Linux Game Publishing - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Linux Game Publishing is a software company based in Nottingham

Nottingham

Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...

in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It ports, publishes and sells video games running on Linux

Linux

Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...

operating systems. As well as porting games, LGP also sponsors the development of Grapple
Grapple (network layer)
Grapple is a free software package for adding multiplayer support to computer games and applications. It uses Internet protocols, supporting both TCP/IP and UDP/IP...

, a free software network library for games. As well as acting as a Linux game porter in of themselves, they also function as a publisher for other Linux game developers and porters.

History

The company was founded on October 15, 2001 by Michael Simms

Michael Simms (software developer)

Michael Simms is the creator of the Tux Games website and the founder of Linux Game Publishing.- Biography :Simms began using Linux when he was at university in 1992. From 2000 — 2001 he worked at Wcities as Lead product architect....

when the similarly oriented Loki Software

Loki Software

Loki Software, Inc. was a software firm based in Tustin, California, United States, that ported several video games from Microsoft Windows to Linux...

filed for bankruptcy. Simms had previously founded the Tux Games

Tux Games

Tux Games is one of the first still active online Linux game retailers, founded on January 1, 2000 by Michael Simms, who would later also found Linux Game Publishing...

retailer a few years earlier, and the collapse of Loki would have gravely affected his available stock. Linux Game Publishing had initially tried to pick up the support rights to many of Loki's titles, but in the end they were only able to acquire the rights to MindRover: The Europa Project
MindRover
Mind Rover is a video game, developed by CogniToy. The game, which can be thought of as an successor to the Learning Company's Robot Odyssey, revolves around two activities:* Assemble a virtual robots from a library of stock parts....

. They were able to, however, pick up the publishing rights to Creatures: Internet Edition as well as the rights to the port of Majesty: Gold Edition
Majesty: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim
-External links:**...

which was previously being developed by Tribsoft

Tribsoft

Tribsoft was a Canadian software company that specialized in porting computer games to the Linux platform.It was responsible for porting Jagged Alliance 2, as well as gaining the porting rights to Europa Universalis, Majesty: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim, and Jagged Alliance 2: Unfinished Business...

. Empowered by the addition of former Loki employee Mike Phillips, LGP released its first title on December 21, 2001.
From there the company gained the publishing rights to several other game titles including Candy Cruncher, NingPo MahJong, Hyperspace Delivery Boy!
Hyperspace Delivery Boy!
Hyperspace Delivery Boy! is the first title released by video game production company Monkeystone Games. A puzzle/action game developed for the Pocket PC and released on December 23, 2001...

, and Soul Ride, as well as Disciples II: Dark Prophecy
Disciples II: Dark Prophecy
Disciples II: Dark Prophecy is a PC game by Strategy First that was released on January 24, 2002. The game is the sequel to the 1999 game Disciples: Sacred Lands, and has become significantly more successful in terms of both sales and popularity than its predecessor...

. The later has been described by Michael Simms as "LGP’s DNF

Duke Nukem Forever

Duke Nukem Forever is a 2011 first-person shooter video game for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 developed by 3D Realms and Triptych Games and finished by Gearbox Software and Piranha Games...

" and has been said to have been the cause of several resignations from the company, including that of aforementioned employee Mike Phillips. It has still, alongside another long delayed game Bandits: Phoenix Rising
Bandits: Phoenix Rising
Bandits: Phoenix Rising is a futuristic, racing action game, set in a post apocalyptic wasteland.The player follows the pair Rewdalf and Fennec as they try to survive and make big bucks at the same time....

, yet to be released.

In December of 2008, LGP launched PenguinPlay, a new website for Linux gamers, allowing matchmaking for multiplayer games, and social networking. In June of 2009 they began offering downloadable games and game rentals. In August of 2009 they grudgingly dropped support for all PowerPC

PowerPC

PowerPC is a RISC architecture created by the 1991 Apple–IBM–Motorola alliance, known as AIM...

games. In September of 2009 they released the first commercial game for Linux using the Nvidia

NVIDIA

Nvidia is an American global technology company based in Santa Clara, California. Nvidia is best known for its graphics processors . Nvidia and chief rival AMD Graphics Techonologies have dominated the high performance GPU market, pushing other manufacturers to smaller, niche roles...

