This is the introductory article to the Xonotic article series.
Xonotic builds on the Quake engine similar to OpenArena, but xonotic is currently being further developed, at least there was the last update in 2017, and for an opensource game this is quasi yesterday :)
Unlike OpenArena, Xonotic does not try to imitate q3a, but is a stand-alone game that asks Quake feeling. This has many advantages over OpenArena, because we are honest times if you want to quack then you prefer to play Quake III as openarena. Is a difference like beer and non-alcoholic beer or let's say light beer :)
At Xonotic, it's more like a foreign beer that tastes different but neither is it better or worse, it's different, but the effect itself is the same or comparable.
This makes Xonotic the perfect game for those who want to play OpenSouce games and "need" q3a feeling.
Sure, there are lots of #OpenSouce games that build on the Quake engine, I do not have a bunch of them all, tested over time, and I have to say that I like Xonotic the most. But the big advantage is that it is still maintained and developed. will be just in version 0.8.2
It seems like there could be a lot, but it is clear opensource can be there is nothing more, time will tell.
What are the differences with Quake III?
The graphics are another Both in the maps as well as the weapons.
The music is another
The speed is faster.
They are not the same weapons but they have similar effects, but there are only nearly all who have q3a for that more.
That's it with the biggest differences, the sufficiency to make it your own game, but you still have a Quake feeling, better said rather a Quake III on speed feeling :)
Of course there are also "downer"
There is not really much going on, if you do not have a "team" to play with, then you are all too often with bots on the way, especially at DM, but in the evening there is almost always something going on, at least enough with real ones People can play.
But actually, this is more fun when you play it with people you know and with whom you have already played q3a. After that, it does not bother so much that not so much is going on. As long as the servers are running, everything is fine.
And here we come to the second a little more annoying prob. the servers are not exactly powerful.
It depends, but many delays quite nicely when more people come in, well, but positively it promotes only the q3a experience, it felt worse.
Conclusion:
Conclusion, who wants to have a q3a experience with a game, which you can develop at least theoretically, which is in good hands with Xonotic. If you are interested in q3a and just for reasons of nostalgia, you are better advised to play the original.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2200/Quake_III_Arena/
oder live
https://store.steampowered.com/app/282440/Quake_Live/
I do not know what the difference is.
Alternative and free, of course, remains
http://www.openarena.ws/smfnews.php
This is probably no longer maintained as it looks.
but it's opensource, theoretically you could breathe life into the project again.
However, I think q3a you can play pretty cheap and oa will never come to the original ran.
For this reason, I think Xonotic as genial middle away, an open source game with q3a feeling which maybe even in 10 years active will be developed further.
