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: 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.
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.
The eye doesn't see in 'frames' but if it did i believe it is upto 800fps. It's possible to tell the difference between 100hz & 144hz as im sure many fast refresh rates monitor owners can tell you. Still 100fps isn't shabby but the 980Ti on Windows would run this title probably in the region of 200fps? And that's what @Avehicle7887 was mentioning. It doesn't matter at 1080p but as people move to 4k all of a sudden it does but i suppose that's only for high end users and we are still in the stages of just being pleased to have titles released on Linux ^_^
Last edited by on 21 July 2016 at 8:38 pm UTC
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slaapliedje Jul 21, 2016
Some thoughts; Are we sure the game isn't capped at 100fps? I mean if it never dips below that and never goes above it, my guess would be it's capped.
Also yes, GTK2 should go away, unless someone's going to add wayland support to it, but that also means that some of the really old Loki game installers should be ported to GTK3. Pretty sure most of them are at least semi-open source? Maybe not, though I thought at least the loki installer itself was open source. I only think of this because I recently bought Heavy Gear 2 for Linux :D
Also yes, GTK2 should go away, unless someone's going to add wayland support to it, but that also means that some of the really old Loki game installers should be ported to GTK3. Pretty sure most of them are at least semi-open source? Maybe not, though I thought at least the loki installer itself was open source. I only think of this because I recently bought Heavy Gear 2 for Linux :D
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Quoting: slaapliedjeSome thoughts; Are we sure the game isn't capped at 100fps? I mean if it never dips below that and never goes above it, my guess would be it's capped.
It is capped at 120 FPS.
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Quoting: slaapliedjeAlso yes, GTK2 should go away, unless someone's going to add wayland support to it, but that also means that some of the really old Loki game installers should be ported to GTK3.Well, why not use Qt instead? I used it quite a bit with C++ and it feels pretty good. Supports GTK themes as well so it also looks good. Qt's own themes don't appeal to me for some reason. It can be linked dynamically (under LGPL so it plays nicely with proprietary software) with a relatively small footprint of ~10 Mb by today's standards, I don't see any downsides.
As for the game, I completed it long ago on Windows and it was damn good. Gonna play it thoroughly again and then hopefully play Overlord 2 which ran like shit for me on Wine years ago. Expecting "more of the same" and that's a good thing.
Last edited by rkfg on 21 July 2016 at 10:29 pm UTC
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I agree on Qt bit. But I brought GTK because VP were already using it, as you can see in the screenshot.
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Comandante Ñoñardo Jul 21, 2016
According to the info, the publisher of the Linux version is VP itself, so I don't think We (the owners of the windows version of this game on Steam and/or GOG) gonna have a free Linux version.
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Quoting: Comandante oardoAccording to the info, the publisher of the Linux version is VP itself, so I don't think We (the owners of the windows version of this game on Steam and/or GOG) gonna have a free Linux version.
You mean they won't be paid if the game would be sold on GOG or Steam?
I can try contacting VP directly about it.
Last edited by Shmerl on 21 July 2016 at 10:43 pm UTC
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slaapliedje Jul 21, 2016
Quoting: rkfgQuoting: slaapliedjeAlso yes, GTK2 should go away, unless someone's going to add wayland support to it, but that also means that some of the really old Loki game installers should be ported to GTK3.Well, why not use Qt instead? I used it quite a bit with C++ and it feels pretty good. Supports GTK themes as well so it also looks good. Qt's own themes don't appeal to me for some reason. It can be linked dynamically (under LGPL so it plays nicely with proprietary software) with a relatively small footprint of ~10 Mb by today's standards, I don't see any downsides.
As for the game, I completed it long ago on Windows and it was damn good. Gonna play it thoroughly again and then hopefully play Overlord 2 which ran like shit for me on Wine years ago. Expecting "more of the same" and that's a good thing.
Qt saddens me because it reminds me of what could have been, namely a Nokia Linux phone with Qt and all of it's nice development tools. Instead we are stuck with shitty Android...
Anyhow, good to hear it is a good game, on the one hand though I already have it on steam, and I prefer to be able to play it from there instead of having an individual installer. I don't mind buying it again even (pretty sure I got it via humble bundle or on sale anyhow), just would rather have it be patched and installed with everything else.
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Quoting: slaapliedjeQt saddens me because it reminds me of what could have been, namely a Nokia Linux phone with Qt and all of it's nice development tools. Instead we are stuck with shitty Android...
Sailfish supposedly still is going to be open sourced. But Jolla promised it so many times and never did it, so I'm somewhat skeptical. Then there is Plasma Mobile, but I didn't see any major updates there recently.
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hardpenguin Jul 22, 2016
Quoting: ShmerlThis is nonsense. You will have to use XWayland for years to come. To run all the games that link X libraries directly (so, the vast majority of them), to begin with.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.
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Quoting: hardpenguinThis is nonsense. You will have to use XWayland for years to come. To run all the games that link X libraries directly (so, the vast majority of them), to begin with.
Not any more nonsense than saying that NAT is OK, and no one should be supporting IPv6 instead. Time to wake up and move forward.
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hardpenguin Jul 22, 2016
Quoting: ShmerlSo you expect games to abandon a perfectly working tech only because something else is newer?Quoting: hardpenguinThis is nonsense. You will have to use XWayland for years to come. To run all the games that link X libraries directly (so, the vast majority of them), to begin with.
Not any more nonsense than saying that NAT is OK, and no one should be supporting IPv6 instead. Time to wake up and move forward.
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X11 is far from perfect, but from an end-user point of view there are few reasons to move to Wayland at the moment, because Xwayland is almost always used, so you end up with a more bloated way of running X11 applications.
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hardpenguin Jul 22, 2016
Quoting: dmantioneX11 is far from perfect, but from an end-user point of view there are few reasons to move to Wayland at the moment, because Xwayland is almost always used, so you end up with a more bloated way of running X11 applications.^this guy gets it
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@dmantione: We are talking about developers, not about end users. They drive this switch. And if they don't do it, end users can't do it even more so.
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Quoting: hardpenguin^this guy gets it
You don't though. Same as those who claim there is no need to switch to IPv6 for any ISP because "no one uses it".
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Luke_Nukem Jul 22, 2016
Quoting: hardpenguinQuoting: dmantioneX11 is far from perfect, but from an end-user point of view there are few reasons to move to Wayland at the moment, because Xwayland is almost always used, so you end up with a more bloated way of running X11 applications.^this guy gets it
That kind of thinking is why we've got so many windows only games.
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Quoting: ShmerlQuoting: hardpenguin^this guy gets it
You don't though. Same as those who claim there is no need to switch to IPv6 for any ISP because "no one uses it".
Careful what you wish for. IPV6 address space will allow for static addresses to become the new digital zip/postcode.. think about that.
Last edited by on 22 July 2016 at 9:45 am UTC
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Quoting: rkfgSupports GTK themes as well so it also looks good.
<caugh>.. Qt 5.7 ;-).
https://github.com/manjaro/release-plan/issues/73
"QT 5.7.0 doesn't support GTK3 theming" And it's true ;-). Will be fixed in 5.8 though (hopefully).
Last edited by STiAT on 22 July 2016 at 9:54 am UTC
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