jdodson | Cheerful Ghost

Terraria Mac & Linux Finally Released

After a time in beta Terraria officially comes to Mac & Linux to much joy. I've been playing it on my Mac and Fedora Linux machine and it works incredibly well. The Steam cross saves really make the experience really seamless. I consider Terraria a national treasure so it's good to see that anyone can play it on any of the major PC platforms.

"Mac and Linux Terrarians, your day has finally arrived!

We here at Re-Logic are thrilled to announce that we are officially launching the Mac & Linux versions of Terraria today! This has been a very long time in coming - and we know how very much the Community has desired these new Terraria platforms, so we are eagerly looking forward to hearing your reaction. :)

For everyone, please note that this will be Terraria 1.3.0.8. This version ensures compatibility between Mac/Linux and Windows - no other substantial changes come with this update."

http://forums.terraria.org/index.php?threads/terraria-1-3-0-8-can-mac-linux-come-out-play.30287/

Goodbye Ubuntu - My New Gaming Linux Distro Is Fedora 22

I've been using Ubuntu Linux as my primary Linux Desktop since it's first version, Warty Warthog. Fun fact, Travis and I first met as moderators for the Ubuntu Forums website and have been friends since. In my opinion, Ubuntu has been the best Desktop Linux for years and recently have I felt that position change. I don't want to get into a Linux distro war debate but needless to say, over time, the changes Ubuntu has been making to it's system have annoyed me. I don't particularly enjoy the Desktop they are creating or the direction they are headed. That said, I applaud them for all the hard work and as a many years loyal Ubuntu fan, leave with a lot of respect for the project.

I've been looking around for a new Linux to fill my needs as there are so many to choose from. Mint Linux aims to fix much of the strange direction Ubuntu is going, Arch seems to be a very modern take on a DIY distro for power users and Fedora Linux has always been something i've wanted to try more of. After acquiring a Fedora 22 USB install drive from OSCon this year, I decided to give it a spin in a Virtual Machine and was very happy with the results. So much so that over the next week I re-imaged my PC with a dual boot of Fedora 22 and Windows 7.

One common complaint I hear from folks is that Fedora and other Red Hat RPM based distros suffer due to package management. This was very true a few years ago, but in my experience this has all but evaporated. Want to install Handbrake, Steam or Banshee? Install the RPM Fusion repository and use the graphical program to do it. I did have to drop to the console to do a few things, but I find that to be par for the course on any Linux distro I install. I cataloged all my steps in a Github gist you can read below.

https://gist.github.com/jdodson/d2caa9de20ebfdb59ce6

Those steps will get you all you need to get Nvidia drivers & Steam running as well as tweak your fonts to look a bit nicer than the default settings. I really enjoy the Gnome 3 Desktop and I have also included steps in that gist to make it work more like a traditional Mac-like Desktop with dock and menu bar. Gnome 3 is a great Desktop it just has a few odd defaults and after you turn them off I works better(I think).

Video game performance on Fedora 22 is about what I've come to expect from Linux, which is to say very good but not quite as great as Windows for some games. Fedora 22 packages a good version of Wine so I got Battle.net to run alongside Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm. Occasionally Hearthstone lags a bit but it doesn't make matches unplayable. Over the years Wine has gotten great at emulating Windows software and seeing how well it works now, gives me hope for future non native Linux gaming.

If you are looking for a nice way to start out on Desktop Linux Fedora 22 ain't a bad way to go. You could always try it out in a Virtual Machine and if things go well install it on a spare PC. That said, some of what you love in Fedora comes with SteamOS and over time I imagine that may become my primary Linux Desktop. Until then, Red Hat's bleeding edge community distro is a strong option and I have really enjoyed using it.

http://i.imgur.com/fRNMVSO.jpg

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 08/10/2015 at 02:37am

What distro did I start out w/? I think Red Hat, that was back in the late 90's. I've tried a few others in that time, but Ubuntu was one of my recent favorites (circa 2005). However, I later didn't like how the UI changed.

Fedora was the distro used in a class I took at my local community college. The class was working towards Linux+ certification, which I didn't attempt, but aced the class.

It's been a long time since I've dual-booted Linux. I do it sometimes, but don't end up playing around with it very long.

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 08/10/2015 at 05:13pm

Not SteamOS?

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 08/10/2015 at 05:29pm

@Will I think that I might try it a bit later. For now, Fedora is full featured and has a path for it being a very good Desktop OS. SteamOS isn't officially released yet, but when it is I will check it out for sure.

