A Battle For Good Open-Source Game Graphics?

[Craig73]

all these good engines. But they all FPS . this isn't a bad thing but I haven't played a realistic racing game on linux without wine.

SuperTuxCart ;-)

[L33F3R]

good lord son i just seen a penguin and an octopus driving down the road in carts!

unfortunately thats the good world we cant live in

well...sober....

[deanjo]

[Pedantic ass-hole] Anyway am I the only one who thinks it's odd that the viper has contrails forming on its wing/fin tips in space? I mean that requires air and water typically not found in the middle of space... [/Pedantic ass-hole]

Vipers are like Harley Davidsons, they leak fluids even just standing still. :P

[deanjo]

so, so wrong.

following your logic, Crysis is open source too! You can't distribute it or do anything with it, but you can play it and if you pay a shitload of money they might let you fix a bug

....

Sorry but the source code for Crysis has never been released for public modification. Your really reaching for straws on that.

Being opensource is a requirement for the GPL but the GPL is not a requirement for being opensource.

[L33F3R]

Being opensource is a requirement for the GPL but the GPL is not a requirement for being opensource.

This is true. Just look at mechwarrior 2. the source was simply "shared".

[Irritant]

Well this sure got a bit off topic I think the point of the article is that open sourced game engines are making some advances graphically, and that they are pushing each other via a bit of friendly competition.

That the games that are currently using these engines are primarily FPS is irrelevant for the most part. The reason most of these are FPS is quite simple - the source code was released by the FPS Kings, id Software. Quite naturally the people who gravited towards and tinkered with it were going to be fans of the genre and create something that they liked. The blunt truth is, most people that create games as a hobby primarily are doing it for themselves, as artistic expression, and not for others. If people like it, that's a great bonus, but it's not often what drives them.

Games like Nexuiz, Alien Arena, Warsow, etc, are so much more than simple "Quake/UT clones". They are created by people who've been playing this type of game for years and wanted to make something that they enjoyed, and improve upon the original idea. The old tried and true "run and gun deathmatch" is only but a small portion of what these games offer. Do they have stories? No, but they aren't meant to. These are much more akin to elaborate arcade games than to anything story driven.

Citing a lack of story or RPG elements is not really a valid criticism because that just isn't what they are trying to be. One can lament the lack of RPG's or 2D side scrollers, but that again has nothing to do with the article or the games mentioned in it and only reflects on personal tastes or distastes of a specific genre.

[deanjo]

Well this sure got a bit off topic I think the point of the article is that open sourced game engines are making some advances graphically, and that they
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personal tastes or distastes of a specific genre.

I don't think anyone is knocking them for creating a FPS, it's just that there is a vast wealth of resources out there to develop other game types as well. Chances are that people are tired of YAFPS. Just take a look at World of Goo, it provided a much needed breath of fresh air and it shows with the amount of Editor Picks and rave reviews it got. FPS has really been done to death meanwhile there is a whole untapped community who would be willing to help out with top notch creative content for something like a RPG given they had good tools and a decent engine to work with.

[Duo Maxwell]

I'll knock em' for making just a simple FPS, they aren't any better really then the quake clones they claim not to be, all of those alien arena modes I've seen the same or close to them in other FPS titles, they aren't that much different, and are still reliant on the twitch factor and thus only remotely interesting to those that play them hardcore, like the guys on the top tier on Quake live. Just join an unranked or a top tier server for 5 mins, unless you're tweaking like you've just had 8 gallons of espresso you don't stand a chance against them.

None of the games have any semblance of a story or single player mode that isn't just bot practice for online matches. You don't even need much of a story, just some interesting levels laid out a little better then Sauerbraten and some interesting enemy AI.

Seriously, borrow a windows box and a copy of Rainbow 6 vegas, time shift or S.t.a.l.k.e.r. for some ideas on interesting game play, you don't even need a storyline f the AI and arenas are good. Just try a terrorist hunt on realistic in rainbow 6.

As for "console crap" I guess thats why those titles make it on to almost everyones top games of all time list? Have you played a game like Shadow Of The Colossus,

Granted, some games don't translate at all to a kb and mouse, take beat 'em ups like Devil May Cry or God Hand for instance, the control scheme works great on any console, but it is ridiculous to try and play the Devil May Cry 4 port on windows, the keyboard is an absolute kludge for it. The Same goes for the aforementioned Time Crisis and House Of The Dead, those are arcade light gun shooters, excellent ones, but a mouse with a crosshair is no substitute for a lightgun, no way no how not ever.

Most PC gamers though act so high and mighty about their games being superior over consoles, they, most of the time just aren't, a keyboard and mouse are often a square peg for a round hole and only make sense for FPS and RTS titles. Trust me, I've tried Final Fantasy 11 Online on both PC and PS2, a PS2 with a Keyboard works better then a keyboard and mouse any day, it's just faster and easier to control your movement and speed through your spell, item and equipment windows on a controller then it is with a keyboard and mouse, the keyboard is only useful for talking to other players.

Is there any chance at all of any Metal Gear Solid. Splinter Cell type infiltration style game, I.E. not an FPS, more of 3rd person, use your surroundings to your advantage to sneak past your opponents using various movement controls besides run up, own. left, right and jump? No? Then its really just the same game now isn't it? you know, like that one over there that other team is doing.

Don't tell me it's all a question of artists either. I've said it before, we are the stereotypical geeks and nerds, you know damn well you've got a stash of old scifi, fantasy and anime that you can draw basic inspiration from, it doesn't even need to make sense, just look at the Japanese games, they where most defiantly high when they came up with it, it doesn't stop it from being a fun, although weird as sh!t game.

If hat doesn't work, try survival horror, easy inspiration for that, put on a nicotine patch before you sleep, that way you'll be conscious enough of your dreams to remember them, but not such that you will be able to control them, allowing you to experience just what exactly goes on inside your head every night...

You'd think that game devs looking to beak into pro gaming that they would try to make something that would stand out from the crowd and you know, produce something not yet another uninspired FPS title.

I know, write me off as just a troll that isn't a game dev, because yeah, I couldn't code to save my life. But it doesn't make what I'm saying any less true that there is a distinct lack of creativity in linux gaming,

[krogy]

why considering those engines that hardly anybody uses before the likes of Ogre3D that feats tons of games and applications already developed upon?

i haven't checked the feature list of Ogre3D but, even if it's less advanced than the ones mentioned in the article, imho the main goal of a FOSS engine lies in the ease of development/content creation NOT on bleeding edge graphics!

[mirv]

What would be nice is if games used advances in graphics to advance the gameplay. I haven't seen many games really do that, but some examples that come to mind are Raven Shield (you could see an enemie's breath from cold air, which helped locate them sometimes), Doom3 (though perhaps a bit overkill, it did use the shadows to add to the atmosphere), geo-morphing from red faction, that sort of thing.
I'd like to see something like dynamically modified megatextures where you can follow footprints around, stuff like that (I'm working on it as a hobby).
Graphics improvements are nice, but interest me mostly when it adds to gameplay, rather than just eye candy.