A day early! Your new weekly roundup of odds and ends for Linux gaming that didn't make it into the main news this week, plus a look at some sales.
Firstly, Encased, an "old school isometric turn-based RPG" that's currently on Kickstarter is planning Linux support. They've got 3 days to go and they've managed to hit their funding goal so we have another great looking game coming our way! They've only just scraped by though, hitting just over the €86K goal.
Two Point Hospital had some nice updates recently. The latest being the Customisation Update, which gives you some fun new options to rename hospital staff and patients, you can also adjust the style of your staff giving them a unique look to help you identify them at a glance and a previous patch added the ability to copy and paste rooms which is rather helpful. Grab it from Humble Store and Steam.
The developer of Arcade Spirits, a romantic visual novel, sent us word that their game has Linux support. It's not finished yet, but you can play a demo of it right now from itch.io and Steam. The storyline actually sounds pretty fun for this one, with it taking place in an alternative timeline where the 1983 video game crash never occurred.
Let's break it up to note some good stuff currently on sale for Linux:
- Humble Monthly is going strong with HITMAN, 7 Days to Die and Hollow Knight. Easily one of the best months yet!
- GOG has Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition Digital Deluxe Edition with 35% off which is a good price along with plenty more Linux games on sale.
- The Humble Discovery Pack has 10 days left with War for the Overworld, Kentucky Route Zero (Season Pass Edition) and Tricky Towers which all have native Linux versions. A few Windows titles too, which might work in Steam Play.
- The Humble Overwhelmingly Positive Bundle 2 is also still a great deal with 3 days left giving you Opus Magnum (a personal favourite), SOMA, LISA, Nuclear Throne and Momodora: Reverie Under The Moonlight.
- Fanatical also have some top deals going like BioShock Infinite with 78% off.
Now onto some more fun Linux gaming news odds and ends!
The Universim had an interesting patch, which adds in quite a lot! You will now have elections for a leader of your civilization, people can now leave your village over time to start Exile Villages, some of these villages can become aggressive towards you too, new god powers, grass patches have been added and plenty more. The direction they're taking it seems pretty good so far. Grab it from Humble Store and Steam.
The Vulkan API was recently updated with the "VK_EXT_transform_feedback" extension, which has already landed in DXVK (more info here). This was needed for DXVK, due to to the differences between Vulkan and DirectX to help certain Windows games run properly on Linux. GPU drivers will likely need an update to support it. NVIDIA have already pushed out 396.54.09 of their beta Vulkan driver to support it, along with AMD's RADV for Mesa getting a bunch of patches for it and Intel's ANV driver also getting patches.
Nightdive Studios have show some brand footage of the new System Shock alpha. To be clear, this is not the final art, they've simply gone through the original textures and updated them. I have to admit, even with these textures it's starting to look pretty good. They said before they plan to keep them in for a special mode of the game, take a look:
Direct Link
The fun single-player FPS Ravenfield had a new version released with 2 new maps, Mountain Range and Canyon. Mountain range sounds fun, with the focus of it being on air combat! You can also now customise the loadout for each team. I'm really quite impressed with the development on Ravenfield, as it is a pretty amusing first-person shooter with some fun modding abilities and Steam Workshop integration. Grab it from Humble Store and Steam.
For those who love metroidvanias, The Masked Mage looks like it could be pretty good and it's now up on Steam and itch.io. It features some lovely pixel art, an open world to explore along with a "unique and inspiring story about friendship".
Fate Hunters, a challenging dark-fantasy roguelike game with a deck-building card mechanic has just added Linux support. Find it on Steam. I have to admit, it does look pretty good and the artwork is fantastic. It doesn't have a lot of reviews, but so far it seems users are quite liking it at least.
As a reminder, The Jackbox Party Pack 5 is releasing on October 17th as the first in the series to not only get official Linux support (all others have Linux versions, but hidden on Steam) it's also getting same-day Linux support at release which is fantastic. Pre-orders are open on Humble Store and Steam.
