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Starsiege: Tribes

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Starsiege: Tribes
Developer(s)Dynamix
Publisher(s)Sierra On-Line
Designer(s)Scott Youngblood
EngineDarkstar
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
ReleaseNovember 30, 1998
2004 (freeware)
Genre(s)First-person shooter
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer
Starsiege: Tribes screenshot

Starsiege: Tribes is a sci-fi first-person shooter video game. It is the first of the Tribes video game series and follows the story from Earthsiege and Starsiege. It was developed by Dynamix and published by the company now known as Sierra Entertainment in 1998.

History

On July 16, 2007, Sierra Entertainment announced that they would cease online support of Tribes starting on August 16, 2007.[citation needed] However, the master server was still active after this date.[citation needed] As of November 2007, the Sierra Master Server is no longer active, and has been replaced by multiple community-run master servers.[citation needed]

March 17, 2009, GarageGames announced they have purchased the Intellectual property and source code for Starsiege: Tribes and will be releasing it at PlayTribes.com through an update on their browser-based game service, InstantAction.[1] It was announced on May 14, 2009, that they would soon be accepting email addresses for beta invites.

A sequel, Tribes 2, was released in March 2001. Sierra licensed the franchise to Irrational Games for a third installment, Tribes: Vengeance, which was released in October 2004.

On April 9, 2004, Vivendi Universal announced that they would release Tribes and Tribes 2 for free on May 4, 2004 on a DVD-ROM with Computer Gaming World magazine and on FilePlanet, in order to promote the release Tribes: Vengeance.[citation needed]

Gameplay

Tribes is a multiplayer online game. Most of the standard maps were outdoors in a variety of climates, from sunshine to snow and hail. In general, bases were scattered throughout the map depending on the gametype. The outdoor environments extend for several kilometers.

Each player has armor, the amount depending on armor type. When damage is dealt to the player (by falling or being hurt by a weapon), armor is lost. Loss of all armor results in the player's death. After dying, the player "respawns" at the team's base (or somewhere in the field). Players also have an energy cell, which is drawn on for jetting, firing some kinds of weapons, and activating packs. Three armor types are available, and can be accessed at an inventory station. Heavier armors supply larger amounts of armor, energy, and ammunition as well as more weapons and equipment.

There are various items of equipment usable by the players, including vehicles, eight weapons, and "Packs" which alter the abilities of the player. On some maps, bases include various defense mechanisms and other tools to assist the team: Generators, turrets, stations and sensors. Generators provide power to systems. Destroying them can disable an entire team's defense by deactivating turrets and stations. They are also among the objectives in the "Defend & Destroy" gametype. Turrets come in five varieties. They can all be destroyed by sustained fire and their shields can be drained by an ELF. Stations are where players get equipment or monitor the base. Sensors scan a radius for enemies and allow players to view troop movements in the PDA (Personal Digital Assistant). There are large and small varieties.

Players are equipped with a jetpack, which allows them to accelerate into the air until the armor's energy is used up.

The PDA is intended to provide information to commanders and give detailed information on the team's situation. Among other things, players can issue commands to teammates, view equipment status, monitor enemy activity (with sensors or hidden cameras), watch teammates in a miniature screen, and control turrets (although this must be done at a command station [Unless the Command Laptop is used. Thereby allowing the control of turrets on the field.]).

There are five distinct "default" gametypes:

  • Capture the flag (CTF) - Each team (up to eight, normally less than three on any given mission) has one or more bases and a single flag. Each team tries to take an opposing team's flag and touch it to their own, which "captures" the flag and awards the capturing team a point. If a flag carrier is killed, the flag is dropped; the flag can be picked up by a teammate to finish the capture, instantly returned to its base by a member of the flag's team, or returned after a certain interval of time. Stalemates often occur when multiple teams' flags are taken at the same time; a team's flag must be at its base to accomplish a "cap".
  • Deathmatch (DM) - It can be played with or without teams; in both cases players must get the highest number of kills to win.
  • Capture and hold (C&H) - Teams must seek out capturable bases or other assets, sometimes complete with turrets and stations, throughout the map. Points are given based on the amount of time an asset is "owned".
  • Defend and destroy (D&D) - Players on a team must destroy certain items in an enemy's base before the enemy does the same to their base. Subsequent team-based First-person shooter games, however, did use variations of the concept (such as with Unreal Tournament and its "assault" game type).
  • Find and retrieve (F&R) - A number of flags are scattered across the mission area. Team members must find and bring them back to their base. The flags can be captured from the enemy as well. The team to capture all the flags wins.
  • Practice (Practice) - These types of maps have some of the most creative themes and gameplay which are often linked with teleports to get to various areas of these maps.
  • Arena - These usually start the two teams in an enclosed area. The teams fight and when a player dies they are forced into observer mode. The teams fight until there are no players left on one of the teams. When this happens, the team who still has players left wins.

Reception

See also

References

  1. ^ http://kotaku.com/5171349/instantaction-brings-tribes-to-your-web-browser
  2. ^ Michael E. Ryan (1999-01-22). "Starsiege Tribes Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
  3. ^ a b c "Starsiege Tribes Reviews". Game Rankings. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
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