gHacks technology news » fps http://www.ghacks.net A technology blog covering software, mobile phones, gadgets, security, the Internet and other relevant areas. Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:56:41 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 Best free (and open-source) FPS games http://www.ghacks.net/2008/11/25/best-free-and-open-source-fps-games/ http://www.ghacks.net/2008/11/25/best-free-and-open-source-fps-games/#comments Mon, 24 Nov 2008 23:35:14 +0000 Joe http://www.ghacks.net/?p=8514 Whilst first person shooters are mainly confined to the console, several good FPS games are available for PC. I’m nothing more than a casual gamer but I enjoy shooters and I was surprised by the sheer number available. I use a Mac, so this article will primarily focus on cross-platform shooters.

AssaultCube

AssaultCube is a quite simple 3D FPS available for Linux, OS X and Windows, which just reached version 1.0 about a week ago. The graphics are not very advanced, but a benefit of this is that it’s easier to run a server and that it can run on nearly any machine.

The best aspect of AssaultCube is the online play; there’s always a few busy servers available where one can play capture the flag, deathmatches or variations on those modes. AssaultCube is limited to seven weapons: sniper rifle, assault rifle, handgun, grenades, knives, shotgun and submachine guns.

Maps can be created for AssaultCube quite easily.

Sauerbraten

Sauerbraten is an FPS built on the same engine on which AssaultCube is built but has much more sophisticated graphics and is built in a fantasy world as opposed to a real one.

In Sauerbraten, weapons include crossbows, guns and rocketlaunchers. This is definitely a more interesting variety than AssaultCube! Once again, CTF and deathmatch are popular game modes.

The game notably lacks a crouch mechanism and struggles to run at higher resolutions on my MacBook Pro. However, it is an amazing open-source game with many fantastic maps.

Once again, Sauerbraten is orientated towards online pay but the CPU games are much better than AssaultCube’s.

Interestingly, the game can also be played as a 3rd person shooter!

Nexuiz

Nexuiz is an FPS with quite fictional weapons, like electricity guns etc. The game clearly belongs in the realms of fantasy, being set on a space station where one must shoot aliens.

I find the game difficult to play. Movement is far too fast compared to Cube engine games and it really does require quick reflexives.

The game isn’t smooth either. Before a game starts, there’s a text-only screen telling me what is loading etc. and the menu at the start looks terrible, especially at my screen resolution.

It’s still a fantastic game to play, however.

AssaultCube

Sauerbraten

Nexuiz

Needless to say there’s scores of other good games, these are just my favourite free (as in beer and freedom) shooters.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2008/11/25/best-free-and-open-source-fps-games/feed/ 15 The five most embarassing ways to die in an FPS http://www.ghacks.net/2007/06/23/the-five-most-embarassing-ways-to-die-in-an-fps/ http://www.ghacks.net/2007/06/23/the-five-most-embarassing-ways-to-die-in-an-fps/#comments Sat, 23 Jun 2007 07:16:38 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/2007/06/23/the-five-most-embarassing-ways-to-die-in-an-fps/ I had a good laugh when I read the article “The five most embarassing ways to die in an FPS” which describes five entertaining (for the others) and embarassing (for the one being killed) ways to die in first person shooters.

I have been playing pro level Unreal Tournament for about two years and it was always a pleasure to witness an embarassing death. Unreal Tournament however was not the only game that I was playing. I also enjoyed Quake 3 Arena, Counter Strike (Source) and many other PC shooters.

The website that published the list is currently not available, here is a short recap of the five ways:

  • The “Otherâ€? Nade Kill – Being killed by a grenade is a common way to die in Counter Strike. Dieing because someone (a team mate for instance) hit you with the grenade subtracting 1HP from your hitpoints is pretty embarassing. Everyone else will have a good laugh though
  • Crushing People – Some games subtract 1HP if you fall on someone. This is another funny way to die.
  • Cratering – I’m able to make that jump.. Well, seeing someone trying to jump from a cliff to the other side and failing miserably is funny.
  • The Shank – Being killed by the worst weapon in the game.
  • The Telefrag – the beloved telefrag. This was the BEST weapon in Unreal Tournament until Epic decided to nerf it. A friend of mine was so good with the friggin teleporter that he was constantly accused of cheating. There was no cap in the beginning which meant you could teleport around many times in a second.

    Telefragging means that your character appears in the same spot that another character is standing in. The character standing in that spot is instantly integrated which means that this is a very good way to get rid of someone with armor, shield and the best weapons.

Are there other ways that you can think of ? Rocket Boosts gone wrong for instance is surely a nice way to die although it resembles Cratering.

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