Terasology - 1.3.0

Another big numbered release for Terasology! 1.3.0, also known as Alpha 6, is dubbed "The lots of stuff release". It appears development took some extra time, so it's more filled with stuff than usual. Among lots of closed milestone issues and engine improvements are also a bunch of interesting-sounding modules. How about Alchemy, Cooking or Smithing? :) Those interested can check out the full extent of the release here.

Another breathtaking scene from Terasology, found on the official forum.

RogueBox Adventures - 2.1.0

RogueBox Adventures, roguelike and sandbox mix, keeps on giving. 2.1.0 was just released, focusing on bug fixes and sporting a long list of such. There's also a few new features, like info bars for monster behaviours, coloured item listings to make special items easier to find and GUI improvements in the form of icons showing available actions. Coming in the guture is an optional story mode, which sure sparks my interest more. :)

RogueBox Adventures showing the new action icons.

HoDoKu

How about a bit of puzzle this sunday afternoon? HoDoKu will have you covered. It's a Sudoku generator/solver/trainer/analyzer, so it can both generate puzzles for you, let you solve them, give hints, solve them for you and let you highlight various solving techniques so you can learn from them. It has loads of functions and the various analyzation tools, like the ability to see how far a certain "move" takes you toward the solution, sounds really cool. I had no idea a Sudoku game could be so complex, so this was a cool find.

HoDoKu in the middle of a game, complete with hints and a solution summary.

Liero / OpenLieroX

Liero has a special place in my heart. Somehow we had found this game when I was in the early years of school and played it during breaks. While it can best be described as a realtime version of Worms, the chaos that ensued when we turned loading times on weapons to zero is what I associate with it today. :)

Digging tunnels, swinging around with ninja ropes and harnessing the power of all sorts of crazy weapons: simply put, Liero is great fun multiplayer with potential for both tactical matches and screen-filling mayhem. And if you feel the game could use even more options (like the ability to play as other characters than worms), OpenLieroX is an extra-everything version that should keep any multiplayer session going for a long long time. It even has online multiplayer, but personally I'd say this should be played should to shoulder. ;)

Lots of crazy going on in OpenLieroX.

Zero-K - 1.4.11.0

Large-scale super shiny RTS Zero-K has received loads of updates since I mentioned it last. Too much stuff has happened since then to mention all, but the game was amazing then and is even more so now. If you are not convinced, check this video!

FlightGear 2016.4

Version 2016.4 of the mighty impressive flight simulator FlightGear was released a few days ago. Air Traffic Control chatter has been re-introduced, the amazingly detailed Space Shuttle seen below is available and a whole lot of other things have been improved.

The amount of detail on this Space Shuttle from FlightGear is almost crazy.

Dune Legacy

Dune Legacy is a Free remake of the classic (perhaps the first?) RTS Dune II. It tries to be similar to the original while adding modern features, such as the ability to select many units at the same time and support for higher display resolutions. It also has three single-player campaigns, multiplayer support, a map editor and some nice scaling that makes the classic 2D graphics look sharp and high-res even on modern displays. You will need the original data-files, but if you have those this could be a really fun and well-made RTS.

A base in ruins and lots of tanks from Dune Legacy.

Tanks of Freedom 0.6.0

Beautiful pixel-art strategy game Tanks of Freedom is now on 0.6.0! The big addition in this version is online multiplayer! I can see that working very well, especially with an in-game map editor to create maps to play on - there will always be a new challenge available. There are also an assortment of smaller improvements and fixes as part of this release.

The isometric pixel-art in Tanks of Freedom is a sight to behold.

C-Dogs 0.6.3

Classic run-and-gun game C-Dogs has a new release: 0.6.3. There are new character faces and colors together with a new level to play. Lined up for the next version is more character sprite improvements. According to the latest news, one thing being considered is nicer walk-animations. Overall, a lot of things is going on with this fun and rather crazy game that works well on gaming-nights. :)

Huge explosions in C-Dogs new map "Temple of Carnage".

Widelands Build 19

Widelands is a real-time strategy game, initially inspired from Settlers II. It has since then evolved into a much more advanced game, with many unique features of it's own. It has a focus on building settlements and managing complex resource trees, with some combat sprinkled in for good measure. The game has both a single-player campaing and tutorials as well as full support for multiplayer on LAN or over the internet. The main effort of Build 19 has gone into cleanup, polish and modernization, but there are also many new features. Smarter AI, new tutorials, better campaigns and three new maps are among them. Different worlds and tribes can be combined for greater variation, lots of new graphics and animations have been added, there are menu redesigns, etc, etc. A game of high quality, no doubt!

A settlement besides a river in Widelands. Note the attention to detail in the graphics.

