All-Time Highest Rated Games Tagged 'free, in-development' on The Great Games Experiment All-Time Highest Rated Games Tagged 'free, in-development' on The Great Games Experiment http://www.greatgamesexperiment.com/css/logo.jpg All-Time Highest Rated Games Tagged 'free, in-development' on The Great Games Experiment en-us Mario Kart Source Mario Kart Source aims to bring the fun and excitement of the Mario Kart series to the PC though the powerful Source engine used in Half Life 2. We hope to create the ultimate version of Mario Kart (MK) by combining all of the best aspects into one game. We're not simply recreating one version of MK, but using the best parts of each. We want to have all the traditional weapons, characters, and maps but also bring out new weapons that make game-play interesting. We're redesigning the maps so that they keep their appeal, but truly utilize the power of the source engine. We plan to have at least 16 different characters, all the ones you know and love as well as some others from the Super Mario World.
]]> 12 Feb 2007 01:18:38 The World The World MORPG is a Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game inspired by the popular .hack series.

It shifts between a classic top-down view for exploration and a 2D-sidescrolling action mode similar to that of the "Tales of" series when in combat.

It is currently under development.
]]> 16 Jan 2007 12:31:25 Cortex Command Mine precious gold from the deformable terrain in order to buy better weapons, digging tools, and deployable defenses. Use these assets to defend your disembodied brain and bankrupt your opponent!

Old-school 2D sidescroller pixel graphics coupled with an extremely detailed physics simulation makes for a mix of nostalgia and surprising gameplay.
]]> 12 Nov 2006 03:44:39 Pirates of Port Royale Pirates of Port Royale is a game that is based in the 17th century Caribbean...the age of exploration...the age of the new world. Law is non-existant, danger is constant, life is uncertain. Live your life in the way of your choosing, whether it be a vicious pirate, a lowly blacksmith, a prestigious lawyer, or a respected commodore or captain. The choices are yours, the possibilities endless, it's your destiny, and you choose it.

Pirates of Port Royale could be described as "The Elder Scrolls: Pirates", having a similar open-ended and free-RPG style to it, but with a historical backdrop with the mainstream appeal of pirates.
]]> 23 Dec 2006 07:46:47 Ruff 'n' Tumble Remake A young Ruff Rogers was happily playing with his marbles (ooohey!) in his local park. When suddenly one happened to go a stray and fall down a nearby rabbit hole. Not knowing this hole was a teleport to another dimension, he reaches down to see if he can retrieve it. To his suprise, he suddenly gets sucked into the darkness.

Ruff now dazed and confused, finds himself on an alien planet which is run by Mr evil himself, Dr Destiny. He also discovers that this mad doctor controls a fearsome army of robots called the tinheads. Furthermore, he spots his marble collection is now lying scattered throughout the planet. As you can imagine, Ruff is a little displeased with his current predicament. So with this, he makes the decision to accumulate his marble collection once more and save the planet from the evil clutches of Dr Destiny and his Tinhead Army.
]]> 07 Feb 2007 11:02:33 Streets of rage remake It's a Homage to the whole Sega Megadrive/Genesis saga.

To remake the game the original sprites have been ripped adding new moves, new enemies and characters have been added respecting the game style.

The stages, some new and some completely redesigned, have new effects, more colors and scroll layers than their originals.

Regarding music, several musicians have helped remixing and improving the original soundtracks.

The game keeps a similar gameplay and was done from scratch, having devoted programming to emulate every one of the main characteristics in the original game.


Current version :
8 characters
43 locations having multi-path splits
52 enemy types keeping all of their moves
37 different remixes
Options and modes not present in the original
]]> 09 Feb 2007 01:12:59 Spring Spring (formerly known as TA Spring or Total Annihilation: Spring), is a full 3D open source RTS engine originally created by the Swedish Yankspankers, intended to bring the gameplay experience of Total Annihilation into three dimensions. The core game engine is released under the GPL License; however, the prepackaged mod that comes with the standard installation requires that one own a copy of TA to legally play it. There is, however, an official release which uses fully free content, and there are a number of mods, both in development and released, that are also completely free to use.

Spring is being developed by the Swedish Yankspankers and the Spring community. The initial goal was to have the game run the mods and 3rd party units from Total Annihilation. This goal is now mostly complete, and the project has moved on to including additional features. The game is mainly focused around multiplayer games over the Internet or a LAN connection. There are currently no single player campaigns or missions, although there is some basic support for this through Lua scripting. There are also many skirmish AIs under development, allowing for offline play or extra players in an online game. Two skirmish AIs ship in the game package.
]]> 06 Feb 2007 11:53:14 VoiD.net

- What is it?

VoiD.net is a 2D platformer that tries to take advantage of current technology for revisiting and expanding the platformer genre. It's being developed with Blitzmax.

- What is it... not?


