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Tribes 1 And Tribes 2 Free Downloads Available

James Cho writes "Starsiege: TRIBES (typically known as "Tribes 1") and Tribes 2 for the PC have been released for free download via FilePlanet by Vivendi Universal Games [also try the Tribes 2 BitTorrent link]. The two games stand as pioneers of the outdoor combat sub-genre of first person shooters and of all multiplayer games, influencing Halo and UT2004 among other games. Tribes 1 was the first multiplayer-only shooter, whereas Tribes 2 extended the core unique elements of its predecessor to a greater scale and depth. With this [previously mentioned on Slashdot] free release, VUG is stirring up anticipation for the release of the third Tribes game, Tribes: Vengeance." You'll need to enter a form to get a CD key to play Tribes 2 online.

96 comments

  1. Tribes 2 by delus10n0 · · Score: 0, Interesting

    Boy! I sure am glad I shelled out $50 for this 3 years ago!

    What other games from 3-4 years ago are now free?

    --
    Not All Who Wander Are Lost
    1. Re:Tribes 2 by Hott+of+the+World · · Score: 1

      Not many. But like you, I also paid (10.00 bucks at BestBuy, I believe) money for Tribes 2.

      I was almost exited about downloading it, but then I realized it just wasnt refined enough for me. Not with UT2k4 out..

      I'm not bashing Tribes 2, it was awesome. I just moved on to better things.

      --
      | - | - |
    2. Re:Tribes 2 by fireduck · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Boy! I sure am glad I shelled out $50 for this 3 years ago!

      what's with the cynicism? Isn't this exactly what gamers want? The whole abandonware scene is based on the premise that companies aren't making money on a product anymore, therefore freely trading it doesn't impact the company. In this case it's officially sanctioned freeware (which is a not-in-anyway-subtle marketing campaign for the next in the series).

      apparently, companies can't win, even when they give stuff away for free.

    3. Re:Tribes 2 by delus10n0 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      They can win. I was just expecting it to take a bit longer than 3 years for a full game to become free.

      --
      Not All Who Wander Are Lost
    4. Re:Tribes 2 by MarkGriz · · Score: 1

      Here's one discussed here a while ago:

      Hidden & Dangerous Deluxe

      A most excellent game, I must say.

      --
      Beauty is in the eye of the beerholder.
    5. Re:Tribes 2 by BrookHarty · · Score: 5, Informative

      Boy! I sure am glad I shelled out $50 for this 3 years ago!

      Tribes2 is the game that actually burned me enough (Thanks Sierra), I never buy games on release date anymore. I pre-ordered 2 copies for a lan party release date, only to find out it wouldnt run on most of my computers. About 6 months later, I was finally able to play, also had to drop my voodoo5 for a geforce3.

      Yes, its nice that Sierra released the game, but they screwed the pooch on this release. Basically it came down to money, they released knowing it was crippled, and had bugs. They fired developers, they really treated employees and gamers like shit. If it wasnt for the developers working on their own time, and working on weekends to fix this, it would of been even worse.

      Sierra killed the Tribes market, a 3rd party developer had to show an almost finished product to get Sierra to release a new game.

      So yes, people can be a little pissed about the whole Sierra Tribes experience.

    6. Re:Tribes 2 by delus10n0 · · Score: 1

      I agree; when I first bought the game, I had a P3-1GHz with 512 megs of RAM (which was pretty good at the time) -- and I believe a GeForce2. The game ran like crap, and lagged horribly. Wasn't nearly as fun as the first one. And if you ever did get it running smoothly, the tiny bugs here and there would damper your fun (setting up an inventory load out, and then receiving something totally different, for example.)

      Tribes: Vengence or whatever doesn't spark my interest in the slightest. Adding havok physics to a game does not make it awesome.

