Tribes 2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Tribes 2 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Developer(s) | Dynamix |
| Publisher(s) | Sierra On-Line |
| Release date(s) | 2001 |
| Genre(s) | First-person shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Teen (T) ELSPA: 15+ |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, Linux |
Tribes 2 is a sci-fi first-person shooter (FPS) computer game, currently the second-latest game in the fictional Earthsiege universe (Complete line: Earthsiege (1994), Battledrome (1995), Earthsiege 2 (1995), Hunter Hunted (1996), Cyberstorm (1997), Cyberstorm 2 (1998), Starsiege (1999), Starsiege: Tribes (1999), Tribes 2 (2001), and Tribes: Vengeance (2004)). It was developed by Dynamix and published by the company then known as Sierra Entertainment in March 2001.
Although focused mainly on multiplayer, the game includes a training module in the Solo/LAN mode of the game, with 5 missions to train players in bomb placement, vehicle piloting and weapons training. While simple online modes like Deathmatch exist, Tribes is generally played as a team-based Capture the Flag game with up to 32 vs. 32 players on a single server. Other popular gametypes include Rabbit and Siege.
What made the futuristic series stand out is that it was the first online team-based FPS shooter to feature a seamless combination of indoor and outdoor combat, as well as vehicular and troop (both ground and air) combat.
Tribes also introduced deeper strategy elements to the FPS genre, including deployable items like sensors, turrets, and remote inventory stations. The Tribes series also featured different player classes before they became widespread in online shooters. Classes can further be customized by configuring weapon "load-outs" with different enhancement packs and choice of weapons.
As the terrains are generally vast, each player is equipped with a jetpack, the defining point of the Tribes series, giving them the ability to soar over and across terrain (and enemies). Jetpacks take a critical role in combat, giving incredibly mobility. Skiing allows a smooth transition from air to land, allowing players to hold a key down in order to "slide" across the terrain at high speeds.
Because of the strategy elements, customized load-outs, complex combat tactics, and use of jetpacks, Tribes has been considered to have one of the hardest learning curves for beginners. Latecomers to the game often faced a hard experience early on, and many quit because of this. The game's built-in taunt system (including animated gestures) can add to a newbie's frustration.
Another unique feature of Tribes 2 is the Community Browser and GUI. It included News, Forums, T-Mail, Chat, and Browser. Early on, T2 included a full-featured clan support system, but due to claims of abuse by its publisher, Sierra Entertainment, the forum feature was removed. The claimed abuse was largely limited to user criticism of game features. After the closure of Dynamix, the game's maker and a Sierra subsidiary, the news feature was removed. While the user and clan pages were a way of spreading information and recruiting members, the Browser had many bugs and downtimes during its run throughout the years. It is currently up and functional.
Like most online games, Tribes 2 had a heavy focus on clan competition. While there were a number of ladders out there, Team Warfare was the landmark site for most teams. While still active today, competition has dwindled in matches since the release of Tribes: Vengeance. With Tribes 2's powerful in-game clan support, it made it easy for leaders to set up scrimmages and practices with other teams.
Both Tribes and Tribes 2 were designed to be highly modifiable by players. A powerful scripting language built into the game engine, the Torque Game Engine, have allowed prospective "modders" to alter many aspects of gameplay; since the textures and 3D models can also be replaced, games that bear little resemblance to the Tribes titles can be created. The "modding" community surrounding these games have created a large number of custom levels, vehicles, weapons, skins, voice file sets, and mission types.
Contents |
[edit] Story
Set in the year 3941, Tribes 2 allows the user to play as a soldier in one of several factions, such as the Children of the Phoenix, the Blood Eagle, the Diamond Sword, and the Star Wolf. Players can also choose to play a rebelling human-created soldier/worker race called the BioDerms. None of the factions differ from each other in strengths or weaknesses, but each has a distinctive look and background story.
The maps where the battles take place are set on multiple planets far from Earth, which is occupied by the Great Human Empire, leaving other star systems and planets available to the Tribes of Man.
[edit] Armor
The three familiar armor types from Tribes are available:
[edit] Peltast / Scout Armor / Light
Favored by most players for its speed, this armor allows the player to jetpack higher than other armor types, but weapon carrying capacity is limited to three weapons. Players in light armor are the only ones who can pilot the Wildcat hovercycle, wield a laser rifle (requires energy pack) or use a cloaking pack, but they cannot place deployable stations or turrets.