  • It's not retro or a remake. No "classic" control or feel.
  • It's not all about jumping down on enemies and collecting coins or rings. No random items floating around. It tries to make the player feel inside a (somewhat) coherent world.
  • The objective of the game is not get to the end of the level to find out the princess is in another castle. As the story develops, the player will have to adapt to each plot-driven situation.
  • There's no destined all-good hero trying to save the world. You control a group of characters that have their personalities, lives, and motivations.

Note: I love oldies like Mario Bros and Sonic! - It's not that they're not great games, but this game isn't aiming at that!

- Features?

At this point you'll have figured out VoiD.net has a big adventure component, and this heavily influences the gameplay. It has some RPG aspects (character levelling, skills / "magic") and even tactical wargame or fighting games ones.
Let's say I try to mix what I liked most of each (2D) genre into a platformer. This is the result:


  • High-res 32bit, hardware accelerated graphics (supporting OpenGL & DirectX currently; probly DX support will be discontinued).
  • VoiD Engine scripting language for developing customizable campaigns.
  • Deep immersion in the sci-fi world of Void through ingame narrative, playable cutscenes, "alive" game maps and npcs...
  • Up to 5 selectable characters at the same time in the player party.
  • Fast paced control system, designed for heavy action scenes.
  • Vehicles, some controlable by the player.
  • Levelling system for characters. Character classes & subclasses, skills (including some kind of magic), buyable equipment, award system a la Tactics Ogre...
  • Fluid character animation, thanks to VoiD Engine 2D Skeletal Animation System.
  • Ambient, weather and cinematic effects (graphic effects via shaders, when available).
  • Lots of developer love :)

- Personal note

I've been into development (on my own) for more than 2 years, and I know I still have long ways to go. The game has evolved a lot since its first form and has become somewhat complex.
This may sound crazy for just one dev, but I have my reasons. It's a very personal project, because I see it as my "ultimate freeware game" before starting to think more... commercial.

If you have any comment, ... well, just leave it, or mail me or whatever you want!

Void does not forgive.
]]> 11 Feb 2007 12:38:40 Introspect Introspect is a game that takes place in a surreal world. You take control of Gabriel Enasni, and journey through the world of his past, armed with only a paint brush and the ability to paint the world around you to save you from insanity!
]]> 13 Mar 2007 02:49:44 True Combat: Elite What Is TrueCombat:Elite?
TC:E is a modern world total conversion modification of the free, popular, stand-alone first-person shooter Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory. That is, TC:E is an entirely free game, made by gamers, for gamers.

TC:E is currently being developed by GrooveSix Studios and TeamTerminator. While TeamTerminator is known for the famous Q3 based TrueCombat series, GrooveSix Studios was initiated by retired TeamTerminator co-founder Coroner to develop a Return to Castle Wolfenstein modification that is not released. Thus, as very experienced Q3-based content creators, we hope to be able to serve the gaming community with a quality offering.
Now, the most important question: "What can you expect from TC:E?" TC:E is a tactical-team shooter, set up in a modern-world environment. TC:E puts you into the role of elite mercenary soldier in the conflicts of two internationally operating forces.


SpecOps vs. Terrors
The Global Intervention Force (GIF626) is a special force formed of the top of the world experts joining from US Delta force, UK SAS, German KSK and GSG9, to mention a few. An international mercenary organization known as "The Unit" is their opponent. It is reported that some of these dudes are were once with the above forces, but the lure of money is strong. You say "Yet another terror counter-terrorism shooter. Why the hell should I go for it?". We say "Cause you don't have to spend a cent and it features:"

  • Texture Tone Mapping
  • HDR Lighting
  • Realistic scaling
  • Free climb
  • Free Aim
  • High quality sounds (44khz)
  • rich, deluxe graphics, based on high-resolution digital-camera shots
  • Letterbox & widescreen modes - TrueVision
  • Dynamic Eye Adaption - DynEA
  • Cross Platform Gaming (Win, OS X, Linux)
  • tactical-teamplay oriented, modern-world combat simulation
  • realistic weapon behavior simulation
  • iron sight aiming system, no crosshair
  • sophisticated ballistic simulation including multiple-layer object penetration
  • professional mode: 1-life, short-timed, objective driven scenarios in realistic environments
  • bodycount mode: team deathmatch style, gametype to relax?
  • Reinforced OBJ, as Capture the Flag in stock maps
  • balanced, team specific set of real-world weapons (Grenades, Pistols, SMG's, Assault-, Shotgun- and Sniper-Rifles)
  • lag compensation, client-side bullet prediction, punkbuster support
  • immersive and lethal, fast-paced action"


    • You will need to download and install Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory to install and play this game. But it's all free, so it's all good!
    ]]>     27 Feb 2007 08:35:25     The Ur-Quan Masters A port of Star Control II for modern computing platforms, with code released under the GNU GPL.

    Latest stable version v0.6.2 here (17 January, 2007).

