Hello, open gaming fans! In this week's edition, we take a look at the progress around the 3D graphics and compute API Vulkan, Ubuntu developers improving Nvidia drivers, new games out for Linux, and more.
Open gaming roundup for August 9 - 15, 2015
Khronos Group expanding ecosystem with Vulkan
Khronos, an open consortium of hardware and software companies, is on schedule for implementation and specifications of the new generation Vulkan API. Khronos is also working on catalyzing and driving an in-depth Vulkan ecosystem, reaching out to developers for feedback, on an open source Vulkan conformance test suite. This news was covered by Computer Graphics World.
More news on Vulkan this week, from PowerVR, shows off Vulkan on Android. Also, an interview with the Khronos Group president Neil Trevett, on the new generation of APIs.
Vulkan is a low-overhead, cross-platform 3D graphics and compute API first announced at GDC 2015 by the Khronos Group. Like OpenGL, Vulkan targets high-performance realtime 3D graphics applications such as games and interactive media across all platforms.
Ubuntu looking to simplify installing Nvidia drivers
Gaming On Linux writes about Ubuntu developers looking for a way to simplify getting the latest Nvidia graphic drivers installed on your system. Current options are direct downloads from Nvidia, or random PPAs. The new solution will be around having the latest upstream drivers in the additional drivers manager, which will enable an official PPA. This initiative was triggered by Jorge Castro from Canonical Ltd. Only a day after reporting on this news, Gaming On Linux covered a new PPA and packaging team is is already providing a more official solution.
GOG announces new Linux installer
In a forum post, also covered by Gaming On Linux, www.gog.com announced brand new Linux installers for its games. It redesigned the user experience to be more consistent with the way they install games on Windows and OS X. Gaming On Linux reports that it "lowers a barrier for less knowledgeable gamers."
Pick of the week: A gamer turns to Linux
At Foss Force, Hunter Banks writes about making the switch to open source gaming. His first experience was Doom II, but because of glitches, he turned away from Linux. He writes about the barriers to open source gaming he experienced, but how it is currently on the rise. Rediscovering open source gaming on Linux in 2002, through a game called M.U.G.E.N., he has been made a believer in the future of gaming on open source.
New games out for Linux
Celestian Tales: Old North released
Celestian Tales: Old North, a traditional JRPG style game, has been released on Steam, www.gog.com, and the Humble Store. Linux Gaming News describes it as a game "full of lush hand-painted environments, emotive portraits, memorable characters and a sprawling engaging moralistic storyline."
Spider: Rite of the Shrouded Moon on Steam
Tiger Style, who already had an award winning title Waking Mars, announced Spider: Rite of the Shrouded Moon, available on Steam.
You are a spider. Craft webs of your own design to trap insects and leave the mysterious Blackbird Estate covered in cobwebs. This unique blend of action-puzzle gameplay takes you on a dark adventure through an abandoned mansion built by a secret society.
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