[edit] Hoplite / Assault Armor / Medium
Strikes a good balance between firepower and mobility. Weapon capacity is one higher than that of the Scout. This armor can absorb significantly higher levels of damage than the Scout, and the wearer can pilot any vehicle other than the Wildcat. This armor has good jetpacking ability, is well-suited for deploying turrets and quick base assaults.
[edit] Myrimidon / Juggernaut Armor / Heavy
The ultimate in assault capability. The wearer can carry five weapons, and can not pilot any vehicles. The Mortar weapon is exclusive to this armor. Movement in this armor is excruciatingly slow and is usually reserved for indoors combat or bombardment. Jetpacking is a more difficult task, as the wearer cannot jet as high or fast as other armor types. If the player needs to get to the other side of the map or another place of battle, a player in a lighter armor can fly them in a transport. It is suggested that skiing be utilized when possible, especially for this armor class.
[edit] Vehicles
Tribes 2 modified several of the original vehicles from Tribes and introduced a several new ones. The vehicles include hovering ground vehicles and high flying turbogravs.
[edit] Wildcat Grav Cycle
A light, one-person, weaponless vehicle that hovers just above the ground. Extremely fast and difficult to pilot but ideal for flag capturing or quick-strike assaults. Some players use these for running over enemies on the ground. This vehicle can also be used to travel over water and underwater briefly before it is catapulted out of the water and back into the air at high speed (up to 900kph).
[edit] Shrike Scout Fighter
Fast and packing a considerable punch, this one-person vehicle is armed with dual unlimited-ammo energy blasters. (Note that these blasters draw energy from the shield reserves.) It can fly at high altitudes to avoid enemy fire. Useful for attacking other aircraft, as well as a quick escape for flag cappers. An onboard AWAC system extends the team sensor net significantly around the Shrike and can easily detect incoming hostiles. Advanced players may claim this vehicle in the beginning of a round and never give it up again. Using the terrain, it is possible to avoid all missiles and escape enemy fighters. Roadkilling is also a technique that "shrikers" use, just running over carelessly jetting enemy players.
[edit] HAVOC Gunship Transport
This slow-moving turbograv has no weapons, but four forward passengers and one tailgunner can use their own weapons while riding. Even heavy-armored players can be ferried in these craft. Players can bring flare grenades to distract missiles and wear Sensor Jammer packs to avoid sensor detection and prevent the automatic detection of enemy turrets.
The main weakness of this gunship is the vulnerability to Shrikes. Though five missile toting Juggernauts can ride, obtaining missile lock on a close Shrike is difficult. Many consider the loss of a HAVOC worth the risk to possibly bring in five Myrmidons to attack a position.
[edit] Beowulf Assault Tank
A heavily shielded hovertank. Although the tank is shielded, it is vulnerable against missiles. One player pilots the vehicle while a second can man the turret. The turret mounted on this tank fires powerful fusion mortars which explode on contact with anything, due to being tank mounted. A Vulcan chaingun is also mounted on, much more powerful than its hand-held version. Skilled pilots can use the tank for ramming enemies and are able to dodge Shrike fire and the occasional missile.
[edit] Thundersword Bomber
This turbograv can be manned by a pilot, a bombardier, and a tailgunner. The bombardier can switch between firing an energy turret and dropping powerful fusion warheads. The onboard targeting laser can designate enemy targets. The tailgunner is essential for defending the against enemy turrets, missiles, and Shrikes. A tailgunner is recommended to carry a sensor jamming pack to prevent turrets from picking up the bomber.
[edit] Jericho Mobile Base
This is an extremely slow-moving but well-shielded ground vehicle. It is the only wheeled vehicle in the game. Additionally, it can jam enemy sensors within a limited radius to prevent discovery. When "deployed", it contains a full inventory station and stationary turret on top. Note that enemies can "hijack" this vehicle while it is the process of deploying and the cockpit has not yet been shielded.
[edit] Weapons
Tribes 2 includes a diverse list of weapons ranging multiple roles:
[edit] Spinfusor / Stormhammer / Disc-Launcher
The most popular weapon in the series and the bread-and-butter weapon in Tribes. A slow-reloading, disc projectile launcher. For most people, the Spinfusor is included in every loadout because it has an good damage rating and large explosive splash area. Known for being one of the most difficult staple weapons to master in online gaming, players are complimented for "Mid-Airs" (or "MAs"), hitting another player with a disc while both are in flight. It is considered a distinction of the Tribes Universe.