    New features in v0.6:

    • Netplay! You can now engage in Super Melee over the Internet.
    • Key configuration is now entirely in-game.
    • UQM now compiles and runs on 64-bit systems.
    ]]>     01 Dec 2006 10:01:46     The Forgotten Element

    Lemmy & Binky Present


    From the Journals of Doctor Carter


    "Something is terribly wrong with Seahorse Island.

    It's about a thirty suns now since the crops and trees began to wither and die. It has been raining for what seems like an eternity, but the rain does nothing to nourish the soil. The leaves have been gone from the trees outside my office for many suns now. The trees look like twisted corpses. I don't recall ever seeing such a sight as I do now as I write this.

    Farmer Haywood has stockpiled the remaining grain, and has begun rationing it to the town. It should last us a while, but what then?

    Mr. Clancy came to visit me today. He is looking for a woman--an "evil and manipulative creature" is how he put it--a mainlander spy, incredibly dangerous, and should I see or hear word of her I should report to him immediately.

    It may be my imagination but I seem to be seeing a lot of people around town I don't recognise lately. Out of the corner of my eye, just stood in the shadows--watching. The townsfolk seem to pay them no heed, which I find odd given their inherent xenophobic nature -- or (dare I say it?) am I seeing things? Has the madness that is spreading across our fair island started to affect my mind also?"



    The Forgotten Element theme music can be heard by following this link.

    Visit the official The Forgotten Element website

    Game Information


    The Forgotten Element will be released completely free of charge. This is a labour of love and we have no intention of making money from it. The full game is split as such:

    Prologue
    Act I
    Act II
    Act III

    The complete three act game will be comparable in length to commercial point-and-clicks, with each part being released as and when they are completed. The prologue will feature approx 1 - 1.5 hours of gameplay.

    Once the game is finished, we will also be releasing all plug-ins and ALL art assets so people can use them as they wish in their own games. Our only limitation on their use is that they not be used in commercial games.
    ]]>     16 Jan 2007 09:32:28     Gesundheit! Help an allergic pig save a city from snot-eating monsters using a clever combination of brains and boogers.

    While keeping out of sight, you must lure your enemies through each single-screen level with your delicious nasal discharges. Objects scattered around town provide your pig with different ways of solving each puzzle. Control is simple and intuitive, requiring only a two-button mouse.
    ]]>     13 Mar 2007 12:32:37     Ragnarok TWILIGHT What happens when you take Ragnarok Online, give it a slight facelift and, well, have it take cheapshots at everything under the sun? Well, we're not quite sure but it would probably look something like Ragnarok TWILIGHT, a quirky single-player adventure about truth, justice and the search for the ultimate jellopy.
    ]]>     01 Feb 2007 02:47:19     ToME - Tales of Middle Earth ToME (The Troubles/Tales of Middle Earth) is a rogue-like based on angband. It features several races, classes, spells, powers, monsters, artifacts, quests, etc. The list could go on and on.

    Unlike vanilla angband, ToME has several cities based on a map fitting for J.R.R. Tolkien's works. There are several dungeons you can explore, their levels are randomly generated from their design to contents and quests, but not everything is random, there are special rooms, quests, unique artifacts and unique monsters players can hunt for.

    ToME is also an unique rogue-like by the fact that it's not entirely level based, players can customise their characters by increasing skills which range from weaponmastery to necromancy and summoning, just to name a few.

    Because it's constantly in development, ToME has a very active community and several MODs player can create and use.
    ]]>     26 Jun 2007 05:21:09     ANSI Splatterhouse A remake of Splatterhouse with ANSI graphics :D why the hell not?
    ]]>     04 Feb 2007 05:33:10     Shufl GBA Fiendishly-difficult sliding-block GBA puzzler. Kiss your sanity goodbye.

    A version for the Nintendo DS is also being developed. Woo! Yay!

    Please note: This game is in Alpha testing, and therefore some levels are unsolvable. Suxs. Sorry about that. There'll be a skin designer and a level editor up shortly.
    ]]>     06 Feb 2007 05:33:52     Snowman Village In Snowman Village you must roll your snowball along and dodge the various obstacles in your path, gradually making it bigger and bigger. When you're done you can take it back and use it to build a snowman. Keep building snowmen until you've got your very own village full of them!

    The current version is playable and polished, but it's still under development. If you've got any features or requests that you'd like to see added then please leave a comment. Thanks!
    ]]>     14 Feb 2007 07:33:26     Robot Battle Arena Unlimited RBAU is a big ambitious project, and aims to be one of the most successful Game Maker Games yet. It RBAU, you get to customize and pilot your own personal robot, join one of the four massive teams, and battle it out over the internet for fame and money (Not real money) with which you can upgrade and customize your robot. It's still early in development, despite the fact that this project first began roughly three years ago.
    ]]>     13 Feb 2007 05:00:25     Axion This is a DEMO/Prototype!
    It is very much unfinished. There is only one level and after you beat the boss it will go back to the title screen.

    Axion is a 4 colour (greyscale) shoot'em up made for the Retro Remakes 4-colour TI calculator style competition.

