Assault Cube

''AssaultCube'', formerly ''ActionCube'', is an open source first-person shooter video game, based on ''Cube'' and use the same engine, the ''Cube Engine''. Although the main focus of ''AssaultCube'' is multiplayer online gaming, a single-player mode consists of computer-controlled bots.

''AssaultCube'' utilises efficient bandwidth usage, allowing the game to be run with connection speeds as low as 56kbit/s. It can run on older computer hardware as well.

''AssaultCube'' is available for free on Microsoft Windows, Linux, macOS, FreeBSD and Android. The game engine is free software, however parts of the accompanying game media, such as the graphics, are released under non- free licenses, the CC BY-NC-SA Creative Commons license, which makes the overall game freeware.

Gameplay

''AssaultCube'' was designed to be more realistic and team-oriented than ''Cube'' while keeping ''Cube''s distinctive fast-paced gameplay. In comparison to other games, ''AssaultCube'' is slower than '' Quake'' but faster than ''Counter-Strike''. There are two different teams in ''AssaultCube'', called the "Cubers Liberations Army" (CLA) and the "Rabid Viper Special Forces" (RVSF).

''AssaultCube'' retains a movement bug from ''Cube'' that allows players to utilize straferunning to move at a faster speed. This was left intentionally unfixed by the developers because it was considered an enjoyable feature of ''Cube'', similar to bunny hopping in '' Quake''.

Another feature of the game is the potential for using the recoil of the weapons (which pushes one backwards) to reach and perform moves that were previously impossible. This was also included intentionally, allowing players to achieve faster movement and jump higher. This feature was inherited from ''Cube'', though it was absent in the original release of ''AssaultCube''.

''AssaultCubes weapons are all fictional and fill the basic niches of a modern first-person shooter: the assault rifle, sub-machine gun, sniper rifle, carbine, shotgun, pistol and knife.

Despite its simplistic graphics and gameplay, ''AssaultCube'' maintained a consistent player base of hundreds of players, with over 60 user-run servers online at any given time around 2009. ''AssaultCube'' had several gaming clans, some of which participate in organized tournaments. ''AssaultCube''s engine is an improved version of ''Cube''. These improvements include several features from the '' Cube 2 Engine'', such as more menu features and the possibility to set variables in scripts with the syntax ''variable = value'' (the old syntax, ''alias variable value'', still works).

Mapping

''AssaultCube'' retains an in-game mapping feature from the original ''Cube'' game, resulting in a variety of custom maps. The diverse nature of the ''Cube'' engine's mapping feature allows for creativity and almost endless possibilities for custom maps. Another aspect of ''AssaultCube'' is the ease at which custom maps can be shared. These created maps can be played online fairly easily if they comply with quality pre-requisites.

Game modes

''AssaultCube'' has over a dozen different gamemodes, such as deathmatch, capture the flag and variations thereof.

Development

''AssaultCube'' started out as ''ActionCube'' in July 2004 by a few members of the ''Cube'' community. The first official release was in November 2006. The plan was to create an entirely new game incorporating ''Cube''s simplicity and movement style in a more realistic environment.

On May 6, 2007, ''ActionCube'' was renamed to ''AssaultCube'' due to a request from the developers of '' Action Quake''.

Version 1.0 was released on November 21, 2008. Version 1.2.0.2 was released on November 10, 2013. The game received no updates until version 1.3.0.0, which was released on December 4, 2021.

The latest version is 1.3.0.1, released on January 26, 2022.

Reception

''AssaultCube'', then under the name ''ActionCube'', was named "Free Game of the Month" by the German video game magazine '' PC Action'' in February 2007. ''AssaultCube'' was downloaded between 2006 and March 2017 alone over SourceForge 7,456,000 times.

The game was forked into a version with a built-in gaming portal named ''ActionFPS'' in 2017. Features include an authentication system and a match client.

See also

* List of freeware first-person shooters
* List of open source games

References

External links

*

''AssaultCube''
project page on GitHub

''AssaultCube Mobile''
project page on GitHub

''AssaultCube''
former project page at SourceForge.net
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2008 video games
First-person shooters
Free software programmed in C++
Linux games
MacOS games
Multiplayer online games
Free game engines
Windows games
AROS software
Portable software
Creative Commons-licensed video games
Multiplayer and single-player video games
Open-source video games
Shooter video games