Warsow (game)

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Warsow

A screenshot of Warsow 0.3
Developer(s) Warsow team
Distributor(s) Chasseur de Bots
License Freeware with GNU GPL code and proprietary multimedia resources
Engine Qfusion
Version 0.42
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows, Linux and Mac OS
Release date 2008-02-28 0.42 (latest)
2005-06-08 0.04a (first public v.)
Genre(s) First-person shooter
Mode(s) Online multiplayer, Single player
Media Downloadable
Input methods Keyboard, mouse
Free software Portal
Video games Portal

Warsow, often abbreviated as WSW or W§W (the latter following its logo), is a multiplayer first-person shooter computer game first publicly released on June 8, 2005. The game is actively developed by a crew of freelance software developers and artists. Warsow prides itself on high-quality content standards with thorough testing by selected members of the community[1]. Warsow’s codebase is open source software, distributed under the terms of the GPL; it is built upon Qfusion, an advanced modification of the Quake II engine. The artwork and other media is licensed under the proprietary Warsow Content License, which allows the contributers of this media to use the work in a "personal portfolio" but not in any other game[2]. Because of this Warsow is Freeware, not Open Source.

Warsow is loosely based on the E-novel Chasseur de bots by Fabrice Demurger[3]. The novel is the basis of the game's cyberpunk visual style, which is achieved by combining cel-shaded cartoon-like graphics with dark, flashy and dirty textures. Since visual clarity is important in maintaining competitive gameplay, Warsow tries to keep effects minimalistic, clear and visible.

Contents

[edit] Competitive play

While Warsow is still beta software, it has been accepted as a competition-worthy game by several large online leagues such as the Electronic Sports League[4] and ClanBase[5][6][7]. In addition to acceptance by large leagues, many specialized Warsow cups have emerged. Well-known examples are Bamboocha, a Europe-based Warsow Duel Tourney[8], and ESW : WARSOW, a Japanese Warsow cup[9]. In 2007, several LAN tournaments featuring Warsow have emerged such as Crossfire Devotii Challenge 3[10], Warsow.nl LAN[11], and E-SPORTS STADIUM 2007[12].

Additionally, Warsow has been featured on the German TV-channel GIGA Television several times[13], namely in GIGA eSports and its sub-shows Skill Sunday and Free For All and the Pay TV ITV station GIGA 2, also produced by Turtle Entertainment.

[edit] Gameplay

The very competitive gameplay of Warsow focuses heavily on movement and trickjumping[14]. Many of the tricks in Warsow, which originate from the Quake series, include circle-jumping, bunny hopping, strafe-jumping, double jumping, ramp-sliding, and rocket jumping. Warsow also gives players the ability to dash, dodge or wall jump, tricks that were originally possible in the Unreal series.[15] The various movement tricks combine to add an extra dimension to the gameplay; as the player's proficiency at moving increases, they are able to collect health, armour and weapons more quickly, more effectively overpower enemies with their speed. The variety and flexibility of the physics has spawned an entire community dedicated to competing on the various Race maps that the game offers [16].

Warsow also has a unique power-up system for weapons. In addition to regular ammunition, ammo boxes found on the map contain strong ammunition. Strong ammo either increases a weapon's power or modifies its behaviour to make it more effective. Weapons are restricted to using strong ammunition until depleted, at which point it would switch back to using regular ammunition.

[edit] Gamemodes

Duel 
A battle between two individual players to score the most frags within a certain time limit, traditionally 10 minutes.
Duel Arena 
Battle between two players, but with a queue that exchanges the lowest-ranked player with another player after each frag (the winner stays)
Free for All 
A traditional free for all deathmatch. Weapon respawns are almost instant to compensate for the chaos and to give each player a chance at getting a weapon.
Team Deathmatch 
Players are divided into two teams. The object is to have the highest number of frags, which is the sum of the frags of each individual player on a team, at the end of the predetermined time, usually 20 minutes.
Capture the flag 
Plays similar to traditional Capture the Flag usually, but with one important difference: when a player picks up a flag, a countdown timer while holding the flag. Once the countdown timer expires, the flag is returned. In order to extend the timer, a teammate must stand on top of the enemies flag stand. This timer option can be disabled in the hosting server's configuration setup though.
Race 
Based on the DeFRaG modification for Quake III: Arena, players are challenged to race to the end of a map in the shortest amount of time possible.
Clan Arena 
Based on Rocket Arena for Quake. Features different player classes and different weights within classes.
Instagib 
Based on the Instagib mutator from Unreal Tournament. There are no weapons or health pickups around the map, and each player is given a hitscan one-shot-kill rifle. This is less of a gametype and more of a game option, as this can be used with any of the above gametypes (Instagib Deathmatch, Instagib Capture the Flag, et cetera).

[edit] References

  1. ^ Warsow Wiki: Credits. Retrieved on 2007-02-09.
  2. ^ license.txt as found in the Warsow 0.42 SDK Retrieved on 2008-06-04
  3. ^ Demurger, Fabrice. Chasseur de bots. Retrieved on 2007-02-09.
  4. ^ ESL Warsow. Retrieved on 2007-02-09.
  5. ^ ClanBase Warsow Duel OpenCup Fall 2006. Retrieved on 2007-02-09.
  6. ^ ClanBase Warsow TDM Hosted Cup. Retrieved on 2007-02-09.
  7. ^ ClanBase Warsow Ladders. Retrieved on 2007-02-09.
  8. ^ Bamboocha Warsow Duel Tourney. Retrieved on 2007-02-09.
  9. ^ ESW (Japanese). Retrieved on 2007-02-09.
  10. ^ CDC3 Annoucement. Retrieved on 2007-08-31.
  11. ^ Warsow.NL LAN. Retrieved on 2007-08-31.
  12. ^ E-sports Stadium 2007. Retrieved on 2007-08-31.
  13. ^ GIGA 2 Warsow VOD archive (German). Retrieved on 2007-02-09.
  14. ^ Demurger, Fabrice. Warsow concept. Retrieved on 2007-02-09.
  15. ^ Warsow Wiki: Movement. Retrieved on 2007-02-09.
  16. ^ Warsow Racenet (German). Retrieved on 2007-08-31.

[edit] External links