    Story

    Thousands of years ago the Atlantians built a huge inter-dimensional portal with the intent of trapping a huge foe inside. The portal worked perfectly, but at the last minute the huge beast was able to pull their entire city in with it. Knowing the they were unable to save the city and that the beast would eventually be able to break free without anyone able to watch over it, they sent out their last hope, Axion.

    Axion was a specially designed craft known as a "Dimension diver" which made it the only man-made creation that was able to seemlesly escape the pull of the triangular portal.

    Thousands of years later after absorbing much of its surroundings including people, ships and planes, the beast was able to take control of its own prision, although it was still not quite powerful enough to escape entirely. Using all the energy it had absorbed over the many years, the beast took control of the portal and projected it into outer space using mankind's own orbiting satillites. The portal was now 50 times its original size, big enough to engulf the entire planet...and this was the plan. If the beast could absorb the entire planet, then it would have enough energy to break free from its Atlantian prision.

    After detecting the huge power surge, Axion emerged out of the ocean and blasted off into outer space to stop the beast before it was too late.
    ]]>     13 Feb 2007 08:16:24     Ghostbusters GBA From Wikipedia: Ghostbusters is a game by Activision based on the movie of the same name. It was designed by David Crane and released for several home computer platforms in 1984.

    The player sets up a ghost busting franchise in a city with a rising Psychokinetic (PK) Energy level and has the ability to purchase equipment such as traps, or to upgrade their vehicle.

    The player then negotiates a grid representing the city. They need to stop the "roamers" from reaching the temple of Zuul (which causes the PK Energy level to jump). When the player moves to a city block that is flashing red, the game mode switches to an overhead view of the player's vehicle driving to the location.

    The player must move left and right to vacuum up the stray ghosts. The player then moves to a screen in which a Slimer ghost must be guided with two proton streams over a ghost trap.

    If the ghost is successfully captured, the player's income increases. The aim is to have $10,000 by the time the city's PK level reaches 9999.

    In some versions after the first successful game, the player is given an account number, which stores the amount of money the player had at the end of the game. This allowed for purchasing more expensive items for use (faster cars, more traps etc.). In order to win at these games the player was required to have earned more money than their initial account balance.
    ]]>     04 Feb 2007 01:51:45     Saucelifter Tell us about your game here
    ]]>     14 Dec 2006 07:21:45     A Mini Falafel Adventure Episode 1 of a Gameboy-style platform adventure game. Collect ingredients to gain abilities and become the ultimate falafel.

    Single screen, free-roaming gameplay, with an emphasis on exploration and gameplay progression.

    This first episode will take approximately 10 minutes to complete. 5-6 if you know where you're going. 3 episodes are planned, which will be compiled into one story.

    Originally this game was started as an entry for a Retro Remakes competition.
    ]]>     09 Feb 2007 11:33:45     Isomatrix Isomatrix is a fun and action-packed 3rd person game that will let you sticked on your seat until the end.
    Its 2D graphics and isometric view make it a different specie in its genre. You will have to face all the Smith agents that try to get you down with the help of various weapons and differents moving styles. But be careful with blue pills, you're warned...

    There's also available a "deathmatch" mode (or one vs one on the same computer). The last standing warrior wins!!.

    But there's even more!!, if you want to show off your skills to the people you can play the "Timecrisis" mode where you have to dealwith an army of agents before they get you, watch your back!!


    Isomatrix is still under development but there is a working Demo available for download.

    Please visit www.isomatrixthegame.com

    ---
    ]]>     19 Dec 2006 08:32:07     Nut Harvest Nut Harvest is a fun and frantic game for the Xbox 360 that supports up to 4-players! Take on your friends in a mad dash to collect the most golden acorns. Jump, shove, slide, and flip your way to victory as you try to hoard the acorns while unleashing havoc on your friends with crazy power ups! And don't forget it is completely free to play and source is included!
    ]]>     10 Feb 2007 10:54:07     The Battle Grounds 2 In 1775, the British colonies in the North American continent rose up in rebellion. In 1776, these colonies issued a formal Declaration of Independence, and officially started a war between a fledging nation and an established monarchy. The war would last until ended by the Treaty of Paris in 1783, and homes, lives, and entire notions of life were destroyed.

    The Battle Grounds 2 uses the Half-Life 2 (or HL2DM) engine and places you in the shoes of a soldier of the Continental or Royal British army. You can carry a musket and bayonet as a Regular, a pistol and saber as an officer, or a rifle and short blade as a rifleman. Your days in combat will have you spanning the east coast of North America, and you will meet interesting people, and kill them.
    ]]>     06 Mar 2007 07:47:51     Element Online Element is a platform MMORPG project. You start as a little white blob, and depending on how you play and what you buy, it changes.

    Most of the servers require a free program called Hamachi to play. It's included in the zip. For more info, go to:

    http://www.hamachi.cc

    Our Network is:
    Name: ElementOnline
    Pass: IM1337

    If you need help setting it up, let me know, I've helped a lot of people get this thing up and running, I know what I'm doing.

