Video games in Slackware
Posted 11-30-2008 at 02:34 PM by linuxpokernut
First I had to get the nvidia drivers for my card. I was rather amazed that there was a Slackware package and that I did not have to compile from source. That made life a lot easier, or perhaps just this task a lot quicker. Either way it was no problem getting the package. Installing it was a bit trickier than your average Windows or Ubuntu install, but it was't terribly complicated either. All i had to do is quit my x session and log in as root. The install was menu based rather than text so it was sort of like an extension of the Slackware installation.
Once the drivers were installed I needed to play around with the Nvidia gui to configure xorg.conf. One 'oldschooler' even accused me of 'cheating'. I hought that was rather funny. Anyway, the xorg.conf file backs itself up, but I made a backup in another folder just in case something went wrong. For the recors I am using twin flatscreen crt's, one that goes up to 1600x1200 and one that does 1280x1024. That was actually easier to setup than twin monitors in windows. I put the 1280 monitor on the right and chose 1024X768 for my browsing desktop, and set the left up in 1600x1200 for gaming. The only problem I had was it altered the dpi to make the browsing desktop kind of 'big' but it also made the 1600x1200 monitor readable for applications when I am not gaming and want to spread my desktop out.
On to the games. I already have a few apps running in wine but I decided I would give linux games a try. I got several of them working and configured quite easilly. I had tried some of them in Ubuntu 7.10 and beyond but the installers did not give me much love. Heres what I got goin' on...
Enemy Territories
I chose this one first because I am familiar with its windows version. It was very easy to get it up and running, however it was in 800x600 mode with no sound. I was able to configure the video settings and even turn the eye candy up with the greatest of ease. Getting the sound to function required a google search and some reading. I was more than happy to complete my online investigation and start playing. As I recall punkbuster took some configuring to work right in Windows, so the time it took to go from the start of the install to playing on a server was equal on windows and linux. The game isnt the best grafx in the world, but certainly acceptable and more than enough for free.
Savage 1 with SFE
This game looked interesting. All I had to do was download the file, unzip, and run the script. I almost didnt keep it, it looked rather lame at first. I remembered that I thought WoW looked lame at first and so I played with it for a bit. I turned up the grafix and while I was doing so the map changed. The new map looked really good and I realized some of the maps were custom and the textures/colors were a bit 'off'. The game looks great, but its hard to describe. Some of the aspects look/feel/play as well as a game you might purchase for windows, and some do not. I havent even played yet as I have just been observing/learning. Definately worth a look, and the sequal is also free for basic play. Hvaent taken a look at that yet but I will.
Vendetta Online
This one was a very small download, but the upgrade was just as large. The game looks good, but its pay for play with an 8 hour trial. I probably won't subscribe to it, but it looked very nice. I play Freelancer which is why I checked this one out to begin with. I will probably max out my 8 hour trial later on down the road. There is a small chance I'll play it but gaurenteed its only the 'pay to play' issue stopping me now.
Cube 2
This one is an ID software ripoff or tribute, depending how you look at it. I think its maps from Doom and quake mixed. Some of the creatures were definately from Doom, its definately very 'ID'ish'. The grafix were rather amazing for open source I must say. A note on that, I believe Cube 2 and Savage 1 are open source and ET and Vendetta are not.
I am going to install a few more games before I try to mess with games in Wine. I heard WC3 installs quite nicely but I have to get a copy of the installer discs from a friend first. mine are shot and I play mine on windows with a backed up game folder and some registry keys. I am also going to try Freelancer, my favorite game. That one was a no-go in Ubuntu and I will likely have to start a thread for the knowledge base to get it functioning. I have seen a few tutorials but the one I tried was failsauce. And finally I am going to try to install WoW on slackware. I know that can be done, but with how much effort remains to be seen. All in all, I am quite happy, I have several games to entertain me for the time being.
Once the drivers were installed I needed to play around with the Nvidia gui to configure xorg.conf. One 'oldschooler' even accused me of 'cheating'. I hought that was rather funny. Anyway, the xorg.conf file backs itself up, but I made a backup in another folder just in case something went wrong. For the recors I am using twin flatscreen crt's, one that goes up to 1600x1200 and one that does 1280x1024. That was actually easier to setup than twin monitors in windows. I put the 1280 monitor on the right and chose 1024X768 for my browsing desktop, and set the left up in 1600x1200 for gaming. The only problem I had was it altered the dpi to make the browsing desktop kind of 'big' but it also made the 1600x1200 monitor readable for applications when I am not gaming and want to spread my desktop out.
On to the games. I already have a few apps running in wine but I decided I would give linux games a try. I got several of them working and configured quite easilly. I had tried some of them in Ubuntu 7.10 and beyond but the installers did not give me much love. Heres what I got goin' on...
Enemy Territories
I chose this one first because I am familiar with its windows version. It was very easy to get it up and running, however it was in 800x600 mode with no sound. I was able to configure the video settings and even turn the eye candy up with the greatest of ease. Getting the sound to function required a google search and some reading. I was more than happy to complete my online investigation and start playing. As I recall punkbuster took some configuring to work right in Windows, so the time it took to go from the start of the install to playing on a server was equal on windows and linux. The game isnt the best grafx in the world, but certainly acceptable and more than enough for free.
Savage 1 with SFE
This game looked interesting. All I had to do was download the file, unzip, and run the script. I almost didnt keep it, it looked rather lame at first. I remembered that I thought WoW looked lame at first and so I played with it for a bit. I turned up the grafix and while I was doing so the map changed. The new map looked really good and I realized some of the maps were custom and the textures/colors were a bit 'off'. The game looks great, but its hard to describe. Some of the aspects look/feel/play as well as a game you might purchase for windows, and some do not. I havent even played yet as I have just been observing/learning. Definately worth a look, and the sequal is also free for basic play. Hvaent taken a look at that yet but I will.
Vendetta Online
This one was a very small download, but the upgrade was just as large. The game looks good, but its pay for play with an 8 hour trial. I probably won't subscribe to it, but it looked very nice. I play Freelancer which is why I checked this one out to begin with. I will probably max out my 8 hour trial later on down the road. There is a small chance I'll play it but gaurenteed its only the 'pay to play' issue stopping me now.
Cube 2
This one is an ID software ripoff or tribute, depending how you look at it. I think its maps from Doom and quake mixed. Some of the creatures were definately from Doom, its definately very 'ID'ish'. The grafix were rather amazing for open source I must say. A note on that, I believe Cube 2 and Savage 1 are open source and ET and Vendetta are not.
I am going to install a few more games before I try to mess with games in Wine. I heard WC3 installs quite nicely but I have to get a copy of the installer discs from a friend first. mine are shot and I play mine on windows with a backed up game folder and some registry keys. I am also going to try Freelancer, my favorite game. That one was a no-go in Ubuntu and I will likely have to start a thread for the knowledge base to get it functioning. I have seen a few tutorials but the one I tried was failsauce. And finally I am going to try to install WoW on slackware. I know that can be done, but with how much effort remains to be seen. All in all, I am quite happy, I have several games to entertain me for the time being.
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