Sauerbraten rated worst Open Source FPS?

by SanHolo on 12/30/2007 22:54, 131 messages, last message: 11/25/2017 23:24, 119250 views, last view: 05/17/2024 10:25, closed on 11/25/2017 23:38

There's an article over at Slashdot that links a report of linux-gamers.net which compared 7 open source shooters. Since the site is slashdotted ATM, all I can get from /. is the ranking: (best to worst) Warsow, Tremulous, World of Padman, Nexuiz, Alien Arena, OpenArena, and Sauerbraten.

I hope the site will be back online soon to see their arguments... :P

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#59: aargh

by rock.n.rol_ on 01/03/2008 13:06

Lol sorry, forgot to mention that the tutorials i was speaking about should be in the menu. ;)

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#60: ..

by Exl on 01/03/2008 13:14

What I think, IMHO, is that Sauer is missing some sort of artistic direction. Though it is an awesome engine with some beautiful maps, it doesn\'t ever feel as a whole to me. A more intuitive menu\'s, standard set of maps, consistent artwork (what\'s an ironsnout model doing in an egyptian map?)... I guess it just needs some serious polishing.

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#61: Re: aargh

by steve_e on 01/03/2008 13:18, refers to #59

Or tart up the existing html documentation and link to that from the game. All help files are pretty much web based now, so that might be a 'quick fix' to link to 'prettier' static wiki docs.

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#62: Re: ..

by SanHolo on 01/03/2008 14:06, refers to #58

Yes, rock.n.rol, that's exactly what I think (and mentioned before :D). More info for what you've "achieved" during a game is what I miss the most. Even showing the damage done in the scoretab would be great, maybe you've inflicted more damage than another player who has more frags. Would be interesting, sauer is a competitive game after all. :)

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#63: ..

by makkE on 01/03/2008 14:39

It doesn´t surprise me at all that sauer is last in this list.

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#64: Re: hmm

by Grogan on 01/03/2008 18:16, refers to #34

With regard to the map load with no menu, that confused me for about 1 minute the very first time I tried Cube. I ran around for a minute or so and thought "what the heck am I supposed to shoot at?" I pressed esc to see if that was how to exit so I could go read some documentation or something, and then it became clear immediately. Go to Single Player and start a match.

I don't see how that makes it feel like a "tech demo" though.

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#65: hmm

by Aardappel_ on 01/03/2008 18:34

ok, some good feedback. I guess we should aim for a splash screen then.

Basically, unless there the -l (load map) command line option is used, it would show a splash screen before loading any map (well, there'd be an unaccessible empty map behind the splash screen).

It would show the regular menu atop the splash screen in 2d mode. After the user loads his first map, we're back in normal sauer behaviour (i.e. there is no "quit game and go back to the main menu", as you just load your next map from the ingame 3d menu.

Better HUD and other graphics sound good too, but as always, that depends on someone doing them.

For the splash, it be important that it looks sexy, for that we need 1:1 pixel ratio. So probably the best approach is to design a graphic with a nice border, aimed at say 1024 res. Any bigger res would use a background texture behind it. Anything smaller will just be clipped (sorry, this is 2008).

The image should have its main graphics (wether made of screenshots or player characters) around the edges, as the middle will have the menu blended on top of it.

Sound good?

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#66: ..

by RealNitro on 01/03/2008 19:40

Other approach then the splash-screen: just change the default starting map to something that provides the same functionality as the splash screen (welcome the player, show where to get help, tell the name and version of the game, etc).

(I'm afraid it won't look as good and familiar as a nice splash screen though. Just throwing this in the idea pool.)

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#67: ..

by Acord on 01/03/2008 20:34

The art direction could definitely use help, but that's the problem with having so many contributors - there's no unified look and feel.

Sauer's gameplay is on the fast and furious side, and I think there should be more of a focus on that - make it faster and more furious. Make the weapons shoot faster, more ammunition, have the health pickups help more, the whole nine yards.

It's definitely a kill as many people as you can before you get fragged sort of game, so emphasize that rather than feeling that it's some sort of limitation.

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#68: My two cents

by JadeMatrix on 01/03/2008 20:54

OpenArena - Quake 3 available for OSX
Alien Arena - haven\'t played
Nexuiz - Different, fire it up now and then.
Padman - 1.5 hour download, I say no.
Tremulous - Mac download won\'t show any servers.
Warsow - haven\'t played
Sauerbraten - well durr...

--------------------------------

Once I can get back to Inkscape, I\'ll try my hand at a new loading screen, menu (although carotennaro\'s looks great :) ).

