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Now this is some classic gaming. Cannon Fodder is a game I remember playing on the Amiga and it's being kept alive with a cross-platform open source game engine called Open Fodder.

It comes with many improvements compared with the original, like working easily on modern systems and Linux of course. There's also an editor to create custom maps and campaigns, as Open Fodder supports more than just the original content/ Just recently, version 1.6.0 went out adding in support for huge maps, a JavaScript engine for random map generation, better asset detection, better configuration support and some good bug fixes.

After playing with it myself with the original Cannon Fodder, it really does seem to work nicely. Plenty of memories came flowing back with this! Shooting anything that moves, throwing grenades, blowing up buildings, driving tanks and more it still holds up quite well.

You do need a copy of the data files to play Cannon Fodder 1 and/or 2, which you can grab them easily enough from GOG:

For the full info, see the official site or GitHub.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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15 comments

Naib Jan 2, 2020
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There's a killer on the loose and he coming at you, Killa, kiiilllaaaa
AzP Jan 2, 2020
Wow, a great game!
Maybe in near future they'd free / open source those data files like in the case of C&C (openRA) ..
heidi.wenger Jan 2, 2020
On the page it says

"Unix/Linux

Ports for OpenBSD and RetroPie are available, and the game should compile on most *nix distributions".

I get that this is in early stages but this confuses the hell out of even a regular Linux user, never mind a new comer

...and Windows users get a clickable .exe ....
chr Jan 3, 2020
Quoting: heidi.wengerOn the page it says

"Unix/Linux

Ports for OpenBSD and RetroPie are available, and the game should compile on most *nix distributions".

I get that this is in early stages but this confuses the hell out of even a regular Linux user, never mind a new comer

...and Windows users get a clickable .exe ....

Someone with the skills (or time and motivation to acquire the skills in the process) should just go and add an appimage/flatpak/snap build script for them. So the other devs have very little maintenance to do.
logge Jan 3, 2020
Quoting: chrSomeone with the skills (or time and motivation to acquire the skills in the process) should just go and add an appimage/flatpak/snap build script for them. So the other devs have very little maintenance to do.

I guess the only poblem here is packing the data files into the packages. I mean right-wise, not technical-wise.


Last edited by logge on 3 January 2020 at 2:28 pm UTC
WorMzy Jan 3, 2020
As far as projects go, this one was really easy to build. It's not really designed to be installed system-wide though (at least, not if you want to be able to save your games without messing around with the ownership/permissions of directories under /usr/share...)

I've made an AUR package here: https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/openfodder-git/
hoek Jan 3, 2020
Ohhhh! that was one of my favorite game on Amiga.
Is there maybe remastered/open version of Benefactor?
heidi.wenger Jan 3, 2020
Quoting: WorMzyI've made an AUR package here: https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/openfodder-git/

Wow thanks a million! This is what i'm talking about <3


Last edited by heidi.wenger on 3 January 2020 at 3:31 pm UTC
heidi.wenger Jan 3, 2020
Quoting: chrSomeone with the skills (or time and motivation to acquire the skills in the process) should just go and add an appimage/flatpak/snap build script for them. So the other devs have very little maintenance to do.

I was about to email them about this (and maybe even join the convo here!) but there's no contact towards the author to be found? https://github.com/segrax
chr Jan 4, 2020
Quoting: heidi.wenger
Quoting: chrSomeone with the skills (or time and motivation to acquire the skills in the process) should just go and add an appimage/flatpak/snap build script for them. So the other devs have very little maintenance to do.

I was about to email them about this (and maybe even join the convo here!) but there's no contact towards the author to be found? https://github.com/segrax

I guess the only option left is making an issue? Btw this issue asked about flatpak/appimage/snap. So there is a piece of the puzzle (what that person thinks of this).
logge Jan 6, 2020
Quoting: chr
Quoting: heidi.wenger
Quoting: chrSomeone with the skills (or time and motivation to acquire the skills in the process) should just go and add an appimage/flatpak/snap build script for them. So the other devs have very little maintenance to do.

I was about to email them about this (and maybe even join the convo here!) but there's no contact towards the author to be found? https://github.com/segrax

I guess the only option left is making an issue? Btw this issue asked about flatpak/appimage/snap. So there is a piece of the puzzle (what that person thinks of this).

My flatpak version is almost working. The only thing is that it does not find the executable when running from a repository. When I test-run it in flatpak-builder it works like a charm. My first flatpak experience, though :-)
heidi.wenger Jan 9, 2020
Quoting: logge
Quoting: chr
Quoting: heidi.wenger
Quoting: chrSomeone with the skills (or time and motivation to acquire the skills in the process) should just go and add an appimage/flatpak/snap build script for them. So the other devs have very little maintenance to do.

I was about to email them about this (and maybe even join the convo here!) but there's no contact towards the author to be found? https://github.com/segrax

I guess the only option left is making an issue? Btw this issue asked about flatpak/appimage/snap. So there is a piece of the puzzle (what that person thinks of this).

My flatpak version is almost working. The only thing is that it does not find the executable when running from a repository. When I test-run it in flatpak-builder it works like a charm. My first flatpak experience, though :-)

Great! Maybe inform also the developers when and if you get it going :)
segra Jan 13, 2020
Quoting: heidi.wenger
Quoting: chrSomeone with the skills (or time and motivation to acquire the skills in the process) should just go and add an appimage/flatpak/snap build script for them. So the other devs have very little maintenance to do.

I was about to email them about this (and maybe even join the convo here!) but there's no contact towards the author to be found? https://github.com/segrax

Hi :)

Just came across this post thanks to the Twitter hashtag #openfodder

Open Fodder has an official discord over here: https://discord.gg/4mX2wFM, we do try to monitor it daily, but at worst it might be a couple of days before a reply.
You could also @ me on twitter (@segrax

Quoting: heidi.wengerGreat! Maybe inform also the developers when and if you get it going :)

Please do!
There is a few instances of us stumbling across different ports which could of been brought into the main repository, or bug complaints which could of easily been fixed, but the issue was never raised and just mentioned on a random forum
heidi.wenger Jan 17, 2020
Quoting: segra
Quoting: heidi.wenger
Quoting: chrSomeone with the skills (or time and motivation to acquire the skills in the process) should just go and add an appimage/flatpak/snap build script for them. So the other devs have very little maintenance to do.

I was about to email them about this (and maybe even join the convo here!) but there's no contact towards the author to be found? https://github.com/segrax

Hi :)

Just came across this post thanks to the Twitter hashtag #openfodder

Open Fodder has an official discord over here: https://discord.gg/4mX2wFM, we do try to monitor it daily, but at worst it might be a couple of days before a reply.
You could also @ me on twitter (@segrax

Quoting: heidi.wengerGreat! Maybe inform also the developers when and if you get it going :)

Please do!
There is a few instances of us stumbling across different ports which could of been brought into the main repository, or bug complaints which could of easily been fixed, but the issue was never raised and just mentioned on a random forum

Very nice for you to join the convo here!! I bet many wish for a flatpak or a snap package for Open Fodder <3

So should i raise an issue on Github or something? I have not much used Github and its not familiar with me.
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