    Controls:
    Arrows: Move
    Click: Interact
    F4 Fullscreen

    To get in a battle, collide with an enemy.
    ]]>     24 May 2007 03:55:41     Over Over is an MMORTS set in a sci-fi environment where, as the commander of your space fleet, you will lead it during missions against the antagonist factions dwelling the galaxy. As the game progresses, you will increase your commander skills and expand your fleet by trading the earned points with new units.
    ]]>     01 Jan 2007 04:02:06     Tugapod Tugapod is a MMORPG created by a portuguese team. Unlike other games from the same style, Tugapod is free, so you don't need to pay a monthly fee to play. You only need an account, which will have capacity to store one game character.
    ]]>     23 Jan 2007 05:20:41     Project Unknown The year is 2300 and supreme dominance of a single world government called the U.E.C (United Earth Council) exists, ruling over the entire globe. Through pollution and war the world's main populace survives in fortified mega-metropolises referred to as citadels scattered throughout uninhabitable wastelands. In 2200 when the U.E.C was first formed the decision was taken to only take those who were most important to society into the protection of the citadels.

    Although many live happy lives in the serenity of the citadels and with ignorance that over half the world's population lives in turmoil, outside life is a harsh experience, many have died in the inhospitable environment but for those that have survived so far evolution has "gifted" them with something special, unknown to the U.E.C those left outside were not the only life that survived. At different locations around the world life has re-emerged stronger than before with new species of plants and animals flourishing in independent eco-systems. These are a haven for those left outside and are their means of survival.

    The past is not easily forgotten though and inevitably the two divisions of humans would obviously not co-exist peacefully. The war is just about to begin, the U.E.C is unaware of what is about to unfold but tension is rising after transports between citadels have gone missing. The outcasts plan for revenge is in motion...

    The Sides:

    U.E.C Military/Security forces:

    The U.E.C seeks to finish off what they started and destroy what is left of any resistance to its rule. The U.E.C arsenal is composed of conventional ballistic weaponry with a few elite soldiers wielding the newly developed energy weapons.

    The Outcasts:

    The Outcasts seek revenge against their brethren; motivated by this they have spent many years planning for their revenge. They seek to change the earth to a world full of jungles and devoid of technology or cities with humanity living alongside nature. The Outcasts of course cannot wage a war with weapons made from wood and stone, instead they utilize the "gifts" given to them by evolution to destroy their foes, and so with a variety of hand to hand combat, enhanced reflexes and elemental forces to help them along they are a deadly adversary to any U.E.C force.
    ]]>     05 Feb 2007 12:07:11     Lilly As Candy, my female dog, you must travel trought many worlds to return home...

    The game is not finished yet but it offers an awesome journey in the line of the Xylvan Desing titles
    ]]>     01 Mar 2007 08:32:15     Galanz Galanz is a project I've been brainstorming over for quite some time now, it involves a Space Mercenary who is drawn to a planet by a disturbing message that has reached him (sound familiar?). Once he arrives, he sees that all traces of the natives have disapeared, the only things that inhabit the planet are strange monsters and the Robots created by the Natives. Galanz (The Main character in the game) goes out searching for any survivors, or clues to what has happened. Using his weaponry and his Psychic Abilities, he traverses the planet in order to discover just what is going on.

    Influences are highly based on classics such as Metroid, Turrican, and the Andro-Synth sub-plot present in Star Control 2/Ur-Quan Masters.

    The goal of the game is to basically find out what's going on. The "Galious" style gameplay is a reference to Knightmare 2: Maze of Galious, which was one of THE first Side Scrolling RPGs, complete with leveling and such. Of course, I'd like to go a little bit into more detail with this than what Galious did.

    Since it's set to be like a NES game, there will be a restriction on the total buttons able to use, the current format it (in NES Controller format):

    A - Shoot
    B - Jump
    Directional Pad - Move Left and Right, Aim Up and Down.
    Start - Main Menu
    Select - Use Psychic Ability

    Psychic abilities won't be the usual "Fire Firebolt for X amount of P.P" but instead will be closer to actually changing the environment.

    Can't jump over a huge wall? Flip gravity around. Can't toggle a switch? Go into E.S.P mode and flip it using your abilities. Oh snap, need to get the password, and the guy who might of had it is dead? Do a Mind Search on him, and find out his memories shortly before he met the wrong end of your gun.

    This is the sorta thing I'm aiming for with this, not extremely complicated (mind sceens could just be cutsceens, and gravity for an object can easily be reversed), but fun and useful enough to warrant use.

    However, I don't believe I can do this all by my own. As a Sprite/Traditional Artist or Designer, I will not be able to produce content fast enough alone, and coding is far from my strongest point. These are the current possistions available, if anyone is interested in helping out with this project, please PM me. Thanks for reading :D.

    Needed!