Travis Admin wrote on 08/10/2015 at 10:08pm

SteamOS is still really rough around the edges, and I don't think will ever be the best idea for a desktop. If you get SteamOS and install all the stuff in it to make it a desktop, then a quicker way would be to just install Debian and then put Steam on it. The big customizations coming from SteamOS are just simplifying ways to get your drivers up-to-date, providing a way to immediately boot into Big Picture mode, and a few hooks from Steam into the OS so you can customize things straight from Steam. All of these, aside from customizing the OS from Steam, are done easily in a desktop Linux distro. And Valve has said that, while you can install anything you want, the bare-bare-barebones desktop environment is there basically so you can more easily tweak things.

In fact, even Valve thinks using it as a desktop OS is a bad idea: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWaG9hOvNn0&feature=youtu.be&t=7m23s

scrypt Supporter wrote on 08/12/2015 at 12:40am

Thanks for the info, Jon. I'm Linux illiterate, so it's always nice to read trusted recommendations. Will definitely read up on Fedora.

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Have Enough New Games To Last Years? Why Not Play An Old One Instead.

Most of us have games to last us for years. If I just played games to completion on Steam I have yet to start, i'd be playing for the next 10 bazillion years. It's a great time to be a gamer but so many choices can be a bit overwhelming. Recently i've been enjoying the Cheerful Ghost Borderlands 2 event. We get together every Monday and play through the game a couple hours at a time. If you pay any attention to the site here you also know my current standby is Hearthstone. Currently I am saving up gold for the new Grand Tournament expansion, so when it drops I can buy as many packs as I can. Currently I have enough gold saved for 20 packs and I hope to get more gold to bump that ever upward. We have the current Cheerful Ghost Terraria server going strong and I wish I could play it more. Terraria requires a huge time commitment, something I can't do right now due to juggling a plethora of life things. That said, earlier this year I completed the original Legend of Zelda and that experience left me wanting more Zelda so a few days afterward I started up The Ocarina of Time. I've played this game before always getting near the end before, for whatever reason, I don't complete it. This time may be different but it's fun to just play it again for however long that lasts.

When I come back to an old classic like the original Legend of Zelda or Ocarina of Time I try and ask myself if the game still holds up? In the case of Ocarina of Time the game holds up as well as it did in 1998 with a few exceptions. As gaming has advanced since then I noticed the frameyness and the control scheme isn't quite as polished as a modern Zelda. With that what Nintendo pulled off on the Nintendo 64 is admirable and once I started the game it's graphical low resolution and occasional play control jitters didn't bother me at all.

I am not going to get into a full review of Ocarina of Time as it's been discussed elsewhere in better detail. I will say that as to my last session I just opened up Jabu Jabu and have yet to complete that level. I am not very far into the game as I can only sit down to play it about one session per week but every time I do the games adventure brings me right back to "dat 90's magic." I have a Nintendo 64 and the Ocarina of Time cart but for this playthrough I have opted to play it over Mupen 64 on my Nexus Player. Mupens upscaled graphics and the ability to map controls to a XBox 360 controller are nice but about every hour and a half the game crashes due to what I consider to be some kind of memory leak. I save often and it's not hard to get back to where I was, but emulation is still not as good as just playing on the original hardware itself as far as stability goes for the 64. If you are looking to head back to an old classic you couldn't do much better than Ocarina of Time and if you wanted to break lots of pottery, there isn't a better way I know of to live that experience.

Allied Commanders Is Coming To Starcraft II Legacy of the Void

Starcraft II is a great game and comes with an amazing multiplayer mode that is fun to play with friends. That is if they know how to play Starcraft 2. One mode that is coming to Legacy of the Void looks incredible and might be something I play quite a bit of and might get some of my friends to play Starcraft 2 with me.

"In Allied Commanders, you play as one of the many heroic leaders in the StarCraft II universe. Each with an arsenal of various powers and abilities and a select group of unit types which you may use to compose your army. All of these tools make playing each commander a unique experience."

You should check the link below to see what each races commanders do and which one you might like with your play style.

http://us.battle.net//sc2/en/blog/19829510

Adding another multiplayer mode to Starcraft II sounds great and I am seriously looking to check this out. So far there is no release date for Legacy of the Void I know of but when one is known, i'll let you know.

