Pre-order a game, and it'll be ported to Linux

[Vadi]

Looky (click (http://gaming.gwos.org)), first entry.

Just the chance us linux people are looking for ;)

[hikaricore]

For the time being I'd appreciate it if you used the following address instead:

http://gaming.gwos.org

We are still in a debate over the other name which was purchased and forwarded by a third party.

[Druke]

am I the only one that hasn't been able to get to that site all day?

[Officer Dibble]

Link seems to be struggling... not going anywhere... :(

[idkwot]

i havent been able to get to it either, what is going on! >.<

[hikaricore]

CK is probably shifting the servers again.
I was able to connect earlier. It will be fixed soon likely. ^_^

Sorry for the inconvenience folks.

[American_Outcast]

I can't get there either.

[Druke]

CK is probably shifting the servers again.
I was able to connect earlier. It will be fixed soon likely. ^_^

Sorry for the inconvenience folks.

just glad your still there :KS

[Naegling23]

Im at work and any sites with the title "gaming" in them are blocked.

Can someone please summerize the game, and what the story is?

[derekr44]

Im at work and any sites with the title "gaming" in them are blocked.

Can someone please summerize the game, and what the story is?

That's not a good sign. :( That means the site made it on a blacklist. My company will surely follow.

[Vadi]

Um, sorry for all the confusion. I just noticed the game, it looks like a fun one, and they said that if 250 people pre-order it, they'll port it to Linux.

I believe the game is titled "Ankh: Heart of Osiris". I can't find the official website, I did find out that it's powered by Ogre though (click (http://www.ogre3d.org/index.php?set_albumName=album45&option=com_gallery&Itemid=55&include=view_album.php)).

Oh, and here's a link with the pre-order info! (click (http://www.linuxgames.com/news/feedback.php?identiferID=9669&action=flatview))

Sadly the game says it needs a radeon 8xxx, while mine is a 7500 :(. I'm torn whenever I should give it a try because of that.

Edit: If you aren't too strong in German, click here (click (http://www.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fixsoft.de%2Fcgi-bin%2Fweb_store.cgi%3Fref%3DProducts%2Fde%2FRSANKH 02DV.html&langpair=de%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF8)) for the google translation.

[Eddie Wilson]

Good Day,
Well I'm at work and the gaming site was blocked by WebSense. But I was able to click the link for the German translation. That way was I was able to look at something because it went through Google.
Eddie

[Artificial Intelligence]

Looky (click (http://gaming.gwos.org)), first entry.

Just the chance us linux people are looking for ;)

The upgrade is done, and up and running.

[Vadi]

Excellent!

But see if you can warn us before the upgrades beforehand, eh? ;)

[KIAaze]

It doesn't seem possible to pay through the standard paypal/credit card method.
How do you pre-order if you don't have a german bank account? (because apparently it's not possible to pay by bank account number for foreigners)
By check?

Im at work and any sites with the title "gaming" in them are blocked.

Can someone please summerize the game, and what the story is?

Unfortunately, I'm currently on an old slow PC that has problems rendering the heavy official site of the game, so I couldn't copy/paste the potential official story.

Here's a full review however from: http://www.gamerankings.com/itemrankings/launchreview.asp?reviewid=811077

Ankh: Heart of Osiris

Developer: Deck 13
Publisher: Xider Games
Year Released: 2007

Review by Steve Ramsey (October, 2007)

Ankh: Heart of Osiris Screenshot As Nancy Drew well knows, when you're on a good thing there is no reason to change it, and if the original Ankh gave you what you wanted, then you will be well pleased here.

Ankh: Heart of Osiris kicks off shortly after the events in the first game (Reverse the Curse) and Assil has lost his ankh. Needless to say it wasn't lost, but gone is gone however it went, and with Gods and Pharaohs and all manner of minions thrown in, getting it back is not going to be simple.

