Free Games & Demos

Talk about games or general tech issues that are not Sierra related.
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DeadPoolX
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Free Games & Demos

Post by DeadPoolX »

There are quite a few free full games and playable demos legally available online from various sources. I thought it might be useful to have a thread that lists them. If and when more games are found, please add them to the list. :)

All games listed are free full games unless otherwise noted.

1UP.COM (Some games are demos or shareware) AGD INTERACTIVE GOG (Requires a registered account to access games) HIMALAYA STUDIOS INFAMOUS ADVENTURES MINECRAFT
  • Minecraft Classic - Single Player (Browser-based and content-limited, but fully functional; does not require a registered account to play, but you can't save your game without an account)
  • Minecraft Classic - Multiplayer (Browser-based and content-limited, but fully functional; requires a registered account to join online servers)
SARIEN.NET

STEAM (Requires a registered account to access games and demos)
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Re: Free Games & Demos

Post by Tawmis »

Excellent list.
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Re: Free Games & Demos

Post by Collector »

Stickied.

Also, don't forget the browser based Sierra demo page. I am fleshing out this demo page, so what is there right now is less than what it will be soon. As soon as Cloudee gets the fan AGI/SCI games uploaded in jDOSBox on SCIProgramming.com I'll post a link. All that he has now for online play are games in development, like MI's KQ2 SCI.
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Re: Free Games & Demos

Post by DeadPoolX »

Gah. I must've messed up the link on Tyrian 2000 under the GOG heading. Could someone fix the link so it just displays the name?

- Done.
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Re: Free Games & Demos

Post by DeadPoolX »

Okay, I just had to add this game. It's called Quest Fighter and the idea is as warped as it sounds. Basically, it takes several different characters from Sierra and LucasArts Adventure games and tosses them into a "Street Fighter II-like" environment.

It uses the same VGA character sprites and backgrounds from the Adventure games themselves, as well. :D

I haven't played it, so I don't know if it's any good or not, but I'm definitely going to give it a shot. Who hasn't wanted to see King Graham fight Indiana Jones or "The Hero" (from QFG) take on Guybrush Threepwood?
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Re: Free Games & Demos

Post by Collector »

3D Realms (Apogee) also has a bunch of their shareware and a number of titles that they have freewared.
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Re: Free Games & Demos

Post by DeadPoolX »

The following links are from Wikipedia:
Just so you all know, the terms "open source" and "freeware" aren't always interchangeable. Often something created using open source materials is available for free (which is why I'm listing it here); however, sometimes these games are sold commercially.
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Re: Free Games & Demos

Post by MrFlibble »

For some time I've been making a list of freeware titles that are closely modelled after well-known, classic games, or outright started as freeware clones of certain games. Here's what I've got so far:

Arcade games:
Rocks'n'Diamonds - a game that combines elements from Boulder Dash, Emerald Mine, Supaplex and Sokoban.

Artillery games:
Atomic Tanks - a Scorched Earth clone.
Hedgewars - a Worms clone about hedgehogs.
WarMUX - another Worms clone.

First-person shooters:
Alien Arena - a multiplayer game that follows the best traditions of Doom, Quake and Unreal Tournament.
AssaultCube - a Counter-Strike-like multiplayer game that uses the Cube engine.
Blasphemer - a project aimed at creating a free data set for a Heretic-like game to be used with Doom engine source ports, much like Freedoom.
Cube - a game like Doom or Quake, but more oriented towards open areas. Has lots of single- and multiplayer games.
Cube 2: Sauerbraten - a sequel to Cube with more features and various improvements.
Freedoom - a free data set to be used with Doom source ports to create a free equivalent of Doom.
HacX - originally it was a commercial add-on for Doom II, later released for free, and recently it had become stand-alone, no longer requiring Doom II to be installed to play.
Harmony - an interesting FPS that uses the Doom engine and has some artistically done graphics and music.
OpenArena - a free data set to be used with the Quake III Arena engine.

Managerial strategy games:
OpenTTD - a Transport Tycoon Deluxe engine recreation that allows to use custom data sets, effectively making it a free game.

Miscellaneous games:
Crimelife, Crimelife 2, Crimelife III - Grand Theft Auto series clones.
Frets on Fire - a Guitar Hero clone.

Platform games:
1213 - a platform game by Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw made in the style of Flashback.
Hurrican - a tribute to the Turrican game series that uses nice pre-rendered graphics.
Lost Snowmen - a hybrid of The Lost Vikings and Ren & Stimpy.
Return of Egypt - this game is very much like Castlevania series games, taking place in Ancient Egypt.

Puzzle games:
Pingus - a Lemmings clone with penguins.

