Free Tribes 1 and 2 Downloads, DVD Forthcoming 102
PoopShipDestroyer writes "In celebration for their upcoming game, Tribes: Vengence, Vivendi Universal Games is distributing the videogames Starsiege: Tribes and Tribes 2 for free via FilePlanet.com on May 4th, and also on a special-edition DVD-ROM bundled with the newsstand edition of the June issue of Computer Gaming World magazine. The price is certainly right."
Re:Tribes post (Score:2)
Rob
Re:Tribes post (Score:2)
It has its problems, but a lot of them are the same problems you see in the current crop of FPS games. For an example, see the post about sniper weapons a few threads down.
Re:Tribes post (Score:2)
Back when my LAN party group was just getting off the ground we used to have HUGE tribes games. 4 hours would zip past without any of us even realizing it.
Tribes 2 was much better graphically, support for 3d acceleration other than 3dfx helped a lot with that. However, the game play was so radically different from Tribes that the similarity was in name only.
So many people complained about it that they released a "classic patch" to Trib
Why FilePlanet? (Score:4, Insightful)
Patiently waiting for mirrors to show ups.......
Re:Why FilePlanet? (Score:5, Insightful)
You might have to wait in line for a while (personally, I've never had to wait more than 30 minutes even for super popular items) but I consistantly get 200-300 kBps when downloading.*
I think you should count that waiting in, and 200-300kbyte/s can be slow if there's places where you would get it 2mbyte/s..
the most annoying thing about fileplanets system is that it seems that the waiting is just artificial(as in, they would have the space on the servers), engineered you to just fess up and pay for the faster download. also they seem to negotiate exclusive/first distribution deals for some files, just to make it so that they are the ONLY place where you can get the file(at least for a short while). if they really are so out of bandwith for gods sake, but some torrents up!
It's enough for me to just wait that it's on somewhere else, if they're in the business of providing downloads and don't want to do it then fuck them, they obviously don't want me to look at their ads or use their system then.
fileplanet is slow in terms of 'when the file would be on your hd'.
Re:Why FilePlanet? (Score:1)
Re:Why FilePlanet? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Why FilePlanet? (Score:2)
FilePlanet used to be fast and now it's utter slow and bloated crap of a download site. Moreover, I've seen more than one download site that actually offers BT downloads!!! (tho it seems the main site doesn't act as a seed since speed ain't that terrific)
Re:Why FilePlanet? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Why FilePlanet? (Score:2)
Re:Why FilePlanet? (Score:2)
Payola would be my guess.
Re:Why FilePlanet? (Score:2)
Serriously, You bitch about Fileplanet, when Fileshack, and everyone else is also charging. Fileplanet was just first to charge. Its getting harder to find downloads of large files in the US.
Now, if they would also off torrents for the larger files for free, that would b
Re:Why FilePlanet? (Score:5, Insightful)
On the technical side, the site works fine in Mozilla (except their search pages, they are a little funky. They work, just ugly.). They have some sort of IE ActiveX download control but I've never used it. Their cookies last a decent amount of time, so I only ever have to re-log in every month or so, and I just let Mozilla do that for me. I'm basically 3 or 4 clicks away from any file they host.
People also ask me to grab files for them off of fileplanet, but I don't mind. It's usually at network parties where we'd all benefit anyways.
Ultimately, I believe that paying for what I use is not a bad thing. Paying to have great access to what I use is even better. I've never had a slow download from Fileplanet for my subscription. I get the patches faster, and I get back to playing the game faster.
Re:Why FilePlanet? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Why FilePlanet? (Score:1)
BitTorrent (Score:2)
After all this is why BT was made in the first place
____________
Re:Why FilePlanet? (Score:2)
Because there are alternative methods out there.
Sure it's free, you only have to pay FilePlanet $ for a fast connection and fast access to the files. Otherwise your stuck at something like 32kps transfer speed and waiting in line for 2-hours for the download to start.
Would you rather share that nice fast connection with 100 people after waiting in line or share it with 1000 people immediately?
You get what you pay for. Thats what i
Re:Why FilePlanet? (Score:1)
Free? That's next to nothing! (Score:5, Interesting)
Then again, some people swear by the series. Not trying to troll here (even though the tone of this post really resembles a troll), but what's the advantage of Tribes over something like Unreal Tournament (the first one-- let's be fair here)? When I played Tribes it was a tedious exercise in jumping across huge, wide-open tracts of empty land only to get shot in the eye by a sniper halfway across it. I like UT's CTF maps a lot better; they're more inventive and offer genuine strategy (ie a sniper is at a lot more risk because the positions only allow him to shoot in a small area and not the entire field-- OK, so not all the maps followed this, but enough did). UT2K4 is good, but is there a reason I should really consider picking Tribes up again?
