03-10-2012, 08:51 AM
I made this kind of thread over a year ago and stated some of my thoughts about the game and its situation. (Old thread here: http://forums.xonotic.org/showthread.php?tid=1598 ). However, Xonotic has improved significantly since that and therefore I want to share my new opinions about Xonotic and how things have changed from my previous posts and views. Especially when 0.6 is out, and the previous newest release was 0.1...
(Important: Most of my thoughts are mostly like replies and/or updates to my previous statements from the older thread. Please, see my older post so you can understand what I mean.)
1. The atmosphere
About a year ago I said that Xonotic space-like theme really makes this game differ from other games and I really liked the artwork and theme overall. After the year, with new eyecandy and more sophisticated artwork this really has shown its power. Xonotic has become very unique and therefore really stands out - there is no such other game like Xonotic. Actually I don't even think that Xonotic is "Quake-like" game anymore, even though the main concept shares the same idea. The gameplay and the complete atmosphere has changed so significantly that people will refer Xonotic as its own game; not anymore as "Quake clone". Graphics have imprioved so much that Xonotic really can match commercial games. Of course, graphics aren't so realistic as they could and Xonotic cannot match the 1st place of game graphics, but graphics aren't outdated at all and it offers nice view to the player; graphics look damn good even though they aren't "realistic". The only con about graphics are skeletal models and stiff models, but I'm sure everyone is aware about this.
2. Open-source
My point of view has not changed at all. Xonotic has been succesfully being a fun game to play even though it has a "nerdish" mind with it. Xonotic has not become a nerdtool, it is a game for everybody and players love to play it. Being open-source and the community developement has given it good imago, but mainly people like Xonotic because it is fun. Thumbs up!
3. Still, way too much Quake?
Not anymore! I said a few things on "The athmospehere", but I will add some other thoughts here. Gameplay has changed so much that it really has a little do with Quake currently and the whole athmosphere is really unique. Xonotic focuses on different aspects than UT or Quake do, and therefore playing Xonotic is really different than playing UT, Quake or other games like these. This is the best part of Xonotic developement - it has succeded to create its own gameworld and not simply copy and tweak old ideas. Of course Xonotic STILL shares the same basic concept of gameplay than Quake, UT and others and new players will propably see these similarities, but most of them won't think "this is completely like UT" anymore. This is a success, Xonotic will be the game of its own.
4. Casual VS. Hardcore
We have a right direction. Xonotic has focused more on casual gaming lately (IMHO), but competitive gaming is not forgotten. Maybe the flaws of competitive gaming is just because the small competitive scene behind Xonotic and therefore the competitive part of Xonotic is not so clearly visible than casual gaming. However, I really do hope this will be fixed over time when Xonotic gets more players - especially when 1.0 comes out. Casual gaming is in the good place - Xonotic really embraces new players and normal players can easily hop into the game. And it should be kept like this, keep up the good work.
5. Marketing
WE NEED MOAR MARKETING! Xonotic is not enough popular and therefore there are empty servers! We really should spread the word of Xonotic more effectively. This is not easy, but if more people will involve spreading this game this will success. The only problem is that there are just too few people spreading the word of Xonotic - we need more. This is where community and non-devs should start.
End of story.
(Important: Most of my thoughts are mostly like replies and/or updates to my previous statements from the older thread. Please, see my older post so you can understand what I mean.)
1. The atmosphere
About a year ago I said that Xonotic space-like theme really makes this game differ from other games and I really liked the artwork and theme overall. After the year, with new eyecandy and more sophisticated artwork this really has shown its power. Xonotic has become very unique and therefore really stands out - there is no such other game like Xonotic. Actually I don't even think that Xonotic is "Quake-like" game anymore, even though the main concept shares the same idea. The gameplay and the complete atmosphere has changed so significantly that people will refer Xonotic as its own game; not anymore as "Quake clone". Graphics have imprioved so much that Xonotic really can match commercial games. Of course, graphics aren't so realistic as they could and Xonotic cannot match the 1st place of game graphics, but graphics aren't outdated at all and it offers nice view to the player; graphics look damn good even though they aren't "realistic". The only con about graphics are skeletal models and stiff models, but I'm sure everyone is aware about this.
2. Open-source
My point of view has not changed at all. Xonotic has been succesfully being a fun game to play even though it has a "nerdish" mind with it. Xonotic has not become a nerdtool, it is a game for everybody and players love to play it. Being open-source and the community developement has given it good imago, but mainly people like Xonotic because it is fun. Thumbs up!
3. Still, way too much Quake?
Not anymore! I said a few things on "The athmospehere", but I will add some other thoughts here. Gameplay has changed so much that it really has a little do with Quake currently and the whole athmosphere is really unique. Xonotic focuses on different aspects than UT or Quake do, and therefore playing Xonotic is really different than playing UT, Quake or other games like these. This is the best part of Xonotic developement - it has succeded to create its own gameworld and not simply copy and tweak old ideas. Of course Xonotic STILL shares the same basic concept of gameplay than Quake, UT and others and new players will propably see these similarities, but most of them won't think "this is completely like UT" anymore. This is a success, Xonotic will be the game of its own.
4. Casual VS. Hardcore
We have a right direction. Xonotic has focused more on casual gaming lately (IMHO), but competitive gaming is not forgotten. Maybe the flaws of competitive gaming is just because the small competitive scene behind Xonotic and therefore the competitive part of Xonotic is not so clearly visible than casual gaming. However, I really do hope this will be fixed over time when Xonotic gets more players - especially when 1.0 comes out. Casual gaming is in the good place - Xonotic really embraces new players and normal players can easily hop into the game. And it should be kept like this, keep up the good work.
5. Marketing
WE NEED MOAR MARKETING! Xonotic is not enough popular and therefore there are empty servers! We really should spread the word of Xonotic more effectively. This is not easy, but if more people will involve spreading this game this will success. The only problem is that there are just too few people spreading the word of Xonotic - we need more. This is where community and non-devs should start.
End of story.
![[Image: dearsignature.jpg]](http://img860.imageshack.us/img860/2613/dearsignature.jpg)
![[Image: 4XODR.png]](http://i.imgur.com/4XODR.png)
