Free alternatives to classic games

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MrFlibble
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Re: Free alternatives to classic games

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MrFlibble wrote: August 4th, 2011, 7:18 pm Warcraft II
Recently I discovered that the latest version of Aleona's Tales (bundled with Wargus 2.4.3) does no work out of the box - in fact, no 2.4.x release does.

I figured out that this is caused by errors with PNG files, which I was able to correct and threw together a fix for the latest version: tales-2.4.3-fix.zip

To use, first install the 2.4.3 release from GitHub, then unzip the contents of the fix archive, overwriting the files.
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MrFlibble
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Re: Free alternatives to classic games

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Aleona's Tales fix update: aleonas-tales-2.4.3-fix-r2.zip
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Re: Free alternatives to classic games

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Here's a little hotfix for Aleona's Tales sprites: tales-quick-fix.zip

It repairs some extra transparency in Peasant, Fawn, Knight and Gryphon sprites, and adds shadows to Footman and Archer sprites. Additionally, I replaced Footman and under attack voice with higher quality alternatives by David Slimp which I found in the old CVS repo, plus attempted to repair some other speech and sounds with clicks and noise using Audacity.
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Re: Free alternatives to classic games

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Another update for the Aleona's Tales fix: tales-fix-update.zip

It supersedes the one in my previous post. Unzip and overwrite all files. It restructures the scripts to add custom unit and building names and tooltips, adds shadows to most Feral buildings and recolours the new water tiles. Some new icons and sounds too.
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MrFlibble
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Re: Free alternatives to classic games

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Homeworld Master of Orion
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MrFlibble
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Re: Free alternatives to classic games

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I've just updated the list in the first post. It's a complete overhaul, with a simplified presentation and less categories. Basically, now we have either similar games/clones, or some kind of authorised remake or outright source port -- provided that the game has become free that way. I've also added quite a few more titles.

The previous version of the list is quote below, for reference.
MrFlibble wrote: August 4th, 2011, 7:18 pm Not long ago I've become interested in freeware games whose authors seem to consciously imitate well-known classics, or at least closely follow them in design. If a commercial game of this kind could be considered a "clone" (made to repeat the original's success on the market), freeware games usually aim for accurate recreation of the game's atmosphere and mechanics, as people behind them are more often that not dedicated fans of the originals. Many of these are open source games, but not all of them, so there's only a partial overlap with Open Source Game Clones.

Update from 2021/07/27: A complete overhaul of the lists, using new groupings, which are hopefully more informative.

1. Original engine + free/libre game data
These are games based on the original code of their inspirations. Often, a free/libre game data set (levels, graphics, music) is created as a replacement for the original proprietary game data, while the playing mechanics remain the same, but sometimes, other aspects of gameplay undergo considerable alterations, which is reflected by the [mod] suffix in the list below.

In some cases, the source code/engine is still not public, but has been provided by owners to the community so that new free games or mods may be created.

Yet another case when the code is not available are various game construction sets that allow users to freely distribute games created with them. These are marked with the [toolkit] suffix.

Abuse Alien Shooter The Bard's Tale Crayon Physics Doom II Duke Nukem 3D Freespace 2 Heretic Hovertank 3D Lethal Tender Quake Quake II Quake III Arena Steel Panthers Steel Panthers II: Modern Battles Super-VGA Harrier The Ultimate Doom Wolfenstein 3-D 2. Engine recreation + free/libre game data
Very similar to the above, but the original game source is not available in any form, so an attempt is made to recreate it from scratch and/or by means of reverse engineering. Usually such projects start by requiring the original game's data, and then a free/libre replacement data set is created by the community.

In some rare cases, the author of a recreation received permission from the copyright holders of the emulated game to use original proprietary game data, characters, title etc. These projects are marked with the [authr] suffix in the list.

Atomix The Bard's Tale Construction Set Chip's Challenge Command & Conquer: Red Alert Commander Keen (second trilogy) Digger (Windmill Software) Flight Sim Toolkit M.A.X. Panzer General Supaplex Total Annihilation Transport Tycoon Deluxe UFO: Enemy Unknown Warcraft II 3. Clones and remakes that faithfully recreate original mechanics
This is likely the most common type, with many projects being not only accurate reproductions of the original game mechanics, but often also trying to follow the original "look & feel" of their inspirations. At least some of these projects are motivated by the desire to create a FOSS alternative to a proprietary game for Linux users, or to fill in what is perceived as an empty niche for modern platforms.

Note that some of these games actually make rather drastic changes compared to the original titles they emulate, such as the transition to 3D graphics from 2D, or a cosmetic/thematic overhaul by using free software mascots as game characters for example.

A-Train Age of Empires Alien Breed Anno series Arkanoid Battle Isle II BlockOut Blood Bomberman Boulder Dash Bust-a-Move/Puzzle Bobble Carrier Command Castlevania 2 Civilisation V Columns Command & Conquer Crimsonland D/Generation Diablo Doom Duke Nukem 1 Dungeon Keeper Elasto Mania Elite Empire Deluxe Escape Velocity Forgotten Realms: Unlimited Adventures The Great Giana Sisters Herzog Zwei Homeworld King's Quest series Knights and Merchants Lemmings Lode Runner The Lords of Midnight The Lost Vikings Magic Carpet Master of Monsters Master of Orion Mechwarrior series Minecraft Mortal Kombat Nibbles OutRun Oxyd Pac-Man Panzer General II Puzznic Rise of the Triad RPG Maker Secret Agent Sensible (World of) Soccer The Settlers II The Settlers of Catan Sid Meier's Civilisation/Civilisation II Sid Meier's Colonisation SimCity SolarFox Sonic the Hedgehog Star Wars: TIE Fighter StarCraft Stars! Stunts Super Hexagon Super Mario Bros. Super Monkey Ball Tetris Thief: The Dark Project Total Annihilation Trailblazer Transport Tycoon Trugg Turrican II Ultima I Ultima IV-V Ultima VI Warcraft II Warlords II Deluxe Wing Commander Wizardry VII Worms X-COM/UFO
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MrFlibble
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Re: Free alternatives to classic games

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The current fork of Blasphemer can be now found here:
https://github.com/Catoptromancy/blasphemer

The IWAD downloads are here:
https://github.com/Catoptromancy/blasph ... asphem.zip
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