''Glest'' is a free and open-source

real-time strategy Real-time strategy (RTS) is a subgenre of strategy video games that do not progress incrementally in turns, but allow all players to play simultaneously, in "real time". By contrast, in turn-based strategy (TBS) games, players take turns to p ...

computer game from 2004. ''Glest'' is set in a

medieval fantasy Historical fantasy is a category of fantasy and genre of historical fiction that incorporates fantastic elements (such as magic) into a more "realistic" narrative. There is much crossover with other subgenres of fantasy; those classed as Arthu ...

world with two factions, and was compared with

Warcraft III ''Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos'' is a high fantasy real-time strategy computer video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment released in July 2002. It is the second sequel to ''Warcraft: Orcs & Humans'', after ''Warcraft II: Tides ...

and the Empire Earth series. The game received positive to mixed reviews from the press, has been downloaded over two million times, and spawned several derivative continuation projects which are under active development.

Development

The game was started by a team based in Spain around 2004. Release of version 3.0 added online multiplayer LAN/

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

support. ''Glest'' is designed to be moddable, with game elements defined by editable

XML Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language and file format for storing, transmitting, and reconstructing arbitrary data. It defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable ...

files, and includes a

map A map is a symbolic depiction emphasizing relationships between elements of some space, such as objects, regions, or themes. Many maps are static, fixed to paper or some other durable medium, while others are dynamic or interactive. Although ...

editor. Since April 2009, development on the original game has ceased. However, two forks, '' MegaGlest'' and the ''Glest Advanced Engine'' (GAE) have continued developing the game and its engine further. While ''MegaGlest'' is focused on stable releases which provide reliable cross platform multi-player games and deliver new game content out of the box, ''GAE'' is primarily oriented towards improving the game engine and providing more options for full conversions, and is more experimental in nature. In 2011 it was suggested that the two forks should merge but due to different philosophies and goals amongst the developers of both forks this effort was called off during the planning stage.

Gameplay

''Glest'' is set in a

world with two factions, named ''Magic'' and ''Tech'', each with their own set of units, buildings and upgrades. The Tech faction uses traditional human warriors and has

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

mechanical devices in its arsenal, and are strong in melee combat. The Magic faction is designed for advanced players with most of their units morphed from or summoned by others. It lacks the hand-to-hand combat strength of the Tech faction but features more versatile units. Tilesets and maps are selected at the new game setup menu and determine the graphical nature of the ''Glest'' game world. Because of the moddability of the engine, ''Glest'' can play games from a variety of player-created mods. These range from futuristic science fiction themes to dark, high fantasy settings.

Reception

*Acid Play: Rating: 9.2 "A totally awesome 3D strategy game based in the magic forests during medieval times." * CNET

Download.com CNET Download (originally Download.com) is an Internet download directory website launched in 1996 as a part of CNET. Initially it resided on the domain ''download.com'', and then ''download.com.com'' for a while, and is now ''download.cnet.com'' ...

gave Glest v3.1 5 Stars (User Rating 4 out of 5 stars) and compared it to

and the Empire Earth series in 2009: *

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 ...

(happypenguin.org): Rating: 4.48 out of 5 stars *Casualty gamer: In October 2008 reviewed version 3.1.2. *

About.com Dotdash Meredith (formerly About.com) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, home, food, finance, tech, beauty, ...

: Reviewed the game and highlighted the detailed 3D graphics in Glest, but criticized the underdeveloped gameplay and small number of maps in that version. By July 2016 Glest had been downloaded on

SourceForge SourceForge is a web service that offers software consumers a centralized online location to control and manage open-source software projects and research business software. It provides source code repository hosting, bug tracking, mirroring ...

alone over 2,300,000 times.Glest - stats
on SourceForge.net (accessed 2016-07-19)

References

External links

*{{Official website
Official MegaGlest site
Free software programmed in C++ Strategy video games Windows games Linux games Open-source video games MegaGlest Real-time strategy video games Lua (programming language)-scriptable game engines Free game engines Creative Commons-licensed video games Multiplayer and single-player video games

Development

Gameplay

Reception

See also

References

External links