''Liero'' is a
video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
for
MS-DOS
MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few ope ...
, first released by
Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
programmer Joosa Riekkinen in 1998. The game has been described as a
real-time
Real-time or real time describes various operations in computing or other processes that must guarantee response times within a specified time (deadline), usually a relatively short time. A real-time process is generally one that happens in defined ...
version of ''
Worms Worms may refer to:
*Worm, an invertebrate animal with a tube-like body and no limbs
Places
*Worms, Germany
Worms () is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, situated on the Upper Rhine about south-southwest of Frankfurt am Main. It had ...
'' (a turn-based
artillery game).
''Liero'' is
Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
for '
earthworm
An earthworm is a terrestrial invertebrate that belongs to the phylum Annelida. They exhibit a tube-within-a-tube body plan; they are externally segmented with corresponding internal segmentation; and they usually have setae on all segments. T ...
' and is pronounced . Inspired itself by the earlier game ''MoleZ'',
''Liero'' provided inspiration for the later games ''
Soldat'' and ''
Noita''.
Gameplay
In ''Liero'', two worms fight each other to death for score (or
frags) using a choice of five weapons from a total of 40 in a two-dimensional map. Most of the terrain, except for indestructible rocks, may be dug or destroyed by explosions. In addition to the weaponry, each player has a ninja rope which can be used to move faster through the map. This grappling hook-like device substitutes for jetpacks and can even latch onto the enemy worm to drag them closer to their foe.
While playing, there are health power-ups to heal the player's worm. It is also possible to replace one of the five weapons by picking up bonuses. Before playing, certain weapons can be selected to be available only in bonuses, in the entire game, or completely disabled.
Unlike most side-scrolling deathmatch games, the weapons in ''Liero'' have infinite ammo. Key factors of weapons include their reload rate and how fast they shoot, whereas in most other games of this type, key factors of weapons include how much ammo they sport and how frequently more ammo for that weapon can be found. ''Liero'' depends all on timing and swift maneuverability.
The gameplay mode can be
deathmatch, Game of Tag or
Capture the Flag
Capture the flag (CTF) is a traditional outdoor sport where two or more teams each have a flag (or other markers) and the objective is to capture the other team's flag, located at the team's "base", and bring it safely back to their own base. ...
. It can be played by two human players simultaneously in
split screen
Split screen may refer to:
* Split screen (computing)
Split screen is a display technique in computer graphics that consists of dividing graphics and/or text into adjacent (and possibly overlapping) parts, typically as two or four rectangular ...
or in a single player mode against the game's
artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech r ...
, although the game's popularity is derived mostly from the fast-paced player-vs.-player action it provides.
Development history
Original ''Liero'' by Joosa Riekkinen
Joosa Riekkinen developed ''Liero'' as DOS game with the first version released in 1998. ''Liero'' was inspired by the previous
freeware
Freeware is software, most often proprietary, that is distributed at no monetary cost to the end user. There is no agreed-upon set of rights, license, or EULA that defines ''freeware'' unambiguously; every publisher defines its own rules for t ...
game MoleZ, and took many weapons and sounds from its precursor.
[Liero Wiki: MoleZ](_blank)
The original ''Liero''s latest version was 1.33, which was released in 1999.
[official Liero wiki](_blank)
However, the author lost the
Pascal source code
In computing, source code, or simply code, is any collection of code, with or without comments, written using a human-readable programming language, usually as plain text. The source code of a program is specially designed to facilitate the w ...
in a
hard disk crash, and due to the lack of backup, no new "classic" versions have been released since.
Community developments
Despite this, and with the author's approval, the ''Liero'' community has distributed several altered (or
hacked) versions of the game through the LieroCDC, and others.
Merge
In 2009, "classic" ''Liero'' was officially merged with the OpenLiero project upon the release of ''Liero'' 1.34 (not to be confused with the
total conversion by that name). The new versions are released by Gliptic, although Joosa Riekkinen endorses them as official. The original ''Liero'' data and binary files by Riekkinen were released available under the
WTFPL
WTFPL is a permissive free software license. As a public domain like license, the WTFPL is essentially the same as dedication to the public domain. It allows redistribution and modification of the work under any terms. The title is an abbreviat ...
license.
''Liero''s last release was version 1.36, release September 3, 2013.
This version is compatible with almost any OS but lacks network gaming (unlike some of the remakes).
Clones, remakes and derivatives
''Liero Xtreme''
''Liero Xtreme'' (often called ''LieroX'', ''Liero Extreme'' or just ''LX'') is a
2D shooter game
Shooter video games or shooters are a subgenre of action video games where the focus is almost entirely on the defeat of the character's enemies using the weapons given to the player. Usually these weapons are firearms or some other long-range ...
. It is an unofficial sequel to ''Liero'', and is the most popular of all the ''Liero'' clones.
[eGamer about OpenLieroX](_blank)
It features
online play
An online game is a video game that is either partially or primarily played through the Internet or any other computer network available. Online games are ubiquitous on modern gaming platforms, including PC game, PCs, Console game, consoles and ...