    Programmer - Average to Skilled Ability: Needs to be able to use Game Maker 6 or such, or another structure of coding that is compatible with Windows.

    Music Composer - Average to Skilled ability: Needs to be able to produce catchy tunes that are not 10 second loops in the style of the NES chiptunes.

    Sound Effects Engineer- Any skill level: Needs to be able to produce NES style sound effects (The Woosh Woosh noises and such).


    I'll update this whenever I can, till then, see you later :D.
    ]]>     21 Mar 2007 05:50:21     Ashen Empires The Time of Gold
    Long ago, before the thinking races had tamed the horse or built the first cities, the rune-guardians of Ashen Empires mastered the magic of the runes, learned to control animals and plants and perhaps even weather... and then vanished.

    Centuries later, the peace they had fashioned still endured. Food was plentiful, customs were calm, and people had no ancient hatreds to blind them. The thinking races — humans, night elves, orcs, and other folk — did not wage war upon one another. Wise rule, hard work, and brisk trade ensured prosperity. Knowledge was shared, dangerous beasts kept outside the frontiers, and all the land was a single nation.

    It was a golden age...

    But golden ages do not last forever.


    The Time of Darkness
    No one knows where they came from, the dark warriors. Suddenly they were everywhere, speaking languages not known to the people of Ashen Empires, seizing knowledge of the runes wherever they could find it. They used the runes to create items of terror — weapons, armor, implements of torture, objects that wrenched mind and soul. These runic devices corrupted the spirits of all who used them.

    As the armies of Rune Warriors grew, so grew the resolve of the people of Ashen Empires to destroy them. The desire for peace, even the very concept of peace, was abandoned.

    Lotor, a nobleman of Krythan — and later king of that region (once Ashen Empires was sundered into warring nations) — was the first great defender against the Rune Warriors. He built armies of his own, made peace among nations that had been founded upon strife, outmaneuvered his enemies, and gave hope to a world that had all but lost it.

    And even though the war grew long and Lotor grew old, he found a warrior to succeed him as the hope of Ashen Empires. Talazar, the Sword of Krythan, a noble fighter no Rune Warrior could stand against, led Lotor’s armies to victory again and again.

    He was a hero for all the world.

    But such heroes do not last forever.


    The Time of Ash
    In time, the armies of Krythan defeated the Rune Warriors and assembled all their runic artifacts. King Lotor summoned his twelve greatest warriors, Talazar among them, and commanded them to take the artifacts far away — to hide them where the eyes of the thinking races would never find them. The twelve accepted their duty and rode from the capital with these items of evil.

    But none ever reached his intended destination.

    Each warrior — some after mere days of travel, some after months — succumbed to the corrupting influence of the rune artifacts. One by one their thoughts turned to personal gain, power, lust, revenge. One by one they abandoned paths of humility and self-sacrifice to prey upon the people of Ashen Empires.

    Some became bandit-kings, leading armies of raiders into more civilized lands. Some became solitary riders, thundering through the night on missions sane folk would never understand, their names invoked only in whispers, only to frighten children. Some died, only to have their heirs accept their rune artifacts and continue their legacies of pain.

    Some disappeared. This was the fate of Talazar, once the greatest of heroes. Those who saw him in the time before his disappearance say he was no longer a man, no longer quite human.

    Centuries passed, centuries in which the land did not heal, the nations did not reunite, knowledge did not prosper. Beasts crept into once-civilized lands. Kings fought kings even when the rune artifacts had no part to play in their squabbles.

    This was a time of slow, inescapable suffering.

    But even times such as this do not last forever.


    The Time of Renewal
    In recent years, prophecies have hinted that a new era was dawning, a time of change and instability, a time when the ugly balance of the Time of Ash could be lost... for better or for worse.

    Sixteen summers ago, in the nation of Krythan, a boy-child of Lotor’s line was born and given the name Lotor. He survived to reach his age of majority and this summer not long ago received the crown of Krythan, taking the royal name of Lotor II.

    Not long after, military forces claiming to belong to Talazar began laying waste to towns and cities in the western regions. They claimed not to follow some descendant of the original Talazar, but the corrupted warrior himself, and tales filtering from those distant places say that he is now a demon, a thing of inhuman places and unknowable intent.

    Heroes, men and women skilled in fighting, have become more numerous in recent summers, some flocking to the side of Lotor II, some joining the forces of Talazar, others seeking their own way in this increasingly turbulent land.

    And you are one of them.

    Your skills and courage are enough to make you the master of any little village, the champion of any petty nobleman... but that is not enough. The challenge this new era poses calls to you. You can tip the balance of power — toward Lotor, toward Talazar, toward some fate no one can predict.