PhysX

PhysX is a proprietary realtime physics engine middleware SDK developed by Ageia with the purchase of ETH Zurich spin-off NovodeX in 2004...

middleware. In late September of 2010 the Linux Game Publishing server suffered a massive hard drive failure which took down all of their online infrastructure, including related websites such as Tux Games

Tux Games

Tux Games is one of the first still active online Linux game retailers, founded on January 1, 2000 by Michael Simms, who would later also found Linux Game Publishing...

and The Linux Game Tome

The Linux Game Tome

The Linux Game Tome is a website which provides a comprehensive list of games for Linux.- History :The site was started by Tessa Lau in 1995...

. Various other unforeseen issues caused the recovery not to take place until late November, with partial service being restored on November 23, 2010, with full recovery not being made until December 08, 2010. They have since stated that work is going well on their current project, and that they have a working build of it in internal alpha testing.

Games published

Title	Genre	Date of Release	Developer	Porter	Publisher
Creatures: Internet Edition	Simulation Simulation Simulation is the imitation of some real thing available, state of affairs, or process. The act of simulating something generally entails representing certain key characteristics or behaviours of a selected physical or abstract system....	December 21, 2001	Creature Labs Creature Labs Creature Labs was a company based in Cambridge, England which was set up to develop the artificial life technology created by Steve Grand...	Creature Labs Creature Labs Creature Labs was a company based in Cambridge, England which was set up to develop the artificial life technology created by Steve Grand...	Linux Game Publishing
MindRover: The Europa Project MindRover Mind Rover is a video game, developed by CogniToy. The game, which can be thought of as an successor to the Learning Company's Robot Odyssey, revolves around two activities:* Assemble a virtual robots from a library of stock parts....	Strategy Strategy Strategy, a word of military origin, refers to a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. In military usage strategy is distinct from tactics, which are concerned with the conduct of an engagement, while strategy is concerned with how different engagements are linked...	December 13, 2002	CogniToy	Linux Game Publishing	Linux Game Publishing
Candy Cruncher	Puzzle	February 6, 2003	Pyrogon	Ryan C. Gordon Ryan C. Gordon Ryan C. Gordon is a former Loki Software employee who is now responsible for icculus.org, which hosts many Loki Software projects as well as several new projects created by himself and others...	Linux Game Publishing
Majesty: Gold Edition Majesty: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim -External links:**...	Real-time strategy Real-time strategy Real-time strategy is a sub-genre of strategy video game which does not progress incrementally in turns. Brett Sperry is credited with coining the term to market Dune II....	April 15, 2003	Cyberlore Studios Cyberlore Studios Cyberlore Studios was a developer of computer games based in Northampton, Massachusetts. The company was founded by Lester Humphreys, Ken Grey, and Herb Perez. Since 1992, they produced expansion packs for MechWarrior 4, Heroes of Might and Magic II, and Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness...	Tribsoft Tribsoft Tribsoft was a Canadian software company that specialized in porting computer games to the Linux platform.It was responsible for porting Jagged Alliance 2, as well as gaining the porting rights to Europa Universalis, Majesty: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim, and Jagged Alliance 2: Unfinished Business... /Linux Game Publishing	Linux Game Publishing
NingPo MahJong	?	January 21, 2004	Pyrogon	Linux Game Publishing	Linux Game Publishing
Hyperspace Delivery Boy! Hyperspace Delivery Boy! Hyperspace Delivery Boy! is the first title released by video game production company Monkeystone Games. A puzzle/action game developed for the Pocket PC and released on December 23, 2001...	Puzzle Computer puzzle game Puzzle video games are a genre of video games that emphasize puzzle solving. The types of puzzles to be solved can test many problem solving skills including logic, strategy, pattern recognition, sequence solving, and word completion.... /Action Action game Action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes diverse subgenres such as fighting games, shooter games, and platform games, which are widely considered the most important action games, though some...	May 10, 2004	Monkeystone Games Monkeystone Games Monkeystone Games was a video game developer and publisher founded by John Romero, Tom Hall, Stevie Case, and Brian Moon. The company's focus was on mobile games...	Linux Game Publishing	Linux Game Publishing
