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Huh?

Don't know what links you clicked, but if you start with a link in the post, go to end of article, click to
http://red.planetarena.org/

then click the download button, take your pick of sites (of which Desura is one choice). It's easier to do than to write how to do it.

I'm downloading the tarball now, and was not asked or required to install anything to do so. Alien Arena (didn't check version) is also available via the Ubuntu Software Center; can be installed from community-supported applications in Crossover as well.

It should be pointed out that the original article is a bit off - Both Nexuiz and Alien Arena have had steady, if not increasing playerbases over the last couple of years.

That said, a new version of Alien Arena is being released this week. This game has made major improvements in gameplay, content, and engine in the lastest releases, and it continues again in version 7.21

Alien Arena is a game that was built from the Quake2 and Quake3 sources, but bears very little resemblance to either of these games by now. This game looks, feels, and plays much more like Unreal Tournament 2004 that the Quake series. The game still incorporates much of the Quake physics, while adding UT style dodging, alternate firing modes, and a weapon set that has been tweaked and balanced to perfection. Alien Arena also has a wide variety of game modes, such as Cattle Prod, CTF, All Out Assault, Team Core Assault, Duel, and Deathball, as well as incorporating a load of built in mutators to alter the game mode such as instagib, class based, rocket arena, etc.

The engine has received a great deal of attention since June, and has been extensively rewritten making use of GLSL shaders to achieve effects like parallax/specular/bump mapping, as well as realistic water shaders. There has also been much optimization of the code and improvement of basic particle effects. It has been made into a lean, clean, deathmatch machine that plays very well online, with clean, solid, and proven netcode. Antilag options have also been added for those who prefer that sort of thing.

A number of new maps have been added, as well as some of the old standbys being reconstructed to meet the new standards this game has set for itself. The level of detail and polish is something that IMO stands out in a big way. You won't find boxy levels with misaligned textures or boring walls in Alien Arena.

Best of all, despite all of the enhancements, the game is still very scaleable, and can be made to play on very modest systems. Even with the additional detail, the performance far exceeds that of last year's versions.

Alien Arena has a solid, very dedicated player base that is friendly and always eager to help out new players.

Get the game at http://red.planetarena.org/

http://red.planetarena.org/ - Alien Arena 2008 Consistent style, smooth gameplay, and the game is very configurable, capable of running on older hardware, or if you have the horsepower, capable of running very nice effects. There are tons of modes of gameplay, all suitable for kids of any age. Great, friendly community that always welcomes players of any age into the mix. Gameplay is very well balanced, and easy to learn.

I'm not going to bother about some of the things I feel are erroneous in Sepht's assessment of Alien Arena - it's the man's opinion and he's entitled to it. I will however, leave you all with something to make your own minds up with - especially in regards to the graphics/engine of the game. These shots are taken with the game as it currently stands in SVN. Alien Arena 2008 is set to be released likely in late winter 2008, and you can see here from the shots what it will look like. http://cor.planetquake.gamespy.com/arena/aa2008/aa2k8_1.jpg http://cor.planetquake.gamespy.com/arena/aa2008/aa2k8_2.jpg http://cor.planetquake.gamespy.com/arena/aa2008/aa2k8_3.jpg http://red.planetarena.org/

Nexuiz is excellent, but I would also like to recommend Alien Arena 2007

• bzflag http://www.bzflag.org/
• armagetronad http://www.armagetronad.net/
• warsow http://www.warsow.net/
• alien arena http://red.planetarena.org/
• xmoto http://xmoto.sourceforge.net/
• tumiki fighters http://tumiki.sourceforge.net/ this is a port of a win game tho
• frozen bubble http://www.frozen-bubble.org/
• sturmbahnfuhrer http://www.sturmbahnfahrer.com/
• globulation 2 http://globulation2.org/wiki/Main_Page/

As long as we are bringing this up - check out Tremulous. It is kind of like and RTS and FPS at the same time. It is tough to imagine (it was for me) until you experience it. Truly innovative gameplay really.

Alien Arena is similar to CUBE - good multiplayer, virtually no single player.

All three have source available and are available on Windows and Linux.