      --
      Not All Who Wander Are Lost
    7. Re:Tribes 2 by Reby · · Score: 1

      Sounds like gamespy...why oh why do game developers give lamespy these files to distribute....thank you for the non-gamespy mirrors

    8. Re:Tribes 2 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sierra killed Tribes: Aerial Assault on the PS2 also (Did you even know tribes was on the PS2?). The game is one of the best FPS's out on the PS2, definitely better than SOCOM since there are no cheaters. And it was in many ways rushed out the door and needed to be patched (server side). Luckily, the developer(s) is awesome, and has worked to make the game truly great. The only thing it is missing really is voice chat, but that can be overcome.

    9. Re:Tribes 2 by phlyingpenguin · · Score: 1
      Great flamebait.

      However many disagree, I don't really feel like I need to give my own opinions since they match another in an older post by somebody else.

    10. Re:Tribes 2 by Hedonist123 · · Score: 1
      So playing the game for THREE YEARS longer than someone who got it for free wasn't worth the fifty bucks?!?!?! I'm sorry, but you just aren't getting burned on this one, you are no victim, sorry.

      hed.

      --
      http://goldysmom.blogspot.com
    11. Re:Tribes 2 by Phosphor3k · · Score: 1

      Odd. I had an athlon-800, 256 mb of ram and a GF 2 GTS, and the game ran great with most eyecandy in 800x600 - the first day it came out, no less.

    12. Re:Tribes 2 by Hott+of+the+World · · Score: 1

      Well I agree with you that the Tribes experience is much more diverse (and sometimes tranquill) as opposed to the non-stop adrenaline of UT2k4.

      But there's still something to be said for the diversity of the Game options, as well as the faster game modes which cater to younger gamers.

      Different strokes to rule the world, I guess.
      Flamebait though? Hardly.

      --
      | - | - |
    13. Re:Tribes 2 by Sigma+7 · · Score: 1
      Here's one discussed here a while ago:

      Hidden & Dangerous Deluxe

      A most excellent game, I must say.
      Mabye I'm being too critical, but that game still needs patches to fix the product. The most severe one I can think of offhand would be the automatic fire bug that causes enemy soldiers to fire all 32 bullets in a magazine within one frame. It's been reported on Hard difficulty, Campaign 1 Mission 4, among some other missions.

      (Not sure exactly what the difficulty means - there doesn't seem to be any tangible difference aside from the bug with Hard. )
    14. Re:Tribes 2 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I believe it. Having bought T2 a few months ago, it's all but a single-player game now. I've tried finding a spot to play online, but found very few active servers, most of which had stupid weapon mods that completely killed the whole strategy element.

      Tribes is dead. Hopefully this will bring along a revival.

  2. Good by AstrumPreliator · · Score: 5, Informative

    You know it might not be cutting edge graphics or anything but these two games are good. I remember playing Tribes a long time ago and it was such a unique style of play that drew me in. I haven't found a game quite like it yet and I still don't mind playing the original Tribes every now and then.

    Tribes 2 of course had some problems at the beginning, but it's pretty solid now. The game is still fun, supports up to 64 players on a server, and if you like using a lot of vehicles this game is pretty awsome.

    I would definetely suggest downloading either or both of these games and try it out, very fun.

    1. Re:Good by GMC-jimmy · · Score: 1

      Can anyone verify if the download includes the Linux binaries for Tribes 2, or does some other entity control those ?

      --
      __________________________________
      Free your mind - Flush your toilet
    2. Re:Good by Godman · · Score: 1

      Ya, this is a very good game. The graphics are quite good, actually, if your computer is good enough.

      --
      I have this really funny quote that I like to put here. Unfortunately, there's this really annoying thing called a char
  3. I am truly stoked by jguevin · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Lost my Tribes 1 CD several years ago, and Tribes 2 was just never the same (even w/o considering bugs). Tribes 1 has such clean, refined gameplay, and I love the way you can drop into a game and instantly be a contributing member of the team. I'm sure other games must have that, too, but now that I can play Tribes again, I don't care!

    1. Re:I am truly stoked by jguevin · · Score: 1

      Crappy crap, download from fileplanet failed its own CRC check. And I can't even get mad, because it's free!

      Ok, I can be a little mad.

