Thursday, May 25, 2006

Free Gamer FAQ

A list of commonly asked questions about the website and Free games in general.

What is Free Gamer about?

Free Gamer is a commentary and compendium on Free Software games. By "commentary and compendium", I mean blog and list (plus articles and interviews) only the I prefer the fancier words. Also the term open source these days is synonymous with Free Software and better known, so you will see it more frequently used on the website. Of course there are those who will argue semantics over the terms open source and Free Software but the principle is the same; public collaboration and the ability for players to improve - or even rescue - the games they play.

What exactly is a Free game?

A Free game (emphasis on the capital 'F') is a Free Software game. Free Software (often incorrectly confused with the term open source) is software whose source code and media are made available under a license permitting modification and redistribution. It is better explained by the experts.

I know a game you don't list

If you are sure the game is good enough and it is not listed then please get in touch. If the game is good enough then I'll talk about or list it - although I won't list everything. If you want the latest greatest ascii tic-tac-toe then you are in the wrong place - visit a site like the Linux Game Tome if you want a more exhaustive list. I try to focus only on games worth looking out for.

Do you list games for Windows?

I tend to run Linux at home and Linux seems to be more adopted among Free game development circles that I'm watching. However I will happily support good Free Software games for Windows so please get in touch if you see any I haven't already listed. It's not the platform that interests me but the community effort to create a game.

The beauty of Free Software is that it can be ported. By increasing awareness of a title it increases the chances of it being supported on multiple platforms.

Where are the freeware, shareware, and commercial titles?

I list a few notable freeware titles inconspicuously in their own mini-list. Shareware is not free enough to be in my listings although I may blog about the occasional exception shareware title. Commercial games embody the exact opposite philosophy to Free Software, so are completely avoided.

What about commercial game demos? They are free!

Movie trailers are free, but would you want a site dedicated to movie trailers? Maybe you would - Lord knows what your sordid perversions are! Demos are, to me, the same as shareware and commercial titles - not the content of this website.

How can I help the Free Software games community?

There are plenty of ways to help out. You can partake in the evolving Free gaming community in the Free Gamer forums. Or you can directly help this site by contributing game reviews. The best place to ask or discuss any potential contribution [to the site, community, creating a game, etc] is the forums so I recommend you start there.

I have another question or wish to contact Free Gamer...

Please email me - the email address is listed on every page as a link in the sidebar, along with all the other useful links for the Free Gamer site.

Can I give money to you?

Yes you can, even though I'd rather if you to donated to open source game projects you like.

Thanks for reading!

Posted by Charlie at 12:00 AM
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