You can pre-order the digital Legacy of the Void version now and if you do you get access to 3 prologue missions. PC Gamer recently reviewed them and if you are interested in learning if they are fun, check out the review below. I haven't played them yet as I am going to get the physical collectors edition and it's not yet available for pre-order.

http://www.pcgamer.com/how-starcraft-2-legacy-of-the-voids-prologue-missions-set-the-stage-for-the-finale/

New Doom Footage Escapes Gamescom

iD Software dropped a new Doom trailer that features some new footage we haven't seen previously. The new footage is included with some earlier footage, but if you are itching to get some new Doom in your face, this is it.

New Doom is coming out in 2015 and I can't wait to check it out. That said, the more I watch this footage the more I feel bad for the Demons. Seriously, this game won't be a good time for them.

Those Lovable Angry Birds Are Back With All New Self Directed Anger!

Angry Birds 2 dropped a few days ago and I happily downloaded it, because, who doesn't like Angry Birds? It might be a bit simple sure, but it's fun to fling birds at those pigs. Truth be told I was never a huge Angry Birds fan myself but I did play quite a bit of the original and Angry Birds Space(think Angry Birds meets Super Mario Galaxy). I also don't mind trying a mobile game if the price is right and in the case of Angry Birds 2, it's free.

First off, Angry Birds 2 starts out in the same way as the first game. The pigs steal the nests eggs and the birds want them back. Yup, same plot as before. I know Angry Birds isn't known for it's narrative but Rovio is pulling a entry out of the Nintendo's tried and tested "absolutely do not change the narrative of any franchise" formula. So are you telling me that after the upset avians got the eggs back from the pigs that they learned absolutely nothing and let it happen again one dark and story night? Well yes, yes they are. Which is why I think I understand why the Angry Birds are so upset. The worst kind of anger can be directed at yourself and after seeing the pigs steal the eggs one more time the birds have to direct that rage at themselves. Fool me once? Angry Birds. Fool me twice? Angry Birds 2 - We Have Learned Nothing.

Besides the plot, which isn't that big of a deal in these kinds of games, is the gameplay. Rovio has turned the knob to 11 because they improve on the gameplay of the original Angry Birds in nearly every way. The destruction is more chaotic, the explosions are more fun and the sound effects and graphics are much more polished. The game feels like a triple A mobile effort and at every turn is very polished. I experienced no bugs playing it and found the user interface wasn't confusing or annoying. The massive effort that went into Angry Birds 2 shows, the gameplay is superb.

As I noted earlier, Angry Birds 2 is free. That said, Rovio still needs to pay to keep the lights on so they added a freemium system. You start out with 5 lives and they deplete as you fail to complete stages. Don't beat a stage with the birds you are given? Lose a life. This isn't a big deal in the starting zones but the difficulty ramps up and then you run out of lives. You can get more lives by waiting or by spending in game currency, which is in this case is gems. I felt this was a missed opportunity in that Rovio could have gone with pig bones as the in game currency. It seems much more fitting to spend the remains of the vanquished than gems as gems appear in nearly every mobile game and enemy parts have still yet to be used. The in game economy isn't bad if you don't mind waiting or shelling out money, but like many freemium mobile games you could be waiting a very long time. In the end the freemium nature of Angry Birds 2 didn't bother me as by the time my lives ran out I stopped playing(everbody wins). I am not sure how much i'll end of playing Angry Birds 2 but it's a solid effort and if you loved Angry Birds, you need to come back and get angry all over again.

Travis Admin wrote on 08/04/2015 at 03:48am

Oh no, pay gates? Do you get an option to buy the game and not have them, or are they all microtransaction based? If it's the latter, this is an instant pass for me. I don't want to reward that behavior with a download counter increase on their stats. I don't mind if there's an option to get out of it by buying the game outright, which a few games have done, but that's just Candy Crushville all over again.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 08/04/2015 at 04:03am

I noticed this elsewhere and read about it. I have all, or almost all, of the Angry Birds games on my Kindle. I bought some, but others are the free versions. One of the last times I played through and made it to the Halloween stuff, which was awesome. Then my Kindle died and was promptly stolen due to my accidentally leaving it setting at a dental office. I bought another, much better HDX later.

Anyway, thanks for your review. I may get it installed. I was afraid of how they changed the game play, but from what you said, it sounds much better. The lives thing kind of sucks, but I guess that makes it a game you can play for a bit and then wait a while before playing again (to replenish lives).

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 08/04/2015 at 05:36am

Travis: there is no buy out option, just crystals.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 08/04/2015 at 06:15am

It doesn't seem like it's out for the Kindle yet...

