Nexuiz
Encyclopedia
Nexuiz is a free first-person shooter
video game developed and published by Alientrap Software. It is free and open-source software and is distributed under the GNU General Public License
(GPL). Version 1.0 of the game was released on May 31, 2005. The current version, 2.5.2, was released on October 1, 2009. Nexuiz uses DarkPlaces, a significantly modified Quake engine
. A new version of Nexuiz is currently in development by a company known as Illfonic and will be released for consoles, as well as digital download through Steam.
game, heavily inspired by the original Quake games, even running on a modified Quake engine known as DarkPlaces. It includes thirteen weapons, 24 official maps and over 240 community created maps, as well as 15 player models. The graphics in Nexuiz use coronas, the bloom
shader effect, Realtime World and Dynamic Lighting and shadowing, shaders (with OpenGL
2.0), offset mapping, and High dynamic range rendering
. All these effects can be turned off to make the game run on older hardware.
Nexuiz is primarily multiplayer (though it includes a full single-player campaign, which allows one to play through the various multiplayer game types and maps with bot
s), and allows for hosting and joining of games. It can also support new gametypes, or whole conversions quickly applied to it (much like Quake). Nexuiz supports most Quake modifications (although with varying functionality). Currently there are a few custom mods and maps used.
In October 2008, a call was made for more developers for Nexuiz by the main (and only) QuakeC
developer, who identified organizational issues associated with a many user, one developer model. Responses to this call highlighted the need for better documentation of QuakeC and the Nexuiz code, while also acknowledging the difficulty that documentation of this placed on the small team of Nexuiz developers. From mid-November 2008, a number of people expressed interest in continuing development of Nexuiz.
On March 1, 2010, it was revealed a company known as Illfonic purchased the rights to the name Nexuiz, and a proprietary license to the source-code, the details of any potential legal conflicts are as of yet unknown.
On March 22, 2010, the fork Xonotic
of Nexuiz was announced. Many of the core contributors and community members of Nexuiz moved to this new project as they felt that sale of the name Nexuiz mishandles the original project.
On July 13, 2010, Crytek announced that it had licensed the Cryengine 3 for Illfonic's Nexuiz
.
, Nexuiz was included in an article on Internet developers and free games impacting the industry. It also featured on the March 2007 Maximum PC and (version 2.4) was released on the May 2008 and August 2009 PC User
cover disks. In 2009, Phoronix
described version 2.5 of Nexuiz as the best open source FPS they had played, with refined gameplay and graphics that take advantage of modern hardware.
locations across the US held an in-store Nexuiz "PC gaming challenge". Interactive kiosks were set up in 10 different stores in 8 US cities. The kiosks gave users 2 minutes to earn the high score by doing the most damage possible to their AI opponents. The highest monthly scorer in each location won a $100 GameStop gift card. There were new maps every month, and each player was allowed one game per day. Game play was open to GameStop customers ages 13 and up, and ages 17 and above were eligible to win the monthly gift card for the high score. Cities with the Challenge were: Dallas, Miami, Chicago, Boston, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
, PlayStation Network and Steam. The game uses same name, while adopting a futuristic, Victorian
art style. It has been confirmed that it will be based on CryEngine 3, instead of the DarkPlaces (Quake) engine used in the original game. The main page of nexuiz.com has changed to reflect the commercial version of the game, rather than the open source PC game, although the PC game's page remains accessible. Community changes to the Nexuiz project initiated a free fork
called Xonotic
.
First-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
video game developed and published by Alientrap Software. It is free and open-source software and is distributed under the GNU General Public License
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....
(GPL). Version 1.0 of the game was released on May 31, 2005. The current version, 2.5.2, was released on October 1, 2009. Nexuiz uses DarkPlaces, a significantly modified Quake engine
Quake engine
The Quake engine is the game engine that was written to power 1996's Quake, written by id Software. It featured true 3D real-time rendering and is now licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License ....
. A new version of Nexuiz is currently in development by a company known as Illfonic and will be released for consoles, as well as digital download through Steam.
