When it comes to the number of quality paid applications available for download, Ubuntu has always lagged behind Windows and Mac. Despite some great choices in the Software Center, the Canonical-made distro has a long way to go in order to go head-to-head with other operating systems.

That said, not everything is so sullen and gloomy in the Canonical world. Slowly and steadily, Ubuntu is catching up with its competitors by offering some great paid applications that many users have started appreciating. And though you won’t find Adobe Photoshop or MS Office here, you’ll find an assortment of some fantastic games and software that put Ubuntu way ahead of any other Linux-based distribution.

From side-scrolling adventures to addictive MMORPGs, the paid app arena in Ubuntu is just warming up, and it seems that it’s getting hotter and hotter with every passing day. So, if you’re looking to spend your hard-earned cash on some applications tailor-made for Ubuntu, here’s a list that will help you choose the best from the lot.

One of the most popular cross-platform physics-based games around, World of Goo is a title you simply cannot afford to miss. The game challenges the player to build giant structures using interactive globs of goo. Be careful though, one wrong move and your whole structure could collapse right to the ground. This fun adventure-filled puzzle challenges your mind and shapes up your creativity. -Definitely worth your every penny.

If you've just switched from Windows to Ubuntu, you might be missing some of the best apps that Redmond has to offer. From MS Office and Photoshop to high-intensity action games, there are a few things that you leave behind when you switch to Linux. Well, not anymore. Crossover Pro lets you seamlessly run all your favorite Windows applications without any hassles. Be it Outlook 2007 or your favorite Windows games, Crossover Pro makes sure that you’ll never have to boot to Windows again. To get started, you can download the trial version from the Software Center. Then, if you like it, you can pay and upgrade to the full version.

This top-down shooter is set in an alternative universe wherein you control a weapon-laden advanced hovercraft. And, all you have to do is eliminate all extra-terrestrial invaders just to survive. The fast-paced game features single player mode as well as online multiplayer mode where you can battle against 16 random players at once. The old-school title has been well received by Ubuntu users, and is completely worth the surprisingly low $5 price tag.

One of the most well designed games to ever hit the Linux platform is Oil Rush. Based on the powerful UNIGINE graphics engine, Oil Rush is a naval strategy game based on group control. A sort of a cross between real-time strategy and tower defense games, this $20 stunner comes with hours of DRM-free single player and multiplayer fun.

YouTube, though a video-sharing site, has become one of the best mediums to listen to music. The sheer variety of songs offered by that platform can’t be matched by any other site. Taking advantage of this offering comes Musictube, a YouTube-based music player. The $12 app lets you listen to thousands of songs from YouTube without having to open the site. Musictube works and feels just like any other music player, except for the fact that all music comes from YouTube rather than your hard drive.

Braid is a game set in a painting-like world where you manipulate the flow of time to solve puzzles. Everything about the game is about timing and attention, thus putting you on the edge of the seat throughout the gameplay. Apart from a challenging puzzle, Braid is also a sweet adventure with some beautiful graphics and sounds.

With some stunning graphics and engaging gameplay, this next title puts you in the Victorian era with wondrous contraptions and fascinating machinery. The game follows the adventures of Miranda and Sprocket through the Hidden World as they set off on a new adventure filled with innovative puzzles and gorgeous hand-painted scenery.

We recently covered the best paid games that are out there for Linux. We know that the list was too small and disappointing for any Linux fan. The size of the list can only be attributed to the lack of any major progress in this area for years. To be honest, most of the games that are available for Linux are graphically poor with loose plots and terrible AI levels. However, before you start bashing Linux developers for that, let's take a look at why gaming sucks so badly on Linux.

