Apr 222011
 

Hi All,

I got Shadowgrounds last night via the Frozenbyte Bundle.
First try at installing :

Yep. Let’s click “Start”

Ok, I accept.

Looking good…

Oh Bugger.

So off I go trawling the net, apparently Shadowgrounds needs glade, so I install glade on my machine
apt-get install libglade2-0
But I still get the error !
It would seem that more is needed, so I use the ldd command to find out what libs are linked to the executable file.

$ ldd ShadowgroundsBeta12.run
linux-gate.so.1 => (0xb789d000)
libglade-2.0.so.0 => /usr/lib/libglade-2.0.so.0 (0xb786a000)
libgtk-x11-2.0.so.0 => /usr/lib/libgtk-x11-2.0.so.0 (0xb7486000)
libgdk_pixbuf-2.0.so.0 => /usr/lib/libgdk_pixbuf-2.0.so.0 (0xb7469000)
libgio-2.0.so.0 => /usr/lib/libgio-2.0.so.0 (0xb7363000)
libgobject-2.0.so.0 => /usr/lib/libgobject-2.0.so.0 (0xb731a000)
libglib-2.0.so.0 => /lib/libglib-2.0.so.0 (0xb7241000)
libz.so.1 => /usr/lib/libz.so.1 (0xb722d000)
libstdc++.so.6 => /usr/lib/libstdc++.so.6 (0xb713e000)
libgcc_s.so.1 => /lib/libgcc_s.so.1 (0xb7121000)
libpthread.so.0 => /lib/i686/cmov/libpthread.so.0 (0xb7108000)
libc.so.6 => /lib/i686/cmov/libc.so.6 (0xb6fc2000)
libxml2.so.2 => /usr/lib/libxml2.so.2 (0xb6e97000)
libgdk-x11-2.0.so.0 => /usr/lib/libgdk-x11-2.0.so.0 (0xb6dfc000)
libatk-1.0.so.0 => /usr/lib/libatk-1.0.so.0 (0xb6ddf000)
libpangoft2-1.0.so.0 => /usr/lib/libpangoft2-1.0.so.0 (0xb6db7000)
libm.so.6 => /lib/i686/cmov/libm.so.6 (0xb6d91000)
libpangocairo-1.0.so.0 => /usr/lib/libpangocairo-1.0.so.0 (0xb6d86000)
libcairo.so.2 => /usr/lib/libcairo.so.2 (0xb6cd0000)
libpango-1.0.so.0 => /usr/lib/libpango-1.0.so.0 (0xb6c8b000)
libfreetype.so.6 => /usr/lib/libfreetype.so.6 (0xb6c04000)
libfontconfig.so.1 => /usr/lib/libfontconfig.so.1 (0xb6bd5000)
libgmodule-2.0.so.0 => /usr/lib/libgmodule-2.0.so.0 (0xb6bd1000)
libX11.so.6 => /usr/lib/libX11.so.6 (0xb6ab1000)
libXcomposite.so.1 => /usr/lib/libXcomposite.so.1 (0xb6aad000)
libXdamage.so.1 => /usr/lib/libXdamage.so.1 (0xb6aaa000)
libXfixes.so.3 => /usr/lib/libXfixes.so.3 (0xb6aa5000)
libgthread-2.0.so.0 => /usr/lib/libgthread-2.0.so.0 (0xb6aa0000)
librt.so.1 => /lib/i686/cmov/librt.so.1 (0xb6a97000)
libresolv.so.2 => /lib/i686/cmov/libresolv.so.2 (0xb6a82000)
libselinux.so.1 => /lib/libselinux.so.1 (0xb6a67000)
libpcre.so.3 => /lib/libpcre.so.3 (0xb6a2a000)
/lib/ld-linux.so.2 (0xb789e000)
libdl.so.2 => /lib/i686/cmov/libdl.so.2 (0xb6a26000)
libXext.so.6 => /usr/lib/libXext.so.6 (0xb6a17000)
libXrender.so.1 => /usr/lib/libXrender.so.1 (0xb6a0d000)
libXinerama.so.1 => /usr/lib/libXinerama.so.1 (0xb6a0a000)
libXi.so.6 => /usr/lib/libXi.so.6 (0xb69fd000)
libXrandr.so.2 => /usr/lib/libXrandr.so.2 (0xb69f6000)
libXcursor.so.1 => /usr/lib/libXcursor.so.1 (0xb69ed000)
libpixman-1.so.0 => /usr/lib/libpixman-1.so.0 (0xb6979000)
libpng12.so.0 => /lib/libpng12.so.0 (0xb6955000)
libxcb-shm.so.0 => /usr/lib/libxcb-shm.so.0 (0xb6952000)
libxcb-render.so.0 => /usr/lib/libxcb-render.so.0 (0xb694b000)
libxcb.so.1 => /usr/lib/libxcb.so.1 (0xb6932000)
libexpat.so.1 => /usr/lib/libexpat.so.1 (0xb690b000)
libXau.so.6 => /usr/lib/libXau.so.6 (0xb6908000)
libXdmcp.so.6 => /usr/lib/libXdmcp.so.6 (0xb6903000)