Re:Free? That's next to nothing! (Score:4, Interesting)
Tribes wasn't much better with the laser rifle but it didn't seem quite as bad as UT.
The main problem I have with the whole UT series is that there are too many weapons/fire modes. You never really know which weapon to use and end up just randomly picking one since it doesn't really matter. Many of them are also too powerful. You just die too quickly no matter how pumped up you get so the whole idea of "pumping up" becomes pointless.
The vehicles in UT2004 feel great, but again they do too much damage. Funny how I can take 2 or 3 rockets to the face but just lightly touching a vehicle kills me instantly. Stupid.
I'm hoping the new Tribes will bring some good gameplay to the Unreal engine.
Re:Free? That's next to nothing! (Score:5, Interesting)
There are many reasons why Tribes (haven't played Tribes 2) kicked ass. For one, many features in it - vehicles, large outdoor maps, and to some extent flying - have only now showed up in UT2004. Tribes did it, what, 6 years ago? It was innovative in many, many ways - and the best part is that the innovations weren't simply a gimmick for the most part, they actually helped gameplay.
With different character "classes", Tribes felt a lot more team-oriented than any other game at the time - even if there was little actual communication involved. Nothing like running for the flag - or running back with it - and having your ass saved by a couple of guys sitting back lobbing mortars at the enemies chasing you. Nothing like sniping a guy across the map - in MID-AIR - and seeing his body fall down to the ground (possibly sans flag). Nothing like getting shot by a sniper - the same sniper - 2-3 times before you figure out where he is; another 4-5 times while you're trying to snipe back; then finally getting him, and having him congratulate you.
That was another part of it, I think - the people playing Tribes (at the time) were a lot friendlier and more fun to play against than your average 12-year-old (or 12-year-old sound-alike) CS regular.
I loved UT as well, and played it probably even more than Tribes - but mostly because all my friends were also playing it obsessively, and even had a couple of servers up for our use. They ARE two different games though, and comparing them isn't very fair to either one.
Re:Free? That's next to nothing! (Score:2, Funny)
MOOoooOOOOooo!
Re:Free? That's next to nothing! (Score:2)
Did we play on the same server? I was [DEMB]-Jason?
But serriously. I loved hunting for snipers, and then being a sniper also. I was usually Engineer class with repair gun, rail, missles, grenade launcher, EMP grenades (to take out heavies with shield pack), and an Inventory station to place la
Re:Free? That's next to nothing! (Score:2, Interesting)
UT more often or not you can get killed by some beginner spamming the flak cannon.
Re:Free? That's next to nothing! (Score:2)
But then I was the guy that would team up with another engineer using the rail gun on opposite hills across a valley to snipe the same person at the same time.
jason
Re:Free? That's next to nothing! (Score:5, Informative)
It's really all about pace for me and actual thinking. Most of the time, UT2K4 and the like are played a truly frenetic pace. From time to time, a handful of players will be standing still sniping or moving only a little while babysitting an objective or flag. While you are moving in UT2K4, you are moving fast and it's intense. UT2K4 is never peaceful, nor are there generally large strategic decisions.
Tribes (I played 2) can be peaceful. There are those wide open areas that you can navigate very quickly with light armor and skill but otherwise are slow to traverse on foot. You can also contribute to your team while remaining almost ignorant of combat going on around you and certaintly not firing a gun. To do this, you run around deploying sensors, or turrets or what have you or carry a repair gun to glue stuff back together. (Yes, link gun in 2K4 does this, but it feels like kludge)
It also makes a big differance that there are vehicles in capture the flag. And they work in that environment. One of the more beautiful team efforts you'll see in Tribes is one player grabbing the flag and begining to run home. Another player on his team will be flying a Shrike (a small hover plane) and will fly past the flag carrier and park the plan in his path. Guy #2 jumps out, the flag carrier jumps in and starts flying home.
There are just so many interesting tactical / strategic things to do in Tribes that aren't there in UT2K4. That's the selling point. I'll share two favorites.
You have becons. Usually you use them to let your team know where you've put something useful. They can also be put in target mode. All your teamates guns will see a dot which lets them know where to fire to hit your becon. Sounds a little useless until you put one on the underside of an enemy's defensive turret or vehicle station. Suddenly your teamates are lobbing mortars from halfway across the map with pinpoint accuracy to destroy things. Funny as hell.