[edit] Chaingun
A machine gun featuring the highest rate of fire in T2, the Chaingun is another popular weapon. Relatively easy to use, it is primarily used at close to medium range. The spread of bullets becomes very erratic over long distances. The flechettes are actually designed to explode inside the target. Whoring is player slang for unloading many bullets at the same player without reserve. Some players consider this tactic to be unfair.
[edit] Grenade Launcher
Basically what the name implies: a grenade-launching weapon capable of inflicting critical damage. An excellent reload rate and long range capability make it a key tool for many roles. The projectile is lobbed in an arc from the weapon, which distinguishes it from most other weapons (apart from the Fusion Mortar). The projectile will bounce if it hits a surface early enough, otherwise it will explode upon contact with any object.
[edit] Blaster
Spawning players start out with the blaster as their initial weapon. The Blaster fires a small, fast moving ball of energy that does fairly minimal damage. Widely regarded as useless, it is, however, the only weapon that can bypass the protection of an opponent's shield pack. Note that shots from this weapon will bounce off surfaces limitedly, so a missed shot can hit other objects, including the player who fired it.
[edit] Laser Rifle
Can only be used by light armor while wearing the Energy Pack. The Laser Rifle fires an instantaneous red beam of energy. The shot drains the wielding player's energy reserves completely, which can be a problem if enemies are close. "O-Sniping" (Offensive Sniping), or persistent sniping of the opposition's defense, is despised among some players and is grounds for being "kicked" from some servers. This rifle is most effective with headshots, which award bonus points, and can reduce a Scout's health to near zero.
The Laser Rifle may be used in conjunction with the Spinfusor for a deadly long-range "combo" attack, favored by some snipers. In this technique, the sniper establishes a good sniping location, and locates a distant relatively stationary enemy player using the HUD's zoom feature (players using inventory stations or vehicle bays are the most vulnerable). The sniper fires a Spinfusor disk towards the target, then immediately switches to the Laser Rifle and takes aim for a head shot. An instant before the Spinfusor disk reaches its target and explodes, the Laser Rifle is fired. The combined power of these simultaneous attacks will kill Scouts outright, and can kill or inflict severe damage to higher armor classes.
[edit] Shocklance
The only one-hit kill weapon in the game. The Shocklance can kill any player if used from behind the enemy. High energy consumption and slow recharge rate, this weapon is favored by cloaked infiltrators. The distinct electric buzzing of this weapon being used and charged up can alert enemies. The Shocklance is a very short range weapon. It should be noted that if this weapon hits an aircraft, it imparts a significant angular velocity to that aircraft at the point of impact. Thus, it is possible to overturn and destroy air vehicles with one well-placed lancing.
[edit] Plasma Rifle
The Plasma Rifle shoots hot balls of plasma with an excellent rate of fire. This can be a deadly indoor weapon, and is often used for destroying base assets due to its high ammo capacity. Striking a distant moving target is difficult due to the projectile's low speed and range. It cannot be fired while underwater.
[edit] Fusion Mortar
Can only be used by heavy (Juggernaut) armor. The Mortar lobs a unique shell which trails green smoke and explodes in a similar green explosion. It has a slow reload rate, its behavior is similar to that of the grenade launcher, but slower and more powerful. It is best used while another player uses a targeting laser, but many players can simply eye the distance with experience. This gun kills light armors in a single explosion, and is commonly used for base assault in conjunction with a shield pack.
[edit] Missile Launcher
Can be used by either Medium or Heavy armor. A powerful, slow-reloading weapon that fires missiles that home-in on a "hot" target once a lock has been achieved. Players that have been using their jetpacks for an extended time generate heat that can be locked on to, and all vehicles and base turrets are always trackable as well. Lock on by missile is warned with a characteristic alarm to the player or all players inside the vehicle. This weapon can also launch at points designated by player-deployed beacons or targeting lasers. When underwater, this weapon can only be dumbfired. Missiles in-flight toward a target can be diverted by the use of a flare grenade.