  4. What about the Linux version? by ChaseTec · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I know Loki made the Linux version of Tribes 2 and they are out of business now and a quick scan didn't show any free Linux client downloads. Since all the game data should be the same does anyone know of a free binary for Linux?

    --
    My Hello World is 512 bytes. But it's also a valid Fat12 boot sector, Fat12 file reader, and Pmode routine.
    1. Re:What about the Linux version? by Kleedrac2 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Also I'm curious if the free CDKey from fileplanet.com will work with the Loki released Linux Tribes 2 CD if I can find it ... anyone know?

      Kleedrac

      --
      Sure we wang, can.
    2. Re:What about the Linux version? by nukem1999 · · Score: 2, Informative

      *IIRC*, I think the program itself didn't need the key. The key was used to create an online account with your name, a password, email addy, stats, etc.

    3. Re:What about the Linux version? by sysrequest · · Score: 2, Informative

      chances are good that it will. i have both the windows and the linux version and i only ever used the account created with the windows version to playing in linux.

      the cd key is just a one time thing to create an account anyway, after that, you just log into the account.

      i dont even think the account or authentication server know whether you're using windows or linux. i vaguely remember loki having a user poll asking them to implement some code to figure out whether someone is using the linux version or not, and if i remember correctly, people objected for whatever reason, so they didn't really know how big their userbase was, or, for instance, whether someone just downloaded the linux version somewhere and used their windows account (copies sold vs. copies used to play online).

    4. Re:What about the Linux version? by Suddenly_Dead · · Score: 2, Informative

      Tribes 2's only serial number authorization system is online in their servers. Therefore, any CD key that works on the Windows version will work on the Linux version.

    5. Re:What about the Linux version? by BlastM · · Score: 2, Informative

      There is no way to install Tribes 2 on Linux with the Windows CD (like you can with Quake 3, UT, RTCW). You need the actual Tribes 2 Linux CD, which unfortunately the publisher has no plans on selling any more so you are out of luck.

      The only way to get Tribes 2 running in Linux if you don't have it already is to download the ISO off your favourite P2P network. It may not be legal, but depriving people access to your work after you've finished raking in the cash is against the original spirit of copyright, and personally I see no reason to respect the copyright laws in this instance.

    6. Re:What about the Linux version? by AnotherScratchMonkey · · Score: 1

      I hadn't heard that Sierra had made any official statement releasing the Linux version for free distribution, but it's in Gentoo's packages.

  5. simoniker by mnemonic_ · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    props to simoniker for sprucing up the story, adding appropriate links. i was in a bit of a rush when i submitted it.

  6. Stuff you need by BrookHarty · · Score: 2, Informative

    For tribes2, I recommend getting some updated scripts to help things out. Panama Jack has some good scripts for T1/T2. I use Writers also.

    Also not sure if they removed the cd check, but I used the no-cd patch tfc_t2v24834. I would figure they would, but I actually bought 2 copies of tribes2 for lan parties back in the day. Bot play is still fun, and on 2ghz+ machines, large bot matches with AA/AF turned on is smooth.

    See you on a server soon!

    1. Re:Stuff you need by GMC-jimmy · · Score: 1

      The latest patch for Tribes 2 removed the CD check on Windows back when the Dynamix closure was just announced. Perhaps that was Dynamix's last and final gift to the community ?

      The Linux version never had a CD check. Neither did Tribes 1 on Windows which incidently ran rather well for me with Wine on Linux.

      --
      __________________________________
      Free your mind - Flush your toilet
  7. Houston Vehicles/Miami Vehicles by terracon · · Score: 3, Informative

    For you new Tribes2 players out there that are just coming online. A great resource for information is at http://www.houstonvehicles.com/modules.php?op=modl oad&name=phpBB_14&file=index&action=viewforum&foru m=15 . Please bookmark this page as it contains many many excellent strategies for playing on Houston of Miami Vehicles.