Real-time strategy games:
0 A.D. - an Age of Empires lookalike, still in development. Very promising. There's a playable alpha available.
Arrakis - a real oldie, inspired by Dune II and Command & Conquer by Stefan Hendriks, author of Dune 2 - The Maker.
Bos Wars - a sc-fi strategy that uses the Stratagus engine and looks somewhat like KKnD.
Commander Stalin - something along the lines of Command & Conquer: Red Alert.
Dark Hive - this game resembles Dark Colony somewhat.
Dark Konflict - a Command & Conquer clone made in 3D with features like day/night cycle and some other enhancements.
Dark Oberon - a game that strongly resembles Warcraft II, with all sprites having been digitized from clay models.
Glest - a fantasy/steampunk 3D strategy game in the style of Warcraft III. There are many modifications and enhancements to the original game available.
Priority: Survive - a real-time strategy that looks a lot like Starcraft and generally has excellent graphics.
Unknown Horizons - a "colonization" type real-time strategy that follows in the footsteps of the Anno game series.
Widelands - a Settlers II clone/freeware counterpart.

Simulation games:
Dolphinity Racer - a racing car simulator not unlike The Need for Speed.
FlightGear - a freeware equivalent of Microsoft Flight Simulator.
Oolite - an Elite clone.

Turn-based strategy games:
The Battle for Wesnoth - this well-known freeware title combines elements from console games Warsong and Master of Monsters.
C-evo - a Civilization-like game.
Freeciv - a freeware counterpart to Civilization II.
Freeciv.net - the online version of Freeciv.
FreeCol - a Colonization clone.
FreeLords - a Warlords II clone/remake made in Java.
FreeOrion - a 4X strategy game modelled after Master of Orion.
Legendary Legions - the authors characterize this game as a cross between Celtic Legends, Heroes of Might & Magic and Civilization.
LordsAWar! - another Warlords II clone.
UFO: Alien Invasion - a game that pays homage to the X-COM series, but in 3D.
Warbarons - a very nice browser-based Warlords II clone.
The Wargame Project - a medieval fantasy strategy that resembles Warlords but has a lot of innovative features making it much more complex.
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Re: Free Games & Demos

Post by DeadPoolX »

Steam has recently launched five different MMORPGs under the heading of "free-to-play." In other words, there are no purchasing or subscription costs. Some of them have premium account options, but it's not necessary at all.
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Re: Free Games & Demos

Post by DeadPoolX »

Steam has just switched Team Fortress 2 to the "free-to-play" model, so if you ever wanted to try it out, now's the time!
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Re: Free Games & Demos

Post by MrFlibble »

I've just stumbled upon a rather obscure FPS game by a Brazilian studio, called Hades 2. It was released somewhere around 1999, and 10 years after, the developers, Espaço Informática, released the game as freeware.

Essentially, it's a 2.5D FPS that looks like Eradicator or, even more, Marathon and its sequels, with high-res sprites and a sci-fi/horror theme. It was obviously quite dated in terms of graphics when it was released, but it appears quite playable none the less.

Hades 2 Official Site
Hades 2 Screenshots
Hades 2 Official Full Download
Hades 2 Demo
Hades 2 Gameplay Video on YouTube
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Re: Free Games & Demos

Post by MrFlibble »

After Digital Café released Chex Quest 2 in 1997, they announced plans for Chex Quest 3, but in 1999 the company was merged with several others and effectively dissolved, and the project was abandoned. The disappointed fans have attempted to make their own sequel, with rather dubious results (the game heavily relied on resources and content that was "acquired without permission" from other Doom modifications and total conversions), and there seemed to be little hope for an official continuation of the story.

However, in 2008 Charles Jacobi, who was the Art Director and Lead Artist of the original two games, announced on the Chex Quest Fan Forums that he was working on the third episode, motivated by the work of one of the fans on a project called The Ultimate Chex Quest. Jacobi created new art and an entire new episode, and also polished the levels from the original two games (there was an issue with Chex Quest 2 that due to time constraints during production, new art and monsters simply replaced the old ones from the original Chex Quest, making it impossible to combine the two games into one WAD without additional editing), and finally Chex Quest 3 was released. Andrew Benson, the Sound Design Leader and composer from Digital Café, created a few songs for the new episode as well. The game runs on the ZDoom engine (which is bundled with the release) and includes all three episodes, making it an official trilogy.

