Loki software

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Loki Software, Inc.

logo
legal form Corporation
founding 1998
resolution 2002
Reason for dissolution insolvency
Seat Tustin , United States
management Scott Draeker (Founder)
Number of employees approx. 10 (2002)
Branch Software development
Website www.lokigames.com

The Loki Software, Inc. was an American software company that is known for porting computer games to Linux was specialized. In the four years of its existence, Loki became the largest commercial game provider in the Linux market and, thanks to the software tools developed for it, was a pioneer in cross-platform software development.

history

Loki Software was founded in August 1998 by Scott Draeker.

In addition to the publication of game porters , Loki developed various free utility programs such as the Loki_Installer or Loki_Setup , which were used beyond the company's existence. From 1999 the company had, among other things, a distribution agreement with the German Linux distribution provider SUSE Linux GmbH , which also sold Loki games in German retail outlets.

The company also made contributions to open source projects in the field of Linux-based and cross-operating system computer game development. Loki's chief programmer Sam Lantinga developed the Simple DirectMedia Layer (SDL), which served as the basis for many Loki ports (including Civilization: Call to Power , Descent 3 , Unreal Tournament , Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri ). The idea for OpenAL , a platform-independent programming interface for generating three-dimensional sound effects and surround sound , also came from Loki Software in 1998. To spread the standard, Loki entered into a strategic partnership with Creative Labs in 1999 , which at the time was the leading provider of sound cards for Windows operating systems. In February 2000 Loki registered OpenAL as a brand name . After the closure of Loki, the development of the programming interface was continued by Creative. GtkRadiant was created in cooperation with id Software , a map editor originally developed for the Quake 3 engine , which was later further developed and adapted as a tool for other projects. Loki also contributed to the GNU Compiler Collection (gcc), Mesa 3D and SMPEG .

2001 Loki Software published together with John Reeves Hall the book Programming Linux Games , a tutorial on the Simple DirectMedia Layer.

Loki bankruptcy

In 2002 the company had to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and ceased operations. Other games, e.g. B. the much-praised Deus Ex , which was still in development and partially completed until shortly before the bankruptcy, were no longer published. With the closure, the market for commercial Linux games was thrown back. In the years that followed, no company managed to assume a position similar to Loki.

As a reaction to the threatened closure of the company in 2001, Michael Simms founded Linux Game Publishing in Nottingham , which continues to port commercial computer games to Linux today. The development of GtkRadiant was continued by id Software, under the leadership of Timothee Besset. Support for the Linux version of Quake 3 was also taken over by the development studio in Austin. After the closure, support for other Loki games and development tools was partly continued privately by ex-employee Ryan C. Gordon .

Reception and influence

In the only three years of its existence, Loki became the largest commercial game provider in the Linux market, Loki's product releases fueled the expectation that Linux could establish itself as a permanent alternative to the Windows operating system. Loki was an important pioneer in cross-platform software development on the PC thanks to the software tools developed for this (or co-developed) (SDL, OpenAL, Loki_Installer etc.) .

The SDL library founded by Loki is being actively developed (as of October 2013) and used by many commercial and non-commercial software projects. In 2012, the MobyGames game database listed 105 games, the SDL website itself listed almost 700 games that use the SDL.

Game porting

Loki ported around 20 game titles, often based on the Simple DirectMedia Layer. The programs were partially revised by Loki compared to the first publication (e.g. Myth 2 ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Loki's Draeker: If I had to do it over, I'd create Linux native games ( Memento from February 2, 2002 in the Internet Archive ) NewsForge, January 24, 2002 (English)
  2. ^ Dennis E. Powell: Loki: A promising plan gone terribly wrong ( English ) linuxandmain.com. April 9, 2002. Archived from the original on February 10, 2003. Retrieved January 14, 2011.
  3. ↑ Loki Retrospective: The Major Linux Porting House Files for Bankruptcy ( Memento from August 20, 2001 in the Internet Archive ) LinuxGames , August 13, 2001
  4. ↑ Dietmar Müller: Suse brings Loki games for Linux. In: zdnet.de. May 17, 1999, accessed December 29, 2014 .
  5. ↑ a b c PJ Cabrera, Peter Bakhirev, Ian Marsh, Ben Smith, Eric Wing, Scott Penberthy: Beginning iPhone Games Development ( English ) apress. 2010. Retrieved October 25, 2013.
  6. ↑ OPENAL - By: Loki Software, Inc. Trademarkia.com, February 14, 2000, accessed October 17, 2013 .
  7. ^ Mike McCune: Integrating Linux and Windows. Prentice Hall Professional, 2001, ISBN 978-0-13-030670-8 , p. 81. Limited preview in Google Book Search
  8. ^ John R. Hall: Programming Linux Games , No Starch, ISBN 1-886411-49-2 , first book dealing with the SDL. Also contains information about programming in Linux in general and network programming , online version: PDF ( Memento from January 22, 2003 in the Internet Archive ), LaTeX sources ( Memento from February 14, 2003 in the Internet Archive ).
  9. ↑ Christopher Negus: Linux Bible 2010 Edition. John Wiley & Sons, 2010, ISBN 978-0-470-63382-3 , p. 171. Limited preview in Google Book search
  10. ↑ http://www.linuxgames.com/?dataloc=articles/ttimo/ ( Memento from September 24, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
  11. ↑ Quake 3 Arena takes Linux by force - Linux. In: sys-con.com. Retrieved December 29, 2014 .
  12. ↑ Linux Raising: Linux Games Come of Age ( Memento June 9, 2001 in the Internet Archive ) GameSpot
  13. ↑ Jürgen Schmidt, Peter Siering: Outlook on the near future of Linux - c't. In: heise.de. January 15, 2000, accessed December 29, 2014 .
  14. ↑ Middleware: SDL Group Description ( English ) MobyGames . May 18, 2012. Retrieved May 18, 2012: “ Games that use the very portable Simple DirectMedia Layer. "
  15. ↑ Games ( English ) libsdl.org. May 18, 2012. Archived from the original on June 29, 2010. Retrieved on May 18, 2012.
  16. ↑ Christopher Negus: Linux Bible 2010 Edition. John Wiley & Sons, 2010, ISBN 978-0-470-63382-3 , p. 177. Restricted preview in Google Book Search
  17. ↑ a b Emmett Plant: Loki: In The Trenches ( English ) linux.com. October 9, 2000. Retrieved February 5, 2011.