Cheerful Ghost: An Awesome Community For Gamers

Gaming on Linux: What you need to know

Steam for Linux is coming, folks. In fact, for a lucky 1000 people (and thousands of others who don't mind using a trick to bypass their invite check) it has already arrived. Gaming has always been one of the reasons people keep a Windows installation around. The games for Linux just aren't there. Valve is looking to change that.

So many of you may be looking to get into Linux gaming now that it's looking more viable. This will hopefully get you started. This post makes some assumptions-- I'm going to be providing information for Ubuntu, since that's the most popular and most beginner-friendly distribution around. Other distributions will have similar ways of doing... Read All Steam for Linux is coming, folks. In fact, for a lucky 1000 people (and thousands of others who don't mind using a trick to bypass their invite check) it has already arrived. Gaming has always been one of the reasons people keep a Windows installation around. The games for Linux just aren't there. Valve is looking to change that.

So many of you may be looking to get into Linux gaming now that it's looking more viable. This will hopefully get you started. This post makes some assumptions-- I'm going to be providing information for Ubuntu, since that's the most popular and most beginner-friendly distribution around. Other distributions will have similar ways of doing things.

Drivers
This is something you need to get squared away early. If you have driver issues, your games will suffer (if they play at all). If you're using Intel integrated graphics, those drivers are open source and should be handled for you pretty well automatically. Otherwise in Ubuntu 12.10, open Software Sources from the dash and click the "Additional Drivers" tab. In 12.04 and earlier, this isn't integrated into software sources, so open Additional Drivers directly from the dash.

In this window, you'll be able to select which proprietary drivers you want to install for your video hardware. I recommend going with the experimental nvidia driver. It has recently been updated for some major performance boosts. Regardless, the bare minimum here, you want the proprietary driver.

After the driver is installed, there are a couple of tweaks you'll want to do.

By default, Unity (the desktop manager in Ubuntu) is going to keep using the gpu for compositing even when there's a fullscreen program (such as a game) running. You can't change some advanced settings like this by default, so install compizconfig-settings-manager, run it, go into the "Compositing" section and check "Unredirect fullscreen windows." While you're in CCSM go to the "Open GL" section, and disable Sync to vblank here as well. It will get you some extra performance in the WM.

If you're using an nvidia card and things seem more laggy in games than they should, you should disable syncing to vblank in the driver settings. This doesn't seem to affect everyone, but if it does, it's a simple fix. In the nvidia-settings program, head to the OpenGL Settings section and uncheck "Sync to vblank." I've never seen any detrimental effects to doing this, and it speeds up framerates pretty significantly. It may cause more screen tearing though, so it's all up to preference.

Installing games
Now you're ready to jump in to gaming! There are various places to find games, but the easiest is to get them straight from your distribution's software sources. So for our purposes, lets head to the Ubuntu Software Center (more on that in a later post) to try out some free games, just to make sure everything is in working order. Nexuiz (the old version predating the one on Steam) and OpenArena are good FPS arena games, like Quake 3, and Battle for Wesnoth is a turn based strategy game that looks a bit like Warcraft. Either of those will get your feet wet, and ready to jump into more advanced stuff.

Stay tuned for more!

UPDATE: Part two of this series, Game Distribution, can be found here: http://cheerfulghost.com/panickedthumb/posts/729

Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie

""Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie" is a passion project by independent filmmakers James Rolfe and Kevin Finn, based on the popular web series. The film is being produced outside the studio system, entirely funded by fan donations. Principle photography took place in Spring of 2012, in the Los Angeles area, with Jason Brewer as the DP. Additional filming is taking place on the East Coast. Editing is in its early stages."

I am not sure what to make of this after watching the trailer. I really enjoy the Angry Video Game Nerd shorts but I wasn't in love with this trailer. I will watch this movie, no doubt, but this movie seems to go into different territory that might not... Read All

Lets Play: Minecraft "Walk a Direction"

I just created a new Let's Play video. The idea of this one was that I would pick a direction in my first Minecraft world to explore. Part of the awesomeness of Minecraft is how open and expansive the worlds are. Its impressive.

