Liquid War
Encyclopedia
Liquid War is a unique multi-player action game
. It is based on an original shortest path
algorithm and core concept by Thomas Colcombet and programmed by Christian Mauduit.
around the obstacles to its team's cursor. A player may have several thousands particles at a time, giving the collection of particles a look of a liquid blob. When a particle moves into a particle from a different team, it will fight and if the opponent particle fails to fight back (it is not moving in the opposite direction) it will eventually be assimilated
by its attacker. As particles cannot die but only change teams, the total number of particles on the map remains constant. Since a particle can only fight in one direction at a time (towards its team's cursor), a player that surrounds its opponents will have a distinct advantage. The game ends when one player controls all of the particles or when the time runs out. When the time runs out, the player with the most particles wins.
There are multiple maps which affect the obstacles in the battlefield. These obstacles may affect the strategies of the game.
Liquid War is a multiplayer game and can be played by up to 6 people on one computer, or over the Internet
or a LAN
. A single player mode is available in which the opponents are controlled by the computer. The computer AI
's "strategy" is to constantly choose a random point in the enemy and move its cursor to it.
Liquid War 3.0 was released on 1 July 1995. It was a "barely usable" DOS
game with no network support. Version 5.0 was released on 26 September 1998. It was a complete rewrite and used the Allegro library
. Network support was introduced in version 5.4.0, released on 7 July 2001. In 2002, Liquid War received the Most Original Linux Game award by The Linux Game Tome
, and in 2003 it was nominated for the Les Trophées du Libre
, an International Free Software
Competition. , the current version is 5.6.4 and is available under DOS, Microsoft Windows
, Mac OS X
, Linux
and FreeBSD
. Its author, Christian Mauduit, has announced that a complete rewrite is in progress to produce version 6.0, which will abandon the Allegro library
used for 5.x releases for a full OpenGL
implementation. Version 6.0 is a part of the GNU
project and was expected to be released in 2008. Version 0.0.7 beta, a testing version, was released in October 2009. Version 0.0.8 beta has been released in 2010. While there still isn't network support, most parts of the game and engine are finished and playing hotseat
and/or against bots works fine, just like version 5.x.
Action game
Action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes diverse subgenres such as fighting games, shooter games, and platform games, which are widely considered the most important action games, though some...
. It is based on an original shortest path
Pathfinding
Pathfinding generally refers to the plotting, by a computer application, of the shortest route between two points. It is a more practical variant on solving mazes...
algorithm and core concept by Thomas Colcombet and programmed by Christian Mauduit.
Description
Gameplay takes place on a 2D battlefield, usually with some obstacles. Each player (2 to 6, computer or human) has an army of particles and a cursor. The objective of the game is to assimilate all enemy particles. The players can only move their cursors and cannot directly control the particles. Each particle follows the shortest pathPathfinding
Pathfinding generally refers to the plotting, by a computer application, of the shortest route between two points. It is a more practical variant on solving mazes...
around the obstacles to its team's cursor. A player may have several thousands particles at a time, giving the collection of particles a look of a liquid blob. When a particle moves into a particle from a different team, it will fight and if the opponent particle fails to fight back (it is not moving in the opposite direction) it will eventually be assimilated
Assimilation (biology)
Biological assimilation, or bio assimilation, is the combination of two processes to supply animal cells with nutrients. The first is the process of absorbing vitamins, minerals, and other chemicals from food within the gastrointestinal tract...
by its attacker. As particles cannot die but only change teams, the total number of particles on the map remains constant. Since a particle can only fight in one direction at a time (towards its team's cursor), a player that surrounds its opponents will have a distinct advantage. The game ends when one player controls all of the particles or when the time runs out. When the time runs out, the player with the most particles wins.
There are multiple maps which affect the obstacles in the battlefield. These obstacles may affect the strategies of the game.
Liquid War is a multiplayer game and can be played by up to 6 people on one computer, or over the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
or a LAN
Län
Län and lääni refer to the administrative divisions used in Sweden and previously in Finland. The provinces of Finland were abolished on January 1, 2010....
. A single player mode is available in which the opponents are controlled by the computer. The computer AI
Game artificial intelligence
Game artificial intelligence refers to techniques used in computer and video games to produce the illusion of intelligence in the behavior of non-player characters . The techniques used typically draw upon existing methods from the field of artificial intelligence...
's "strategy" is to constantly choose a random point in the enemy and move its cursor to it.
History
The Liquid War shortest path algorithm was invented by Thomas Colcombet before the game itself. The game came as a result of the algorithm, when he realized its applicability to gaming. Colcombet's friend, Christian Mauduit, enhanced the algorithm and coded the game.Liquid War 3.0 was released on 1 July 1995. It was a "barely usable" DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
game with no network support. Version 5.0 was released on 26 September 1998. It was a complete rewrite and used the Allegro library
Allegro library
Allegro is a free and open source software library for video game development.The functionality of the library includes support for basic 2D graphics, image manipulation, text output, audio output, midi music, input and timers, as well as additional routines for fixed-point and floating-point...
. Network support was introduced in version 5.4.0, released on 7 July 2001. In 2002, Liquid War received the Most Original Linux Game award by The Linux Game Tome
The Linux Game Tome
The Linux Game Tome is a website which provides a comprehensive list of games for Linux.- History :The site was started by Tessa Lau in 1995...
, and in 2003 it was nominated for the Les Trophées du Libre
Les Trophées du Libre
Les Trophées du Libre contest is a free software contest whose goal is to promote innovative software projects and give these projects recognition and media coverage - recently also to motivate students and academic institutions with special prizes. The competition is international and it is...
, an International Free Software
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
Competition. , the current version is 5.6.4 and is available under DOS, Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
, Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
and FreeBSD
FreeBSD
FreeBSD is a free Unix-like operating system descended from AT&T UNIX via BSD UNIX. Although for legal reasons FreeBSD cannot be called “UNIX”, as the direct descendant of BSD UNIX , FreeBSD’s internals and system APIs are UNIX-compliant...
. Its author, Christian Mauduit, has announced that a complete rewrite is in progress to produce version 6.0, which will abandon the Allegro library
Allegro library
Allegro is a free and open source software library for video game development.The functionality of the library includes support for basic 2D graphics, image manipulation, text output, audio output, midi music, input and timers, as well as additional routines for fixed-point and floating-point...
used for 5.x releases for a full OpenGL
OpenGL
OpenGL is a standard specification defining a cross-language, cross-platform API for writing applications that produce 2D and 3D computer graphics. The interface consists of over 250 different function calls which can be used to draw complex three-dimensional scenes from simple primitives. OpenGL...
implementation. Version 6.0 is a part of the GNU
GNU
GNU is a Unix-like computer operating system developed by the GNU project, ultimately aiming to be a "complete Unix-compatible software system"...
project and was expected to be released in 2008. Version 0.0.7 beta, a testing version, was released in October 2009. Version 0.0.8 beta has been released in 2010. While there still isn't network support, most parts of the game and engine are finished and playing hotseat
Hotseat (multiplayer mode)
Hotseat or hot seat is a multiplayer mode provided by some turn-based video games, which allows two or more players to play on the same device by taking turns playing the game...
and/or against bots works fine, just like version 5.x.