a game ends up giving me some wonky resolution:
So I started off impressed right away, great start.
It also appears on the correct monitor with my dual-monitor setup. The amount of games that utterly fall over themselves at trying to accomplish that one task is amazing, but Overlord gets it right first time without any messing about.
I haven’t had a single crash in multiple hours of testing, so it seems to be very stable.
The only issue I have encountered is the audio seems to be a little buggy. The speech is always fine, but the background music and other audio seem to vanish at random. Relaunching it seems to fix it. This has been reported to the developer.
Performance wise, with max settings at 1080p it’s constantly staying above 100FPS with not a single dip below it. It only dipped just below 100FPS while I was recording.
You can see how it performs with this Linux gameplay video I did, I left the GLXOSD overlay on so you can see all the gritty details:
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They also removed the "Exit to Windows" text (yeah I know, it’s an old game), so it just says "Quit" in the Linux port. Funny, because I noticed people whining about that on another website. Goes to show that VP do have a nice attention to the small details for us Linux gamers.
Gameplay
The gameplay is actually quite interesting and amusing. Not only do you control your movement, but you control the movement of your minions too. So you can send your minions in to fight, while you kick back and let off some spells, or you can join them with your sharpened axe.
It plays a bit like an action RPG, with a sort of strategy element too it with the minion control.
The minion control is a little wonky though, as it is an older title, but you get the hang of it after a while. Took me a good few minutes to get it right during the tutorial and I keep messing it up during gameplay so I have a while to go before I properly master it. You control your minions with the left and right mouse buttons, while your character uses the keyboard, it feels quite odd but it works.
It’s a little like the game Pikmin if anyone has ever played it, only you’re completely evil.
Sending my minions around destroying everything in their path feels pretty good, watching them smash crates, kill sheep and so on is pretty funny. One thing I didn’t realize until later on is your minions can actually pick up weapons and items if you direct them to walk over to them, so having minions geared up certainly makes it easier. I have to admit I let off an audible chuckle when some of them decided pumpkins make good helmets—idiots.
What is really cool is that it has a skirmish arena mode where you can pick any minions you have unlocked and battle with them against any enemies you have defeated. It’s a nice practice mode that sits nicely alongside the campaign to restore your tower to its former glory.
It’s quite hilarious, performs rather well and generally a fun experience. Do check it out it’s an easy recommendation.
You can grab it now from VP’s official store. No word on when it will be available on Steam yet. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Quoting: ShmerlAre they already using GTK3 for the launcher? They used GTK2 for TW2.Yes, GTK3.
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Avehicle7887 Jul 21, 2016
Looks good but there's something not clicking for me: A game released in 2007 and runs at only 100 fps on a 980ti? Sorry if I sound like a party pooper, but I'm not impressed. I'd really like to see an fps comparison with the Windows version.
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Hrm, why exactly do you need it even to run at anything higher than 100fps? It's way more than your eye can perceive already.
Last edited by Shmerl on 21 July 2016 at 6:27 pm UTC
Last edited by Shmerl on 21 July 2016 at 6:27 pm UTC
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Quoting: Avehicle7887Looks good but there's something not clicking for me: A game released in 2007 and runs at only 100 fps on a 980ti? Sorry if I sound like a party pooper, but I'm not impressed. I'd really like to see an fps comparison with the Windows version.
why?, i dont think its important, its a port afterall and i doubt anyone is gaming with the hardware from 2006-2007
would ofc be nice to see if it runs 60fps with lower end hardware from few years ago
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Quoting: Avehicle7887Looks good but there's something not clicking for me: A game released in 2007 and runs at only 100 fps on a 980ti? Sorry if I sound like a party pooper, but I'm not impressed. I'd really like to see an fps comparison with the Windows version.
the game is nearly ten years old and really not optimized for multi-threads.
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hardpenguin Jul 21, 2016
Quoting: dmantioneThis, sir, is an excellent post and I wish more people knew this. Consider posting to /r/linux_gaming on Reddit!QuoteThey also removed the "Exit to Windows" text (yeah I know, it’s an old game), so it just says "Quit" in the Linux port. Funny, because I noticed people whining about that on another website. Goes to show that VP do have a nice attention to the small details for us Linux gamers.
This is because in many peoples eyes, Eon does the same thing as Wine. While there are details on Eon exactly works, from the data that I have, I suspect Eon differs quite a bit from Wine.
What is similar about both technologies is that they load the original Windows executable in memory. However, while Wine is generic and makes no assumptions about the game in question, I believe Eon needs actual porting works on the game.
What is the difference. A good example would be the filesystem. Wine needs to emulate a full Windows filesystem with C: drives letters. I believe Eon is much more smilare to:
function OpenFile(name:Pchar):HFILE;winapi;
begin
if string(name)='settings.txt' then
OpenFile:=open(homedir+'/.config/Virtual Programming/Overlord/settings.txt');
end;
... the result is that VP ports behave like native Linux applications and don't need a filesystem with Dos drives letters.
Much more fundamental is that Wine needs to emulate DirectX shaders with low level OpenGL shaders. Because Eon knows what shaders to expect, native GLSL shaders can be used (Peter Mulholland from VP once said that they use native shaders).
Another thing that I belive Eon does, is runtime patching: Consider the machine code of the game in memory the "source code" and modify it at runtime. I believe this way, you can replace "Exit to Windows" with "Quit".
So yes, there are similarities between Wine and Eon, but I believe the VP ports are a lot closer to native applications than what some people believe. It certainly doesn't look VP just wraps the game and work is done.
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hardpenguin Jul 21, 2016
Quoting: ShmerlAre they already using GTK3 for the launcher? They used GTK2 for TW2.Can you tell me, please, does that matter in a slightest way?
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Avehicle7887 Jul 21, 2016
Quoting: ShmerlHrm, why exactly do you need it even to run at anything higher than 100fps? It's way more than your eye can perceive already.
Not that I run games beyond 60fps, It's just that the requirements for this game are petty compared to today's systems and I was surprised to see that a 980ti is doing only 100fps at 1920x1080, Had it been 4K would be amazing no contest there.
As a comparison though, I take a look at this video of Witcher 2 on a 780, which is a much more intensive game and yet it runs close to 100 fps too.
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Quoting: hardpenguinQuoting: ShmerlAre they already using GTK3 for the launcher? They used GTK2 for TW2.Can you tell me, please, does that matter in a slightest way?
Yes. GTK2 must go for good, if you want to switch to Wayland and avoid using XWayland in addition. So everything should be moving in that direction.
Last edited by Shmerl on 21 July 2016 at 7:19 pm UTC
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