Download Chex Quest 3 from Charles Jacobi's website
Chex Quest 3 at ModDB
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Re: Free Games & Demos

Post by MrFlibble »

Advanced Strategic Command - a game modelled closely after Battle Isle 2200, with similar graphics (but in high-res) and a lot of improvements. It offers both a single-player campaign and mutliplayer mode.
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Crimson Fields - another game inspired by the Battle Isle series with some differences (e.g. there is no base construction). There's a single-player campaign with a rather detailed, albeit pretty standard, story, skirmish mode and multiplayer battles.
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Fire & Dragons - an Action/RPG game by an independednt Austrian developer, Nikolaus Gebhardt. There's also a sequel, Gates of Destiny.
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Re: Free Games & Demos

Post by MrFlibble »

A new 0 A.D. Alpha release, codename Geronium, had been made available for download recently. New additions include:
  • All-new dynamic territory design. Territories change throughout the game based upon the structures built by the players. Each structure has a "weight" given to it and a radius within which this weight has an effect based on the importance of that building, and these values affect borders proportionally. If one of a player's buildings falls into enemy territory due to shifting borders, then that building is planned to slowly lose loyalty until finally converting over to the enemy's side. (In the meantime, in 0 A.D. Alpha 7 it loses health instead, until it is destroyed.) This can be stopped and slowly reversed if the border shifts and the building comes back to the player's side.
  • An all-new and unique Carthaginian civilization, including:
    • Revamped and rebalanced units.
    • A completely remodeled navy from the ground up.
    • New docks, Iberian, Celt, and Italian embassies, walls, and civic center.
    • Dozens of new shields, helmets, and props.
    • New Easter Egg objects, including a Tophet structure, Samnite warriors, and the Sacred Band of Ba'al.
  • A brand new main menu design with new dynamic background, depicting the Spartan tradition of mothers sending off their sons to battle, telling them to come back either with their shield or on it. (Thanks, dashinvaine!). The menu and UI graphics have all been converted to the new style.
  • Music and Sound:
    • Several new tracks, all composed and directed by Omri Lahav, most featuring live percussion and flute segments (Thanks, percussionist Dror Parker and flutist Marta Mc'cave!):
      • Brand new 0 A.D. main theme, "Honor Bound", to go with our new menu.
      • Carthaginian peace tracks "Peaks of Atlas" and "Mediterranean Waves", featuring live percussion with a North African feel.
      • "Dried Tears" defeat music track.
      • Re-done Hellenic peace track, "Forging a City-State", with awesome flute improvisation segment.
    • 100+ new sound effects from the DynamiteSoundBytes team, dozens of them audible in-game.
  • New maps: Carthaginians Sandbox (Demo Map); Siwa Oasis; Cycladic Archipelago IV; Gallic Fields; Migration (Thanks, SMST, NOXAS1, and Yodaspirine!)
  • Miscellaneous: New Palisade objects, including wall segments, gates, towers, and spikes; Lion, Lioness, Infant Giraffe, and Giraffe death animations (Thanks, Athos!); A new "Islands" Random Map Script (Thanks, howlingflute!); An all-new Roman Triumphal Arch Easter Egg object (Thank you, Brightgalrs!); A LOTR-like Elven ship Easter Egg object (Thanks, Shield Bearer!).
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Re: Free Games & Demos

Post by DeadPoolX »

DC Universe Online is now F2P. You can find it at its home website or on Steam.

It's a hefty download at 14.1 GB. I'd recommend setting it to download overnight.

My first impressions: the character creator isn't as robust as in Champions Online or City of Heroes/Villains, both of which are also F2P. However, the game world itself is more immersive (far less cartoony, which could be good or bad, depending on your preference) and feels far more alive. It helps a lot if you're a DC Comics fan or at least know a little about the DCU itself.

I think the game play is easier and more intuitive; in fact, it plays more like a third-person action game than an MMO. You can gain different skills and abilities as you level up and unlike in some MMOs, these abilities seem to have a real effect.

There are multiple classes and fighting styles to choose from, all of which can be combined differently. For instance... you can choose to be a spellcaster and wield an assault rifle.

You also get to choose from three different travel powers -- flight, super speed and acrobatics. While these choices are much more limited than in either CO or CoH/CoV, the travel powers present in DCUO work better. I've only tried acrobatics so far, but in addition to various martial arts-like moves, you can stick to any surface and climb like Spider-Man. Later on, you get grappling hooks as well.

You can be a hero or villain, each side with three potential mentors. The heroes get Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman while the villains get Lex Luthor, the Joker and Circe. Each mentor starts you off with missions in their home city or environment.

If you're deadset on roleplaying, the mentors break down like this: Superman/Luthor (innate powers), Batman/Joker (gadgets and technology) and Wonder Woman/Circe (magic).

Oh and there's a DLC available for purchase at $10 USD that lets you create a character with "light powers" as in the kind that Green Lantern has. It might be worth buying, especially since you can get Premium Membership after spending only $5 USD total.
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