[Wolves] Online multiplayer Game

Peter Oliver p.d.oliver at mavit.org.uk
Wed Sep 25 11:51:46 UTC 2013


On Mon, 9 Sep 2013, Adam Sweet wrote:

> Open Source:

* Warsow (plays similarly to Quake III Arena)
* Xonotic (haven't played it but it seems to be well regarded)
* Cube 2: Sauerbraten (someone else mentioned this.  Presentationally it's not as slick as modern games but I think it would be good for a laugh).

> Closed source but free:
>
> * Wolf ET (very good, used to require simple audio hack on Linux, no
> idea if it works with Pulse audio... Lots of good third party maps
> available)

The folk on #lugradio used to play this.  Maybe they still do, for all I know.

As far as I remember, you're right, you have to do some fiddling to get this to work on a modern distribution.  However, the source code for this has now been released, so...

* Enemy Territory: Legacy (Wolf ET plus bug fixes.  Open source.  Haven't tried it, but it seems actively developed)

> Proprietary:
>
> * Quake III Arena (works on Linux but requires CD)

Source code released (installable as "quake3" or "ioquake3" in your favourite distribution).  You still need the CD to actually play.  You can get one cheap from eBay, but we're probably as well playing one of the free clones if everyone doesn't already have a copy.

> * Unreal Tournament (my all-time favourite LAN game, requires CD)

I have fond memories of this, but I dug it out last year in similar circumstances and it hadn't stood the test of time well.  Due to a timing bug, it's basically unplayable on modern hardware.

> Proprietary through Steam:

This is the way to go if people want to play something bang up to date.  Although I don't care for it much myself, Team Fortress 2 is free to play (it's funded through the sale of virtual hats (no, really)), so even people only casually interested could download it and see how it runs on their hardware.

> For the purposes of playing a great game, I don't really care whether
> it's open source or not but I suppose it's better that more people can
> play. The chances are that the old proprietary Quake 3/Unreal Tournament
> engine games will be harder to get working due to audio stack changes
> and the fact that most of us run 64 bit these days.

Yes, with the older games there's a chance that, on the first attempt, you'll spend more time trying to get everything set up, tinkering with firewalls, etc., than you do playing.  OTOH the hardware requirements will be lower, so more people may be able to play.

> As for a night, I was thinking perhaps the non-LUG wednesday, as most
> people will have something arranged for the same nigh each week, with
> the non-LUG Weds being the odd night out.

Seems sensible.  Wednesdays aren't generally that good for me but I'm probably the exception.

-- 
Peter Oliver



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