''Chromium B.S.U.'' is an arcade-style, top-scrolling space

shooter Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, Bow and arrow, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or Blowgun, blowpipe). Even the acts of launching Flamethrower, flame, artillery, Dart (missile), darts, ha ...

available on

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, iPhone, PSP, Mac,

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Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...

and numerous other

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operating systems. It is a

free software Free software or libre software is computer software distributed under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, and distribute it and any adapted versions. Free software is a matter of liberty, no ...

distributed under the Clarified Artistic License. The original version of was designed in 2000 by Mark B. Allan and released under the Artistic License. Since then it has received many contributions from the community. Chromium BSU

Plot

The storyline of consists of the player taking the role of a captain aboard a cargo ship. The name of the cargo ship is "Chromium B.S.U." The player is given the task of delivering cargo to troops on the front line. The cargo ship has a series of robotic fighter spaceships aboard. Your job is to make use of these ships to ensure that the cargo ship makes it to the front line.

Gameplay

is a 2D top-scrolling space shooter. Players must shoot enemy aircraft before they reach the bottom of the screen. For each aircraft that reaches the bottom of the screen, the player will lose a life. This particular rule makes unique amongst scrolling space shooters. Another aspect of the game's difficulty is its limited ammunition. Ammunition must be used efficiently to win. When a player is having difficulty destroying foes, the player has two options. They can crash into enemy vessels and deal damage to the ship as well as themselves. The other alternative is to self-destruct, thereby destroying all the enemies on the screen. In the first level of the game there are only three types of enemy ships. More enemy ships are introduced to the player as they advanced through levels. The game was designed to be played in short time intervals rather than long dedicated hours.

Technical information

The game is written in

C++ C++ (pronounced "C plus plus") is a high-level general-purpose programming language created by Danish computer scientist Bjarne Stroustrup as an extension of the C programming language, or "C with Classes". The language has expanded significan ...

. Graphical support is provided by OpenGL. The game demands hardware acceleration in order to reliably maintain a steady frame rate. Therefore, software implementations of

OpenGL OpenGL (Open Graphics Library) is a cross-language, cross-platform application programming interface (API) for rendering 2D and 3D vector graphics. The API is typically used to interact with a graphics processing unit (GPU), to achieve hardwa ...

are not suitable for playing the game. SDL is used for creating the window that the OpenGL context is attached to as well as handling input events (such as mouse, keyboard, joystick). Alternatively, a user may choose GLUT rather than SDL for these things. Audio is an option that is configurable by the user at compile time. The user may choose between

OpenAL OpenAL (Open Audio Library) is a cross-platform audio application programming interface (API). It is designed for efficient rendering of multichannel three-dimensional positional audio. Its API style and conventions deliberately resemble those ...

and SDL_Mixer for audio playback support. They both have their own advantages and disadvantages. A key feature of the audio system in Chromium B.S.U. is that it supports both user-defined playlists and CDROM playback. The user may choose between FTGL and QuesoGLC for font rendering. From a library point of view is customizable.

Critical reception

was selected on Christmas 2008 as "HotPick" by

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. Ubuntu Magazine praised for its graphics, music, shooting action, easy mouse controls and challenging gameplay. Linux Planet highlighted several elements that they considered unique to a space shooter: that escaping enemies cause the player to lose a life; that the damage leeway allows the player to ram enemy ships; and the player's limited amount of ammunition.

Novell Novell, Inc. was an American software and services company headquartered in Provo, Utah, that existed from 1980 until 2014. Its most significant product was the multi-platform network operating system known as Novell NetWare. Under the lead ...

recommended as a "fun stress-reliever".

The Linux Game Tome Linux gaming refers to playing video games on a Linux operating system. History Linux gaming started largely as an extension of the already present Unix gaming scene, with both systems sharing many similar titles. These games were either m ...

listed the game with 4 of 5 stars. Between 2007 and 2019, the game was downloaded from

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over 110,000 times.

References

External links