The other is on a map that is normally dominated by snipers. There is a huge open area between the two relatively close flags that can be picked off. On the edges of these are a series of canyons. You can be daring and load up heavy (slow) armor and walk the canyons mortar in hand. If you manage to sneak up properly from behind. The map is hilariously set up so that well shot mortars are trapped and held in a small room that contains the enemy reequiping stations. Killing a stack of people and trashing those stations that way is hilarious.
Finally, in Tribes, when the action heats up and its a clutch moment, your adreniline does kick up. The cool thing about UT2K4 is that you're almost always at that level of intesity. Mostly because of that small field of view.
Frankly, while the vehicles in UT are very cool and the new mode is fun, I just don't think it's right. UT feels too high paced to have tank battles. I really feel that while the new modes are great, UT is at its finest when there aren't vehicles, when it's played on smallish maps between two fairly small teams. UT's indoor maps tend to be very very good, while the outdoor ones feel bland and average. Tribes had the opposite problem. Their interiors were pretty lame compared to the vast expenses between bases.
So why look at Tribes? Because you want a gaming experience that is more interesting, if slower paced. Why ignore Tribes? The learning curve is a bitch and it takes forever to finally get your first spinfusor kill.
Re:Free? That's next to nothing! (Score:1)
Re:Free? That's next to nothing! (Score:2)
Re:Free? That's next to nothing! (Score:1, Interesting)
Momentum.
In every weapon there is added movement in your projectiles along the vector of your motion. If you're flying through the air, the Cross-hair is NOT where your bullets are going to hit. So in order to get GOOD at Tribes you have to start aiming based on the movement of yourself AND the opponent as well as the speed of your projectiles.
When you've been happily lobbing mortars at sta
Re:Free? That's next to nothing! (Score:1)
Re:Free? That's next to nothing! (Score:1)
EXCELLENT marketing scheme (Score:5, Interesting)
when something like this happens everyone with a P2 or greater and broadband internet hops on, and over-night thousands of new fans are born. just think about how many of these people will invest their money into the next release from these guys. it doesn't take a PhD in econmics to realize how much greater prospected sales will be for the upcoming tribes vengeance.
more power to them for realizing the future potential earning power of these games (which is nil, hint fucking hint lucasarts) and giving it out free, and i wish them luck with their next release.
TERRIBLE marketing scheme (Score:2, Insightful)
these kind of gimmicks always work, ALWAYS. i can say this with a high degree of certainty as someone who has spent more than 3 years playing first person shooters and delving into the modding scene of UT, UT2003, Q3 and espically HL.
Then how can you be so very wrong? All this does from my perspective is piss me off that they're giving away things to Windows users but they couldn't be bothered to make some more money by releasing Mac and Linux versions. From both a business and "gimmick" perspective,
Re:TERRIBLE marketing scheme (Score:2)
Why don't you just buy a windows gamming rig?
Drop a grand or more for a halfway decent machine just to play games? Not gonna happen; I'd get a PS2 first. Games aren't that important to me. I can easily find other things to do if Vivendi doesn't want my $50.
Face it, I am a Linux supporter, but I realize that in most cases it isn't worth the time and money for some companies to port their games over to the Mac or Linux.
If they had written the game right in the first place it wouldn't be any grea
Tribes, eh? (Score:3, Interesting)
The new Tribes should be interesting because it's using the Unreal engine. I'm very interested in seeing if it can handle maps of Tribes scale (hopefully they didn't make them smaller to keep the engine happy). The vehicles in UT2004 are the best of just about any game with vehicles so I hope they carry that over to the new Tribes.
I don't care for UT2003/2004's gameplay much so I'm hoping the new Tribes will bring a better feel to the game.
Re:Tribes, eh? (Score:1)
Formerly Loki Version Available? (Score:3, Interesting)
I would suspect not... but the article doesn't go into too many details.
It would be better if the game was "Free as in Speech" released, but not too realistic to expect considering the torque engine has license fees to depend on.
Re:Formerly Loki Version Available? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Formerly Loki Version Available? (Score:3, Interesting)
I think this is a smoke screen excuse for them not to do it. Whey not contact the people that were behind Loki (Michael) and ask to release it?
Oh that's right, the guy bailed and went into hideing...
Re:Formerly Loki Version Available? (Score:1)
They release updates to the game via [fv]ileplanet (:)) so why not go whole hog and release the game under promotion too?
