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Until a couple of days ago, instructions for installing SS1 and SS2 Linux binaries were on PCGamingWiki.com. I'm currently trying to chase up why they were removed.

Edit: It's back now ^_^

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sorry in the screenshot I loaded serious sam first encounter but the iso I am showing is for serious sam second encounter but it is the same process for both.

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Quoting: muntdefems

Quoting: EdgarBut not the HD versions, right?

Yeah, at first I found it odd, but the Anonymous poster clearly states that he/she was able to install and play the First & Second Encounter games from the Humble Bundle, so...

I don't own these games, can anyone confirm that they can be installed with the old installers and played natively?

check my screenshot. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/9820687/serioussam.png

I included the iso i created in the screenshot. Im not sure if I had to rename it the same as the original disc but I did it anyway and I had to mount it at /media/ to work. You can see the installer that I downloaded online. Just search for the installer. Then when its done installing I launch with this command LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/pulseaudio/libpulsedsp.so ./ssamtfe because Im on 64bit. And no this is not the HD versions.

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Quoting: KristianWhat about the actual map file format and the map compilation tools it requires.

Sorry about the double post, I actually missed this first question my first read.

Their main limitations are:

• Size limits/resolution limits/other limitations hardcoded into the format.


• An inability to handle "organic" or fine-detailed level geometry without producing an inefficent-rendering BSP.


• PVS checking not working well for outdoor everywhere-visible-from-everywhere maps.

The first problem is easily addressed with new auxiliary file formats and file format extensions, like the external lightmaps and higher-size BSPs we are working on.

The second is addressed with meshes, as mentioned before. We may even come up with a new type of mesh just for segments of terrain (this is not a promise. :))

The third isn't just a problem with BSPs, it's a genuinely difficult technical problem no matter what approach you do, although BSPs are especially unsuited to those sorts of maps. Luckily, small, tight indoor or semi-indoor maps composed mostly of artificial structures tend to work best for deathmatch, and BSP still performs very well for that case (that's what it was designed for.) But with Alteria, the RPG, we may have to do some technical soul-searching. :)

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Quoting: KristianHow about adopting a 100% real time lighting solution ALA idTech 4 or CryEngine 3 and doing away with light maps? Wouldn't that make iteration faster on the content side?

It's worth considering. 100% realtime doesn't quite make sense for us from a performance standpoint (note the 192 FPS in the screenshot, taken on a midrange Thinkpad from three years ago. That's something we'd like to keep.) One option is to generate a lightmap at load-time, using more basic shadow mapping techniques rather than the radiosity bouncing/limited ray-tracing techniques we use now. It would definitely not look as good, but it remains to be seen whether you'd actually notice the difference. You really might not.

Keep in mind, from an iteration-speed standpoint, the "low-def" built-in lightmaps generally take under five minutes to generate on modern hardware with multithreading enabled, and that's frequently fast enough. And if you're willing to deal with completely flat lighting, you don't have to generate a lightmap at all, which is fine if you're working on layout and not lighting.

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Thanks a lot for answering my questions :) 

"Yep. The radiant tools are great for getting the broad strokes of a layout done, but not so good for set dressing."

What about the actual map file format and the map compilation tools it requires.



" Finally, we've [moved lightmap data into external files](http://red.planetarena.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=423) so that lightmaps can be generated at much higher resolutions than allowed by the Q2 BSP format."


How about adopting a 100% real time lighting solution ALA idTech 4 or CryEngine 3 and doing away with light maps? Wouldn't that make iteration faster on the content side?

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See Update #2 I just added from Croteam :)

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Quoting: KristianThanks for a very interesting interview. One thing this had me wondering about is the map format. Isn't the BSP format very limiting in this day and age?

Yep. The radiant tools are great for getting the broad strokes of a layout done, but not so good for set dressing. We get around this by using meshes for fine detail in the world geometry, which are simply placed as entities in the map editor. We've also added the ability to override the entity data with an external text file, reusing the same BSP with different item and weapon placements, i.e. for duel vs. FFA or CTF vs. TCA. Finally, we've moved lightmap data into external files so that lightmaps can be generated at much higher resolutions than allowed by the Q2 BSP format.

The next project will be to up the size limits. We have all the groundwork in place, including the ability to change the coordinate encoding in the net protocol to accommodate bigger distances. We just need to add a protocol for the client and server to negotiate how many bytes per axis to use, based on the map size, so that legacy clients get kicked when a big map comes up.

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Quoting: EdgarBut not the HD versions, right?