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 08/04/2015 at 02:36pm

Travis: they have the option for you to watch a 30 second video for another life. As annoying as that is. I guess they must make a ton more money on the freemium game than a for pay one.

Travis Admin wrote on 08/04/2015 at 03:37pm

Yeah, still. They weren't exactly losing money with the old model, where you could play for free with ads or buy it outright without them, and even providing tons of free updates for years on all their various games.

And many companies have had super success with selling cosmetic things or even helpful things that aren't necessary. Currency doublers, or hats, or any number of things people would really want to buy, without limiting your access to play the game. Halfbrick made tons of money on Jetpack Joyride from all those costumes. TF2 is the poster child of selling cosmetic items to keep income coming in. Guild Wars 2, while you have to pay for the game up-front, doesn't have a subscription because people refer to it as Fashion Wars 2 a lot. People will shell out to make their characters look nice, or buy access to convenience items that help but are by no means necessary.

Freemium doesn't have to be an evil model.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 08/04/2015 at 11:40pm

Not sure i'd call it evil. Annoying perhaps, but not evil. Not sure true evil is as easily vanquished as simply deleting an app

Travis Admin wrote on 08/05/2015 at 12:51am

It was hyperbole :)

But more accurately: bad for the industry and players.

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All The Changes To Star Wars Comparison Series

Star Wars happened so long ago and so far away that it's strange we can't stop talking about it. Star Wars Episode VII is coming out this December and I have been seeing more Star Wars buzz and fan videos than I have in quite some time. It's as if the Internet exploded in fan glee and ... wasn't silenced. When George Lucas mentioned that he was going to re-release the special editions of Star Wars in the 90's I was excited. I watched each new version in theaters and really enjoyed the new cuts of the films. The extra stuff was great and, at the time, I really enjoyed the higher detailed effects and new scenes. That said, what I didn't know was that the original versions would slip away from our fingers entirely and the special editions later released on DVD & Bluray would become the only way we could watch them. Again, I want to make the point I don't mind the special editions for the most part but like most Star Wars fans would really appreciate the original versions cleaned up in HD.

This YouTube series takes a look at Star Wars, Empire and Jedi and compares all the released versions and all the changes made. Many changes are green screen color corrections, light saber coloring, digital enhancement and digital shots than don't upscale well. Some are changes to the scenes that make them a bit less violent, add rocks to shots with R2D2 or make it so Han doesn't shoot first. These changes send fans into a craze and for good reason, they dull one of the most classic films of all time.

Starship Rubicon Interview -w Wick & Beatscribe

I sat down with the people involved with the creation of Starship Rubicon, Wick and Beatscribe for a fun roundtable discussion. Cheerful Ghost published Starship Rubicon so it seemed like a good fit for us to talk about the game together.

Interview Notes:

www.starshiprubicon.com

Chesslike OST - https://beatscribe.bandcamp.com/album/chesslike-ost

The Story About My Uncle - http://gonenorthgames.com/games/a-story-about-my-uncle/

www.beatscribe.com

http://wickworks.tumblr.com/

Starcraft 2 Turns 5 - Celebrate For Aiur!

http://media.blizzard.com/sc2/media/wallpapers/wall061/wall061-2048x1536-standard.jpg

It feels like Starcraft 2 released 5 years ago and because of that, I can't wait to wrap up the trilogy with the upcoming final protoss installment, Legacy of the Void. Blizzard is marking the launch of Starcraft 2 with a free in game portrait drop by simply opening the game from now till August 3rd. So you know, grab that portrait... for Aiur!

http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/blog/19831343

Upcoming Patch 2.3.0 Adds New Zone & Horadric Cube

Blizzard is preparing a hefty update to Reaper of Souls and aims to bring back something we all loved from Diablo 2, the Horadric Cube. You can find the new cube, Kanai's Cube in the new zone Blizzard is adding called "Ruins of Sescheron." The new zone was cut from the shipped version of Reaper of Souls and will be added back in the upcoming 2.3.0 update. I am looking forward to checking this out when it ships as one thing that always impressed me about the game is how beautiful and inventive the zones are. It also looks like it features some awesome new monsters as well, which should give high level players something fun to do.

What do you all think of these additions to Diablo 3? Will Kanai's Cube and the new zone bring you back to Diablo 3?

Ruins of Sescheron trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiYqif-AUy8

jdodson1

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