    This chance waits before you, but you must act soon.
    ]]>     18 Apr 2007 12:50:32     Fraser's Ride FROM THE TEAM THAT BROUGHT YOU FANCY PANTS ADVENTURES (Tommy did some stuff too)
    ]]>     07 May 2007 08:04:43     tOrc An Fps with Orcs. You are an orc and must battle against the enemy Orc. The goal is to capture the most prized flag and return it to your base. With 3 weapons: the crossbow, the sword, and mines you battle to the death, and then some. When you become powerful and energized you gain access to your special, either Invisibility, Suicide Bomber, Flamethrower, and Agility.
    ]]>     16 May 2007 03:00:46     Turbulence
    ]]>     30 Aug 2007 12:06:21     Desktop Tower Defense Desktop TD is a fun flash based puzzle / strategy game where you have to protect your desktop from invaders by spending money on attacking pieces and building a maze for them to follow. Strangely addictive yet stress relieving... how many levels can you survive?
    ]]>     03 Jul 2007 01:44:20     Goldeneye Source A large group of dedicated fans has taken it upon them selves to recreate Goldeneye using the Half-Life 2 Source engine.

    Gameplay is aimed to recreate the feel of the original Goldeneye. The levels are being remade in such away as to still have the correct feel as well, but have a major graphics overhaul.

    Recently Goldeneye Source won Bronze for the Mod Of The Year 2006 from ModDB, and then went on to also win the Editors Choice Award for Reinvention.

    Note: Half-Life 2 required.
    ]]>     16 Feb 2007 07:55:49     Pokemon Online Pokemon Online (POL) is a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) that involves quests, player personalisation, persistent NPCs, sparring and general exploration. Players will have the ability to train and catch pokemon while battling other trainers online in real-time. The POL game is closely based on the original Pokemon Gameboy games, with most of the traditional elements remaining intact. The POL enviroment is completely 2D and replicates the graphics used in the original games. The POL MMORPG has the ability to support hundreds and even thousands of simultaneously connected players. This means that you will interact in a vast virtual world, with many kingdoms and quests, with players from all over the world.

    The POL game has no end, it just keeps evolving. POL has many quests, events, tools for building new content and personalising your character, games within the game, chat, forums and much more. POL has been a prominent part of the Pokemon fandom since 1999. Beyond providing the fundamentals of any MMORPG - a dedicated team, a fantastic forum community, and professionalism, Pokemon Online has made for itself a mission. Pokemon Online seeks to involve the community wherever possible.

    Pokemon Online has proven itself to be innovative in its approaches to nearly everything - from being the first Pokemon MMORPG project to incorporating a community-driven spirit into the development of the game. This is a site where you aren''t just a fan - you''re a member. This is a community. This is where you can contribute on your own time, as much or as little as you want. This is the ultimate Pokemon MMORPG. This is Pokemon Online.

    Check out the group for Pokemon Fans of the World!
    ]]>     29 Jan 2007 03:43:39     Aces High Over Verlor Island The airspace over Verlor Island is a hot spot for fantastic dogfights, and you're one of the pilots! Battle the computer or up to 7 other people online! Will you emerge from the fury of bullets and explosions as the best pilot in the sky?

    Featuring detailed 3D environments, fast and easy online play, and an assortment of special moves and different ways to score, Aces High Over Verlor Island has something for everyone.

    The final build features a tutorial mode, 3 single player modes, and online multiplayer for up to 8 players, so dust off your flight gloves and start practicing your maneuvers!
    ]]>     01 Jan 2007 04:47:06     KwonHo KwonHo: The Hero of Fist is a Korean online fighting game developed by Radio Games and is currently hosted by Hangame but is in the process of being translated and serviced for North America by their American counterpart ijji (Both of them owned by NHN). In Kwonho, the player has the role of creating his own character, choosing a fighting style and buying (or acquiring) clothing and/or items (such as tatoos, guitars, teddy bears and other miscellaneous items). A player's goal is to gain experience by fighting other players in a variety of game modes, or by fighting computer-controlled opponents in the Mission Mode. By winning these fights, a player acquires credits, which he can use to buy new techniques or items, and train to become the best fighter there is. However, there are items in the game that can only be purchased with Hangame/Ijji coins. These coins are available for purchase in the My Account section of the Ijji website.
    ]]>     08 Feb 2007 01:09:58     Wind and Water : Puzzle Battles Wind and Water: Puzzle battles for GP2X
    ]]>     12 Feb 2007 04:44:55     Battleships Forever Introduction
    Battleships Forever is a freeware tactical Real Time Strategy game that puts you in command of a small fleet of warships in space. Combat and damage mechanics are extremely detailed. Everything is simulated in game if possible. There are no abitrary "to hit chance" values in Battleships Forever. The game also features many innovative mechanics that you've never seen before. For example, the Cronus Battleship sports a Flux Shield generator that allows you to draw a defensive force shield around your ships in any shape you want. Another example are the Deflector modules that are used extensively through the game. These modules make a single section of a ship totally invulnerable to fire. This means that you will have to manoeuvre your ships to attack sections of the enemy ships not protected by Deflectors while keeping your own protected sections facing the enemy. Position is paramount!