    1. Re:Houston Vehicles/Miami Vehicles by Kizzle · · Score: 1

      I'm getting a "Sorry, you can't access this file directly..." error :(
      I hate it when sites put up unnecessary restrictions like this

    2. Re:Houston Vehicles/Miami Vehicles by terracon · · Score: 1

      There's a space in the link. Correct link here Stragety And Tactics Forum

  8. Re:This is a dupe. by simoniker · · Score: 2, Informative

    Not so much a dupe, since the release hadn't actually happened at the time of that previous story. I'll update this story to reference the old one and then everyone will be happy bunnies, hm?

  9. Good by Poster+Nutbag · · Score: 1

    Tribes 2 was the first game where I saw vehicular combat combined with the regular 1st-person combat style. Anyone who's a fan of Unreal Tournament 2004 should enjoy this one, and why not? It's something you don't have to shell out 40 bucks for!

  10. CD key? by flibbidyfloo · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Not to be dense, but is there a way to get an online key other than waiting in line at fileplanet? They usually don't give you a key unless you run their installer these days.

    I downloaded the stuff from one of the mirrors right away, but can't play online without a key I assume.

    I filled in the form on fileplanet, but didn't get an email within half an hour, so I don't know if they are emailing me one or if it will require the FP installer.

    1. Re:CD key? by bartok · · Score: 1

      I'm also still waiting for the email.

    2. Re:CD key? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      I filled in the form on fileplanet, but didn't get an email within half an hour, so I don't know if they are emailing me one or if it will require the FP installer.
      umm, it seems to be an IE only style page. I tried 3 times in the ol' firefox to no avail. Put your /. pride aside and launch IE and visit this page again.

      Sorry to AC, but've I modded this one a lot and don't want it to go to waste.

    3. Re:CD key? by qoa · · Score: 1

      I tried that link about 8 times with no luck. It tells me I have to login, I guess I have to login twice.

      --
      Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.
    4. Re:CD key? by InvisiBill · · Score: 1

      Correct, Firefox wouldn't work for me either. Went through in IE. I didn't take the time to figure out what the problem is.

    5. Re:CD key? by irokitt · · Score: 1

      I used firefox and it gave me a correct key, and I got the e-mail about 15 minutes later. So the standard Mozilla questions:

      1. What operating system are you working on?

      2. Are you using a standard build or a nightly?

      Standard build running on WinXP worked for me.

      --
      If my answers frighten you, stop asking scary questions.
    6. Re:CD key? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My reply email from FP got counted as spam by yahoo. So you might wanna check any filters if you have them. Also, I had to change my Firefox useragent to IE before the page would work right.

    7. Re:CD key? by kace · · Score: 1

      Yeah, the old fashioned way, buy Tribes2. Very recently (month or two) I saw it on sale at Best Buy in Atlanta for $9.99. I bought my own copy there about a year ago and it's the best $10 bucks I ever spent. I also got a copy of the linux version and play it on FreeBSD.

      Anyway, the website now says that downloads and CD-keys are "temporarily unavailable" due to high demand. Get yourself a key or used account fast. This game is beyond awesome.

  11. Linux Versions? by rmohr02 · · Score: 2

    I don't know about T1, but T2 definitely had a version for Linux that I've been trying to find for about a year now. I've looked through these links and can't find anything relating to a download of it--has anyone else seen if there's a Linux download?

    1. Re:Linux Versions? by AnotherScratchMonkey · · Score: 2, Informative
      We need to bug Sierra about this, at least establishing whether it's ok for those of us with the Linux version to distribute it.

      The server used to be at ftp://ftp.lokigames.com/ and a Linux T2 newsgroup is at news://news.lokigames.com/loki.games.tribes2.

  12. Good! by DeadboltX · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I bought tribes2 back in the day and I loved it, unfortunately as time goes on the ammount of good servers goes down.

    Hopefully this will reintroduce a lot of players to the game and get those servers back up there!

  13. L00k|ng f0r @ Tr|be5 CD Key by evil-osm · · Score: 4, Funny

    (@n s0me0ne p05t the|r tr|be5 key. | \/\/@nn@ p|@y. Woot!

    --


    E.