Help will be needed and Thara will be there, as a playable character in her own right, and in combination with Assil late in the game. The need to get the two characters to interact in order to solve conundrums was less than in the first game, but probably the high point for me, although there were plenty of entertaining solo moments along the way. Pharaoh is added as a third playable character in some portions, adding to the variety if not the approach.

It isn't necessary to have played the first game, but there are plenty of references in Ankh: Heart of Osiris to what went before, and their appreciation will undoubtedly be increased with familiarity. I in fact played them the wrong way round, which was another way of looking at things entirely.

Voice acting is a strength, and the earlier reference to Nancy Drew is relevant here also, as it's Nancy who voices Thara. Strong heroines suit Ms Minella, the actor concerned, and sassy doesn't hurt either. She is perfect as Thara, and the ensemble cast are admirable backups.

So too the sounds and musical accompaniment are well done, with lots of silent interludes, and I don't recall annoying musical loops playing over and over.

Drinks anyone?
Ankh: Heart of Osiris Screenshot The puzzles in Ankh: Heart of Osiris are primarily inventory based, and on the whole I thought they were rather intuitive. There was the odd occasion where I tried most everything in every spot, irrespective of whether it made sense, but only once did I think a solution was a bit dodgy. Being held up tended to be a result of not having found the correct item or, more usually, not having found the hotspot. So too I might not have had the right conversation to trigger a way forward. So too-ing and fro-ing and going over things again, which is common in such games, is certainly a requirement here.

A nice touch is the cocktail wheel that comes with the game. I always like stuff with my games, and in those days before graphics, stuff was pretty much all there was. It's not a great puzzle, but I didn't care. A better puzzle was the one in the bar where you have to make numerous people happy in order to move on. However one person's happiness is another's annoyance, and juggling the results of various actions was different from most of the puzzling fare. Plus great big disembodied smiley faces kept track of how you were faring with each character.

Ankh: Heart of Osiris is a humorous game, not laugh out loud funny, and perhaps it tries a little hard at times, but good for a chuckle or a smirk now and then. It is indeed a cartoon — light and breezy, colourful to look at, stereotypical at times, irreverent occasionally. The best bit is completely irreverent and I did in fact laugh out loud, so I take that bit back. It involves a bush in the desert, so enough said.

It plays just like the first game, and is reasonably straightforward in any event. Most things are done with the mouse, left click for moving around, right click for most everything else. Tab brings up your current objectives, should you need them. You can examine items, always a wise move, and pull them apart in your inventory, and perhaps build something else entirely.

Say that again?
Ankh: Heart of Osiris Screenshot Given you need to have certain conversations in Heart of Osiris in order to move some things forward, it was a pain to have conversations finish despite there being other topics still available. You could simply start again, but it was an annoying tendency.

I had some graphic glitches, with inventory items appearing as unrecognisable blobs, and characters walking through shut doors, and there is a sharpness lacking with respect to the detail. Some of the sound also seemed to have been recorded at different levels on occasion, but they were small things on the whole that didn't really detract from my enjoyment. Short loads are required at times.

You can play with subtitles and fiddle with some settings, including things like whether to hide the inventory or have it sit permanently at the top of the screen. It's a big one (the inventory not the screen) but using something successfully usually removes it from the inventory, and it empties itself at certain points during the game. I doubt I had many more than 8 or 9 things at a time, although in the kitchen there are plenty of items to be had if you insist on gathering everything.

It's a reasonable length, and provided a good few days of entertainment. I doubt that Ankh: Heart of Osisris will prove to be a classic, but it's a solid bit of fun that promises more to come.

Quandary rating: 3.5/5

Copyright © Steve Ramsey 2007. All rights reserved.

System Requirements:
Windows 2000/XP/Vista, 1.5GHz processor (2 GHz recommended), 256 MB RAM (512 MB recommended), Graphics card with 64 MB RAM (128 MB recommended), DirectX 9.0c

[Vadi]

I have no idea, I decided not to get it because my card only has 32MB.

[Subban]

Well I couldn't pre-order it directly but have sent an email to ixsoft registering my interest and requesting I be counted as a pre-order.