I wasn't sure how long I would be out exploring, but the video spans two Minecraft days. Since I don't mark my path, I return to my house by getting killed.

Enjoy.

Timogorgon Member wrote on 11/11/2012 at 09:52pm

Couple notes/tips. :)

There is a difference in what the different trees can make. They make different colored wooden planks. Functionally they're no different, but they can be used to make different colored houses/floors. :D

Also, a shovel is the most efficient tool for digging in dirt/grass. I noticed you used a pick for most of that.

A tip for fighting creepers is to dash attack them. When you dash attack them it knocks them back far enough to reset their fuse or timer or whatever you want to call it. Also, higher quality swords will do more damage. So while you probably don't need diamond tools for most things, I recommend a diamond sword. :) (and a diamond pick axe for mining obsidian)

You can actually tame those wolves you found. If you feed them bones they'll start following you around.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 11/11/2012 at 11:28pm

I think I saw a pig in a tree at 12:35. This game is unnatural!

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 11/11/2012 at 11:51pm

Really fun video. Not too long!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/12/2012 at 12:14am

Awesome, thanks for the feedback it was really fun to make.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/12/2012 at 12:15am

WhiteboySlim: thanks for the tips. I do typically shovel dirt but sometimes I don't always remember. Cool you can take wolves with bones, ill try that next time!

hardeyez wrote on 11/13/2012 at 05:38pm

Also, you can add a minimap mod (e.g. REI's) which can help you to always find home.

hardeyez wrote on 11/13/2012 at 05:43pm

But watch out, if you mod a bunch, take two precautions:
* backup your minecraft.jar so you have a clean one to go back to
* hold off on updating until the mods you want catch up

There are a few 'mod manager' type systems to help out, but I never delve deeply into any of them. My kids love Technic Pack and Tekkit http://www.technicpack.net/ which applies a BUNCH of mods to a separate install, so you can run it and vanilla side-by-side (in fact I think technic is still based on minecraft 1.2.5). But the launcher has several modpacks to begin with (tecnic, tekkit, hack/mine and yogbox) so it's an easy way to see a bunch of mods w/o messing around with minecraft.jar :)

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Cheap Steam stuff!

http://www.cheaptrick.com/images/CheapTrick_Myspace_Header_01.png

Get it? Cheap Trick? Am I old now?

Anyone want some coupons for Steam games? I have a few. These expire within the next few weeks, so get 'em while they're hot!

Please, for the first day or so, pick only one of these. If there are some left by Sunday morning, it's a free-for-all.

2 Killing Floor guest passes. Not coupons, exactly, but not full games either. Play it for a couple of days and see what you think!

50% off any Assassin's Creed game other than AC3.
75% off the Trine Complete Collection
3x 50% off Alan Wake Collectors Edition
2x 50% off Alan Wake's American Nightmare
4x 50% off Legend of Grimrock
3x 75% off Rochard

The coupons for Trine, Alan Wake, Grimrock, and... Read All

jdodson Admin wrote on 11/10/2012 at 05:32pm

I am going to check out that site. It's interesting to offer Steam deals after people do things. Wonder if CG could do that :D

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 11/10/2012 at 05:39pm

That's a good thought. It couldn't be Steam coupons or anything like that unless you make a deal with the publishers. But for further giveaways, it could definitely work. Just have it send something to you saying who won what, and you could just give them the game on Steam.

If you wanted to reuse steamgifts.com you could create a giveaway that is restricted to a Steam group, and play slots or whatever you choose for a place in that group. But that would start to have way too many moving pieces.

jdodson Admin wrote on 11/10/2012 at 05:50pm

Yeah, interesting. Maybe I can try and contact the publishers. This site did it, so ill add it to my list of things to do. :D Its free promotion for them either way.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 11/10/2012 at 06:11pm

Well, this site *is* one of the publishers. But they got the others on board, so yeah. I don't see why they'd complain.

jdodson Admin wrote on 11/10/2012 at 06:37pm

Yeah, for sure. Admit to my list as something to look into.