Also, I was a guest on the latest Destination Linux episode which is up now. I will also be joining them once a month to discuss some news:
Direct Link
Finally, a question! What have you been playing this week and what do you think about it? I'm still completely hooked on Rocket League. If you fancy playing with me, do add me on Steam.
If you enjoy these weekly posts to roundup a few loose ends, do let me know so I will continue them.
QuoteIf you enjoy these weekly posts to roundup a few loose ends, do let me know so I will continue them.
Thank you, I do find them quite enjoyable. There's always a great deal happening, so all kinds of "summaries of recent events" as well as "roundups of things you might have missed" are much appreciated. :)
As for what I've been playing: I finished "Vigilantes" on friday and since then I've been playing a bit of "Stalker: SoC" and a bit of "Singularity" using Proton.
Last edited by Feist on 13 October 2018 at 2:22 pm UTC
QuoteFinally, a question! What have you been playing this week and what do you think about it? I'm still completely hooked on Rocket League. If you fancy playing with me, do add me on Steam.
I need to give up on the last two instruction count optimizations in 7 Billion Humans (one in the highest, one in the lowest tier) to keep my good mood, I fear.
Playing Rumu today instead.
QuoteIf you enjoy these weekly posts to roundup a few loose ends, do let me know so I will continue them.
I think it's a good format for the things missed over the week!
QuoteFinally, a question! What have you been playing this week and what do you think about it?
I've finally been able to compose myself and play Anmesia: The Dark Descent. I think I got it on sale or in a humble bundle a fair while ago. Now i'm into it, i'm quite enjoying it due to the atmosphere and story. Just wish I played it sooner!
Quoting: adwamslayerI've finally been able to compose myself and play Anmesia: The Dark Descent. I think I got it on sale or in a humble bundle a fair while ago. Now i'm into it, i'm quite enjoying it due to the atmosphere and story. Just wish I played it sooner!
Headphones and in the dark, everything else will be less "fun" than possible! :)
PS: Envying you.
Last edited by Eike on 13 October 2018 at 3:09 pm UTC
QuoteFinally, a question! What have you been playing this week and what do you think about it?
Aaaarghhhh!!! I'm trying to juggle Streets Of Rogue, Doom (2016) and XCOM 2. I normally finish one game at a time but I thought I'd have a look at Streets Of Rogue as I'd got it on sale and was then hooked, leaving Doom half finished. I then got the XCOM 2 collection on sale and thought I'll have a quick peek... ooops, bad idea. I'm very conflicted now. It's hard work this Linux gaming :D
Liam - I have no idea how you review all these games and write it all up as well (so well), amazing!
Quoting: adwamslayerI've finally been able to compose myself and play Anmesia: The Dark Descent. I think I got it on sale or in a humble bundle a fair while ago. Now i'm into it, i'm quite enjoying it due to the atmosphere and story. Just wish I played it sooner!
Amnesia still remains unplayed for me, as does nearly every other horror game i somehow own. All except SOMA which i picked up in the current humble bundle. I'm too much of a wimp to play it once it goes dark though, so I've managed 5 hours only so far.
I can recommend it if you're braver than me.
What I'm really waiting for is Total War: WARHAMMER II
Quoting: rick01457Amnesia still remains unplayed for me, as does nearly every other horror game i somehow own. All except SOMA which i picked up in the current humble bundle. I'm too much of a wimp to play it once it goes dark though, so I've managed 5 hours only so far.
I can recommend it if you're braver than me.
The thing is I've actually played SOMA and other horror games like Alien Isolation, Dead Space 1 + 2 and Alan Wake but Amnesia seemed to be a bit too much. Maybe it was all those lets plays on youtube with people screaming all the time that put me off. I may give Outlast a go next.
And yes, playing with headphones, not quite in the dark though :S:
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