OpenArena

OpenArena
Developer(s)	OpenArena team
Engine	ioquake3
Version	0.8.5 (February 23, 2010)
Platform(s)	Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Mac OS X, Solaris, Windows
Release date(s)	August 19, 2005
Genre(s)	First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, Multiplayer
Media/distribution	Internet download (see external links for download)
System requirements Pentium 166 MHz processor, 64 MB of RAM, 8 MB video card with OpenGL acceleration

OpenArena is a free and open source first-person shooter (FPS) computer game based heavily on the Quake III Arena style deathmatch. The OpenArena project was established on August 19, 2005, the day after the id Tech 3 GPL source code release. It is still in early development.

OpenArena's primary goal is to make a completely free, open source FPS game derived from Quake III. Its game engine is ioquake3, based upon id Software's GPL id Tech 3. In addition, a "missionpack" add-on is planned, to take advantage of the GPL'd Quake III: Team Arena source code.

The newest version of OpenArena 0.8.5 was released on February 23, 2010. The version 0.8.0 was removed because of the non-free content from the previous version.

OpenArena is available from the default repositories of a number of Linux distributions, including Debian, Fedora, Gentoo, Mandriva, and Ubuntu. It is also in development for the Maemo mobile operating system.

Overview

OpenArena's game play attempts to emulate Quake III Arena: score frags to win the game using a balanced set of weapons each designed for different situations. Guns include a chaingun, rocket launcher, shotgun, and railgun. The Quake III style of play is very fast and requires skill to be played successfully online.

Gameplay modes exist such as Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Tournament, and Capture The Flag (all modes also in the original Quake III). OpenArena version 0.7.6 adds the new Elimination, CTF Elimination, Last Man Standing and Double Domination gametypes. Domination mode is available, too, and the same are Harvester, One flag CTF and Overload modes (the latter three are from Quake 3: Team Arena).

OpenArena has undergone compatibility testing with some Quake 3 mods and maps. Because "OpenArena" is not finished, some of the many mods and maps created for the original game are not compatible. A list of tested mods can be found at http://openarena.wikia.com/wiki/ModCompat

Legacy and impact

OpenArena has been used as a platform for scholarly work in computer science. Some examples include streaming graphics from a central server,^[1] and visualizing large amounts of network data.^[2]

See also

Free software portal

• List of free first-person shooters
• First-person shooters
• FreeDoom, a similar effort but for Doom

References

1. ^ Peter Eisert and Philipp Fechteler (2007). Remote rendering of computer games. Proceedings of the International Conference on Signal Processing and Multimedia Applications (SIGMAP), Barcelona, Spain, July 2007.. 
2. ^ Lucas Parry (2007). L3DGEWorld 2.1 Input & Output Specifications. CAIA Technical Report 070808A, August 2007.. 

External links

• OpenArena website
• modDB project page
• OpenArena wiki
• OpenArena on Linux Links
• OpenArena used for network monitoring tool (L3DGEWorld)