New RTS Based on DotA Offers Native Linux Client 173
S2 Games, longtime fans of the "Defense of the Ancients" (DotA) mod for Warcraft 3, have decided to create an entire game based around it (which IceFrog had no objection to). Without offending their still-active NDA, I can say that Heroes of Newerth is shaping up to be a very polished RTS, with the ability to play both via S2's own online service and local games, something that even Blizzard seems to be missing these days. Unlike most publishers, S2 has also decided to simultaneously release Windows, Mac, and Linux clients, making this one of the best looking games that I have ever seen on my Linux box. Additionally, S2 would like to invite another 400 players to the HoN beta, so if you are an RTS fan (and especially if you are a DotA fan) just send an email to scuttlemonkey at slashdot dot org with the subject line of "HoN Beta Key Request" and I'll reply to the first 400 requests as best I can. Update 20:37 GMT by SM: In case you don't notice in your haste to create a beta account, let me remind you that this game is still under strict NDA, so please no specifics in the discussion below. Update 00:01 GMT by SM: Well, given the 800+ emails that flooded my inbox in the first half hour or so we're all out of beta keys, but keep an eye out for a release date. Update 01:00 GMT by SM: Apparently your friends over at S2 games were quite impressed with the level of interest and are furnishing another 2,000 beta keys for me to continue working through the requests in my inbox (I'm at around 1,500 requests total as of this update, and only about 350 keys sent out). Please be patient as I slowly try to catch up. Also a point of clarification, while IceFrog doesn't mind S2 diving in to this space with a game based on DotA (competition is good in the long run after all), he wanted to make sure loyal fans of DotA knew that he plans to continue developing and improving DotA for WC3. Update 7/10/2009 13:06 GMT by SM: to all those still waiting on a beta invite, please be patient. I use gmail as the central repository for my email for ease-of-use, and while I was only expecting to have to hand out 400 keys, apparently gmail has an email cap of 500 per day. Last night my account got locked for excessive use, so I am waiting on the wrist-slap to expire so I can continue my key-spam. It looks like all who have requested a key so far will get one.
Re:Where do I buy it? (Score:2, Informative)
Note that the other games S2 games has developed also have native Linux clients.
Check out Savage 2 for example which is a great game and available for Linux
for free:
http://www.savage2.com/en/ [savage2.com]
Re:DotA is the only game I play these days (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Woo Hoo!!! (Score:3, Informative)
Don't mean to preach or anything, I was just really happy when I found a game I could play at LAN parties with my friends without having to reboot. http://springrts.com/ [springrts.com]
Re:Here's an idea Blizz should have released (Score:3, Informative)
The fact that you can zerg Van or Drek proves it's not DotA.
You couldn't zerg the bosses in the original Alterac Valley which is what they were talking about... at least, I'd never seen it done, and if it was possible to do then it would have been done rather than have the games drag out for 8+ hours like they did, with no additional reward.
Restrictive terrain, swarms of aggressive and advancing NPCs, static defenses... that's DotA. WoW hasn't done it yet.
That was AV too... not that this means it was good. I mean, it was cool to fight through lines of NPCs and enemy PCs, building up and coordinating assaults by your own NPCs, summoning the Uber NPCs, and all that jazz. But it was a novelty. The first time you'd summoned all the npcs and run the gauntlet and spent 6 hours pushing a couple graveyards towards the enemy base, only to have a counter offensive or defensive slip-up push you back to a stalemate in the center of the map, and you were ready to quit and never play again.
It's a shame... they should learn from DotA and others and put a battleground like that back in.
Re:DotA - fun game, horrible community (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Let it die (Score:1, Informative)
Wikipedia to the rescue! [wikipedia.org]. DotA is it's own kind of mini-genre but it does share some similarities to a Tower Defense game. More of a "Tower Offense and Defense" and instead of "Tower" you have "hero character". More of a "tug-of-war" kind of game where you stream of soldiers is trying to push back your enemies stream of soldiers to their base so your guys can kill their "boss" or "Ancient".
Some games have a "tower" builder making it possible to play it similarly to a tower defense with offense.
I love Warcraft 3 mods. I would probably call these things their own style of mini-games:
Defense of the Ancients
DotA really isn't in a mini-genre of its own. It's called the Aeon of Strife (AoS) genre, after the original SC1 custom map. DotA:AS is just the most popular of the AoS custom maps, of which there are hundreds in WC3. (You might ask why I just called it DotA:AS, that's because that's its name; DotA refers to the pre-TFT map upon which DotA:AS was based, by a different guy, which was very high quality for the time but rendered outdated by the huge advances in the editor coming with the WC3 expansion.)
Re:DotA - fun game, horrible community (Score:3, Informative)