Hopefully that will be sufficient and I can buy it.

[duglambier]

I have pre-ordered it.
Unfortunately it seems to don't be enough.

What a shame ! I thought we were a lot of gamers but I see we prefere buying Windows games anyway !

[Vadi]

Hm, what's the news on it?

[duglambier]

So far, RuneSoft expect a much higher pre-order number.

The project is still under way as far as I know, but the port of Ankh 2 may not be official

[duglambier]

Just a little info : we can now order it from TuxGames :
http://www.tuxgames.com/details.cgi?&gameref=146

Interesting for Euro Land : $42 = 28,7 € !

[duglambier]

Confirmation of the operation from Thomas Steiding, CEO of Rune Soft :



Hallo Linuxspielegemeinde!
Nachdem wir die Arbeiten an der Macversion von "Ankh II: Herz des Osiris" weitgehend abgeschlossen haben, könnten wir uns nun der Fertigstellung einer möglichen Linuxversion widmen. Wie unser Partner IXsoft bereits vor einigen Wochen angekündigt hat, würden für die Realisierung einer Linuxversion eine Mindestbestellmenge von 250 Einheiten benötigt. Ankh II für Linux würde in einer bilingualen (englisch/deutsch) Vollversion ausgeliefert werden. Die vorraussichtlichen Systemanforderungen der Linuxversion werden sein:
Linux kernel 2.4 oder 2.6
1,2 GHZ CPU - 512 MB RAM
System basierend auf libstdc+.so.6, SDL-1.2, alsa oder OSS
NVIDIA oder ATI Grafikkarte mit 64 MB oder mehr Grafikspeicher & Hardware beschleunigte 3D Treiber

Wir würden uns freuen, wenn wir Ankh II und künftig auch weitere Titel für die Linuxplattform realisieren könnten.
Viele Grüsse
Thomas Steiding


102 pre-orders so far on IxSoft


According to this statement, if the Ankh 2 operation succeed, we will get more games on Linux

[duglambier]

Apparently, a beta-testing campaign is going up :



An English-language demo version of "Ankh II: Heart of Osiris" for Linux is as good as finished. Before publication, we are looking for some Linux testers, time and desire, the demo stage, or other appropriate feedback and we paid. If you are interested, please contact us through our website (www.rune-soft.com), and send us a few details on his Linux system (distribution, hardware). Thank you.

[Vadi]

Yeah, unfortunately this Linuxspielegemeindens graphics card is only 32mb. So I doubt I'd be able to run the game :(

I'll try and apply for the demo - if the game works, then I'll definitely get it :)

[Lostincyberspace]

As of to day they said they are doing it. Link here (http://www.linuxgames.com/news/feedback.php?identiferID=9669&action=flatview)

[duglambier]

Ankh 2 is now available

[Vadi]

That's great news!

[duglambier]

Jack Keane is now available for pre-order on IxSoft. I hope Tuxgames and others will be updated

[KIAaze]

Thanks for the info. I never heard of that game before.
Seems funny. :)
But I'll have to wait till I get a new PC, just as with Ankh... :/

More info:
Official site: http://www.jackkeane.com/index.php?id=7&L=2
System requirements: http://games.gamepressure.com/game_info.asp?ID=7437
Trailers on Youtube:
-English: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OC5Me6K7hKI&feature=related
-German: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szFCUxlxVrY
-Spanish: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePqclEd1is0&feature=related
French trailer available from official site: http://www.jack-keane.com/index.php?id=3&L=2

[Artificial Intelligence]

Jack Keane is now available for pre-order on IxSoft. I hope Tuxgames and others will be updated

I think they'll see again how many pre-order they get before porting it. Maybe make a new Preorder thread for it - if anyone is up for it.

I couldn't find anything on a linux port (not even on runesoft), other than it's available on ixsoft.

[duglambier]

Why not ask IxSoft and Tuxgames to carry on with other Rune Soft titles ?