Games: Unciv, OpenRazer, and Much More

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Dec 08, 2022

• Unciv the open source remake of Civilization V is heading to Steam

  Unciv is a popular open source remake inspired directly by Civilization V. It's been around for a while now and it's finally heading to Steam. Available cross-platform for Linux, Windows and Android it's actually quite an impressive and expansive game that has been continuously upgraded for years.

• November 2022 monthly update, lots of releases!

  Pixel Wheels also got an article in issue 187 of Full Circle Magazine, an independent magazine about Ubuntu. Pretty happy about it!

• Recreating The Sounds Of The ’90s With A YM3812 Synthesizer

  One reason the x86 PC became the dominant game platform in the early 1990s was the availability of affordable sound cards like the AdLib and Sound Blaster. These provided a quantum leap in sound quality compared to the PC speaker’s tinny beeps, thanks to Yamaha’s YM3812 chip, also known as OPL2. [Tyler] has made a detailed study of the various OPL series chips and wrote a comprehensive guide describing their operation.

• Polychromatic for managing Razer devices on Linux v0.8 out now

  Polychromatic, powered by OpenRazer, is a front-end UI for users to easily manage their Razer devices and a new release is out now with version 0.8.0.

• Nintendo Shuts Down ‘Smash World Tour’ Over Licensing At The Last Possible Second

  It will come as no surprise to any regular reader here when I say that Nintendo is roughly the most annoyingly draconian protector of IP in the video game space. At this point, Techdirt posts discussing Nintendo’s copyright and trademark antics are legion. Notable among those posts for the purposes of this discussion are several online gaming tournaments that Nintendo has allowed to exist, often without a license, but which Nintendo has still been willing to shut down over the use of 3rd party tools that make it possible to stream older games on current hardware and over the internet better. Those shutdowns over the use of tools that have nothing to do with copyright infringement might seem ridiculous to you, but then you simply don’t know just how iron-fisted Nintendo likes to be when it comes to controlling anything that has to do with their products.

• Crunch Time: The Dark Side Of Video Games1

  Have you ever wondered how many people sacrificed themselves so that you could defeat Bowser on your NES? Or Dr. Robotnik on your Sega Genesis? Well... You must be asking yourself: Sacrifice? What is this all about? Video games are just fun, where nobody gets hurt...

  I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but unfortunately, people get hurt in video games, and even die. Sadly, video games have a very dangerous dark side that few people talk about. I am referring to Crunch Time.

• Proton 7.0-5 out now for Steam Deck & Linux desktop, 14 newly playable games

  Valve has finished the current Proton Next testing, with Proton 7.0-5 now available as an update in your Steam Library replacing the previous Proton 7 version. Here's a run over what's new.

• EVERSPACE 2 developer gets a 1.65 million Euro grant from the German federal parliament

  EVERSPACE 2 appears to be quite a success for ROCKFISH Games, not only is it doing well on Steam with a Very Positive rating in Early Access but they just got a big bonus from the German federal parliament. They've been given a grant of 1.65 Million Euro to help them expand the game.

• Dwarf Fortress on Steam is a smash hit, devs confirm future plans (like Linux support)

  It was pretty much a given that Dwarf Fortress was going to be popular on Steam, but the smash hit it has become is quite a surprise on just how well it's doing.

• EA open source Fonttik, helps devs check text size & contrast — plus patent pledges

  As part of their original initiative about sharing patent pledge to not go after others on accessibility, EA have recently released Fonttik as open source to help game developers. Available on GitHub under the BSD license, Fonttik is a way for developers to check text size & contrast to help with accessibility.

• Vampire Survivors: Legacy of the Moonspell arrives December 15th

  Vampire Survivors: Legacy of the Moonspell is the first expansion for the absolutely ridiculous smash-hit horde game. It releases on December 15th with a whole bunch of extra content.

• Guitar Hero inspired free game Clone Hero version 1.0 is out now

  Games like Guitar Hero were once massively popular but developers seem to have moved on, thankfully there's Clone Hero which is a free game based on the idea. Available cross-platform with support for Linux, macOS, Windows and Android. You can play it with any 5 or 6 fret guitar controller, any midi drum kit, any game controller and even your keyboard.

• Humble Choice for December includes Wasteland 3 and GreedFall and other deals

  A fresh month and a new Humble Choice Bundle for subscribers to grab some more games, here's a run over what's included and the compatibility for Linux desktop and Steam Deck.

• Assassin's Creed Valhalla is impressive on Steam Deck

  Assassin's Creed Valhalla has launched on Steam and that means getting it on Steam Deck and Linux desktop is much easier, since Valve have Proton. The experience on Steam Deck is surprisingly good too.

• Here's how to fix Grounded from Obsidian on Steam Deck

  Grounded seems like a genuinely fun survival adventure, where you or you and friends can run around as miniturized people and survive against all kinds of critters. Out of the box on Steam Deck it's completely broken, so here's how to fully fix it.