Bad Graphics support

We've touched upon the problems the Linux desktop is facing right now and one of them is vendor lock-ins. Due to lack of Linux-ready laptops and Desktops in the market, big hardware companies like NVIDIA and ATI are lax when it comes to releasing drivers for their graphic cards. This, in turn, leads to poorer and buggy performance as compared to the experience you get while using the same card on Windows. ATI, for example, was infamous for its terrible buggy drivers for Linux. However, with time, ATI started putting a lot of effort in the Linux department but the work is far from complete. Issues like memory leaks and crashes still haunt regular users and newcomers alike. NVIDIA on the other hand, has been quite agile as far as releasing drivers is concerned; however, they aren't that perfect either. A little tinkering here and there by the new user and the desktop becomes completely unusable. Developing games for such systems is very difficult for developers as they can't really be sure whether their game will work or not. Thus, making a hi-res 3D game still seems like a distant dream.

Linux still has less than 1% market share when it comes to desktop computing. The number is rising thanks to the efforts of Canonical, Red Hat and Novell but still, it's a far cry from the desktop utopia, which every geek in 1992 dreamed of. For an operating system that has been fighting hard just to keep up with Windows and Mac, gaming doesn't seem to be a priority at the moment. Instead, developers are busy doing up the user interface for the new users that migrate from Windows and Mac. This seems justified; however, the effort is still not there as there is no big demand for games. To be brutally honest, the Linux userbase still consists of developers and early-adopters that are not that desperate to see gaming on their computers. Instead, they are rightfully focusing on making Linux a solid, consumer-ready desktop.

Asserting the point made in the last section, the user base on Linux is so small that making games for Linux doesn't seem like a good idea. One can say the same thing about gaming on Mac, as their user base is still too low to turn a game into a profitable product. However, the gaming on Mac is much more developed as compared to gaming on Linux; thanks to Uncle Steve and his marketing skills. Steve Jobs has worked hard to bring gaming to the Mac platform and succeeded in doing so to an extent. Linux on the other hand lacks any marketing whatsoever.

Gaming is a multi billion dollar industry. Each game takes millions of dollars, thousands of developers and hordes of testers to make it as big as Call of Duty. Thus, making an expensive game for just 1% of users worldwide is a terrible business strategy. Apart from the business perspective, Linux world has always been marred with many misconceptions. Many people are hesitant when it comes to developing paid software for Linux. They think that all Linux users are obsessed with free stuff and nothing else. The developer might further think that, if a person is using all free software, then why would he bother paying $50 for my game?

Despite all the aforementioned problems, things are quickly catching up. Gaming on Linux is gradually gaining popularity, especially with the recent success of humble gaming bundles. Though almost all the games that are available for Linux are made by indie developers, there's a chance the big companies might consider Linux as a potential market somewhere in the near future.

If you're a developer then by all means please make the game you always wanted to make. If it consumes too much of your time and resources, then sell the game at a reasonable price (keeping it open source of course). If you're an ardent gamer, do try out some games that are available for Linux. Ubuntu users can try installing the latest games using the playdeb ppa. And of course, if you spot a few non-free Linux games and they look nice to you then please, please buy them. Finally, if you like the work of a particular developer then don't hesitate to buy him a beer.

With Linux matching Windows and Mac head-to-head in almost every field, indie developers are ensuring that gaming on Linux doesn't get left behind. We've covered various types of games that are available for Linux, from the best MMORPGs to the top action-packed First Person Shooters. While most of these games are free, there are a few paid games that have come out for Linux.

Here's a look at the top 5 paid games that are making noise:

Minecraft is a new cross-platform indie game, which has recently gained a lot of popularity. It is a 3D sandbox game, where players must try and survive in a randomly generated world. In order to do this, they must build tools, construct buildings/shelters and harvest resources. If you're still curious, then do check out the best minecraft structures created by addicted players from around the world. Minecraft comes in two variants – Beta and Classic, both with single-player and multiplayer options. The Classic version (both single-player and multiplayer) is free. On the other hand, Minecraft Beta, which is still under heavy development, will retail at 20 Euros (that's about 28.5 USD) when finished. For the moment, the game can be pre-purchased and played as a beta for 14.95 Euros. Users who buy the beta version won't have to pay anything for the stable release once it comes out.