Overview
Nexuiz is a FPSFirst-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
game, heavily inspired by the original Quake games, even running on a modified Quake engine known as DarkPlaces. It includes thirteen weapons, 24 official maps and over 240 community created maps, as well as 15 player models. The graphics in Nexuiz use coronas, the bloom
Bloom (shader effect)
Bloom is a computer graphics effect used in computer games, demos and high dynamic range rendering to reproduce an imaging artifact of real-world cameras. The effect produces fringes of light around very bright objects in an image, obscuring fine details...
shader effect, Realtime World and Dynamic Lighting and shadowing, shaders (with 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...
2.0), offset mapping, and High dynamic range rendering
High dynamic range rendering
In 3D computer graphics, high dynamic range rendering , also known as high dynamic range lighting, is the rendering of computer graphics scenes by using lighting calculations done in a larger dynamic range. This allows preservation of details that may be lost due to limiting contrast ratios...
. All these effects can be turned off to make the game run on older hardware.
Nexuiz is primarily multiplayer (though it includes a full single-player campaign, which allows one to play through the various multiplayer game types and maps with bot
Computer game bot
A bot, most prominently in the first-person shooter types , is a type of weak AI expert system software which for each instance of the program controls a player in deathmatch, team deathmatch and/or cooperative human player. Computer bots may play against other bots and/or human players in unison,...
s), and allows for hosting and joining of games. It can also support new gametypes, or whole conversions quickly applied to it (much like Quake). Nexuiz supports most Quake modifications (although with varying functionality). Currently there are a few custom mods and maps used.
History
Nexuiz development started as a Quake modification in the summer of 2001 by Lee Vermeulen. Soon afterward the project moved to the DarkPlaces Quake engine created by Forest Hale, who later also joined the project. The original design called for a simple deathmatch project with a few levels and one character model to be released the next summer. After four years of development with no budget, Nexuiz 1.0 was released on May 31, 2005, completely under the GNU GPL, and by the end of June had over a quarter million downloads. Development continued after the initial release, with 1.1 released soon after, 1.5 released February 14, 2006, 2.0 released June 14, 2006 and 2.1 September 9, 2006. On February 29, 2008, nearly three years after the initial release, version 2.4 was released and brought major improvements to both the GUI and the graphics engine. This includes all new GUI graphics elements, as well as reflective water and improved particles.In October 2008, a call was made for more developers for Nexuiz by the main (and only) QuakeC
QuakeC
QuakeC is an interpreted language developed in 1996 by John Carmack of id Software to program parts of the computer game Quake. Using QuakeC, a programmer is able to customize Quake to great extents by adding weapons, changing game logic and physics, and programming complex scenarios...
developer, who identified organizational issues associated with a many user, one developer model. Responses to this call highlighted the need for better documentation of QuakeC and the Nexuiz code, while also acknowledging the difficulty that documentation of this placed on the small team of Nexuiz developers. From mid-November 2008, a number of people expressed interest in continuing development of Nexuiz.
On March 1, 2010, it was revealed a company known as Illfonic purchased the rights to the name Nexuiz, and a proprietary license to the source-code, the details of any potential legal conflicts are as of yet unknown.
On March 22, 2010, the fork Xonotic
Xonotic
Xonotic is a first-person shooter video game. It is cross-platform, free and open source software. It is a fork of Nexuiz, and is based on the DarkPlaces engine, a heavily modified version of the Quake engine. Gameplay is inspired by Unreal Tournament and Quake, but with various unique elements...
of Nexuiz was announced. Many of the core contributors and community members of Nexuiz moved to this new project as they felt that sale of the name Nexuiz mishandles the original project.
On July 13, 2010, Crytek announced that it had licensed the Cryengine 3 for Illfonic's Nexuiz
Nexuiz (2011 video game)
Nexuiz is a upcoming first-person shooter developed by IllFonic for Microsoft Windows , PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It uses Cry Engine 3 and it is based on free game called Nexuiz , developed by AlienTrap Software. Nexuiz is a fast paced arena first person shooter in futuristic, Victorian style...
