AstroMenace

Summary

AstroMenace is a 3D scrolling shooter, developed and published by Russian independent game developer Viewizard.

AstroMenace
Original author(s)Mikhail Kurinnoi
Initial releaseFebruary 20, 2007; 17 years ago (2007-02-20)
Stable release
1.4.2 / November 27, 2022; 16 months ago (2022-11-27)[1]
Repositorygithub.com/viewizard/astromenace
Operating systemWindows, macOS, Linux
TypeScrolling shooter
LicenseGPLv3 (source code)
CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)
Websiteviewizard.com

Gameplay edit

 
Weapon selection

The game features 13 levels, within which, money and experience points are earned by destroying enemy aliens, pirates, or meteorites. Using this money, the player can purchase from a selection of 22 ship types, 19 weapons, and 20 ship upgrades.

Development edit

In 2006, Viewizard's developer Mikhail Kurinnoi began beta development of AstroMenace. The Windows version was offered for $14.95 as Shareware early access title, having a free downloadable test version. However, a Linux version was offered as donationware.[2]

After full release in February 2007,[3] Viewizard sold the Windows version directly from their website for $19.95.[4]

In October 2007, version v1.2 of the game's C++ source code was released as free and open-source software under GPLv3.[5] A fork called OpenAstroMenace was started at SourceForge.net. Some years later, Viewizard moved its own development to this fork by unifying both branches and making it the official version. Ports for other platforms were later developed, with Mac OS X and OpenPandora versions being released.[6] In 2016 the game's content was re-released under an open content CC BY-SA 4.0 Creative Commons license.[7] In April 2018 some artwork with sources (.3ds render files) were released under the GPLv3 in their own repository.[8] Development continues on GitHub (as of November 2022).[1]

 
Gameplay

Reception edit

In December 2007 the UK magazine Linux Format rated AstroMenace with 8/10 credits.[9] In 2008 a Full Circle magazine review named Astromenace among a list of "Top 5 space games".[10] In a 2010 Unixmen.com review, the Linux version was received favourably, with them noting that the game was "graphically unique. The quality of animation along with special effects is stunning [...] true eye-candy.".[11] In 2011 Unixmen.com placed Astromenace as number one in their "19 Awesome Open Source Games for Linux" list.[12] Linux For You September 2009 ranked AstroMenace 4/5.[13]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b "AstroMenace v1.4.2". github.com. Retrieved 2022-12-11.
  2. ^ Michael Kurinnoy. "Astromenace". viewizard.com. Archived from the original on 2006-10-15. Retrieved 2019-08-31.
  3. ^ Michael Kurinnoy (2007-02-20). "AstroMenace Press Release" (PDF). Viewizard. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-17. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
  4. ^ Michael Kurinnoy (2007-08-01). "buy now: astromenace". viewizard.com. Archived from the original on 2007-08-07. Retrieved 2019-08-31.
  5. ^ Michael Kurinnoy (2007-10-12). "Astromenace source code 1.2". viewizard.com. Archived from the original on 2007-10-12. Retrieved 2019-08-31.
  6. ^ "astromenace". repo.openpandora.org.
  7. ^ Michael Kurinnoy (2016-01-25). "openastromenace - models.pack is released under CC BY-SA 4.0 license. Updated glext.h file to version 20160114". sourceforge.net. Archived from the original on 2016-04-23. Retrieved 2019-08-31.
  8. ^ Michael Kurinnoy (30 August 2021). "astromenace-artwork". github.com.
  9. ^ Graham Morrison (December 2007). "AstroMenace". Linux Format (101). Overall 8/10, Gameplay: 9/10, Graphics: 8/10, Longevity: 7/10, Documentation 8/10
  10. ^ Andrew Min (2008-06-01). "Top 5 space games - Astromenace" (PDF). Full Circle Issue #14 page 34. Retrieved 2019-08-31.
  11. ^ M. Zinoune (2010-06-13). "Astromenace- A 3D space shooter game for Linux". unixmen.com. Archived from the original on 2012-03-23.
  12. ^ M. Zinoune (2011-02-07). "19 Awesome Open Source Games for Linux". unixmen.com. Retrieved 2019-08-31.
  13. ^ "Linux-For-You-Issue-80". Linux For You. 2009-09-01.

External links edit

  • Official website