    Never rub another man's rhubarb - The Joker
    1. Re:L00k|ng f0r @ Tr|be5 CD Key by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Tribes 5 is already out? Wow! :)

  14. CD Key Link by Borodimer · · Score: 5, Informative

    For some odd reason you have to use a seperate link to actually get your Tribes 2 CD Key.

    The link for generating the key is http://www.fileplanet.com/promotions/tribes2_cgw/. .
    And yes, you do have to veryify your email address on your Fileplanet account BEFORE you go to that page.

    1. Re:CD Key Link by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have a verified Email but I have not yet been able to successfully get a CD Key from them. Have you been able to get this to work for yourself?

      Would appreciate a comment here because this pains me.

    2. Re:CD Key Link by AnotherScratchMonkey · · Score: 1

      I ended up having to use IE, it wouldn't recognize my verification when using Mozilla.

  15. And for the experienced Tribes players by codexus · · Score: 2, Funny

    Maybe today is a good day to frag noobs ^_^

    --
    True warriors use the Klingon Google
  16. Remember this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    This is Vivendi Universal here. The same people that shutdown OSS projects like bnetd by using bogus DMCA lawsuits. I won't touch any of their shit, even if they give it away. They are without honor.

    1. Re:Remember this by GearType2 · · Score: 2

      It's not nice to make fun of homosexuals. Be fair, they(as a collective group) probably wouldn't hold such a immature grudge against a company, like the original parent.

    2. Re:Remember this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      First of all, I congratulate you for having the chutzpah and/or stupidity to make a logged-in response to a blatant troll. Bravo.

      Secondly, I have nothing against homosexuals; whenever I use the phrase "Jesus god you're a faggot," you should assume that there is an invisible "and I mean that in a bad way" at the end of the sentence. Just as not all Arabs are shrieking baby-eating suicide bombers -- just most of them -- I make a distinction between good faggots and bad faggots. Freddy Mercury, good faggot; Michael Sims, bad faggot. When I use "faggot" as an insult you can rest assured it is this latter negative connotation I intend and that it is not meant to reflect on the good faggots of the world.

  17. Mac Version by feyhunde · · Score: 2, Informative

    Darn, it seems the mac version and 'nix versions aren't available to us. Either that or I am really wrong. Some one correct me please.

    --
    I'd say more, but my guild is raiding.
    1. Re:Mac Version by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sadly they didn't choose to release the Linux build of T2 :[

    2. Re:Mac Version by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Someone should torrent the installers up... it would be interesting to see if Vivendi-Universal decides to crack down on that. I suppose it would depend on if they were planning on making Mac and *nix versions of the new game.

  18. The Linux version is NOT included by Wee · · Score: 1
    The guys from linuxgames.com have talked with Vivendi Universal Games and recieved an offical response: the Linux version will not be givien away. Note that you can still get the Linux dedicated server files, so you can at least use the free Windows version of T2 in order to host a server on Linux.

    Apparently Tuxgames is sold out of the letfover Linux versions from Loki's firesale, and there's nothing on ebay. Looks like T2 won't work in WineX as well.

    Sometimes you just don't get a break being a Linux gamer. Maybe if every third Linux gamer hadn't pirated the Linux version in the first place (since everything in Linux has to be "free", right?) things would be different. But there's so much legal detritus floating around, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting to see a free Linux version.

    -B

    --

    Ash and Hickory, straight-grained and true, make excellent bludgeons, dandy for the cudgeling of vegetarians.

  19. linux server by Apreche · · Score: 1

    Wow, this is great, now all my friends can re-enjoy one of the best games ever. It will be just like before they fscked it up. Only if I could find the necessary stuff to run a tribes 2 linux server in classic mode. Anyone know where to get it from and what the newest version is???

    --
    The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
    1. Re:linux server by AnotherScratchMonkey · · Score: 1
      Ask on the T2 Servers Mailing List.

      MA runs numerous T2 servers, on the same box running our web site, forums, and email.