Yeah, at first I found it odd, but the Anonymous poster clearly states that he/she was able to install and play the First & Second Encounter games from the Humble Bundle, so...

I don't own these games, can anyone confirm that they can be installed with the old installers and played natively?

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But not the HD versions, right?

I played Serious Sam 2 recently on a modern distro and it worked pretty fine. If there were any bugs I can't even remember them.

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WOW ! its such a nice game. i play it on n on repeating the quests.

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Quoting: AnonymousI was able to install serious sam first and second encounter natively from the humble bundle using the old beta linux installers.

I didn't realize that old SS games could be played on Linux. I'm adding them to the sales page while the Humble Weekly Sale is on!

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I was able to install serious sam first and second encounter natively from the humble bundle using the old beta linux installers. I just made the files into an iso and then mounted it like a cd and ran the installer and it worked. So I have the first two serious sam games running natively. It looks like it should work for serious sam 2 from steam as well using a different method. I did get it installed outside the bundle because I happen to still have the disks and they installed just fine. So at the moment I have serious sam first and second encounter, serious sam 2 and serious sam 3 all native in linux. I even added them all to steam with the icons and everything so I can have all of the games in one spot.

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heh, don't take me out of context. As I said, I absolutely loved SS2 The Second Encounter, especially Co-Op; and it didn't make my head sick. Incidentally, after a little research after posting, seems a lot of these new games are making people ill. Something to do with the sharp textures and bloom or whatever.

Yes Liam, I agree that Single Player is important, so important to me that I won't buy Multiplier only games, Single Player is something a lot of new AAA games choose not to add. I mean hey, I'm just as much a Games on Linux supporter as any of you, and I never implied that Croteam shouldn't release Games for Linux; the more the merrier I say.

Edit: Yes Anon, your right. And I'll try that ASAP.

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Quoting: Mike FrettSS3 required quite a bit of power to run, reviews weren't that great either. I bought the game on Steam while it was on sale a few months ago and wasn't impressed by the game-play. And something about these 'new' FPS Games just give me, literally, a headache.

While I probably won't buy anymore new SS games, I rather enjoyed SS2 and I think it's too bad they missed a great opportunity to bring it to Linux, especially since there use to be a native port.

Have you tried turing off the motionblur? That seems to be one of those "features" that are headache inducing and make the game look like they are run one one of those old flatscreens with a too low refresh rate.
It's usually the first thing I turn off... helps a bit with performance too by the way ;)

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Bumadar has it right on, I think it's nice as we have a lot of faced paced shooters but the fact that SS has a single player with a story and co-op is just fantastic. Give me a decent single player over multiplayer anyday.

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Quoting: Mike Frettwasn't impressed by the game-play

well SS games is simply about 1-liners and more mobs then you can count and just as you thought you had it you get even more mobs. Its just totally overdone which makes it simply fun.

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SS3 required quite a bit of power to run, reviews weren't that great either. I bought the game on Steam while it was on sale a few months ago and wasn't impressed by the game-play. And something about these 'new' FPS Games just give me, literally, a headache.

While I probably won't buy anymore new SS games, I rather enjoyed SS2 and I think it's too bad they missed a great opportunity to bring it to Linux, especially since there use to be a native port.

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Thanks for a very interesting interview. One thing this had me wondering about is the map format. Isn't the BSP format very limiting in this day and age?

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Great game, way better than Duke Nukem!

PS: If you guys that made Bioshock don't want our money, there is no problem. Valve and Croteam can have it all.

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Even if already own the games I bought them again. Serious Sam 3 on Linux is a very good port and Croteam deserves our support

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must buy, loved all the SS games :)

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This is an instant buy for me as soon as it's out.
Been missing Audiosurf on Linux.

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View video on youtube.com
Starting to look pretty good!
-Max E.

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I could certainly be the puzzler-platformers' advocate (the more retro and pixelated the better :P) but I honestly think two weekly columns are enough...

For instance, I'd love to write a little piece about this (Unity3D-made) little marvel I discovered a couple of days ago thanks to the LGC. Maybe I'll do it on Monday. ^_^

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That's pretty intense, is their a difficulty level selection? =) Looks real nice.

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Yeah this is a fun one.

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I played the Beta last week, Multiplayer was the only option available. The main GUI was a mess (for me) and for the life of me, I was unable to change weapons lol. The result was 0 kills and about 20 deaths. =p

My reflexes just aren't the same <sigh>.

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Medal of Honor 2

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It's seriously great to see this game starting to support Linux since I am rather vocal about my boredom of quake style shooters.

The port is quite rough though right now I hope they keep hammering out bugs :)

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