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Interview with Greg Pabich of Cheetahmen Games

Forever enshrined in history is the story of Action 52 games and The Cheetahmen. Action 52 games made a NES cart that packed in a total of 52 games and one such addition to the mix, Cheetahmen has caught on to achieve NES Retro infamy. In a series of events not entirely clear to me a few thousand copies of a prototype print of Cheetahman 2 were found in an old Action 52 storage area. These were later put on EBay and currently fetch for a high price.

A bit about the original Action 52 cart as reviewed by the amazing Angry Video Game Nerd:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwmoJkHS-2E

Intro Greg Pabich, the Wizard behind the recent Cheetahmen 2: The Lost Levels Kickstarter.... Read All

Assassin's Creed III PC available for pre-order

http://cdn.steampowered.com/v/gfx/apps/208480/header_292x136.jpg?t=1352424437

$50 gets you AC3 when it launches on November 20th.

$80 gets you AC3 Digital Deluxe Edition, which gives you a season pass for all the DLC, 4 bonus missions, and a few other extras.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/208480/

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 11/09/2012 at 04:58am

So I preordered it and now I have to stare at it there in my inventory for 12 days.

jdodson Admin wrote on 11/09/2012 at 03:44pm

Appreciate seeing deluxe versions of games not dying and instead migrating to digital deluxe versions.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 05/27/2013 at 07:21pm

How did you end up liking the game Travis?

jdodson Admin wrote on 05/27/2013 at 07:28pm

Yes. Also, any prominent political figures you enjoyed assassinating? King George perhaps. Wait, I don't think he was in the colonies...

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 05/27/2013 at 09:14pm

It was fantastic. I don't think it was as good as Ezio's games, but it was a ton of fun. I'd recommend it if you liked the previous games, but be prepared for some gameplay mechanics changes. Nothing too jarring, but it takes some getting used to.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 05/28/2013 at 03:55pm

I've not played any AC games, but this one still looks really cool. Contemplating picking it up on Steam :)

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Lets Play: New Site Design

I think the new site re design is going well and decided to create the video showcasing a bit about it. The new design isn't a totally new shift, its a evolution and I think is an improvement over the original.

Sound off the in comments with your thoughts. I plan on starting the work to integrate the new design into the site soon so get your feedback in!

The video quality isn't stellar, for a higher res screenshot of the new design clicky click:
http://i.imgur.com/SdUBC.jpg

Travis Admin wrote on 11/08/2012 at 04:26am

Nice Half-Life 3 easter egg. ;)

Travis Admin wrote on 11/08/2012 at 04:31am

Or I guess I should be thanking myself, since I apparently posted it!

I really dig the new site design. It's going to make expanding and adding new features much easier in the future. I like the side-by-side, but I can see why some may find it distracting. If it's easy to do a toggle, that might be an option.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 11/08/2012 at 06:27am

I love the new look! I really like incorporating more pulldown menus, so there's less button clutter on the screen. The side-by-side threw me for a minute, but I think I'll like that a lot when I get used to it. Plus it'll be twice as much content to interest a new user!

Jacob_Richardson wrote on 11/08/2012 at 12:28pm

Yay I am in the video haha. So I wanted to make a few small comments. Love the new look. I personally really enjoy the side by side. However there's a small thing that I feel like can be done now because of the newly designed titles. As an ocd person I would love to be able to auto center them. I so want to see the title in the dead center of the post. Also in the new site design it'd be really cool if in the settings menu you could mess around with different colors. I love the colors right now but maybe I might want to mess around with them at some point. Colors of the backgrounds and font and such I mean. It wouldn't change for anyone else just like personal color settings.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/08/2012 at 05:55pm

@jacob I will look into centering the titles. That shouldn't be hard to do.

I will add a UI customization or theme option to my list. Not sure when I will get to it, but its a great idea!