In case you're still confused what the whole hype is about, then here's a nice video explaining the basics of the game:

We've covered Amnesia in detail before. In this game, you play the role of Daniel, who awakens in a dark, godforsaken 19th century castle. Although he knows his name, he can hardly remember anything about his past. Daniel finds a letter, seemingly written by him and which tells him to kill someone. Now, Daniel must survive this spooky place using only his wits and skills (no knives, no guns!). Amnesia brings some amazing 3D effects along with spectacularly realistic settings making the game spookier than any Polanski movie. As of now, the game retails at as low as 10 USD. Before buying, you can also try out the demo version of the game HERE.

Vendetta Online is a science fiction MMORPG developed by Guild Software. Quoting the website “Vendetta Online is a 3D space combat MMORPG for Windows, Mac, Linux and Android. This MMO permits thousands of players to interact as the pilots of spaceships in a vast universe. Users may build their characters in any direction they desire, becoming rich captains of industry, military heroes, or outlaws. A fast-paced, realtime "twitch" style combat model gives intense action, coupled with the backdrop of RPG gameplay in a massive online galaxy. Three major player factions form a delicate balance of power, with several NPC sub-factions creating situations of economic struggle, political intrigue and conflict. The completely persistent universe and detailed storyline add to the depth of immersion, resulting in a unique online experience.”

Osmos is a puzzle-based game developed by Canadian developer Hemisphere Games. The aim of the game is to propel yourself, a single-celled organism (Mote) into other smaller motes by absorbing them. In order to survive, the user's mote has to avoid colliding with larger motes. Motes can change course by expelling mass, which causes them to move away from the expelled mass (conservation of momentum). However, doing this also makes the mote shrink. In all there are 3 different zones of levels in Osmos, and the goal of each level is to absorb enough motes to become the largest mote on the level. With its calm, relaxing ambiance thanks to the award-winning soundtrack, Osmos creates a truly unique gaming experience.

In the free world of Linux and Open-source, many people argue that if everything is 'free', why should I pay for a game? Of course, the Linux world is free but free doesn't mean free as in 'free beer', the word free implies freedom. Most of the popular games for Windows, now come with SecuROM and other such DRM restrictions that restrict one's fair-use rights. This means that the user will only be able to use the software on one machine, sometimes requiring constant activations.

Games and other software developed in the FOSS world don't have such absurd restrictions. Users are free to use and distribute the game, and yes there's none of that activation or cd-key nonsense. While these games respect the user's freedom, keeping them free (as in free beer) is not a viable option because developers have to devote a lot of time and money in making these games. So, shelling out a few dollars for these games will help the indie developers pay their rent as well as come up with many new games for this emerging gaming platform.

In Computer Science, emulation refers to the capability of a computer software or hardware to replicate the functions of another software or hardware. Hence, video game console emulators are programs that enable computers to imitate the behavior of different video game consoles such as Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), Game Boy (GB), Sega Dreamcast, and Sony PlayStation. To help you understand video game console emulators even more, you may check out this post: Play Classic Super Nintendo (SNES) Games on Ubuntu Linux.

I have here a list of some of the best video game console emulators for Linux that you can download and use for free:

PCSX2 is a PlayStation 2 (PS2) emulator that is based on a plug-in architecture. Varying plug-ins may produce different results in both compatibility and capability. The major choke point in PS2 emulation is emulating the multi-core PS2 on PC x86 architecture because accurately synchronizing the cores is very complex. This why using multi-core CPUs such as Core 2 Duo and Core-i series are highly recommended when playing PS2 games via PCSX2. As of the moment, a number of plugins are still being developed to improve compatibility and overall performance.

ZSNES is a popular emulator of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) written mostly in x86 assembly. It is well known for being one of the first to emulate most SNES enhancement chips at some level and was the first emulator to implement the HQ2X interpolation algorithm. ZSNES is capable of running SNES games at full and accurate speed with sound and special graphic filters. It allows you to save the game at any point (known as ‘savestate’) by recording the console's state. ZSNES also supports advanced features such as the ability to record movies of gameplay and multiplayer gameplay over a TCP/IP network.

MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) is a computer program designed to emulate the hardware of arcade game systems on PCs and other platforms with a main goal of preserving gaming history by preventing classic games from being lost or consigned to oblivion. It can emulate various central processing units, audio and video specific chips, integrated circuits, RAM, data buses, storage devices, peripherals, etc. The first version of MAME was released way back 1997. Its latest version now supports more than 4500 unique games and around 9100 actual ROM image sets. However, about 1400 ROM sets are not working in the latest MAME version.

ePSXe (enhanced PSX emulator) is widely considered as the best free PlayStation emulator available to date. Like PCSX2, it utilizes plugin system to emulate GPU, SPU, and CD drive functions. PlayStation games can be loaded from the computer's CD/DVD drive or from CD images saved on the hard drive. Although ePSXe is closed source, its application-programming interface (API) for its plugins is open-source. The latest version of ePSXe can run majority of PlayStation games without a glitch and its recommended hardware requirements are not at all demanding. It features a polished user interface that is also very easy to use.

If you love playing first person survival horror games like Silent Hill and Resident Evil, then you may like Amnesia: The Dark Descent. Developed by Frictional Games, Amnesia: The Dark Descent took 3 years in the making. Although the game is not free, it works out of the box on any latest Linux distribution.


In the game, you will play the role of Daniel, who awakens in a dark, godforsaken 19th century castle. Although he knows his name, he can hardly remember anything about his past. Daniel finds a letter, seemingly written by him and which tells him to kill someone.

Amnesia: The Dark Descent will bring you to creepy pathways to take part of Daniel's troubled memories. You don’t have access to weapons like guns or knives, and must only use your wits and skills to avoid or hide from enemies.

The game uses fully physical simulated world with highly realistic physics engine that provides natural ways to interact with different objects in the environment. It offers cutting edge 3D graphics and dynamic sound system for a more engaging game experience.

Amnesia: The Dark Descent has received several positive reviews. IGN described the game as "an unforgettable survival horror experience." A writer/reviewer from PC Gamer UK says, “despite its title, Amnesia remembers what the blockbusters of survival horror seem to have forgotten: how to horrify.”

Here is a horrifying teaser of Amnesia: The Dark Descent:

If you have what it takes to survive, you can download the game demo HERE, or purchase the full version of the game HERE.

Installing and Playing StarCraft II on Linux: I consider StarCraft as one of the best Windows games that can be played on Linux, that is why I've been following several news and reviews regarding its recently released sequel, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. So far, StarCraft II has received raved reviews that get me excited enough to think of immediately buying a copy of the game. If you are using Linux and want to play StarCraft II, it is possible to install it through Wine or CrossOver.

Jeff Hoogland of Thoughts on Technology blog was able to install and play StarCraft 2 on his Ubuntu 10.04 desktop without problems. He did it by installing Wine 1.2 and did a few configuration tweaks. Based on reading some of the comments from his blog post, several people have also managed to successfully install and play StarCraft II on Linux.

If you already have a StarCraft II DVD installer in hand and would like to set it up on your Linux box, check this post from Jeff for installation instructions.

You can also check out this video tutorial of installing and playing StarCraft II on Linux:

Have you already installed and played StarCraft II on Linux? If you have, please share with us your StarCraft 2 experience via comment.

Pandora, the Linux-based handheld game console that is aimed to take advantage of free and open source software is finally shipping. After two years of development, the OpenPandora developers are finally sending out the first completed batch of the game console to consumers.

Pandora may look like a slightly bigger Nintendo DS but its hardware and software architectures are not closed down and it is open for home-brew development or hacking. It can also serve as a subnotebook and run as a low-power but full-featured Linux desktop.


Pandora is also designed for the emulation of older computer systems and video game consoles. It has working emulators for Dreamcast, PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Amiga, SNES, Atari Jaguar and Sega Mega Drive software.