Software Tycoon	Simulation Simulation Simulation is the imitation of some real thing available, state of affairs, or process. The act of simulating something generally entails representing certain key characteristics or behaviours of a selected physical or abstract system....	January 10, 2005	destraX Entertainment Software GbR	RuneSoft RuneSoft Runesoft GmbH is a German publisher founded in 2000 that ports games to alternative platforms such as Linux, Mac OS X, AmigaOS, MorphOS, and magnussoft ZETA...	Linux Game Publishing
Postal²: Share The Pain Postal² Postal 2 is a first-person shooter video game by Running with Scissors, and it is the sequel to the 1997 game Postal. Both are intentionally highly controversial due to high levels of violence and stereotyping. Unlike its predecessor, Postal 2 is played completely in first-person based on the...	First-person shooter First-person shooter First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...	February 4, 2005	Running with Scissors Running With Scissors, Inc. Running with Scissors, Inc. is an American computer game developer based in Arizona. Their best-known title, Postal, was publicly decried by Senator Joe Lieberman and other critics due to its extreme violence....	Ryan C. Gordon Ryan C. Gordon Ryan C. Gordon is a former Loki Software employee who is now responsible for icculus.org, which hosts many Loki Software projects as well as several new projects created by himself and others...	Linux Game Publishing
Soul Ride	Sports	June 24, 2005	Slingshot Slingshot A slingshot, shanghai, flip, bean shooter or catapult is a small hand-powered projectile weapon. The classic form consists of a Y-shaped frame held in the off hand, with two rubber strips attached to the uprights. The other ends of the strips lead back to a pocket which holds the projectile...	Linux Game Publishing	Linux Game Publishing
X2: The Threat	Space simulation Space simulation A space simulator is a system that tries to replicate or simulate outer space and/or the experience of space flight in a spacecraft as closely and realistically as possible...	May 30, 2006	Egosoft Egosoft Egosoft is a computer game developer founded in 1988 and based in Würselen, Germany. It became a commercial company in 1990. Its first products were for the Amiga, but it later became a PC game developer....	Linux Game Publishing	Linux Game Publishing
Gorky 17 Gorky 17 Gorky 17 is a turn-based tactics computer game developed by Polish developer Metropolis Software and published by Monolith Productions for Windows in 1999. The game was later ported to Linux by Hyperion Entertainment and published by Linux Game Publishing in 2006...	Tactical RPG	June 15, 2006	Metropolis Software	Hyperion Entertainment Hyperion Entertainment Hyperion Entertainment CVBA is a Belgian software company which in its early years focused in porting Windows games to Amiga, Linux and Macintosh. Later on, they were contracted by Amiga Incorporated to develop AmigaOS 4 and retired from the gaming business...	Linux Game Publishing
Cold War Cold War (computer game) Cold War is a video game developed by Czech developer Mindware Studios and published by DreamCatcher Games . The game is similar to the Splinter Cell series of games in that it uses a stealth-action system of gameplay...	Stealth Stealth Stealth may refer to:Stealth technology, technology used to conceal ships, aircraft, and missilesStealth aircraft, aircraft which use stealth technology*Stealth ground vehicle, ground vehicles which use stealth technology...	August 4, 2006	Mindware Studios Mindware Studios Mindware Studios is a video game development company, founded in Prague in 2002. The company's first game, Cold War, was a minor success in the EU and was published in North America by Canadian games publisher DreamCatcher Interactive.-Games:...	Mindware Studios Mindware Studios Mindware Studios is a video game development company, founded in Prague in 2002. The company's first game, Cold War, was a minor success in the EU and was published in North America by Canadian games publisher DreamCatcher Interactive.-Games:...	Linux Game Publishing
Knights and Merchants: The Shattered Kingdom Knights and Merchants: The Shattered Kingdom Knights and Merchants: The Shattered Kingdom is a medieval-time based Real-time strategy game.It was developed by Joymania Entertainment and published by TopWare Interactive in 1998. The player takes the role of the captain of the palace guards and leads the soldiers and citizens to victory...	Real-time strategy Real-time strategy Real-time strategy is a sub-genre of strategy video game which does not progress incrementally in turns. Brett Sperry is credited with coining the term to market Dune II....	March 13, 2007	Joymania Entertainment	RuneSoft RuneSoft Runesoft GmbH is a German publisher founded in 2000 that ports games to alternative platforms such as Linux, Mac OS X, AmigaOS, MorphOS, and magnussoft ZETA...	Linux Game Publishing
Ballistics	Racing Racing A sport race is a competition of speed, against an objective criterion, usually a clock or to a specific point. The competitors in a race try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time...	June 7, 2007	Grin GRIN (company) GRIN was a video game developer based in Stockholm, Sweden. Founded by Bo and Ulf Andersson in 1997, GRIN has worked on numerous titles for the PC, consoles and arcade.-History:...	Linux Game Publishing	Linux Game Publishing