Nope, that looks all good.
Then it occurred to me to to check the file size…532 MBs. Eep ! It should be somewhere in the 780 MB region.
Looks like the download was corrupted, time to redownload !

Well that was a fast download, now when I try to install I get :

That’s better.

So that’s what the finish screen looks like.
And off I go to have a merry little gaming session.

And I’m not.
Shadowgrounds won’t start properly for some reason, the mouse seems to be stuck to the right hand side of the screen.
Time for some more investigation !
Continued here in Part 2 !

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Apr 222011
 

Hi All,

Just purchased the Humble Frozenbyte Bundle, so expect to see some quick reviews on those games too.
The last 2 were only quick quick ones, which will be updated and completed later on when it’s not 2am in the morning.

Shadowgrounds will be the first game I’m going to review so we’ll see how it goes once it’s finished downloading 🙂

In other news, I think it might be time to add a ‘Gaming’ category to my blog as I might be taking this in a few new directions. Thoughts anyone ? (if I even have any readers :P)

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Apr 212011
 

Hi All,

I’m on a roll tonight !
Just had a play around with Revenge Of The Titans from the second Humble Indie Bundle.
First impression from the menu was pretty good, until I tried to fullscreen it and then it wouldn’t show up for me again.
Ended up having to modify the config files to get it back again, but after that bump in the road, I managed to get a few good games in the campaign mode.

The game is like a tower defense game with added bonuses / upgrades to choose from as you progress.
You can upgrade towers with other towers and build refineries to increase your money quicker.
I only got through a few levels tonight, might try and get a few more in tomorrow.

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Apr 212011
 

Hey All,


Everyone’s probably heard of Minecraft, but for those who haven’t its a game where you can build your own world.
You start off with nothing but your fists, and have to build up your inventory and arsenal so you can explore the world, build castles and mines, and fend off the creatures of the wild.
At the moment, you can buy Minecraft for €14.95, and afterwards you can download the launcher and the launcher will download the necessary files to launch the game. It works the same in Linux and Windows.

A new version recently came out, so that will be the one I will have a look at here.
Minecraft 1.5 has brought in a few extra functions over the older versions, namely Achievements and Stats.
The recent updates have also brought in new blocks, recipes, and critters both hostile and neutral.
Stay tuned for more updates !

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Apr 202011
 

Hey All,
I got to (re-)playing Osmos last night and got past a few levels.Nice and cruisy game for the casual gamer, bit of a challenge on some levels as well.

Starting off, it was very easy to install, the developers provided a deb file for the Debian / Debian based crowd. Install was as easy as downloading the file and installing it via your favourite package manager. In my case, it was dpkg.
sudo dpkg -i Osmos_1.6.1.deb
After installation, I got to the menu screen.
An original menu
And off I went to wreak some nano-havoc.
There are set goals for the levels, some which involve absorbing a different type of blob, or some which are simply a be as big as you can type of level.
I started off with the latter type.
That's a lot of red
Thats a lot of red against me, so I’ll go around and absorb it all.
You can absorb any blobs that are smaller than you by running into them, but anything bigger than you will absorb you if you hit them.
Only me now.
Mmmm yummy blobs. I feel a bit like Unicron !

You control your blob using just your mouse, clicking when you want your blob to fire off some of it’s mass to propel it in the opposite direction, the more mass you fire though, the smaller you become, the smaller you become the faster you can move around. The more you absorb, the more your mass will increase, which will also make you bulkier and harder to move around so it will take you longer to slow down and change directions.
The physics of the game is what makes the game fun, it also gives the game a bit of a strategic slant as you will need to plot your course through the minefield of bigger blobs or you will get eaten and end up like this.

*splat*

All in all a very fun game to play for the casual gamer. The later levels gets interesting with different goals and difficulties, often ending with the above screen for myself.
May not appeal too much to the gamers who prefer fast action and big guns, but for everyone else this should occupy at least a couple of hours of your time a week.

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