[edit] Elf Gun
ELF (Electron flux gun) - Although it doesn't do any damage, the ELF drains the energy supply of whatever gets in its path. Perfect for stopping enemies that are jetting away. Doesn't require ammo, as it draws energy from the energy cell.
[edit] Targeting Laser
This object is not a weapon as such does not count as a weapon when selecting load-out, but it can greatly assist teammates wielding grenade launchers or fusion mortars. It emits a thin, green beam of light; teammates see "markers" where the beam ends, which also indicates the angle at which they can fire their current weapons to strike the target. It is automatically equipped by all players, and does not take up any weapon load-out space.
[edit] Grenades and Cameras
Every player has the ability to carry a few hand-thrown grenades. The longer the throw key is held, the more force is imparted to the thrown projectile. Several different grenade types are available. The first is a standard explosive. The second is a flash-bang type weapon that whites out the vision of all players within range for a short time. The third is a concussion grenade, which does little damage, but can knock players and their equipment out of their hands, including a flag. The final grenade type is the flare, which is used to confuse homing missiles.
Alternatively, the player may choose to equip cameras instead of grenades. These occupy the grenade slot in the player's inventory, and are thrown in the same manner. When thrown against a surface, such as the interior or exterior wall of a base, the camera will attach and reorient itself. The camera then becomes a selectable item in the command circuit, allowing players to view remote locations.
Although remote viewing is the camera's originally-intended use, most players do not make use of them and prefer the more deadly grenades. Instead, the camera has been adopted by some experienced players as a general purpose "foothold" because it is possible to stand on top of a camera that is attached to a vertical surface. This allows players to hide in hidden or ignored corners of bases, out of sight and stray fire of players on the opposite team. This technique may be used in conjunction with a cloaking pack to great effect: cloaked players may hide on high pillars or in rooms with high ceilings, and if any opponent happens to glance upwards, the otherwise-innocuous camera is all that is visible. When the coast is clear, the player can drop from the camera and begin to inflict damage to enemy equipment before hiding again.
[edit] Mines
All players can carry a few proximity-detonated land mines. These mines do a fair amount of damage, enough to severely damage someone in Light Armor. They are often placed around the flag or near the generators in bases. Once thrown, it takes a moment for them to arm themselves. A common practice is to place them close to blind corners inside bases so that intruders will not have time to react to them until they trigger the mine. Another common practice of infiltrators is to damage a station to near-destruction and to place a mine at it. In this manner, someone attempting to repair or use the station will cause the mine to detonate, subsequently destroying the object, with the combined explosions often causing fatal damage to that player.
[edit] Beacons
All players can carry a few hand-placed beacons. These beacons have two uses. The first marks a target for weapons fire by giving telemetry for the Grenade Launcher and Mortar weapons. This also allows missiles to lock on to the beacon. Overall, its functionality is the same as a targeting laser, but does so in a static fashion. The second is for location marking, which appears simply as a location and distance indicator on friendly displays. This second use is not as widely known or used, however, and oftentimes players on a team will fire a mortar or missile at what is presumed to be a target, only to have destroyed an item that was placed by another player on their team and marked for location with a beacon.
[edit] Packs
Instead of player-specific classes, Tribes 2 features a wide range of packs which can be used to customize any loadout.
[edit] Jetpack
The jetpack is integrated into all armor classes and is carried at all times. The other packs are equipped to supplement the jetpack. It draws from the armor's constantly recharging energy reserve.
[edit] Energy Pack
The most widely used pack in T2, the Energy Pack gives the operator a faster recharge rate for energy. This can boost the effectiveness of both flying and shooting energy-based weapons. It is required for scout armors (light) to use a laser rifle. This pack is always active, and gives the wearer a greater energy reserve by recharging as it is being depleted.
[edit] Shield Pack
When activated, the Shield Pack drains the player's energy over time slowly, and if they lose energy from jetting or from taking damage then that energy will not be replenished until the pack is deactivated. Any damage that would normally be inflicted on the shielded player instead drains the player's energy supply. The exception to this is the blaster, which can penetrate the shield at close distances. When the player has no energy left, the shield deactivates, and the player resumes taking damage (and recharging energy) normally. Favored by players on base assault due to its recharging shielding capabilities.
[edit] Repair Pack
The repair pack projects a red beam of energy at the target the player is currently facing. This beam repairs damage to stations, generators, vehicles, or players. Note that many maps in T2 have repair packs placed somewhere inside or near each base, since players can not buy them at stations when the base's generator has been destroyed.