.
Reception
In the September 2006 issue of the magazine PC GamerPC Gamer
PC Gamer is a magazine founded in Britain in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future Publishing. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games magazines in their respective countries...
, Nexuiz was included in an article on Internet developers and free games impacting the industry. It also featured on the March 2007 Maximum PC and (version 2.4) was released on the May 2008 and August 2009 PC User
PC User
PC User is an Australian general computer magazine, published by Australian Consolidated Press. It was first published in 1990 and is issued monthly. It is Australia's best selling computer magazine, with over 350,000 readers and 60,000 copies sold each month...
cover disks. In 2009, Phoronix
Phoronix
Phoronix is a technology website that offers product reviews, Linux distribution screenshots, interviews, and news while maintaining a pure Linux orientation. Phoronix was started in June 2004 by Michael Larabel, who currently serves as the owner and editor-in-chief. The name Phoronix is a...
described version 2.5 of Nexuiz as the best open source FPS they had played, with refined gameplay and graphics that take advantage of modern hardware.
GameStop
GameStopGameStop
GameStop Corporation is an American video game and entertainment software retailer. The company, whose headquarters is in Grapevine, Texas, United States, operates 6,500 retail stores throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, New...
locations across the US held an in-store Nexuiz "PC gaming challenge". Interactive kiosks were set up in 10 different stores in 8 US cities. The kiosks gave users 2 minutes to earn the high score by doing the most damage possible to their AI opponents. The highest monthly scorer in each location won a $100 GameStop gift card. There were new maps every month, and each player was allowed one game per day. Game play was open to GameStop customers ages 13 and up, and ages 17 and above were eligible to win the monthly gift card for the high score. Cities with the Challenge were: Dallas, Miami, Chicago, Boston, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
Development by IllFonic
On March 3, 2010, it was announced the name Nexuiz had been licensed to IllFonic game studios as a platform for a commercial release. This version is set to be released on Xbox Live ArcadeXbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade is a type of video game download distribution available primarily in a section of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360, that focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent game developers...
, PlayStation Network and Steam. The game uses same name, while adopting a futuristic, Victorian
Victorian decorative arts
Victorian decorative arts refers to the style of decorative arts during the Victorian era. The Victorian era is known for its eclectic revival and interpretation of historic styles and the introduction of cross-cultural influences from the middle east and Asia in furniture, fittings, and Interior...
art style. It has been confirmed that it will be based on CryEngine 3, instead of the DarkPlaces (Quake) engine used in the original game. The main page of nexuiz.com has changed to reflect the commercial version of the game, rather than the open source PC game, although the PC game's page remains accessible. Community changes to the Nexuiz project initiated a free fork
Fork (software development)
In software engineering, a project fork happens when developers take a legal copy of source code from one software package and start independent development on it, creating a distinct piece of software...
called Xonotic
Xonotic
Xonotic is a first-person shooter video game. It is cross-platform, free and open source software. It is a fork of Nexuiz, and is based on the DarkPlaces engine, a heavily modified version of the Quake engine. Gameplay is inspired by Unreal Tournament and Quake, but with various unique elements...
.
See also
- XonoticXonoticXonotic is a first-person shooter video game. It is cross-platform, free and open source software. It is a fork of Nexuiz, and is based on the DarkPlaces engine, a heavily modified version of the Quake engine. Gameplay is inspired by Unreal Tournament and Quake, but with various unique elements...
- First-person shooterFirst-person shooterFirst-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
- List of free first-person shooters
- IllFonic's NexuizNexuiz (2011 video game)Nexuiz is a upcoming first-person shooter developed by IllFonic for Microsoft Windows , PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It uses Cry Engine 3 and it is based on free game called Nexuiz , developed by AlienTrap Software. Nexuiz is a fast paced arena first person shooter in futuristic, Victorian style...