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[knoppixusr]

Okay, now that i am on holiday and have a little bit of free time, i am searching for a nice game to play.

But!!!! Wait... It's not so easy...

I have some stringent requirements.

Firstly, I use Linux on my laptop.
Secondly, My laptop hardware has no 3d graphics support.

So , that should narrow it down a lot.

A bit about my gaming history... I used to love playing the xcom games from the first one UFO - enemy unknown and right up to xcom Apocalypse. In my opinion the xcom games where the best games i ever played. But unfortunately I have had trouble finding similar games since i finished playing through the xcom series.

I am aware that there is a open source 'rebirth' of a xcom type game called ufo alien invasion . The game has been in development for a couple of years now and requires 3d hardware support to work.
If anyone was a fan of the old xcom games I could recommend this as I have played it. One sad part is that the developers can't make terrain breakable with the current game engine they are using unless they get the right programmer to help them modify the game engine. So unlike the original xcom, if you blow up a house, it won't collapse and also you can create giant craters in the side of mountains with HE.

Other games i have enjoyed playing was Dungeon keeper 1 and 2 and Dark Reign.

Some Linux games i have tried recently:
Freecraft - was fun for a little while, the whole medieval theme is not really what i am looking for.
Glest - The game worked well on my laptop even without 3d support the game AI is also insanely difficult.
but it is also medieval themed. Actually i think the AI is freaking impossible.

So if you think know of a real time strategy game that matches my requirements I would really appreciate if anyone could help me out. Or if you are an old xcom fan, Please feel free to share with everyone what exactly it is about the xcom series that you the enjoyed most.

[rob86]

What about Jagged Alliance 1 or 2? Older games, but I really liked them. Surprised you didn't mention them though, maybe you already tried them. They're called "x-com with personality". I've never tried x-com, I was going to try UFO but it takes so long for me to download anything.

In regards to Glest, it's insanely difficult the first few times but once you "get it", it's simple to win.. nice looking free game, but kind of boring game singleplayer for me. First few games I played I was like, "Wth, this is too hard?" then when my skill increased to defend against their annoying attacks, I attacked and literally all I did was just try to corral all of my units into the enemies base and they obliterated it without even a shred of tactics. Boring!

A game series I really liked, which apparently works on Wine according to some fan forums (but personally I haven't been able to run it ). is Close Combat. I had it running on Wine, the graphics were weird, but apparently this isn't normal. If you like tactical war games, then this is great fun and the system requirements are really low. What I liked about these games is that one, they load quick, they play quick, and they're fun. A typical game lasts about 15 minutes, The AI is challenging, the morale model is realistic, there are lots of mods. I have CC3 and CC5 - CC3 is the Russian Front, and there are lots of open terrain to fight on and winter maps. CC5 is Invasion Normandy, obviously set in Normandy with lots of hedge fighting (i prefer the open terrain and hills of Russia, but some prefer hedges.. ). There's definitely reason to keep your soldiers alive in this game, as they gain experience and resources are limited, which is something I like in strategy games.

The biggest improvement CC5 has over CC3 is a campaign mode. You can choose which areas of the map you want to to fight in. Both are fun and worth having though, if you like the game.

The games is certainly showing it's age graphics wise, but there's nothing else like it. I've looked all over for modern games that could rival the gameplay of Close Combat, and I can't find any. It's a great series.