--------------------------------

steve_e, I haven\'t played foggy yet, but I\'ve seen my brother play it (he died like a bajillion times, the newb).

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#69: No fast orgies :(

by carotennaro on 01/03/2008 20:54

@Aardappel: I just think that the way you intend to implement the splash menu is perfect, and of course I agree. I'm glad that my suggestions and the ones of other players have been took in consideration. Thank you very much! :)

@ Acord: I hope that the game speed won't be increased any further. By my side, I already feel dizzy with the current settings so, if the game would get faster, I think I would puke. Please, let us play at a "human" speed: frag orgies aren't for me. :-/

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#70: Re: hmm

by SheeEttin on 01/03/2008 21:07, refers to #65

Hmm, that sounds good, though I'm not sure how it will "feel"...
Maybe just the main menu coming up at start time (with an option to disable this behavior) would suffice.

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#71: ..

by geartrooper2 on 01/03/2008 22:23

http://johnny3d.promail.ca/concept/rect11089.png

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#72: ..

by geartrooper2 on 01/03/2008 22:29

http://johnny3d.promail.ca/concept/rect7140.png

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#73: polish

by Megagun on 01/03/2008 23:16

Yes, what Sauerbraten needs is polishing.

Part of the reason why I like both Urban Terror and Tremulous, is that both games have an extreme ammount of polish to them: guns sound like guns, lots of attention to detail, menus work, etc. Personally, I think that the sound guns make is something that is *very* important and often overlooked: if a gun sounds like it should (or like you expected it to), it \"feels\" right and the enjoyment of the game is increased drastically.

But with polish I also mean game polish and menu interface polish. Things will just have to feel right, which is why people apply polish to their games. A menu interface, even though many of you might not like it, would be a good thing. Plus it might actually make things slightly faster, since you don\'t have to load metl4 anymore (instead can hop straight onto a server)... ;)

What you might do is add a uniform (same levelstyle, etc.) singleplayer campaign and a nice GUI for it (Unreal Tournament\'s Tournament interface was neatish)...

Again though, if weapon sounds are improved, I bet Sauerbraten\'s game (I personally think that the engine is hyperawesome, whereas the game is somewhat fun. Regen capture with 16 people is fun thogh) will be vastly improved, or at least feel as if it is vastly improved.

It is often quite surprising how much small little tweaks can optimize the feel of a game enormously.

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#74: Re: agreed

by Drakas on 01/03/2008 23:16, refers to #47

Let's feed the noobs a bit more, shall we?

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#75: Re: polish

by Drakas on 01/03/2008 23:23, refers to #73

You think that will improve Sauer, you think this will improve Sauer. What are you talking about? If you don't like something - here! Here's the source! Use it!

If you think sounds are bad, *contribute*. If you think that Sauer needs more SP maps, *contribute*. If you don't like the current GUI system, *contribute*!

Yeah, just "add a singleplayer campaign" <--- ????


You are just talking and you will never get to work itself, which, is actually what the developers have achieved. Oh, and they have a vision not to create a standard suckup game with Halo 3, UT and Gears of Wars components.


I think that it may even offend the people behind Sauerbraten when people speak like this... "add a singleplayer campaign", "add new weapons" and such... What a load of ****


Oh, by the way, do the reviews actually mean that Sauerbraten is the worst? Or are just they giving their own opinion? Where does this game qualify as the worst? Definitely not in the reality of what it is. And definitely in these peoples' opinions.



[/rant]

Forgive me if I sound like a total jackass.
My opinion on the situation here. Might not be correct. Don't take offensively.

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#76: Re: polish

by Drakas on 01/03/2008 23:37, refers to #73

You know... The more appreciatable things are constructive criticism and good quality feedback. That means:
* What you think would work - new weapon sounds
* Why it would work - better game experience
* Other examples - other games
* Opposite examples - similar games using basic sounds
* How it perhaps could be implemented - depends
* How you could help - for example, you searching for good sample sources.

Also, ideas that are not OBVIOUS will be much more useful :)


I know two people who have been asked to search for sounds. And guess what? The search is very difficult, unlike you are thinking.

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#77: Re: agreed

by gilgamesh on 01/04/2008 00:30, refers to #74

"Let's feed the noobs a bit more, shall we?"

What's wrong with making things simpler for new players? It helps them and saves us from having to answer their questions. Win-win situation.

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#78: Cool.

by conorkirk@mac.com on 01/04/2008 01:16

I like Aardrappel's idea, but I have a suggestion:

In the menu, like after you start playing, "Quit" should be renamed to "Quit Sauerbraten" to avoid someone from thinking that goes to the menu.

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