Some of the known technical specifications of Pandora:

* Runs the Linux kernel (2.6.x)
* 800x480 resolution touchscreen LCD, 4.3-inch widescreen, 16.7 million colors (300 cd/m2 brightness, 450:1 contrast ratio)
* Texas Instruments OMAP3530 System-on-Chip with Cortex-A8 600 MHz Processor
* 256MB DDR-333 SDRAM
* 512MB NAND FLASH memory
* IVA2+ audio and video processor (based on the TMS320C64x+ DSP Core at 430 MHz) using Texas Instruments' DaVinci technology
* ARM Cortex-A8 superscalar microprocessor core
* PowerVR SGX 530 (110 MHz) OpenGL ES 2.0 compliant 3D hardware
* Integrated Wi-Fi 802.11b/g
* Integrated Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR (3Mbit/s) (Class 2, +4dBm)
* Full gamepad controls plus shoulder buttons
* Dual SDHC card slots (currently supporting up to 32GB of storage each, supports SDIO)
* Headphone output up to 150 mW/channel into 16 ohms, 99dB SNR
* TV output (composite and S-Video)
* Internal microphone plus ability to connect external microphone through headset
* 43 button QWERTY and numeric keypad
* USB 2.0 OTG port (480Mb/s) with capability to charge the Pandora
* Externally accessible UART for hardware hacking and debugging
* Brick prevention with integrated bootloader for safe code experimentation
* Estimated 8.5-10+ hour battery life for games, 10+ hour battery life for video and general applications, and theoretically 100+ hours for music playback (with backlight off and maximum power management)


Pandora is priced at around $330, and if you are interested in buying one, you can contact gp2xorders@gmail.com. I hope they will set up a page soon where we can easily place our orders.

Will you buy a Pandora game console?

Massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a kind of computer role-playing game (RPG) that takes place in an online virtual world where a huge number of players interact with each other. Like in role-playing games, each player handles the part of a fictional character represented by an avatar and take control over many of that character's actions. MMORPG players utilizes a client to connect to a server that is typically run by the game publisher, which hosts the virtual world and stores or saves information about the player.

MMORPG is one of the most popular computer game genres and are played all over the world, with revenues said to be more than US$1 billion a year since 2006. World of Warcraft (WoW) is currently the world's most-subscribed MMORPG but its client only runs on Windows and Mac OS X platforms. So if you are using Linux, you may have to rely on Wine to play the game (see 10 Best Windows Games That Can Be Played on Linux). However, if you want to play MMORPGs that are native on Linux, check out this list that I’ve compiled:

8 Best Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing Games (MMORPG) for Linux (in no particular order):

RuneScape
RuneScape has been recognized by the Guinness World Records as the world's most popular free MMORPG by having more than 10 million active player accounts. It is a graphical browser game implemented on the client-side in Java, and incorporates 3D rendering. RuneScape takes place in the world of Gielinor, a medieval fantasy realm divided into several different kingdoms, regions, and cities. Players can travel throughout Gielinor on foot, through use of magical teleportation spells and devices, and via numerous other methods, such as charter ships. Each region offers different types of monsters, resources, and quests to challenge players.


Regnum Online
Regnum Online is a fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed by Argentina-based game development studio called NGD Studios. The game focuses on the conflict of 3 realms in which players take part, fighting against characters of opposing factions and capturing fortresses and castles aside from the usual player vs. monster combats in addition to usual character development present in other games of the genre. Currently, Regnum Online has more than 500,000 subscriptions and has received reviews in local newspapers, TV programs, and several game-related websites.


Wurm Online
Wurm Online is a Java-based fantasy MMORPG developed by OneTooFree AB. In the game, the player assumes the role of a peasant who can choose his playing style ranging from working alone to being part of a village. The core game-play involves wilderness survival, landscaping (terraforming) and crafting. Wurm Online offers the options of a PvP based game or a non-PvP game where you still have to survive the environment.


Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates
Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates is a massively multiplayer online game with mechanics driven by puzzles. The player takes the role of a pirate, adventuring on the high seas and pillaging money ("pieces of eight") from roaming enemy ships (human or computer-controlled). For example, to effectively sail a ship, players must play puzzle games representing work at the sails for speed, pumping bilge water to remove it from the ship, and carpentry to fix any damage the ship may take. Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates is developed by Three Rings Design.