  20. y0!!111 by Kizzle · · Score: 0, Redundant

    H3y I n33d a S3rial f0r t3h tr1bes c@n someboody helllP me plz ok thx bye lol

  21. Fileplanet flamers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Eat dedicated server speed, eat it now. In fact it's so fast, It will feed you 2 full sized games once 60$ each in under 20 mins

  22. Tribes 2 Engine by jea6 · · Score: 1

    Forgive the stupid question but, does BF:1942 run on a Tribes2 derived engine?

    I enjoyed Tribes2 but never had the computing muscle to enjoy a jitter-free game. So I went back to Q3A.

    --

    sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.
    1. Re:Tribes 2 Engine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Tribes2 uses Torque, BF1942 uses Refractor 2. They're unrelated.

    2. Re:Tribes 2 Engine by AnotherScratchMonkey · · Score: 1

      I run both T2 and BF servers, and can tell you that BF is a real pig in comparison. I have a dual-CPU setup and a single 24-man BF server uses up a CPU, while multiple T2 servers running up to 50 people (total) barely make it sweat. The BF server uses somewhat more bandwidth, but it's a real hog on CPU and memory. Click on the URL under my name to check out the servers.

  23. Free releases by RotJ · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The best free game I've played was Betrayal at Krondor when Sierra decided to give it away to promote Betrayal in Antara. I also would have never discovered Red Baron had Sierra not also given that away to promote, eh, Red Baron 2.

  24. Why was it better than others? by BTWR · · Score: 1

    Just wondering -

    I never played Tribes 1 or 2. How/why was it better than other FPSs? Could you give me some ideas? My last final is this friday and I dont start working for the summer for a while, so I have a lot of gaming to catch up on. Just wondering if this is worth my time...

    1. Re:Why was it better than others? by AstrumPreliator · · Score: 1

      Well it's just unique. They both use very large maps and there are of course vehicles. You can choose many different roles but in the end you have to work together.

      You could be defense in a heavy armor and set up turrets, sensores, and defend the base with heavy weapons. Or you could be medium armor (which I never found useful). And of course you can be light armor. You can be a sniper, flag capper, or base infiltrator (to name a few).

      You can't just be a complete gung-ho team though. If you have no one defending the base the enemy can easily come in and take out your power generators. Vehicle stations, inventory stations, and preplaced turrets (the ones the map starts out with, not the ones you place) all draw power from the generator. So players usually specialize in a certain roles and everyone works together as a team.

      Thats just kind of a breif overview of what made it such a good game. And of course don't forget you have jet packs in this game, those make it fun as well. The only bad part about these two games are the fact that not many people play anymore. Maybe this free download will boost player numbers.

    2. Re:Why was it better than others? by Derkec · · Score: 2, Informative

      I played a lot of Tribes 2. It's unique as far as FPS games go and it's somewhat an aquired taste. Most FPS games, at this point, I can pick up and be successful in. They are either run fast and shoot accurately, or move carefully shoot accurately. Tribes, is about thinking tactically and moving fast by moving precisely - that's some weirdness introduced by everybody wearing a jet pack.

      Unless you're sniping, accurate shooting is less about putting the cursor on the other guy and pulling the trigger and more about watching the other guy's jet pack influenced trajectory and aiming at where he's going to land while at the same time realizing that your projectile will aquire your momentum and compensating for that. Learning to shoot in this game is a painfully slow experience.

      That said, you can be extremely effective for your team without ever shooting a shot. That's what makes this game great. Teams need people to lay down defensive turret, and sometimes sensor grids to detect and combat enemies closing in on your flag (capture the flag is alomst the only thing played in Tribes 2).

      You team's energy generators, repair stations and fixed turrets will likely come under attack and your team will need somebody to go fix those things.

      The vehicles offer another dimension. Some people learn to be great fighter pilots, others use jets and hover bikes as personal transport for stealing flags or hunting down flag carriers. Others like to pilot bombers or be bombadeers. In the category of things a new person can do, a bomber can have a third person who is responsible for tossing flares to divert incoming missles as well as attempt to shoot down enemy fighters. There are tanks too. I used vehicles as personal transport mostly.

