Alien Arena 2009 Brings New Gaming Improvements

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Alien Arena 2009 Brings New Gaming Improvements

Back in October we reported on the release of Alien Arena 2008, which brought several graphical improvements, such as GLSL enhancements, parallax mapping, and new shaders. The developers behind Alien Arena and its Quake 2 derived engine had not stopped there, but they immediately began work on Alien Arena 2009. Now just a mere six months later, we have Alien Arena 2009 and it brings more graphics improvements along with many other technical improvements and new game content.

http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=13983

[[Knuckles]]

What's up with the blue/yellow/etc bars along the right side of the screenshots?

[Irritant]

I think it's his desktop background, looks like the screen size being set less than 100% is allowing some bleed through.

That option probably should have been removed, just an oversight.

[Mr_Alien_Overlord]

Looks good!

Just wish they'd open source the art assets, too. Still, getting the code is better than nothing, although I do wonder if they would have given us that if they hadn't been forced by ID's original code being GPL.

[korpenkraxar]

Looks very nice indeed! I really think they should replace those ugly aliens with some more charismatic character though... but maybe that's just me.

[Melcar]

Looks very nice indeed! I really think they should replace those ugly aliens with some more charismatic character though... but maybe that's just me.


It's Alien Arena man. It wouldn't be that with no aliens. I personally like that 50's retro future vibe and I hope they develop the theme further in latter installments. Fallout (the original, not the horrible Bethesda sequel) could be an inspiration ;). I like that some of the bots are named after old school Godzilla monsters :D .

[Irritant]

It's Alien Arena man. It wouldn't be that with no aliens. I personally like that 50's retro future vibe and I hope they develop the theme further in latter installments. Fallout (the original, not the horrible Bethesda sequel) could be an inspiration ;). I like that some of the bots are named after old school Godzilla monsters :D .

You're really going to like the new level I'm working on then. It's creepy...and very retro-alien-sci-fi-ish.

[Dragonlord]

It's Alien Arena man. It wouldn't be that with no aliens. I personally like that 50's retro future vibe and I hope they develop the theme further in latter installments. Fallout (the original, not the horrible Bethesda sequel) could be an inspiration ;). I like that some of the bots are named after old school Godzilla monsters :D .
Really? Gojira names? Like which?

[xav1r]

Really? Gojira names? Like which?

E.T. :) :)

[Irritant]

Really? Gojira names? Like which?

Hedorah, Mothra, Mogera, Ghidorah, Destoroyah...plus Gamara :)

[FunkyRider]

When talking about a game,

if you don't talk about: how good it looks, how well it plays, how great it sounds, how fun it is

but instead talk about: what version of OpenGL / OpenAL does it use, is it x64 compatible, is there source code packed with it

YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG!

That's why no one in the real world (tm) is playing this thing

[deanjo]

When talking about a game,

if you don't talk about: how good it looks, how well it plays, how great it sounds, how fun it is

but instead talk about: what version of OpenGL / OpenAL does it use, is it x64 compatible, is there source code packed with it

YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG!

That's why no one in the real world (tm) is playing this thing

While that maybe true for Joe Blow Public running windows that is certainly not the average Phoronix reader who does have more of a "what makes it tick" way of looking at things.

[Dragonlord]

Hedorah, Mothra, Mogera, Ghidorah, Destoroyah...plus Gamara :)
Nice cast. Playing as an alien called Gidora, now that sounds like fun :D

[Mr_Alien_Overlord]

When talking about a game,

if you don't talk about: how good it looks, how well it plays, how great it sounds, how fun it is

but instead talk about: what version of OpenGL / OpenAL does it use, is it x64 compatible, is there source code packed with it

YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG!

That's why no one in the real world (tm) is playing this thing

+1 Aye. Said as a reader of Phoronix Forums. I like to have the tech info available to me, but only *after* hearing about why its fun, great looking and sounding.

[Melcar]

All those things are very subjective to individual preference (better to try out the game yourself). Besides, Phoronix is mostly a hardware review site, not a game review site. Having a detailed list of engine updates and features and gameplay advances falls more in line with the site rather than "how fun it is". I would rather see a site like linux-gamers.net do the gameplay review.

[Mr_Alien_Overlord]

How about "what might make this game fun". For example, 12 large scale levels with twice the detail of previous levels, heavily playtested with 5 new types of enemies and a score by a respected game music composer suggest a better likely hood of fun far more than 64 bit availability and per-pixel shading.

[Melcar]

The technical capabilities of the game would be of more interest to a Phoronix regular.

