Games: Godot Engine, Lutris, XCOM, KeeperRL, Ampersat, Europa Universalis and More

• X11 display server progress report

  I'm Camille, aka PouleyKetchoupp. I use Godot as an indie game developer (Nekomatata) and I've been a Godot contributor for a while (Github). Recently I was hired to work as a contractor on fixes and improvements for the Linux port of Godot 4. Most of the work was dedicated to fixing regressions due to the new Display Server used for window management, which allows support for multiple windows. I've also spent some extra time fixing old issues we had with X11 which required some refactoring in how the engine communicates with the X server. Some of them will be available in a later Godot 3.2 release as well. In this post I'm summarizing all the changes I've made in the X11 Display Server, in order to (hopefully) clarify how the X server works and how Godot communicates with it.

• Godot Engine to get improved Linux support in the upcoming Godot 4 release | GamingOnLinux

  While the free and open source game engine Godot Engine already has Linux support, for both exported games and the full editor, it's set to get even better in Godot 4.0. In a blog post written by Camille Mohr-Daurat, they mentioned how they've been hired by the Godot team to work as a contractor on fixes and improvements for the Linux port of Godot. Camille Mohr-Daurat is an indie developer who actually uses Godot too at Nekomatata, where they created the unique ping-pong battler Punch Pong. So this is a real fun example of open source in action. Godot 4.0 will be coming with a new windowing system, so that you can separate parts of the Godot Engine editor from the main window. A lot of their work is focused on ensuring that works great on Linux with X11, which seems like there's a lot of work involved, because there's places where X11 doesn't have APIs to handle things where it does on other platforms like Windows and macOS - with drag and drop between windows being one mentioned example they've had to solve directly.

• Lutris game launcher has a huge new Beta update out for testing | GamingOnLinux

  Lutris is the impressive all-in-one solution for managing games on Linux, bundling tons of sources of Linux releases from different stores under one roof as well as emulators, compatibility layers and more. Just recently on October 19 they put up the Beta of the new 0.5.8 release, and it includes some pretty huge changes and improvements all across the application. The way it actually works under the hood has been completely changed in many ways, along with the way you add games to it. Instead of manually importing games, it now attempts to sync up with your library across other stores like GOG, Humble and Steam. Adding games from the Lutris website using their scripts to set things up is also now in its own section, just called Lutris and it no longer depends on having install scripts for 3rd party services as Lutris will now run stuff with an "auto-generated" script but scripts on the Lutris database will take precedence if available

• XCOM-ish combat and HOMM-styled world exploration Fort Triumph has a major update and sale | GamingOnLinux

  Possibly one of my favourite strategy game releases of 2020, Fort Triumph blends together XCOM styled combat with HOMM (Heroes of Might and Magic) exploration into quite a gem that doesn't take itself too seriously. What makes it fun is the environment interactions during battles, as you push rocks and drop trees onto enemies - it never gets old. It appears the team at CookieByte Entertainment have been busy too, with a huge free first post-release content upgrade out now. They've added in 27 new locations/events to the world map, and with some of these encounters you can add/remove traits from your heroes. Some of these encounters mix up the combat too, with some being unique Physics-only battles where you can only move around parts of the environment and not use normal abilities which sounds pretty hilarious.

• KeeperRL, the open source dungeon building sim is getting a price bump in November | GamingOnLinux

  Fancy becoming a dungeon master? Well, if you're watching the pennies you might want to go and pick up KeeperRL before they price gets bumped up. This excellent open source building sim that mixes in RPG and roguelike elements has a lot to like about it, and it's been continually improved over 7 years now. Since it's had a lot added to it, and the developer has been working almost full time on it, they're going to be increasing the price from $14.99 to $20 on November 15. Plenty of notice if you were thinking about picking it up. Keep in mind they also said there will be no discounts planned until the big 1.0 release, so it's not going to be cheaper again any time soon.

• Ampersat is an upcoming hack and slash shooter where everyone is ASCII | GamingOnLinux

  Mixing together ASCII characters and enemies, along with a full colour world, the hack and slash shooter Ampersat seems like a rather unique blend. A little weird too, with styles that usually clash and don't make sense together. You're the "at sign", the ampersat, and enemies are also these flat characters yet the world is 3D and full of colour. It looks bizarre but it works. Solo developer Gaterooze, Ink mentioned it was inspired by elements of Gauntlet and Smash TV to Zelda and a dash of Angband that "distils some favourite childhood gaming experiences into a fresh, fun hybrid that sees you killing a lot of monsters, finding a lot of loot, freeing captured letters and growing from a world-weary warrior mage into a powerful smashing/blasting machine".

• Free copy of Europa Universalis II on GOG, with a huge Paradox Interactive sale going on | GamingOnLinux

  Paradox Interactive are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Europa Universalis series so they're giving away Europa Universalis II and putting a bunch of other games on sale. For the free game, simply head to GOG.com and find the big banner. It doesn't support Linux like Paradox's later games, since it's a proper classic from way back in 2001 but you can try your luck with the Wine compatibility layer if you really want it.

• Try the demo for Pyramid Plunge, a lighthearted platformer with a really odd couple | GamingOnLinux

  Ah yes, dangerous ancient pyramids with traps and deadly creatures, why not let a totally unprepared couple explore it? That's what you're doing in Pyramid Plunge as you run, carry your partner, fart to get airtime are more. The result is actually quite hilarious, mixing together challenging random generation with a sprinkle of comedy from the two wildly different characters that have a bit of banter between them like a true couple would. You don't see many platformers come along like this, what joy.

• Proton: The Native Port Killer?

