When it comes to deathmatch-oriented open source FPS games based on the multitudinous engine offspring of Quake (1-2-III), a plethora of choice exists: Warsow, Alien Arena, World of Padman and Trepidation to name but a few. Out of these, the highly-enhanced, DarkPlaces–based Nexuiz has always been a favourite of mine.
This particular open source, GPL-licensed shooter was first released in 2005 and has since seen a vast amount of updates and improvements, including the addition of particle effects, bump mapping, modern shaders and a smoother netcode. The game also comes bundled with NetRadiant, the team’s own fork of GtkRadiant 1.5. Overall, Nexuiz has been downloaded by more than “4 million unique users”.
Now, here’s the news: Alientrap Entertainment have allowed another company, IllFonic, to adapt and revise the game for launching as a downloadable FPS, on the consoles:
IllFonic announced today its plans to launch the futuristic arena first-person shooter Nexuiz across downloadable console platforms in 2010. … IllFonic’s remake of Nexuiz for console gamers features a new Victorian influenced art style that is simultaneously futuristic and sophisticated.
IllFonic have also negotiated a license with LordHavoc, the developer of the DarkPlaces engine. According to IllFonic’s Kedhrin Gonzalez, shared PC/console multiplayer is not in the cards, nor are mouse or keyboard support. Alientrap Entertainment’s Lee Vermeulen also clarifies that
…the PC and Console version will be completely separate entities. Development of the cross platform Nexuiz will continue to be open. No new content of Illfonic’s art will be GPL or added to Alientrap’s development of Nexuiz, although the project will benefit from advances in the engine’s technology.
It certainly is a most titillating idea to think that a Quake 1 -based derivative should see a release on the very latest generation of video gaming consoles; the fourteen long years that have gone past since the original 1996 launch of Quake certainly speak for its age-defying durability, even if DarkPlaces is a rather massive overhaul of the original codebase.
Square Enix Ltd recently grabbed the trademark name “Deus Ex: Human Revolution” (008862153) for decidedly game-y purposes; should the forthcoming Deus Ex 3 be subtitled as such remains unconfirmed, though, but at the time of writing, that’s as close as it gets.
The company has also started an underground advertising campaign for the game – one that might not reflect as well on the game’s profile as they might have hoped, for reasons that are rather out of the company’s hands: While Valve is going all out and wooing the games press with massive high-profile PR stunts like there was no tomorrow, all we got from Eidos was these lousy renders:
Then again, it seems almost cruel to expect the same level of commitment as we do from Valve at this point, so… in case you’re stoked to see these images, you should keep on checking out the official thread in the Eidos forums.
In the meantime, do check out our Deus Ex 3 teaser trailer image gallery which contains full captioned explanations for each subliminal image present in the trailer (It was a lot of work).