KaM Remake

KaM Remake is a Free remake of the classic RTS Knights and Merchants. It is written from scratch, but requires the data-files from the original game to work. KaM brings the game to modern OS:es and implements modern network play. There are also several enhancements to the original and it seems rather complete, though there also seem to be things still on the way to implementation. Since I don't have the original data files I can't try it, but fans of this classic game might want to give it a go!

KaM Remake certainly looks rather complete judging from screenshots.

Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup 0.19

Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup is a rogue-like with colorful pixel-graphics and loads of content. It can be played both offline and online and it just reached version 0.19, rather poetically dubbed "Dancing Through Memory". Two new gods have been added, which players can gain various benefits from, and there are two new spells to throw around. A new portal vault full of ancient artifacts (and ancient threats, I presume) can be challenged and many other improvements have been made to the game as well.

A troll in the middle of trouble in Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup.

Lord of the Test

Lord of the Test was for me a rather odd name... until I figured out what it was: a Lord of the Rings-inspired continuation of Minetest. So you can explore, fight, farm, craft, build, etc in the world of Middle Earth. You can even make your own magic rings! :) It seems like a very ambitious project, and I have to appreciate that someone took the time to implement the LOTR world in this way. If you are a fan and like sandbox-style games this ought to be worth a try.

Exploring a forest in Lord of the Test. Might there be Ents hiding around the corner?

GZDoom 2.2.0

GZDoom is a modern engine based on the source code from the classic Doom. It has support for many advanced 3D effects, enhancing the classic game with 3D floors, dynamic lights, skyboxes, true color textures, limited 3D model support and more. The latest version, 2.2.0, also adds bloom, lens distorsion, multisampling and other cool things to that list. There is even Stereo 3D VR support, so it's now possible to play the original Doom using a VR headset! :)

I found this awesome screen from a custom-built data-set on the GZDoom forum.

0 A.D. - Alpha 21

0 A.D. - one of the most impressive games in it's genre that I know of - has got another humongous release: Alpha 21! Don't let the word alpha fool you, this game is already more complete than most big-name finished and released titles. And this version adds a very long list of additions:

First off there are new game modes: in Herocide/Regicide each player starts with a hero and loses the game when it dies, Wonder Victory have got options to delay the win until other players have had the chance to interfere with the wonder-builders victory and in Last Man Standing you can guess how alliances can shift during the course of the game when only one player will remain until the end. Moreover, a whole new faction, the Seleucid has been added, complete with unique buildings. There are also several other new buildings and models, new champions, units can be set to patrol areas, team bonuses can make certain buildings affect the whole team and buildings and units can be upgraded (a sentry tower can become a stronger defense tower, for example). There are also many new maps: both pre-built skirmish maps and a whole bunch of new random map settings. Together with improvements to random map generation these will provide some very fun and varied maps to play on. Finally, a whole host of user interface improvements have been implemented, together with usual array of smaller fixes and such.

If you even remotely interested in strategy games, I urge you to give this a try. It really is a very impressive and fun game, especially when played together with friends.

The new Seleucid buildings from 0 A.D. in all their glory.

heXon

heXon is a very flashy twin-stick shooter with some interesting gameplay mechanics. The edge of each hexagon is connected with the one on the opposite side, which results in some rather tricky gameplay. Expect trippy glowing neon graphics and lots of blazing lasers. There is gamepad-support, something I really appreciate (PS3-gamepads have apparently been tested and works well), and the game has some suitably up-beat music to fit the action.

An impressive visual light-show in heXon.

VCMI 0.99

This one I have been waiting for: VCMI 0.99! VCMI is a Free engine that runs Heroes of Might and Magic III and it's expansions. Probably one of the best games ever made, and now you can play it with loads of improvements! VCMI has support for high resolutions, has much smarter AI than the original, has advanced support for mods and a much better random map generator. And that is only for starters. If you are even remotely interested in the Heroes series or turn-based strategy games in general, this is a must to check out!

And epic battle taking place in Heroes 3-engine VCMI.

A Dark Place

A Dark Place is a first-person survival-horror game. It focuses on exploration, puzzles and stealth and has some very nice graphics. It doesn't have a release yet, but it looks so very promising I just had to mention it here. Have a look on it's project page for some additional awesome screenshots!

An almost tangible atmosphere in A Dark Place.

ChaosEsque Anthology v.95

ChaosEsque Anthology is a crazy mix-up of all sorts of FPS-elements. There are an absurd amount of maps, weapons, vehicles, mutators and other things. Since I mentioned it last time a lot of content has been added. How about piloting a Fokker Eindecker III Monoplane or driving a A7V Sturmpanzerwagen WWI German Tank? There are also buildable Observation Towers, many new weapons - both realistic and futuristic, as well as lots of other assets and functions to play around with. This project certainly seems to have a bit of everything and I am sure some very interesting scenarios can be created with it.

Medieval weapons and scenarios are also a possibility in ChaosEsque Anthology.