Travis Admin wrote on 11/08/2012 at 06:25pm

If I may add a dissenting opinion, I'm not sure centered titles would look right considering the layout. With the avatar where it is, dead center wouldn't look centered because there would be less space from the avatar to the left edge of the title, and centering it in the space after that wouldn't look centered to the article text.

I do love the idea of user-configurable color/theme choices though.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/08/2012 at 06:50pm

@panickedthumb Good point. I prefer it the way it is but I will experiment with it either way.

Jacob_Richardson wrote on 11/08/2012 at 10:45pm

hmm. That is a good point panicked. Hadn't really thought about that. I guess that probably would still bother me since it wouldn't line up with the text. That's a bummer. It's not a major thing I just get really ocd about titles in particular.

BR Supporter wrote on 11/09/2012 at 12:03am

I like the sleek new design. It makes the site look new and like it has a bit of depth to it. I'm back and forth on the side by side posts though. I feel like in some situations it would be nice, and in others it wouldn't. Haven't made my mind up whether I like it better or not.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/09/2012 at 12:56am

Thanks BR! I am too, I am leaning to not side by side right this minute though. Easy enough to bring back though.

Travis Admin wrote on 11/09/2012 at 02:28am

If not side-by-side, would you have it auto expand (to a certain point) so there isn't a ton of wasted space?

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/09/2012 at 04:18am

Yes, it would expand to fill the entire space.

Travis Admin wrote on 11/09/2012 at 04:35am

Longer titles would be nice. "Assassin's Creed III PC now available for pre-order on Steam" was too long to fit.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/09/2012 at 04:40am

Yep longer titles would be good.

Jacob_Richardson wrote on 11/09/2012 at 08:03am

Hm. About longer titles john. You think you'd be able to have like a sub context spot for the titles? On panicked's example "Assassin's Creed III PC" would be the title. With the sub-text being "now available for pre-order on Steam". There'd be a lot of instances I could see that coming in handy.

Travis Admin wrote on 11/09/2012 at 02:20pm

That's a good thought too. For another example...

John Carmack buys Zynga!
What does this mean for the future of Farmville?

Travis Admin wrote on 11/10/2012 at 04:59pm

I'm working on something for tomorrow or Monday that would benefit from the ability to add images or embeds inline, rather than just the one at the top. The potential for overuse is quite high, but it would be convenient.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/10/2012 at 05:31pm

Hmmm. I want to seriously talk more about this. Lets take it up after the site redesign.

Travis Admin wrote on 11/11/2012 at 06:23am

If you're looking for some possible inspiration for a 404 page: http://i.imgur.com/fcHae.jpg

;)

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/11/2012 at 06:28am

Heh. Hmmmm. Yeah, we could do something similar.... Hmmm.

Travis Admin wrote on 11/11/2012 at 06:58am

Thank you Mario! But the requested page is in another server.

Travis Admin wrote on 11/11/2012 at 07:00am

Or,
"This page is an illusion and is a trap devised by our servers. Go ahead dauntlessly! Make rapid progress!"

http://www.vgmuseum.com/end/nes/a/ghosts.htm

Travis Admin wrote on 11/11/2012 at 07:01am

IMDB has something similar. It gives you random relevant movie quotes.

http://www.imdb.com/qweljhqerjqher

Just keep hitting F5

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/11/2012 at 04:05pm

I like the Mario idea. That's really clever!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/11/2012 at 08:25pm

Adding it to my list of things to do :D

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Add This Demo To Your Play Queue

I have a lot of game demo's I need to ry. I dusted off the recent XCOM demo I had in my queue recently and it was a surprising amount of fun.

Full confession as I haven't played any of the original XCOM games. So I don't have much in my mind in terms of if the game follows the originals legacy or anything. If you played the original and then this recent version shout out in the comments or another post, I am interested how that turned out for you.

XCOM is a turn based squad game. Basically its similar to something like Final Fantasy Tactics or the like where you take turns against the computer to overwhelm them. But don't let that absolutely bad description fool you, the... Read All I have a lot of game demo's I need to ry. I dusted off the recent XCOM demo I had in my queue recently and it was a surprising amount of fun.

