Clonk

Clonk
Screenshot of a Clonk Endeavour round
Developer(s)	RedWolf Design
Version	4.9.10.4 [324]
Platform(s)	Windows 9x/ME/2K/XP/7, Linux, Macintosh
Release date(s)	27 December 2005 (4.95.5)
Genre(s)	Various
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer (Internet, LAN & Split-screen)
Rating(s)	USK 6
Media/distribution	Downloadable Shareware / Freeware
System requirements PC, 500 MHz CPU, 128 MB RAM, DirectX 8.1 or OpenGL, decent graphics card or better

Clonk is a computer game developed by RedWolf Design. The game features a mix of the action, real-time strategy and platform game genres. The games of the series are traditionally released as Shareware; older versions have become available as Freeware. Using the integrated developer mode, experienced players are able to create their own modifications or "extensions" to the game.

Contents

In Clonk, the player controls small, humanoid beings - the so-called Clonks - within a two-dimensional, dynamically modifiable landscape using keyboard or mouse. Clonks interact with their surrounding landscape, animals, weather, buildings and objects. The game can be played alone or in multiplayer in split-screen or via local network or Internet. Four different keyboard settings, combined with the option of using a mouse or gamepad, result in allowing up to six players on one computer. The game goal depends on the scenario being played, varying between melees, in which players fight each other, strategical team siege scenarios and cooperative missions.

Extensions

Several extensions are available for registered players:

• Knights: Medieval object pack, in which knights fight each other with axes, swords and bows by foot or on horse. Castles can be built using a modular castle building system and some medieval economy branches are available.
• Hazard: A futuristic pack, in which Clonks fight against aliens or other Clonks using a variety of weapons such as HM, Missiles, Sonic guns, Shrunk Gun, to more simplistic guns like Phasers. This pack was originally released for Clonk Planet and has been remade for Clonk Rage.
• Far worlds: Three elaborate scenarios (deep sea, jungle and Arctic), in which the Clonks live in inhospitable areas, where mere survival is a challenge. Out of the three Arctic is the most challenging, requiring the Clonks to eat food regularly and be constantly mindful of the cold to avoid dying.
• Golems: Clonkian magicians receive the ability to animate statues into Golems. Originally there was the Gold Golem, Rock Golem, and Snow Golem, each with their own different strengths, but later scenarios by players added a few more golems such as the Fire Golem.
• Fantasy: Dragons, magic, adventures and more. This extension adds new spells to the current magic system.
• Western: Cowboys, Indians and accessories. This object pack was originally created for a design contest, but has been developed into an official extension.

Additionally, many unofficial extensions have been created by players. One example is the modern military-combat extension called "First Aid Pack", which includes various weapons, vehicles, and scenarios in a modern-combat setting.

Comprehensive Clonk Archive Network

The Comprehensive Clonk Archive Network (short: CCAN) is the largest and most popular download-page for the Clonk-community. Players are distributing extensions for the game on a daily basis. In order to participate, a valid registration code is required. Extensions for older (freeware) versions of Clonk can be downloaded without having a registration code for the specified game.

Development

Since the release of Clonk Planet, every registered player may start developing of his own using the integrated developer mode. It's possible to add new objects (such as Clonks, weapons, buildings, etc.), scenarios or complete packs such as the official Extensions.

Many players have used these options and created extension packs, which can be downloaded from the fan sites.

History

• MS-DOS games
  • 1994 - Clonk 1
  • 1994 - Clonk 2 Debakel
  • 1995 - Clonk A.P.E. (Advanced Player Edition)
  • 1996 - Clonk 3 Radikal
• Windows games
  • 1998 - Clonk 4
  • 1999 - Clonk Planet
  • 2001 - Golden Wipf Edition (unofficial extension for Clonk Planet)
  • 2004 - Clonk Endeavour
• Cross platform (Windows, Linux, Mac OS)
  • 2008 - Clonk Rage
• 3D-graphics
  • frozen - Clonk Extreme (in development)
  • 2010 - OpenClonk

Starting from 2001, RedWolf Design stopped development of Clonk Planet and started developing Clonk Extreme. The source code of the Clonk Planet engine was released, and attracted a team of players who developed Clonk Planet GWE. Within this fan-project, several sorely missed features have been implemented, such as more editability and modern 32Bit graphics.

Later, in 2003, RedWolf Design revived the series by collaborating with the GWE team and creating the next official Clonk title called "Clonk Endeavour" from the previous GWE 4. The new Clonk title got some attention when it was presented on the Games Convention in Leipzig and won a newcomer contest held by GIGA TV.^[1]

The development continued, and several extensions such as a new network architecture for faster internet games and a fullscreen menu system were being developed. The development led to a new sequel, Clonk Rage, which became the officially current version 2008-05-05. Its predecessor, Clonk Endeavour, was released as Freeware a couple of days later.

The other development goal is called "Clonk Extreme" - short "ClonkX", which is supposed to transform the game principle of Clonk into a 3D-game. It is also the first game title that doesn't support digging. Development progressed slowly, and only early alpha versions, some screenshots^[2] and one preview video^[3] of the game exist. Clonk Extreme was announced with a release date in 2050, but it was later found to be an April Fools' Day joke. However, after RedWolf Design's leader Matthes Bender announced he would be working on other projects, Clonk Extreme was frozen without probable continuing development.

OpenClonk

OpenClonk is an open source project developed by a community of Clonk enthusiasts and former Clonk developers alike. OpenClonk is the first Clonk game not to support backwards compatibility for previous expansion packs, and not officially developed by RedWolf Design, but still utilizes a heavily modified version of the Clonk Rage engine. Since the requirement for backwards compatibility has been dropped, many new features have been implemented into OpenClonk. Some features include 3D Graphics, traditional Run & Gun controls, a zooming camera, and a completely redesigned base objects pack. Though OpenClonk supports 3D graphics, the game world remains a 2D platformer.

Press articles

In German game magazines

• http://www.clonk.de/press/PCGames2003.pdf
• http://www.clonk.de/press/Shareplay2004.pdf
• http://www.clonk.de/press/SuperPCSpiele2005.pdf

In Russian game magazines

• http://www.gameland.ru/post/14642/default.asp?print=1

References

1. ^ Developia Games Convention day six (German)
2. ^ Clonk Homepage CX screenshot section
3. ^ YouTube CX early hoppers

External links

• http://www.clonk.de/?lng=en - Official English site (Redwolf Design)
• http://www.ccan.de/ - Database of game extensions created by players
• http://wiki.nosebud.de/ - A wiki for topics related to Clonk
• http://www.goldwipf.de/ - GWE homepage (not updated any more)
• http://www.clonk-center.de/ - Largest fan site for Clonk
• http://www.clonkforge.net/ - Site used to organize development teams for Clonk extensions
• http://wiki.openclonk.org/ - Website for continual development of OpenClonk

This article incorporates information from the equivalent article on the German Wikipedia.