[Mr_Alien_Overlord]

Maybe. But then I'm a Phoronix regular reader and that's not true for me.

[L33F3R]

well that's all fine and dandy. Not everyone has the same opinions :). This is a good thing.

but what should be heavily noted is the respect towards the willing. This is a truly free game that has had many man hours put into it. We take the game and give nothing back in return.

The least that could be asked is to show respect to the developers for doing something when most of us sit on our asses and browse a porn tube. If nothing else a handshake and a pat on the back must be given (before, not after browsing a porn tube) regardless of if you like the game or not. ;)

Good job team. you get an AA++ :D

[Mr_Alien_Overlord]

Aye. All GPL code is code to be thankful for. And it does look nice, especially the effects and flying around in ships stuff.

Thanks Icculus!

[soros]

I tried this game just a few weeks ago and didn't like it at all. Getting hit once and dieing ? That takes away a lot of the fun. Just run around shooting and hope ya hit someone.

[Dragonlord]

It's based on a quake engine... and they are famous for rail-gun-insta-gibs... and stupidly high play speed :P

[Irritant]

I tried this game just a few weeks ago and didn't like it at all. Getting hit once and dieing ? That takes away a lot of the fun. Just run around shooting and hope ya hit someone.

Sounds like you joined an "instagib" server. That's the only time you'd get hit once and die in the game if you have full health, unless you took a direct hit from a vaporizer(which doesn't happen often, it's not easy to do).

[soros]

I tried playing it again today on various servers.. it's just very annoying, IMHO. People jumping around at lightspeed, nearly impossible to shoot. I got fragged 50 or 60 times before I was able to score a kill (and probably by accident.)

Maybe for the very advanced gamer that is able to see 12 steps ahead and play with 3 hands... it's probably a lot of fun for them but I'm a casual gamer and it just irritates me.

[Melcar]

The game is not that fast. Certainly not Nexuiz or Warsow fast.

[deanjo]

and probably by accident.)

Probably a bug :p

[Irritant]

I tried playing it again today on various servers.. it's just very annoying, IMHO. People jumping around at lightspeed, nearly impossible to shoot. I got fragged 50 or 60 times before I was able to score a kill (and probably by accident.)

Maybe for the very advanced gamer that is able to see 12 steps ahead and play with 3 hands... it's probably a lot of fun for them but I'm a casual gamer and it just irritates me.

Sounds like deathmatch probably isn't your thing(I don't mean that in an offensive way). It's not for everyone's tastes, and there is often a bit of a learning curve to aquire the skills needed to compete with the players that have been around for awhile. However, you could also play offline against bots to hone those skills so that when you do get on a public server you don't feel overwhelmed.

[Dragonlord]

Main problem is also cheating. In open games this is a lot harder to control than in closed ones... and you don't want to know how main aimbotters and speed hackers are around on public servers even in closed AAA titles ( besides the large number of fucking micro abusing morons or grievers ).

[Melcar]

Cheaters or not, I can still burn them to a crisp with my flamethrower :). The game is fun. If you don't like that game style then get something else.

[Dragonlord]

The most hilarious thing is if you win ( score wise ) against an aimbotter even though he uses an aimbot. Usually doesn't happen but I managed to pull that one of too from time to time. Just requires playing in a way the aimbot doesn't help you much :D

[Irritant]

I remember playing Q3 alot with aimbotters, and still getting the best of them :)

AFAIK, there have been no reported instances of aimbotters in AA, though the occasional speed hacker shows up.

[L33F3R]

Main problem is also cheating. In open games this is a lot harder to control than in closed ones... and you don't want to know how main aimbotters and speed hackers are around on public servers even in closed AAA titles ( besides the large number of fucking micro abusing morons or grievers ).

Online gaming is growing but gets more intoxicated by the day. The players are getting younger and younger while the average IQ drops equally. I put the controller down due to children and assholes and now it seems my keyboard is fast approaching the same fate. :(

[Dragonlord]

The most important thing are vote-kicks. This way an Admin doesn't have to look after all played matches. If enough people vote to kick somebody this has the same effect as an Admin issuing a kick. Allows players to regulate the matches themselves. Obviously needs a majority of people voting for a kick but that's usually the case if somebody really annoys the fuck out of everybody.

[curaga]

@Dragonlord: or it allows a few pissed-off players to kick a legitimate player they don't like..

[Dragonlord]

Nope, as I said, you need a qualified majority ( meaning 66% of votes or 75% of votes ). So if you have already 10 people playing it needs 6 or 7 yes votes to trigger a kick.