      The biggest difference is that more often than not, when I'm playing something like Unreal, I'm jazzed up and focusing hard all the time. Tribes can offer a less frantic pace with more thought involved. That said, flying into an enemy base and having many turrets focus on you while you carefully time your jet back boosts for a targetted and safe landing is tense as hell. Then you need to run the hell away with the flag.

      For me, games like Unreal peak with a dozen players. Tribes is great with 32 as you can take very specific roles. On some maps 12-16 is still good as it offers more wide open game play.

      The only time I've had a large player base experience that was better was in Planetside. But so much of the time Planetside was sub-par. Only occassionaly did I see how good that could be. Meanwhile, Tribes occupied a lot of my college years.

      Tribes is something you should give a shot. If the learning curve is too tough, I gather that the upcoming game will be a bit gentler, although I fear that will take away from the game somewhat. We'll see.

  25. Tribes 2 and onward by thebdj · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Tribes 2 for some reason had a problem gaining a great following. Many of the old fanboys of Tribes complained they weren't the same game (*sings* Cry Me a River *sings*). But to be honest the game modes, maps, and graphics made Tribes 2 a great game at the time. It is one of the few games to appropriately combine normal combat with vehicle combat. (Battlefield and UT 2004 being the others)
    I still play Tribes 2 a lot and no matter how much they change the game I will buy Tribes: Vengeance. I think some fanboys need to take the opportunity that these free games provide to see how good Tribes 2 really was/is and they may just see that the changes to Tribes were well worth it.
    We will see more changes from Tribes: Vengeance (Dynamix *RIP). However, a game on the UT engine which already has a lot of the vehicle physics in place should make for another great Tribes game and I cannot wait to see it.

    --
    "Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb."
  26. Hehe... by Brutus+(moo) · · Score: 3, Funny

    I remember back in the day I bought Tribes II for 240 NIS (4.5NIS=$1)...how many years ago was that...hm...two months, yup that's right, I bought Tribes II two months ago and now they're deciding to release it for free, well atleast now I'll have people to play with :)

  27. But unreal is better by superpulpsicle · · Score: 1

    I dunno what the fuss is all about the free downloads. Now that unreal 2004 is out in the market, it is definitely a superior game in all shape way or form than tribes 1 + 2.

    Gimme that troll -5 flamebait, but considering how much I used to play tribes... this publicity stunt is a little late.

    1. Re:But unreal is better by jguevin · · Score: 1

      Unreal may be better for you, but I have a 1Ghz Celeron and GeForce 2, so I think the choice is clear for me. And does Unreal 2004 have jetpacks? Jetpacks!!!

      Yeah, it's a publicity stunt, and it won't make me buy the next Tribes, but I will happily take advantage of the stunt nonetheless.

    2. Re:But unreal is better by schwaang · · Score: 1

      This is a late post, but I'm curious what a former tribes player see in UT2K4. I tried the demo for a week, and I'd stick with T1 or even T2 any day.

    3. Re:But unreal is better by OneHungLo · · Score: 1

      Just for the record, my younger brother's PC has a 900MHz celeron, and a GF2MX, and it runs UT2004 just fine. And it's one of those craptacular $400 Wal-Mart Special HP Pavilions, from about 3 years ago. The only adjustments that have been made for it are upgrading from WinME to XP Pro, moving up from 128 to 384MB PC133, and adding the aforementioned GF2MX. You didn't mention how much RAM yours had, but it sounds like the machine should be able to run UT2K4 without too many problems. I'd suggest getting the demo and giving it a try.

  28. Tribes 2 system requirements by Molochi · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I think it is funny that this is an "old game". I still go back and play on fully populated 32 player servers. guess there will be more now. The graphics don't look too dated for a DX7/OGL game, very nice textures. Infinite size levels are cool (I hate running into the invisible wall in UT2k4). I wish UTOnslaught had T2's bomber as well. Or the HAVOC. 5 Juggernaughts jumpjeting from a Havoc troop carrier amid a rain of Fusion Mortars is still a sublime pleasure for me...