The profit/promotion motive does not exist however as I'm getting the feeling Vengeance will be a "Win32 and Maybe OSX Only But Theres a Linux Server" kind of game.
Wish I had more time to play while there's still the possibility of playing.
Re:Formerly Loki Version Available? (Score:3, Insightful)
Best game ever (Score:1)
Best game ever? (Score:1, Interesting)
Another issue was the g
Yeah! Windows games for free! (Score:2, Insightful)
But I haven't even booted Windows in months (except at work or when I need to work at home) and have been quite happy running Linux as many others are also.
I doubt that they will release the Tribes2 for Linux (even though after Loki went under all thier ports went back to the original publishers) but I remain hopeful that they will release it. And with Fileplanets file tracking t
which version (Score:2)
Tribes1 servers (Score:4, Interesting)
Some people like playing Tribes mods where the weapons are insanely deadly, rockets, vulcan's, modified sniper rifles. Theres even a RPG mod for tribes.
One thing I really liked in tribes was sound packs, was kinda cool to have real sound clips from movies/music in game. I took every sound pack I could get and put them into one, Called it the Total Sound pack, was over 600 megs. Though I didn't have all the sounds mapped to a menu command, I could at least hear them if someone played them.
My very short stint into scripting/modding.
BTW, I have signed Tribes1 and Tribes2 boxes on my desk, with a little Tribescon 2000 winner logo, and tribe pocketwatch. Made it to the first 3 Tribescon's, now those are some lan parties, met the developers, and won some prizes.
Started tribes on a Dual Voodoo2 SLI system. Glide baby!
Re:Tribes1 servers (Score:2)
I may have had your total sound pack installed at one time. Did it have just tons of Loony toons quotes, Arnold quotes, WB cartoons, etc?
"Ahahahahah What a mah-roon"
jason
Serial? (Score:5, Insightful)
Will it be provided with the magazine/download?
Re:Serial? (Score:1)
Re:Serial? (Score:1)
I have a copy of the Linux version of Tribes 2, but I can't play it because I don't have a serial.
Re:Serial? (Score:1)
Re:Serial? (Score:2)
One would assume that since it's not a FilePlanet Subscribers only download, keeping the serial number system would be pointless, and it will be removed.
Re:Serial? (Score:1)
If they release a patch, I don't think it will work with Loki's Tribes 2..
Re:Serial? (Score:1)
Re:Serial? (Score:2)
I played Tribes 2 a bit, and thought it was good, but I never was motivated enough to go get a copy. I will most certainly download this and give it another shot - who knows, maybe it will get me addicted to the series and I will buy Tribes Vengence
Crap (Score:2, Interesting)
Looks like a just got rooked. Should have waited a month!
Re:Crap (Score:2)
But digress... Did your purchased copy come with the keyboard shortcut menu? I found that quite handy when learning the game.
Incidentally... I played for a few years before I actually bought the first game (Shhhhhh don't tell). Man was it worth it. On a per hour basis, if I had purchased that game at full retail for $50, it would still have cost me near $0.05 for an hour of play time (rought estimate)
Nice. (Score:2, Interesting)
If you haven't played Tribes, check it out (Score:3, Interesting)
There's a ton of good mods for Tribes. I'd try out Shifter and TAC. Shifter expands on the amount of armor/weapons/vehicles/items/etc. To me, Shifter is like the Team Fortress of Tribes. Each armor has its own speciality. TAC (Team Aerial Combat) is just what it sounds like. If you touch the ground anywhere but a base or an objective, you instantly die, so instead of walking, you have to fly around everywhere in vehicles. Of course, flag carriers can't fly themselves, so you have to rely on your team. Aerial firefights are incredibly fun, and they really encourage teamwork too.
I never got into Tribes 2 much. It seemed a bit sluggish, but maybe that's just because I kept trying to play it like the original.
Re:If you haven't played Tribes, check it out (Score:1)
Great game! (Score:2, Interesting)
The best part of the game is the strategic and coordinated SPONTANEOUS teamwork. You can tell you team that you have are going for the enemy flag, reinforce the defenses/offense, and command others to destroy certain ite
Where to find team players (Score:1)
Team membership in the league is by invitation. A team goes through a series of trial matches to make sure it's adult enough. If you're interested in that kind of play, stop by and see if any of the member teams are recruiting. Most are, given the stale state of the game.
My own team, the Mature Asskickers [matureasskickers.net], has
Tribes 2 is great, especially with today's HW (Score:2, Interesting)
With today's hardware, the Tribes2 gaming experience should be great. Should be able to run at 1600x1200 with decent detail level...