A Tale in the Desert
A Tale in the Desert (ATITD) is a massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMORPG) set in Ancient Egypt. Most notably, the central focus of the game is unlike most other MMORPGs: society rather than combat. In fact, this game is one of very few in the genre to boast no combat system whatsoever. Instead, the focus of the game is economic development. A Tale in the Desert has one of the most complex crafting systems in an MMO in existence. At its core, it is a tradeskill MMO. A Tale in the Desert is developed and published by eGenesis.


Dofus
Dofus is a Flash-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed and published by Ankama Games. It is primarily a Pay to Play game, though it still offers a limited amount of free content. Its success has led to the marketing of spin-off products, such as books, art and comics. It has also led to the development of two continuations: Dofus Arena, released at the beginning of 2006, which is an alternative "tournament" version of Dofus; and Wakfu, a continuation of Dofus, which is currently in the process of beta testing. The game has attracted over ten million players worldwide and is especially well known in France.


Tibia
Tibia is a massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMORPG) created by CipSoft GmbH. It is one of the oldest MMORPGs and was considered most noteworthy in its early years. Its most unique aspect is being in a 2D environment, which is expected to contribute to the slow growth of the game as the gaming community rapidly shifted to 3D. Tibia is a free game that is open to the public, though players have the option to pay a fee in order to upgrade to a premium account, granting special in-game benefits, including additional areas to explore, access to vocation promotions, and extra spells.

WorldForge
WorldForge is a community of free game developers centered around developing software, music, art, code and content for free online games. The community is developing a flexible platform for online games, and a demo game Mason that runs on it. The WorldForge Project began in October 1998, under the original name of "Altima." It was originally envisioned to be an "Alternative to Ultima Online" and was mentioned in an article on the Slashdot news website, which became a major source of interested developers.

Fix Blue and Green Tinted Video Problem in Ubuntu: I was having this video problem in Ubuntu that happened after an update. The video images became tinted with blue and green colors, or were having some kind of distorted video hues when played on Totem Movie Player as well as other media players. Check out the screenshot below to know what I mean:

I also installed other video players like VLC, Miro, Mplayer and others but the same thing happened.

The cause of this issue could be the use of Nvidia closed source driver, and since this bug hasn't been addressed yet, here's a quick fix for now when using Totem:

I really love playing arcade games from time to time so while looking for other interesting and entertaining games, I bumped into Blob Wars and never hesitated to check it out.

Blob And Conquer is the latest version of Blob Wars and is a sequel to Metal Blob Solid. It is interesting to note that the new version is a 3D action adventure game while the old one is a 2D platform game.

Blob And Conquer starts off with a scary warning: This game contains scenes of blood and violence. But, you can take it as a joke as there's nothing violent about round blobs shooting each other and then exploding in a shower of redness like a squashed tomato. If you don't like seeing the "red effect", you can turn it off anytime at the game options.

You will play the game as Bob and you are of course a blob that has a huge responsibility of saving your world from evil alien invaders.

With a third-person camera view, moving the mouse will rotate the camera around Bob, and Bob himself is moved using the arrow keys. The two most important actions in the game are easily controlled via the two mouse buttons: Left-click to shoot and right-click to jump. Gameplay is based on objectives that usually involve unlocking doors, collecting items, jumping over lava, and doing a lot of shooting. They must be completed before you can exit the level.

Bob has several weapons to choose from. There's the unlimited-ammo pistol, an Uzi, a shotgun, and grenades. Weapons can be switched between by rolling the middle mouse wheel.

Fights are usually short and swift, and it’s normal to be entirely surrounded by enemies. Aiming Bob's gun can be quite difficult at times but there's an auto-aiming feature that makes the job easier. When Bob nears an enemy, the aiming system picks it as his target, and all succeeding shots will automatically be fired in its direction until the enemy is dead. In addition, if there are numerous enemies around, a new target will be selected.

Nearly all of the interactive things you’ll encounter on Blob And Conquer, whether they be Information Points, switches, or lifts, are used by pressing the Action button (Enter key). The game can only be saved at a Save Point, which are found in various places in a level, and are also activated by use of the Action button. And then there are also walls to be blown away, tele-porters, and energy barriers to keep things lively.