X3: Reunion	Space simulation Space simulation A space simulator is a system that tries to replicate or simulate outer space and/or the experience of space flight in a spacecraft as closely and realistically as possible...	December 5, 2008	Egosoft Egosoft Egosoft is a computer game developer founded in 1988 and based in Würselen, Germany. It became a commercial company in 1990. Its first products were for the Amiga, but it later became a PC game developer....	Linux Game Publishing	Linux Game Publishing
Jets'n'Guns Jets'n'Guns Jets'n'Guns is a 2D, side-scrolling shoot 'em up computer game released in late 2004 for Microsoft Windows by RakeInGrass software. In April 2006, a version for Mac OS X was released. In December 2006 an expansion, Jets'n'Guns Gold, was released...	Shoot 'em up Shoot 'em up Shoot 'em up is a subgenre of shooter video games. In a shoot 'em up, the player controls a lone character, often in a spacecraft or aircraft, shooting large numbers of enemies while dodging their attacks. The genre in turn encompasses various types or subgenres and critics differ on exactly what...	January 29, 2009	RakeInGrass	RakeInGrass	Linux Game Publishing
Sacred: Gold	Action role-playing Action role-playing game Action role-playing games form a loosely defined sub-genre of role-playing video games that incorporate elements of action or action-adventure games, emphasizing real-time action where the player has direct control over characters, instead of turn-based or menu-based combat...	April 9, 2009	Ascaron Entertainment Ascaron Ascaron Entertainment was a video game developer based in Germany. Founded as Ascon and later renamed in October 1996 due to the possible confusion with the Swiss company Ascom AG, the company produced titles primarily for the PC until it was made insolvent in 2009.-Background and history:Ascaron...	Linux Game Publishing	Linux Game Publishing
Shadowgrounds Shadowgrounds Shadowgrounds is a shoot 'em up for Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux and Mac OS X, developed by Frozenbyte. The game takes place on a space colony on Ganymede which is being attacked by aliens...	Shooter Shooter Shooter may refer to:Films* Shooter , a 2000 short film depicting four paparazzi on a stakeout* Shooters , a 2001 UK television drama documentary film, set in Liverpool* Shooters , a 2002 theatrical film...	September 16, 2009	Frozenbyte Frozenbyte Frozenbyte Inc. is a Finnish game-developer founded in 2001 and based in Helsinki, Finland. The company has now grown to a professional team of almost 20 people, with its first commercial game being Shadowgrounds for Microsoft Windows...	IGIOS	Linux Game Publishing
Shadowgrounds Survivor Shadowgrounds Survivor Shadowgrounds Survivor is a shooter game developed by Frozenbyte and the sequel to Shadowgrounds. It has three playable characters, a RPG-like upgrade system for weapons and characters, a survival mode, graphics enhanced from its predecessor, an integrated physics engine, and a soundtrack by Ari...	Shooter Shooter Shooter may refer to:Films* Shooter , a 2000 short film depicting four paparazzi on a stakeout* Shooters , a 2001 UK television drama documentary film, set in Liverpool* Shooters , a 2002 theatrical film...	September 18, 2009	Frozenbyte Frozenbyte Frozenbyte Inc. is a Finnish game-developer founded in 2001 and based in Helsinki, Finland. The company has now grown to a professional team of almost 20 people, with its first commercial game being Shadowgrounds for Microsoft Windows...	IGIOS	Linux Game Publishing
Bandits: Phoenix Rising Bandits: Phoenix Rising Bandits: Phoenix Rising is a futuristic, racing action game, set in a post apocalyptic wasteland.The player follows the pair Rewdalf and Fennec as they try to survive and make big bucks at the same time....	Racing Racing A sport race is a competition of speed, against an objective criterion, usually a clock or to a specific point. The competitors in a race try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time...	in development since 2003	Grin GRIN (company) GRIN was a video game developer based in Stockholm, Sweden. Founded by Bo and Ulf Andersson in 1997, GRIN has worked on numerous titles for the PC, consoles and arcade.-History:...	Linux Game Publishing	Linux Game Publishing
Disciples II: Dark Prophecy Disciples II: Dark Prophecy Disciples II: Dark Prophecy is a PC game by Strategy First that was released on January 24, 2002. The game is the sequel to the 1999 game Disciples: Sacred Lands, and has become significantly more successful in terms of both sales and popularity than its predecessor...	Turn-based strategy Turn-based strategy A turn-based strategy game is a strategy game where players take turns when playing...	in development since 2002	Strategy First Strategy First Strategy First is a software company based in Montreal, Canada. Founded in 1988, the company has published numerous well-known games, such as the Disciples series, Jagged Alliance series, Space Empires series, and Galactic Civilizations....	Linux Game Publishing	Linux Game Publishing