    Players will command picked fleets made up of Battleships, Destroyers and Patrol Craft. The completed game will include ten campaign missions and multiple skirmish modes.

    Battleships Forever is inspired by and loosely based on Warning Forever by Hikoza.T.Ohkubo
    ]]>     17 Jun 2007 12:51:03     Stratagus Stratagus was previously an open source project known as 'Freecraft', and its original purpose was to re-create the Warcraft 2 engine to the point of 100% playability. It succeeded in that goal and decided to move on towards other more challenging goals. Stratagus is now a general use open source engine that a large number of games have based themselves upon, such as Wargus, Battle of Survival, InsectWar, and more.
    ]]>     09 Jan 2007 04:48:39     Hellgate London: 16Bit Hellgate London: 16bit is a fan made project started by Taylor Balbi who is now the leader of the development team Rubber Raft Studios. The game is themed after another game which is being developed by Flagship Studios called Hellgate: London. The project was started under an unknown title as just a 2D engine. Soon after the announcement of Hellgate: London in 2005 gave Taylor Balbi the drive to turn his 2D Engine into a 2D Sidescrolling Game.

    The team has been forever changing as have the graphics. The original character was only 46px tall and was replaced by the beauty you see here. The design for the game came from one principle discovery. The discovery was that Bill Roper and the gang at Flagship Studios were as big of fans of Shaun of the Dead as Taylor Balbi was. If Hellgate: London is going to have a cricket bat, so will HGL:16.

    Originally the game was being created using the C Programming Language, but due to laziness and intrigue, Taylor Balbi switched his efforts over to Game Maker 6.1. The simplicity of the utility made development less of a strain while only bring one draw back, no Vista support.

    The Team:

    Taylor Balbi
    Lead Designer and Programmer
    Major5013
    Lead Artist
    OnyxAbyss
    Arist
    Nosa
    Level Designer
    Akuyazi
    Menu Artist
    Garm
    Music




    Status:

    Currently the game is still in its early development stages as you will see when you play the Beta release that is available farther down the page. There is much work to be done and lots of places to be filled.

    Help-Wanted:

    We are currently looking for a variety of positions to fill. If you are interested in one of these positions that are listed here, please submit an introduction of yourself and a few small examples of your work.

    Available:

    • 2D Character Artist/Animator
    • 2D Effects Artist
    • Story Writer
    • Sound Engineer
    • Web Programmer

    Game Controls:

    W - Jump Up
    S - Drop Down
    A - Move Left
    D - Move Right
    Space - Melee/Shoot
    1 - Cricket Bat
    2 - -Disabled-
    3 - Test Lightning Gun
    Esc - Quit

    Bugs:

    Please submit all bugs to Taylor Balbi either via an e-mail or a Private Message on GGE. We are not currently accepting any alpha testers.

    We hope you enjoy our game!

    ]]>     25 Jan 2007 07:56:02     The Hidden Infinitum Research Intercept Squad (I.R.I.S.) is on the hunt for a fugitive, the subject of a secret genetic experiment, who is known only as Subject 617. The Good News : The IRIS team is well trained, well armed and co-ordinated.

    The Bad News : The genetic manipulation has given Subject 617 enhanced speed, mobility and incredible strength - he can pounce like a tiger, cling to any surface and is known to pin victims up for feeding. Worst of all, the experiments have rendered him nearly invisible to the human eye. This is why he is simply known as ... The Hidden
    ]]>     04 Feb 2007 12:26:54     Harmotion

    Game Overview:

    Harmotion is an effects intensive player vs. player, top down 2D classic shooter (aka shmup). You face the opponent from the bottom of the screen and the objective is to outlast him/her in a short space fight. Each fight will be a one of a kind collaboration between the two opponents; a collaboration of sound and colors.

    ]]>     25 Mar 2007 04:22:49     Beyond the Red Line Beyond the Red Line is a stand-alone total conversion for the award-winning Freespace 2 released by Volition and Interplay for the PC. It is based on the popular new tv-show Battlestar Galactica. No, not the one from the 70s.
    The game is made by the fans, for the fans.
    ]]>     08 Jun 2007 02:05:54     G-Force Sometimes 3d isn't always the best.

    G-Force takes the frenetic action of Dave Theurers classic vector shooter Tempest and transposes it into two dimensions.

    Described by PC Zone as "...a brilliant remake of the classic blaster", "sickeningly difficult" and containing "Jeff Minter-esque crude humour", G-Force is a game to melt the eyeballs, keep the trigger finger twitching and to keep you coming back for more.
    ]]>     01 Feb 2007 02:27:14     SuperTux SuperTux is a classic 2D jump'n run sidescroller game featuring Tux the penguin. It currently features 9 enemies, 26 playable levels, software and OpenGL rendering modes, configurable joystick and keyboard input, music and graphics. It runs on numerous different platforms, including Linux, Windows, MacOSX, PSP and more.
    ]]>     02 Mar 2007 07:52:53