  The thrill surrounding the announcement of Street Fighter V coming to Linux was real. It was a few years after SteamOS was announced. After years of silence, fans started to doubt that this was becoming a reality. It wasn’t until two years after the initial release of Proton that Valve started to work with Capcom to try and make the Windows version compatible with Linux. Some people are still salty that it took this long to get here, and even more upset that this isn’t a native port. On the other hand, fans like myself are pleased that Valve/Capcom held to their word, even though they may have compromised a bit by making it Proton-compatible. The same goes for Rocket League. End-users like myself naturally get upset when delays happen, even though we don’t understand what it’s like to be on the developer’s side. Several months came and went after the original announcement, and finally the Mac and Linux versions of the game went live on Steam. Fast forward a few years later, and Psyonix decides to drop the ball for said versions, leaving it up to Proton to pick up the slack on Linux and bootcamp for Mac OS. Don’t even get me started on the fact that they basically abandoned support on Steam altogether in favor of the Epic Crap Store.

today's howtos

• How To Install Apache Kafka on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS - idroot

  In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Apache Kafka on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. For those of you who didn’t know, Kafka is the most popular open-source software that provides a framework for storing, reading, and analyzing streaming data. Kafka was originally developed by LinkedIn and to be open-sourced in early 2011 under Apache Software Foundation. This article assumes you have at least basic knowledge of Linux, know how to use the shell, and most importantly, you host your site on your own VPS. The installation is quite simple and assumes you are running in the root account, if not you may need to add ‘sudo‘ to the commands to get root privileges. I will show you through the step by step installation of Apache Kafka on Ubuntu 20.04 (Focal Fossa). You can follow the same instructions for Ubuntu 18.04, 16.04, and any other Debian based distribution like Linux Mint.

• How To Install Python 3.9 on Ubuntu 18.04 – TecAdmin

  Installing Python 3.9 on Ubuntu 18.04 with Apt. Two methods to install Python 3.9 on Ubuntu 18.04 using PPA or Source code.

• How to install ONLYOFFICE Workspace on Ubuntu

  This tutorial shows how to install the new ONLYOFFICE 6.0 Workspace on Ubuntu 20.04....

• How to install and set up SeedDMS | Enable Sysadmin

  If you need a document management system that's quick and easy to set up, SeedDMS might be your solution.

• How to install the Nextcloud server in Ubuntu 20.04 > Tux-Techie

  This tutorial shows how to set up a Nextcloud server on an Ubuntu install along with an overview of the latest Nextcloud features.

• How to install WordPress in Ubuntu 20.04 > Tux-Techie

  In this tutorial, we will learn how to install Wordpress in Ubuntu 20.04. The prerequisites for this guide require an Ubuntu installation with a static IP assigned.

• How to set up a Samba file server in Ubuntu 20.04 > Tux-Techie

  In this tutorial, we will set up a samba file server in Ubuntu 20.04 and access it in Ubuntu DDE. Share files across Linux, Windows, and Mac.

• The four things you must be able to do in Vim | Enable Sysadmin

  A list of the four tasks that any Linux user should be able to accomplish when using the Vim text editor.

• Marvell offers native NVMe SSD Raid 1 Accelerator > Tux-Techie

  Linux and windows open source tech guides and news. NVMe ssd raid 1 native support.

• How to assign a Static IP address in Ubuntu DDE > Tux-Techie

  In this tutorial, we are going to focus on how to assign a static IP address in the DDE version of Ubuntu.

• Creating LDAP accounts with phpLDAPadmin > Tux-Techie

  For this tutorial, you will first need to have an OpenLDAP server installed along with phpLDAPadmin. If you do not already have an OpenLDAP server setup, then check out this article to learn how to do so. In this tutorial, we will create a new user with an Organizational Unit named TestUser and the Posix Group named TestAccount. The user ID for this test account is btester.

• Configuring Ubuntu Linux to authenticate to an LDAP server > Tux-Techie

  The prerequisites for this tutorial require an OpenLDAP server and a client-side system with Ubuntu Linux. To learn how to set up your own OpenLDAP server, check out this article.

System76 Thelio Mega is a quad-GPU Linux desktop powered by Ryzen Threadripper

System76 began its life as a Linux computer seller only. Essentially, the company would sell re-branded laptops with Ubuntu pre-installed. To provide a class-leading experience, however, System76 also provided top-notch customer service, helping Linux beginners get started with a little hand-holding when needed. This focus on service continues today, and it is largely responsible for the company's success and longevity. Seeking to better control its own destiny, the company branched out from only being a computer-seller and transformed into a maker too. It's handcrafted Thelio desktops are powerful works of art, comprised of wood, metal, and good ol' fashioned American elbow grease. Yes, these Thelio machines are made in the USA -- Colorado, specifically. System76 has even created its own operating system -- the Ubuntu-based Pop!_OS, which has been very well received by the Linux community. This Linux distro will work on most computers -- not just Sytem76 machines. If you want vanilla Ubuntu, don't worry -- the company continues to offer that OS as an option when buying one of its computers.

Sailfish OS: Shared mobile devices

The need for device sharing has become increasingly important for our partners. And it’s easy to understand why: imagine a scenario where a mobile device is required for executing certain actions during a business process. Each workstation has a mobile device and when a work shift changes the previous shift logs out of it and the new shift logs in. In this case the mobile device is more of a shared resource than a personal device. One of the major new features that we’re excited to have included in the latest 3.4 Pallas-Yllästunturi release is the ability to have multiple users on the same device that can be switched between in this way. For regular everyday use of Sailfish OS this doesn’t have any impact, the device owner (the primary user) works just as it used to. However, release 3.4 will have a new ‘defaultuser’ (devices flashed prior to 3.4.0 keep ‘nemo’ user, but it’s only the name that’s different). The new ‘defaultuser’ name is mostly visible behind the scenes for application developers; end users can ignore this detail.