Anyone who hasn't tried Tribes2 should give it a go when the free download is availa
Re:Tribes 2 is great, especially with today's HW (Score:2)
Just dug out the disc when I saw this article, installed on my new 3.06P4 + RadeonMobile9600 laptop: it ran with no frames dropped at 1680x1050 (woo! it supported widescreen!) with all the options turned up.
Now I've just gotta find the old Tribes1 disc...
Werd! (Score:1, Troll)
Seriously, I think that Tribes was meant to be warezed. It was a multiplayer only game that had a small footprint, the CD wasn't required to play, and there was no CD key copy protection.
LK
Clowns like you are the reason ... (Score:3, Insightful)
Nice going.
Re:Free not Free Enough (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Free not Free Enough (Score:1)
Re:Free not Free Enough (Score:3, Interesting)
Tribes 2 uses Torque (Which is actually nice with current hardware)
Tribes Vengeance uses the Unreal200X engine.
I played Tribes1 for 3 years, moving back to CS after the bad launch of Tribes2. Now with current hardware and patches, Tribes 2 is very enjoyable. Actually run the engine with all settings on max, and still nice. Of course, I still like Tribes1 with Anti-alias'ing, still a fun game.
Re:Free not Free Enough (Score:1)
Re:Free not Free Enough (Score:3, Interesting)
Rob
Re:Free not Free Enough (Score:1, Troll)
Frankly, this isn't the game company caring about the fans. This is drumming up interest in an upcoming game, plain and simple. It's just that some companies are better at portraying their craven
Re:Free not Free Enough (Score:2)
No, you should cease your voice because you are wrong. It is next to impossible(time and money wise) to do what you ask and would be a legal nightmare.
Re:Free not Free Enough (Score:3, Informative)
These aren't all chump games. In fact, many of them are very popular, commercially successful games.
Impossible? Not at all.
Re:Free not Free Enough (Score:2, Insightful)
I just think your whole arguement is a little silly. If a company wants to give away its source that is fine with me. If a company wants to give away binaries and protect its IP that should be okay too.
And who cares if this is just a publicity stunt to promote the new version of Tribes? It i
Re:Free not Free Enough (Score:2)
Re:Free not Free Enough (Score:1)
Re:Free not Free Enough (Score:2)
Polygonal enemies just cinch it for me.
I'd say tenebrae is a step in the right direction, but to be honest, the doom source ports are far superior in terms of updating an old game with newer technology.
Re:Free not Free Enough (Score:2, Informative)
There is a thiving community build around engine work for Doom, Quake, and Quake 2, at least. And i'm sure there are others out there that I just havn't looked for yet.
Re:Free not Free Enough (Score:2, Interesting)
Not everyone wants to share their code.
Period.
Let me repeat that.
Not everyone wants to share their code.
Period.
Just like you chose to only support companies that will release their code, the company can choose not to release their code. It's their code and their perogative to do what they want with it.
Re:Free not Free Enough (Score:5, Insightful)
Others are "free" to choose how they want to distribute thier property, but that isn't good enough for him, he wants it to be free on his and only his terms.
Re:Free not Free Enough (Score:1)
Re:Free not Free Enough (Score:2)
The freedom he is talking about is the one defined by the Free software foundation's free software definition [gnu.org].
Oh, but they're not only "free" to choose how *they* distribute "their property". They also dictate that *you* shall not distribute "your property". Copyright is not a basic property right as you seem to be implying, it's something origina
Re:Free not Free Enough (Score:2)
(besides which, calling the fact that you don't have the source code and they do arbitrary is a little...wrong, isn't it? It's like saying that because I have the keys to my house and you don't, the fact that I can get into my locked house is an arbitrary distinction.
Re:Free not Free Enough (Score:1, Funny)
Re:Free not Free Enough (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Free not Free Enough (Score:2)
Sure it's possible to rewrite the server to assume no trust (which may or may not require a new client as well, I *think* it's been done that way for Quake), but if it does require a different cli
Re:Free not Free Enough (Score:3, Informative)
At least now I have a place I can watch for the answer!
Re:Free not Free Enough (Score:2)
Yeah, because the world works best when everyone goes around satisfying the noisiest, most ill-tempered and stubborn among us.
I'd suggest you open your mind to the fact that you might be wrong, but that wouldn't really fit your own description of yourself.
Are you in the industry beyond running a fansite? I doubt you know much of what you write.