Copy protection

Linux Game Publishing employs a simple form of digital rights management

Digital rights management

Digital rights management is a class of access control technologies that are used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals with the intent to limit the use of digital content and devices after sale. DRM is any technology that inhibits uses of digital content that...

similar to that employed by Games for Windows – Live. Upon the first run of the game, the user is prompted for a license key, alongside their LGP user name and password. This system enables users to install the game on multiple systems (as there is not a limited number of activations), while also discouraging sharing by noting that any user who has access to the owner's LGP account credentials could potentially lock the owner out of their own game.

Currently, LGP has published eight games that contain their DRM technology:

Ballistics (r2)
Jets'n'Guns
Majesty Gold (r2)
Sacred
Shadowgrounds
Shadowgrounds Survivor
X2: The Threat (r2)
X3: Reunion

Open source projects

LGP sponsors the development of Grapple

Grapple (network layer)

Grapple is a free software package for adding multiplayer support to computer games and applications. It uses Internet protocols, supporting both TCP/IP and UDP/IP...

, a free software network library for games. They work on other open source projects such as SDL

Simple DirectMedia Layer

Simple DirectMedia Layer is a cross-platform, free and open source multimedia library written in C that presents a simple interface to various platforms' graphics, sound, and input devices....

or OpenAL

OpenAL

OpenAL is a cross-platform audio API. It is designed for efficient rendering of multichannel three dimensional positional audio. Its API style and conventions deliberately resemble those of OpenGL.- History :...

. Micheal Simms also claims that LGP avoids publishing games similar to popular open source video games.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

History

Games published

Copy protection

Open source projects

See also

External links