issue-20-ubuntu-games

GAME NEWS

• X3: Reunion (below) has gone Gold! The space-age game will be shipping for Linux on 28th November 2008.

• American Army 2.5 is now out. It now makes it easier for Linux users to install the game.

• Steam coming to Linux! Valve has announced that Steam will be coming to Linux soon. It also has been discovered that the latest game from Valve, Left 4 Dead, has Linux code written into it!

The soccer season is in full swing in England, with Liverpool riding high. So, this month I have decided to review an open-source soccer management game. BYGFoot is a well developed management game which features 1000s of players from all around the world. You can manage teams in 25 countries, as well as lead your nation to victory in the World Cup.

BYGFoot is like any other soccer management game: choose your team, select the best players and lead them to glory. The game has all the basic features to manage your team. You select your team and formation; however, it can be hard to move your players around. You choose your formation by typing in a 3 digit number that adds up to 10 (442, 443, 119). Transfers and loaning players is standard. Choosing the right offer and offering the right contract is done well. Managing finances is done very well, however it is hard to keep in the green after buying a player in your first year.

BYGFoot also has some unique features that I have not seen in other management games. You can decide how big your stadium is and how secure it is and save memorable matches. However, it is still lacking in features, which often can be seen during a match. It also doesn't have real player names, but you cannot complain too much about this, since the project will need licenses. However, you can rename the players if you wanted to.

When match day comes, you have your best team ready and your tactics perfect. The letdown is that during a match, you get a basic text commentary and basic stats, but it's hard to get a real understanding of how your players are performing. There is not enough information to understand what tactics to switch to, if you're losing 2-0 at half time. Usually, I would sub two players if their fitness was low, for example.

BYGFoot is an excellent attempt to bring a soccer management game to Linux, and for the most part, it delivers. It has features that allow a manager to choose his or her team and lead them to success. However, it lacks in a few advanced features, such as player licenses and information during matches. It still offers an excellent soccer management experience on Linux. This is definitely a game that any soccer fan needs to check out. Version 2.0.1 can be found in the Ubuntu repositories.

Ed Hewitt, aka chewit (when playing games), is a keen PC gamer and sometimes enjoys console gaming. He is also on the development team for the Gfire project (Xfire Plugin for Pidgin)