[edit] Sensor Jammer Pack
When activated, the Sensor Jammer Pack disrupts the other team's sensor network within a 50-meter radius. Any players or vehicles within the jammer's radius will not show up on enemy radar or have "friend or foe" identifiers within visual range. These can be very useful for tailgunners of Bombers and Havoc Transports, since they can prevent turrets from firing at the vehicles.
[edit] Cloak Pack
When activated, the Cloak Pack makes the user invisible, both visually and to sensor networks. This pack consumes energy very quickly, only enabling players to use it for short durations before "recharging". Users can still be picked up by motion detectors. Active use emits a quiet, characteristic sound that can alert enemies.
[edit] Satchel Charge
A pack that, when the activation key is first pressed, throws the pack out in front of the player. The second key press after arming causes the detonation of the pack after a short series of warning sounds. The blast-radius and power of this explosion is the most powerful available, eclipsing even that of the fusion mortar and Thundersword bombs. These can be used in a number of ways, both as offensive tools and defensive traps, especially for the flag. It may also destroy other nearby forms of defense such as turrets and mines. The deployed satchel charge can be destroyed with weapons fire before detonation.
[edit] Inventory Station
This is a small portable inventory station. This operates in a similar manner to the permanent ones that may be found in team bases, but has the restriction that it cannot be used to change armour class or create another inventory station. Inventory stations cannot be carried by Scout armors and carriers cannot pilot vehicles. Depending on map, there's a limit to the number of inventory stations per team.
[edit] Other
A number of other deployable items are available. These include two types of sensors (pulse, motion), a pair of small deployable turrets (Spiderclamp and Landspike), and various swappable barrels for any of the main base turrets. Deployment and use of these items is essential in an effective base defense and these items operate automatically, with the exception of the turret barrels which can be used through turret control.
Items are sometimes deployed simply as obstacles in doorways or around flags in an attempt to slow the movement of enemies.
[edit] Base Assets
In CTF, each team has a base and flagstand. Some maps include forward attack outposts for gearing up. The base has a generator power system, usually located at the heart of the indoors. If destroyed, the team's power is shut down and must be repaired in order to use inventory stations and power other base equipment. Inventory stations are used to give the player their selected loadout. Turrets are usually strategically located near the base or flag and fire a projectile automatically depending on what type they are. The sensor network runs along the base's perimeter, and provides targets for the turrets. Players can retrieve all base information from within their command circuit. Note that turrets can be controlled via the CC, at the expense of the player being unaware of their surroundings.
[edit] Mods
As with its predecessor, Tribes 2 offered players the option to create and/or play custom mods through the use of an internal scripting language. Once again servers could be initialized to use a custom mod simply by adding an additional modifier to the command line.
Mod support maintained most of the key features present in Tribes, particularly server-side mod support, but also contained a number of new features. Tribes 2 could create "compiled" (partially encrypted) versions of the individual mod files, still interpretable by the game, which could then be optionally compiled into one .vl2 package for distribution. This allowed mods to be distributed freely in a format that did not give server operators access to the source code, one of the main difficulties faced by Tribes modders. Many of the other shortcomings faced by Tribes modders were rectified by Tribes 2, such as the innacuracy of the GetMuzzleTransform function or the inability to specify different damage types for laser-type projectiles. The scripting language also contained numerous functional improvements, comprable to the additions to C++ from its predecessor, C. Tribes 2 scripting supported newer features such as classes and object-oriented programming, and related properties like inheritance. These new features allowed not only for easier creation of mod elements but also for the addition of significantly more complex elements to a given mod.
