Loki | Loki in the News

Loki Software, Inc.

May 1999 News

5.31.99 The #1 question we get these days is 'when will Civ:CTP for Linux be in stores' -- brick and mortar stores of course.

Back in January, we saw a lot of skepticism that a) we would do the Linux port at all, and b) that a Linux game would ever be sold in traditional brick and mortar software stores. Since then the Linux version has been released and the retail question has changed from 'if' to 'how much longer'?! In retrospect, this is a nice problem to have.

We know you are waiting patiently. That's why we went to the replicator every day until the boxes were done and loaded on the trucks, hand packed boxes ourselves, spent the money for expedited shipping and are hounding our distributor every day until it's on retail shelves.

Just so you know, there are a number of reasons why it has taken as long as it has. After all, it's hard being the first. But with the support we've had from Civ:CTP and the excellent titles we have in the pipeline (announced and unannounced), future retail distribution will be much faster.

So, when will it be out? I've been told still another week at least, and first thing tomorrow morning (when the holiday is over), I'll be on the phone again trying to make it happen as soon as possible. It won't be long before we can all go to software stores and hang out in the Linux section. In the meantime, your patience and understanding is greatly appreciated.

Scott Draeker, President
Loki Entertainment Software

5.26.99 We're back from Linux Expo and keeping busy. We're testing the 1.1 update to Civ:CTP and plan to release it soon. We're testing the PPC version of Civ:CTP too. We've also been up late playing the Linux version of Myth II, and must say its great fun.

5.17.99 We are thrilled to announce that we are now porting three more leading games to Linux: Myth II: Soulblighter by Bungie Software , Railroad Tycoon II bundled with the new expansion pack, Railroad Tycoon II: The Second Century by PopTop Software, and Eric's Ultimate Solitaire by Delta Tao Software! Click here to see the full press release.

5.15.99 Our first release, the Linux port of Civilization: Call to Power, is shipping!

With the release come the requests for technical support. Please see our page for information on how to receive technical assistance. We are also developing a Technical Support FAQ to supplement the General Product FAQ.

We are still working with Activision to complete the first patch (1.1) for the Windows and Linux games. We are also working on the PowerPC and Alpha binaries. We will post the patches and updates to our support page as soon as they are ready.

5.13.99 SuSE issued the following to their customers today:

"We would like to announce that SuSE starts reselling top-selling Linux games in Europe created by Loki Entertainment Software. The agreement covers all European countries, including retail distribution in Germany through one of the largest computer outlets in the country. Civilization: Call to Power, the first game Loki is porting to Linux, will be released within the next two weeks. SuSE will resell Loki gamesboth through retailers and direct to Linux users in western and eastern Europe.

The first big European retailer to pre-order Civilization: Call to Power through SuSE is Media Markt, a German retailer with 30 percent market share, according to Roland Dyroff, chief executive officer of SuSE GmbH. Lots of other retail outlets that will sell the game in Europe can be found at http://www.suse.de/reseller/index.html. The European distribution agreement is effective immediately with Civilization: Call to Power as its first product, according to Scott Draeker, Loki president and founder. The title originally was published for the PC platform by Activision in April 1999.

Civilization: Call to Power can be ordered _NOW_ directly from SuSE in Germany at a price of EUR 49 (Order Code 22001)!"

5.12.99 Loki is pleased to announce a new open source project: the SDL MPEG Player Library (SMPEG).

SMPEG is based on UC Berkeley's mpeg_play software only MPEG and decoder and SPLAY, an mpeg audio decoder created by Woo-jae Jung. We have completed the initial work to wed these two projects in order to create a general purpose MPEG video/audio player for the Linux OS. Based on our initial work, SMPEG is able to playback MPEG video with sound on Pentium II based systems. SMPEG does not achieve adequate performance on slower systems.

SMPEG is offered under the Gnu Library Public License (LGPL). In addition to the terms and conditions of the LGPL, we require that SMPEG only be distributed with the following legend in the documentation: "This product includes code from the Berkeley MPEG1 Software-only Video Decoder."

We hope that by making this tool available to the open source community that others will be able to use it for their own products, and that this tool can be expanded and enhanced for everyone's benefit.

5.11.99 We have a volunteer to moderate the UGO Networks board. Thank you, Coloumb! Look for the UGO site to be updated soon.

5.6.99 We know some of our customers are very eager to receive the game -- we read NaTaS's Civ:CTP for Linux Message Board and Slashdot's thread on the Civ:CTP for Linux Preview. We need to clarify that we are shipping the English version this week to all pre-orders. Next week we begin shipping the English version in mass quantities to the retail stores. The French and German versions will be next, followed in a few weeks by the Italian and Spanish. Apologies for any inconvenience (or rabidity) this may cause. If you would like to change your existing pre-order, please feel welcome to email sales@lokigames.com.

5.5.99 UGO Networks Inc. has agreed to soon set up a Linux games discussion forum. Are you interested in being the moderator? Email us today at support@lokigames.com.

5.4.99 This week we will begin shipping our first product, the Linux port of Civilization: Call to Power. The product is opening to great reviews -- see the story in 32 Bits Online Magazine.

Contrary to our earlier news flash, we will be shipping version 1.0. Customers can download next week a patch for 1.1. This patch will fix bugs, provide some UI enhancements and provide network compatibility between the Linux and Windows versions. We apologize for any confusion, and hope you'll appreciate receiving the 1.0 product now, rather than waiting another few weeks for version 1.1 to be mass-produced.

Loki Software, Inc.

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