Xonotic
Encyclopedia
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. Xonotic aims to become the best possible open-source FPS (first-person-shooter) of its kind.
and capture the flag
. To score points, players must kill enemies using futuristic weapons while completing objectives. Gameplay is very fast paced, due to players being able to move at high speed and deal great amounts of damage. While the basic concept is inspired by other games of the same genre, there are several unique elements. Emphasis is placed on movement and player physics, with a focus on gaining speed, jumping great distances, and conquering the level geometry. This is done with classic techniques including strafe jumping, bunny hopping
, and rocket jumping
. Weapons have special abilities such as multiple fire modes, which increase the tactical options available to the players.
The game features a futuristic aesthetic, with maps set in high-tech environments and in space. The game runs on the Darkplaces engine and thus supports bloom
, dynamic lighting and shadowing, offset mapping, and high dynamic range rendering
. The developers claim that the graphic quality is comparable to commercial video game titles released between 2006 and 2007.
Approximately seven months later the source code was published via Git
. A preview version was released on 23 December 2010.
A new version of Xonotic was released on 8 September 2011. Version 0.5 (when compared to version 0.1, not the Git version) now supports multiple languages and vehicles, has improved AI, 7 new default maps and many bug fixes and gameplay optimisations.
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. It is cross-platform, free and open source software
Free and open source software
Free and open-source software or free/libre/open-source software is software that is liberally licensed to grant users the right to use, study, change, and improve its design through the availability of its source code...
. It is a fork of Nexuiz
Nexuiz
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 . Version 1.0 of the game was released on May 31, 2005. The current version, 2.5.2, was released on October 1,...
, and is based on the DarkPlaces engine, a heavily modified version of the 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 ....
. Gameplay is inspired by Unreal Tournament
Unreal Tournament
Unreal Tournament is a futuristic first-person shooter video game co-developed by Epic Games and Digital Extremes. It was published in 1999 by GT Interactive. Retrospectively, the game has also been referred to as UT99 or UT Classic to differentiate it from its numbered sequels...
and Quake, but with various unique elements. Xonotic aims to become the best possible open-source FPS (first-person-shooter) of its kind.
Overview
There are sixteen different game modes in Xonotic, including classic modes like deathmatchDeathmatch (gaming)
Deathmatch or Player vs All is a widely-used gameplay mode integrated into many shooter and real-time strategy computer games...
and capture the flag
Capture the flag
Capture the Flag is a traditional outdoor sport generally played by children, where two teams each have a flag and the objective is to capture the other team's flag, located at the team's "base," and bring it safely back to their own base...
. To score points, players must kill enemies using futuristic weapons while completing objectives. Gameplay is very fast paced, due to players being able to move at high speed and deal great amounts of damage. While the basic concept is inspired by other games of the same genre, there are several unique elements. Emphasis is placed on movement and player physics, with a focus on gaining speed, jumping great distances, and conquering the level geometry. This is done with classic techniques including strafe jumping, bunny hopping
Bunny hopping
Bunny hopping, or bunny jumping, is a term used in video games to describe the basic movement technique in which a player jumps repeatedly, instead of running, in order to move faster.-Concept:...
, and rocket jumping
Rocket jumping
In first-person shooter computer and video games, rocket jumping is the technique of pointing a rocket launcher or other similar explosive weapon at the ground or at a wall then firing and jumping at the same time. The rocket's explosion propels the player to greater heights and distances than...
. Weapons have special abilities such as multiple fire modes, which increase the tactical options available to the players.
The game features a futuristic aesthetic, with maps set in high-tech environments and in space. The game runs on the Darkplaces engine and thus supports 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...
, dynamic lighting and shadowing, 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...
. The developers claim that the graphic quality is comparable to commercial video game titles released between 2006 and 2007.
History
In March 2010 the controversy over Nexuiz licensing to Illfonic game studios in order to create a commercial version rose. The original creator, Lee Vermeulen secretly made a deal with Illfonic according to which the latter got the hold over Nexuiz trademark. Since such turn of events was completely unexpected by the community and most of Nexuiz developers, they vowed to create a fork controlled by a community in an open manner.Approximately seven months later the source code was published via Git
Git (software)
Git is a distributed revision control system with an emphasis on speed. Git was initially designed and developed by Linus Torvalds for Linux kernel development. Every Git working directory is a full-fledged repository with complete history and full revision tracking capabilities, not dependent on...
. A preview version was released on 23 December 2010.
A new version of Xonotic was released on 8 September 2011. Version 0.5 (when compared to version 0.1, not the Git version) now supports multiple languages and vehicles, has improved AI, 7 new default maps and many bug fixes and gameplay optimisations.