Sounds and Graphics:
Blob Wars: Blob And Conquer has average graphics and the game environments and characters need to be polished. However, the sound effects and music tracks are rather good and really add some flavor to the game.

Conclusion:
Overall, Blob Wars: Blob And Conquer has a highly entertaining gameplay that I'm keeping it for good. I recommend it to all the casual and even hardcore gamers out there who are using Linux. I'm definitely looking forward to its future (hopefully much-improved) version.

I had a lot of free time last weekend so I had a chance to annihilate stuff by playing another first person shooter game on my Linux box. The game is called Tremulous and it's not a typical FPS since it incorporates elements of real-time strategy that makes it even more fun and challenging.


Some Facts:

Tremulous started out as a modification of the popular game Quake III Arena. The gameplay is generally inspired by the Quake II modification Gloom, although they absolutely share no content.

After the release of the Quake III Arena source code under GPL in August of 2005, the developers decided to rework Tremulous into a stand alone, free and open source game. The current version (1.1.0) was unleashed on March 31, 2006 and is based upon the ioquake3 Quake III source port.

Though it's been a long time since the last Tremulous release, development is going on for the 1.2 version, which will be out soon.


Gameplay:

Tremulous is a deathmatch between humans and aliens. Players can choose to be either side with each has its own strengths and weaknesses. They must build and protect a base, which is essential for their survival, consisting of structures that provide various functions, the most essential of which being the ability to respawn. The winner destroys all enemy spawn points and eliminates all members of the enemy team before they are able to rebuild them while the loser is simply annihilated.


The humans are technologically well equipped. They start out stronger, but give less damage when using the default weapon. However, the human bases can feature powerful arsenals of turrets that can destroy even the strongest alien species. Humans are rewarded "credits" for every kill or damage that they can give to an alien. Credits are also given every two minutes just for staying alive. The credits are used to buy armor, weapons, tools, etc.


The aliens are pesky and fearsome bugs. They have an array of structures, including the main building called the “Overmind”. The aliens begin with low health, but can do plenty of damage. Aliens are rewarded frags for kills, and they use these to evolve into stronger classes, including the deadly tyrant. Like humans, aliens need their stuff to evolve to the next level.



Sounds and Graphics:

Though not the best when compared to today's games, the graphics are quite good with cool particle effects, and nice textures. The accompanying background music and sound effects are just enough to get you all pumped up.


Conclusion:

The not-so-stunning graphics was not a hindrance for me to fully enjoy Tremulous as its gameplay is really awesome. It's good to know that those with older computer machines can still play a very exciting and like I said challenging fps + rts game as its recommended system requirements are less demanding. I definitely can't wait for the next version of Tremulous.


Here is how I rate Tremulous 1.1:



To those of you who want to try Tremulous and are using any of the popular Linux distributions like Ubuntu, Fedora, and Mandriva, it's probably available in their respective repositories so look for it there. Otherwise, you can get it HERE.

I know some of you can't get enough of those classic games, so after showing you how to play Super Nintedo (SNES) games on Ubuntu Linux using an emulator, I will be giving instructions on how you will be able to run DOS games on it. To do this, you will also need an emulator and download DOS games from the internet.

The package that you will have to install is DOSBox.

"DOSBox emulates an Intel x86 PC, complete with sound, graphics, mouse, joystick, modem, etc., necessary for running many old MS-DOS games that simply cannot be run on modern PCs and operating systems, such as Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Vista, Linux and FreeBSD."

To install DOSBox on Ubuntu, just search for it on Synaptic Package Manager and install it from there. Or, you can use the command line:

After installing DOSBox, create a directory where you would like your games to be stored. Like on mine:

To give you an example, I've downloaded Mario Brothers VGA from HERE.

I then extracted/unzipped the file and placed "mario.exe" inside my /dosgames directory.

Now go and get those popular DOS games like Wolfeinstein 3D, Alley Cat, Duke Nukem, Hocus Pocus, Crystal Caves, and so much more. Have fun!