    Anyways,
    Tribes 2 was a "must upgrade" game for me and required a pretty cutting edge machine to run well at the time it was being patched into completion ('nuff said). It "made" me go from 128MB to 256MB (critical to get rid of the worst of the swapping) and finally to 512MB RAM ( the game + system uses about 350MB I estimated). It ran poorly on a GF2MX (32MB SDR), fair on a radeonVIVO (64MB DDR), good a GF2PRO (64MB), and great on anything faster. Processor speed wasn't as critical, any +800Mhz P3/Athlon seemed to work fine.

    Nowadays, a sub 2GHz AMD budget box with NForce2 integrated graphics (and 1/2Gig of 333DDR) should be enough for this game. All those P4Celeron w/ GF4MX420s should love this game. Got a laptop with radeon or nvidia graphics? Try T2.

    --
    "The Adobe Updater must update itself before it can check for updates. Would you like to update the Adobe Updater now?"
    1. Re:Tribes 2 system requirements by Sigma+7 · · Score: 1
      Infinite size levels are cool (I hate running into the invisible wall in UT2k4).
      Tribes 2 levels are not infinitly sized: "You are leaving the mission area. Return or take damage."

      While you could in theory travel as far as you want to, there are penalties for doing so. The most major one is being told repeatedly by the team leader to get back in the battle, followed by being kicked by an admin for refusing to pull your weight.
    2. Re:Tribes 2 system requirements by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Tribes 2 levels are not infinitly sized: "You are leaving the mission area. Return or take damage.""

      That does no exist in Tribes 2 Base, nor Classic. You must be playing a mod.

      And yes the terrain repeats forever.

  29. CD Key Generation errors? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Has anyone actually gotten a CD key out of these pricks? God I hate file planet. All this downloading and they're page constantly errors (says my validated Email need validation, blah blah blah) when I try to generate one.

    Pooh on you guys.

    1. Re:CD Key Generation errors? by Mawen · · Score: 2, Interesting

      It took me several tries, but I eventually just got my key. (Using Konqueror.) I was also cheesed that the GameSpyID sign-up questionnaire didn't have a checkbox for Linux gamers :P Of course, I'm also mad about the Linux version not being up for download.

      Fileplanet reminds me of Real in that they are both internet companies with seemingly marginal business models that have to be really annoying in order to make any money.

    2. Re:CD Key Generation errors? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, just like Real networks in every way. Very frustrating and only breeds hate for the company.

      I finally retrieved my key by dumping all my cookies, relogging in from their main page, and resubmitting the form.

  30. Games to die for (or in) by radiochild · · Score: 0

    I remember playing Tribes until early in the morning night after night for a long time. Carmageddon 2 was another one. I lurved those games. Might have to go 'em again now, just for old times sake...

  31. Tribes 1 BitTorrent available by InvisiBill · · Score: 4, Informative
  32. More resources for new players by AnotherScratchMonkey · · Score: 1
    First, click on the MatureAsskickers link under my name. We're an old "tribe" (T2 speak for clan) of a little over 100 members. We have a very active forum and patience for newcomers. Our Files and Links areas should have all you need to play except the game itself.

    If you're looking for competition and don't want to be hammered with childishness while playing, check out the Blood Eagle Mini-League, a collection of teams who allow new teams in by invitation, sort of like an upper class golf club. Most of the teams are looking for new players with similar maturity.

    One of the bigger leagues is Team Warfare. The TWL forums has this thread full of essential resources.

    When I learned the game I found the Upset Chaps Guides to be invaluable.

  33. T2 does work with WineX -- try it! by schwaang · · Score: 1
    It is a huge shame that the linux T2 client isn't available for love or money at this point.

    Note that this release is advance hype for T3 (Tribes:Vengeance), which Sierra will not produce even a Linux server for.

    But the Winblows T2 client does work fairly well with WineX. (I'm using latest WineX from CVS.)

    It's not perfect. Particular maps either load and play fine, or they take so long to load that the server times out.

    Also, DefenseTurret (the anti-cheat equivalent of Punkbuster) won't work under WineX. That takes you off the ladder competition servers, and many of the pubs. But there are still enough servers without DT.