WIP "OpenFlashpoint"

Here is another post about a project I found in the far ends of the internet ("here be dragons"), but which seems really promising never the less.

But first of all a disclamer by the original creator:

The screenshots you are about to see are not yet an eye candy, they're rather to be seen as a 'proof of concept' with lots of crappy placeholders. Work so far has mainly been done on the internal mechanics of game handling such as object interaction (player can carry gun which again can 'carry' a mag and the like), realistic calculation of trajectories, hit testing etc.

So what am I talking about? A (most likely) open-source Operation Flashpoint type of game running on the Irrlicht engine with the current working title OpenFlashpoint:

All there is so far is a thread on the Irrlich forums (with a few more details and development screenshots) and sadly the main developer seems to be bogged down by "real-life" ATM. But it seems like a worthwhile project to support.

Oh and get this: it is developed primarily for Linux :D

Comprehensive lists of open-source game engines for proprietary games

Recently came across these two very comprehensive lists of open-source game engines for proprietary games edit: and various clones and inspired projects:

• Reddit post
• Open Source Game Clones website

I feel the latter has an a bit misleading title, as none of those are game clones (e.g. similar remakes) and most of those are based on the liberated original source-code also... but well I guess people get what the list is supposed to be about :) (Edit: see comments).

However talking about an actual engine reimplementation project: OpenMW has recently released a new update (0.23.0) with some impressive additions (as usual) and version 0.24.0 is already tested as a RC right now.



Feel free to comment about this release on our forums!

Dead Morning, an open-source horror game

Today I bring you news of yet another rather low profile Darkplaces engine game (e.g. the same engine that runs Xonotic), called Dead Morning:



As you can see in these other, more game-play oriented videos (1, 2, 3), it seems to be quite heavily influenced by another recent 1st person horror game...

The website mentions a fully open-source release at the end of this year, so I am rather intrigued what they will come up by then!

Rhythos RPG Builder Kickstarter

There seem to be not too many Kickstarter projects that promise open-source results (and I have to admit, incentives are lower if you don't get a copy of a cool game at a discounted price ;) ), but the Rhythos RPG builder project looks like one very much worth of support:



The guy behind it (don't miss the slightly goofy video on the kickstarter page ;) ) seems to be quite far along development already, basing the editor on a previous game of his and utilizing the Liberated Pixel Cup graphics.

He is also asking for non-monetary contributions, so check out his newly set-up community website to learn more about how to contribute.

While personally I don't see myself playing such 2D RPGs much, I contributed because it seems like a great platform for young game developers to start out with... and you have to catch them early as they say (no pedobear reference intended :D ).

Play FreeCiv in your browser (HTML5)

FreeCiv is now available as a HTML5 implementation that runs right in your (modern) browser:

Load times are quick too, so give it a try. It even supports multiplayer.

Tip: Moving units is either done via the arrow keys (preferably the number key-pad ones as those allow diagonal movement) or by dragging a red line from the unit to the desired location.

Two times (0.)2.0

(Yes, that is a rather thin common ground to combine these two news in one post ;) ).

Anyways, today there is one for the "FreeGamers", aka those that are looking for more or less playable games:
There is a new release (2.0) of StuntRally, and I guess I can quote Twain here too:

The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated!

Because it looks like development was not only resumed after the earlier announcement of a project hold, but even increased in pace :)

Anyways, here is a great video:


And the other one is for "FreeGameDevs":
And as they say: good things come to those that wait, and things are better late then never... so I am happy to also report about the Octaforge 0.2.0 beta1 release.

This friendly fork of the Cube2 engine, brings an impressive list of new features on the table, and should once it becomes more "production ready" be a strong contender for the easiest to mod FPS engine out there!

OpenXcom takes a giant leap

Main menu

OpenXcom is one of those projects I've been following religiously, not only because I'm a huge fan of the X-COM series, but also because it promised to deliver a fully stable and bug free engine port released under a Free Software license.

The last time I talked about it, it seemed like there was still much work to be done, but apparently things have changed, as the developers suddenly just went from a fairly incomplete version 0.4 to a fully playable and enhanced version 0.9.

In game

This is obviously great news to all X-COM fans. OpenXcom now ensures the game can be ported to practically every modern device or OS you can think of. It also allows improved mod support and further enhancements to gameplay and graphics to be made by the community. Sadly the infamously hard sequel to X-COM, known as Terror from the Deep, is yet to be supported, something that will hopefully change in the upcoming versions of OpenXcom.

You can download OpenXcom v0.9 here.

The engine requires an original copy of X-COM: UFO Defense/UFO: Enemy Unknown in order to run, which can be purchased here.

Finally, if you're interested in modding or downloading mods made specifically for OpenXcom, you should check this page.

Code License: GPLv3

Heroine Dusk, cool in browser retro dungeon crawler

Clint Bellanger, the awesome guy behind the Flare RPG (engine), just landed a surprise hit for the #OneGameaMonth competition(?):

Heroine Dusk

The fully JavaScript (and thus in Browser game) is called Heroine Dusk, and can be played here as a first demo. Game play seems to be heavily influenced by those early 1990ties pseudo 3D dungeon crawlers (similar to the recent indie-game hit "Legend of Grimrock").

Code and art assets are of course fully FOSS!