Full confession as I haven't played any of the original XCOM games. So I don't have much in my mind in terms of if the game follows the originals legacy or anything. If you played the original and then this recent version shout out in the comments or another post, I am interested how that turned out for you.

XCOM is a turn based squad game. Basically its similar to something like Final Fantasy Tactics or the like where you take turns against the computer to overwhelm them. But don't let that absolutely bad description fool you, the game is pretty intense. The demo comes with a few missions and some compelling story to give you a good taste of what the game has in store. I enjoyed the intro missions and they really teach you how to play the game and then kick you into the action.

My only gripe about the game was really a demo limitation in that I couldn't save any progress. I didn't quite finish the demo in an hour or so but it doesn't allow you to save. That means when you come back to it you have to start at the beginning. I imagine this isn't a problem in the full meal deal.

One interesting feature I noticed as I was reading about the game on Wikipedia is the game comes with an interesting multiplayer mode. You start with an amount of points and can allocate them on certain things as you wish and go head to head with another player. Reminds me of dueling when I think about how that would play out.

In between your missions you have a base you can use to upgrade your units and do other stuff. The part of the demo I played didn't go too deep into that but it was cool to be able to see your upgraded units in your base. Oh right, XCOM brings an interesting feature to the table in that if you have units that survive missions they gain XP and get better. So you can have a badass vetran soldier you use in every battle. Just have to be careful because if they die it is permanent.

That all said install and play the demo as its available on Steam and the consoles(I played it on Steam) and let me know what you thought of it. In a world of mostly shooter games, its nice to get a tactical turn based game with some honest to God fun strategy elements to it.

iD To Release Mod Tools "Real Soon Now"

According to a recent Tweet by iD's John Carmack it looks like the Rage modding tools will be released really soon. Interested in seeing how this breathes some life back into Rage. I was really excited about this game and it would be awesome to see what the community can do with this.

I think one of the best parts of Rage was the split-screen co-op "Legends of the Wasteland." I also really liked the death match car combat as well. To the end of the game it got a bit stale, but overall I rather enjoyed Rage.

https://twitter.com/ID_AA_Carmack/status/260529465636040704

Travis Admin wrote on 11/07/2012 at 05:20am

Whoa... really? This may be too little too late. Most people have abandoned this. I'll probably dust it off though, if one can dust off a digital game.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/07/2012 at 06:07am

The bits are so stale we need to warm them!

Travis Admin wrote on 11/07/2012 at 06:18pm

Do you have it for PC or PS3?

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/07/2012 at 06:48pm

Both.

Gary_Butterfield wrote on 11/07/2012 at 07:31pm

I'd be up for some people doing cool shit with this. I'm a Rage apologist.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/07/2012 at 08:22pm

I am too. On both counts. Did you play it on PC or console Gary?

Gary_Butterfield wrote on 11/07/2012 at 10:25pm

PC. It came at the exact right time. I was in the mood for a semi intelligent shooter.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/08/2012 at 01:12am

That makes sense.

I am a iD fan, so I was extremely excited about Rage. I kind of had a roller coaster of experiences with it. My first experience was on PC and it was incredible. The first half of the game is really great. But I switched to PS3 when my copy arrive and had a bad go of it all as Rage was hard as hell with the controller(for me). Plus the load times and I died a lot made the game way less fun.

Went back to the PC version after WAY too much un comfort with the console version and had more fun. I came to the half way point and the story and pacing really changed I felt. It was less story driven and it started to lose me a bit.

That said, I still come back and co-op legends of the wasteland with my friends and will complete Rage single player at some point. The is also very pretty. Really pretty on PC.

Gary_Butterfield wrote on 11/08/2012 at 05:10pm

The halfway point of Rage is about 80% through the game, unfortunately. I was seriously blindsided by the ending. That's my main complaint.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/11/2012 at 09:21pm

I just beat Rage. Will write my full bit on it. Interesting ending.

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Shove Pro

I'm excited about this game. Strange because it is an iPad and iPhone game. Check it out.