The controls also came with a learning curve. This proved to not be much of a compromise, as obscuring the distance in snow also gives a much needed framerate boost. Besides this I also encountered a graphical error where my shadow would be drawn multiple times in a grid underneath my character that is, unless the weather was set to be snowing or whiteout conditions. Not doing so will also cause other weirdness such as not being able to change mountains as well as the game not ceasing to play the CD audio on exit. That being said, you must ensure your user account has write permissions to the install directory, as otherwise you will be unable to save your player settings.

This will grab the data right off the disc as well as providing the option of installing a number of Virtual Resorts which were provided for free on the Soul Ride website. They even provided a professional looking Loki Setup installer for owners of the Soul Ride CD-ROM to download by use of the install script. This has not always proven to be the case in actual fact, but when Slingshot Game Technology decided to call our bluff and released the source code to their snowboarding simulation Soul Ride under the GNU General Public License in 2003, the Linux community did indeed rise to the challenge.

Some relief was on the horizon thanks to the work of independent contractors such as Ryan 'icculus' Gordon, but he was far from alone in finding creative ways to bring more games to Linux.Ī common refrain has always been that if developers would just provide access to their source code, then the Linux community would be happy to step in and do the heavy lifting for them. Both Loki Software and even the smaller porting house Tribsoft had closed their doors for good, while new firms such as Linux Game Publishing born out of the turmoil were struggling to find their feet. Continued from Part 36: Entertainment for X Windowsīy the end of 2002 things were starting to look bleak when it came to commercial Linux gaming.

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