However, despite the positive elements of Tribes 2's mod support there were a number of lingering issues which made mod creation in Tribes 2 difficult at times. The scripting support allowed for certain object types (static shapes) to be scaled in any combination of their X, Y and Z dimensions, but coverage calculations would still be performed based on their unmodified dimensions. The new Zone object types -- encompassing elements like water, lava, and force fields -- had numerous frustrating properties, including unit lengths which differed from game units depending on the rotational position of the Zone, as well as a complete lack of "interaction" functions ("onCollision", "EnterZone", "LeaveZone", etc.) that could be modified or overloaded through scripting. Many prospective modders were disappointed with the lack of extra shape files, as Tribes had included a number of unused shapes which were widely used in modding efforts. Tribes 2's Inventory system also complicated matters, as there was no included GUI to allow players to purchase single items not part of their current favorites. This meant that if a player wanted to buy an item added by a mod they would either have to include it in one of their 20 favorites or bind a separate key to a special "update buylist" function for that specific item, the latter of which could not be done without significant effort or a client-side download. The Tribes 2 favorites system also proved problematic, as it would not automatically use a different set of favorites depending on the mod, unlike Tribes. This in practice forced players to limit themselves to one mod type, preventing any casual exploration of other mods.
[edit] Base++ and Classic
 |
This article or section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please help improve this article or replace this tag with a more specific message. This article has been tagged since July 2006 . (help, talk) |
Base++, an earlier mod by z0dd and ZOD, the authors behind Classic, accelerated the game, but it wasn’t sufficient for most players. The Base++ mod didn't catch on anywhere except in the USA. In other countries the changes weren't seen as anything beyond basic tinkering and base CTF was kept as the main game of choice in Australasia and Europe. The authors behind ++ carried their philosophies over to Classic, taking things up a gear to the next level and, with help from The Weasel, had classic introduced along with a final fix patch from GarageGames and the wonderful TeamRabbit2. Though the authors of Classic have added a few details like some pack enhancements and Mine-disking, the main focus behind the changes in Classic has been speed. In the original T2 base it was possible to reach 200 km/h without the aid of a vehicle, in Classic speeds nearing 500 km/h are possible. These speeds aren’t easy to attain by any means, but in original T2 (or ‘T2 Base’) even the most average player could slam into the speed cap. Classic has become the mod of choice for the veteran clans and players in both the USA and Australasia. Unfortunately, many players went on to try Tribes Vengeance which had the overall effect of many players leaving the tribes franchise forever with a very sour taste in their mouths. In Europe players are still split between base and classic with many of the lower level T2 veterans choosing to stick with base and those that enjoyed the speed of classic are now playing a cluster modification. The top half (or so) of the ladder left to play Classic, but as classic received little support from server admins changing their public servers to the new modification, staying with the tried and true base modification, classic died out over a period of 18 months or so, and the ladder was discontinued. The base trashing which featured so heavily in classic was annulled by the cluster modification, which many top classic players still play today.
[edit] Defense Turret
An anti-cheat tool (client and server side) created by the RoDent. The tool was designed to prevent the usage of many HappyMod2 features, texture replacements, and many other exploitations. After the 1.5 release, its popularity grew and was accepted by competition leagues (BEML and TWL). Not every member of the Tribes community was a fan due to the restrictions on Q-Fire and interpolation, which is an ongoing debate on if in fact they are cheats or not. People also doubt the effectiveness of "DT" as it does not appear to block all "cheats" and can be bypassed. It was rumored that a new Defence Turret was being made, but currently no update has been released widely to the public. It still currently is the best anti-cheat available.
[edit] Dynamix
It was rumoured that the developer's parent Sierra, which had been acquired by Vivendi Universal, insisted on a scheduled release date for the title in order to support the sagging fortunes of the troubled media empire (where legendary independent developers like id Software and Valve Corporation are famous for saying that their latest in-development game will be released "when it's done"). When released Tribes 2 was prone to crash with the famous "Unhandled Exception" (UE) error and many would argue required more gameplay tweaks before launch. These caused a high number of customer returns and complaints, which, it is believed, contributed to Sierra's decision to cancel the planned Tribes 2 expansion pack and close the Dynamix studio.
[edit] Torque Game Engine
Some of the core Dynamix members started GarageGames, an independent-friendly engine developer and game publisher. They negotiated an agreement with Sierra for the source code to the T2 game engine. After reworking the code, GarageGames released it as V12 but where soon told that an engine already had the name so it was then called the Torque Game Engine, or TGE. The source code for TGE, a professional-grade 3D engine, is available to nearly anyone for fees starting at USD$100.
An improved version of TGE called the Torque Game Engine Advanced (TGEA) is currently available as an "early adopters release", inspiring Tribes fans to imagine that one day a Tribes-style game with modern visual effects (including pixel shaders) may become a reality. This appears to be likely given the recent announcement by the RenWerX Team of Ascension, described as, "...an online ‘FPS+Z’ (First Person Shooter with advanced character movement on the Z axis)." [1]
TGEA was at first named Torque Shader Engine TSE and also briefly named Torque Advanced Technology or TAT.
While it is unknown if another Tribes game will ever be released, the inexpensive and easy-to-develop nature of the Torque game engine has already spawned several games in the Tribes style, many of them planned or already released as free titles.
[edit] Fan Reaction
Some fans believed that Tribes 2 did not live up to the original because of limitations set on speed (Tribes had no such limits), a perceived over-emphasis on vehicles, the increased size of maps (some up to eight times larger), and the "dumbing down" of skiing. Other players praised the sequel for the variation in gameplay it introduced. In particular, some players were enthusiastic about the improved vehicles and their expanded role in the game.
Tribes-inspired games include:
[edit] Community Division
The jetpack and skiing game elements took center stage for a large and vocal faction of the Tribes community, which had the ear of then-Sierra staff member Alex "Marweas" Rodberg, who single-handedly had the job of managing the Tribes franchise. Rodberg convinced his superiors that the Tribes fans were passionate as well as multitudinous, and a third game was put into development. In order to convert complaining fans into returning customers, Sierra arranged to have GarageGames patch the remaining Tribes 2 glitches and add further enhancements to what had become an abandoned title.
Because of this emphasis, Tribes: Vengeance became a more hectic experience that highlighted the mobility aspects and played-down the strategy elements of the franchise. Coupled with a shorter-than-usual development cycle, poorly-timed release window, and marginalization of user modification abilities (vital to the longevity of the previous Tribes titles), Tribes: Vengeance was declared a failure and many believe it drove the last nail in the coffin for the franchise.
[edit] Games Inspired by Tribes 2
After Dynamix was disbanded, Tribes 2 producer Dave Georgeson joined Sony Entertainment (where he was soon fired) and headed-up development of Planetside, a massively multiplayer online first person shooter, one of the first of its kind.
The Torque Game Engine has spawned a great number of independent Tribes-inspired projects.
[edit] Legacy
On November 20, 2002, Sierra released an update for Tribes 2. This update contained two new game types, new maps and updates to address several issues, including those that had originally turned off many Starsiege: Tribes players. This was the last update they would do for Tribes 2.
Although the Tribes Universe is now considered "elderly" (the original Tribes was released in 1998 and the Earthsiege/Starsiege universe in which it takes place is much older), many players can still be found on its servers. Some independent servers still regularly show upwards of 20 people (of a possible 64 per server) playing.
Sierra, which is now part of Vivendi Universal, licensed the franchise to Irrational Games for a third installment; Tribes: Vengeance was released in October 2004. In an effort to increase interest in the upcoming sequel, Sierra released both the original Starsiege: Tribes and Tribes 2 for free download on May 4, 2004. Sierra is now no longer offering Tribes 2 keys. The installer is downloadable, but keys needed for online play were only distributed for a limited time.
[edit] Tribes 2 Today
While Tribes 2 today has suffered from people leaving for other games, it still lives on. Many servers still exist, however many of these are primarily "bot" servers that are only populated by the AI that Tribes 2 provides (although sometimes this AI is modded to make it better). Some populated servers still remain. Elite Warriors Online and Rebels Katabatic are the two most popular servers at the current time, with Rebels usually filled up around 32, and Elite Warriors Getting as many as 65 or more at a time. With different estimates changing all the time about just how many players are left in T2, it is quite known that the number is just somewhere in the hundreds.
[edit] External links
- Tribes Vengeance site at tribes2.com
- PlanetTribes (GameSpy network site)
- Tribal Outpost Lots of Tribes 2 resources.
- TribalWar Fan Site #1 Tribes Discussion Community
- www.triben.de Home of Defense Turret, Evolution Admin Mod, and the map packs Euro/The Ladder/Cluster MapPacks
- Tribes 2 Coding Central
- Elite Warriors Server The most popular Tribes 2 server still running.
- Tribes2maps.com Custom map site.
- Listing of Tribes 2 Mods (moddb.com)
- www.tribes-3.de German fan site.
- Shifter mod
- TWL Tribes 2 Forum Section
- Bittah Tribes 2 Forum Sections
- Tribes @ SecNem.com: Usefull T2/T2Demo stuff by old Vets