, fully customizable weapons, levels and characters. ''Liero Xtreme'' was created 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 ...
by Jason 'JasonB' Boettcher, an Australian programmer.
With its source release on April 10, 2006, a new project has become available on October 24, 2006, known as ''OpenLieroX'',
while the development of the original ''LieroX'' project has stopped. At the time of writing (May 6, 2009), ''OpenLieroX'' has tripled in code size and has many new features.
The game is based on a
deathmatch setting, where multiple players face off in a closed
level. Each player is equipped with five weapons selected out of all the weapons allowed, and with a ''ninja rope'' that allows the player to move in any direction. Players begin with a set amount of lives, and whilst the game records the number of kills, the
last man standing is usually considered the winner. ''Liero Xtreme'' also allows team deathmatches, which has made it common for players to form
clans. ''OpenLieroX'' runs on Windows, on MacOSX, on Linux and on FreeBSD.
The first release announcement of ''Liero Extreme'' was made on October 14, 2002. ''LieroX'' has become very famous over the time. On February 14, 2006, ''Jason Boettcher'' stopped the ''LieroX'' development for good. The last version he released was 0.62b, which had many new features, but suffered from crashes and various errors, and did not catch on within the community which continues to play the 0.56b version. Before leaving the community, he released the
source code
In computing, source code, or simply code, is any collection of code, with or without comments, written using a human-readable programming language, usually as plain text. The source code of a program is specially designed to facilitate the w ...
of the even older version 0.55b under the
zlib license
The zlib license is a permissive free software license which defines the terms under which the zlib software library can be distributed. It is also used by many other free software packages. The libpng library uses a similar license sometimes r ...
. Development of ''LieroXtreme'' is now in hands of Karel Petranek and Albert Zeyer, used the source code to create ''OpenLieroX'', which is compatible with the popular 0.56b version, but has multiple new features and bugfixes. Michał Futer took care of the new frontend. Currently the majority of players play ''OpenLieroX''.
As a customizable game, it allows players and developers to
script
Script may refer to:
Writing systems
* Script, a distinctive writing system, based on a repertoire of specific elements or symbols, or that repertoire
* Script (styles of handwriting)
** Script typeface, a typeface with characteristics of handw ...
their own
mods. Different mods have different sets of unique weapons, and may also differ in player gravity and movement. The default mod is ''Liero 1.0'', also called ''Classic'', which is roughly equal to the basic setting in original ''Liero''. On top of this, several player-created mods are included in the standard game packs, some of which are more popular than the default setting. Similarly to ''Liero'', the default level is ''Dirt Level'', consisting of diggable terrain with some indestructible rock. The default level is comparatively rarely played compared to more complex player-created levels.
The game interface allow players to modify factors of the game such as which weapons in a mod are allowed, and how fast they reload and many other parameters which have huge impact on the game play.
''NiL''
![Nil](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Nil.png)
''NiL'' (
recursive acronym
A recursive acronym is an acronym that refers to itself, and appears most frequently in computer programming. The term was first used in print in 1979 in Douglas Hofstadter's book '' Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid'', in which Hofs ...
for ''NiL Isn't Liero'') is a
clone of ''Liero'', which runs on
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, w ...
and
Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ser ...
and is released under the terms of the
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a series of widely used free software licenses that guarantee end users the four freedoms to run, study, share, and modify the software. The license was the first copyleft for general ...
. ''NiL'' is not limited to two players, like the original ''Liero'' is. It has support for an infinite number of players over a
TCP network. It was met with considerable enthusiasm in the Linux gaming community.
[Open-source, networkable shooter has Linux gamers buzzing](_blank)
by Lee Anderson, April 12, 2000, CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
The project was initiated by Flemming Frandsen in winter
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...
after he had stumbled across ''Liero'', which he liked so much that he decided to reimplement it under Linux. He abandoned the project five months later, due to being too busy for it. ''NiL'' was dead until the beginning of
2004 when Christoph Brill, found out about the project and took over as maintainer. Thereafter Daniel Schneidereit joined the project as well, but soon left. Other contributors included Nils Thuerey, Harri Liusvaara, David Hewitt and Phil Howlett.
Development proceeded slowly as the project's
source code
In computing, source code, or simply code, is any collection of code, with or without comments, written using a human-readable programming language, usually as plain text. The source code of a program is specially designed to facilitate the w ...
became almost unmaintainable and ''NiL'' was lacking developers. By mid-2005 Alexander Kahl joined development, convinced Christoph to start over and re-think the whole concept of ''NiL'', as the other ''Liero'' clone ''Gusanos'' already existed at that time. Development seems to have stopped around mid-2006.
''OpenLieroX''
![OpenLieroX1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/OpenLieroX1.png)
''OpenLieroX'' is a remake of classic ''Liero'', built from scratch in a new engine. It adds many features to the game, such as modding support, custom sprites, maps, and weapons, and online and lan play. The game also supports more than two players at once.
''WebLiero''
Classic-like ''Liero'' clone in web browser with multiplayer capability.
Modification
''Liero'' is a versatile game in terms of modification. All of its 40 weapons can be completely replaced with new ones that can be given different images and
sound effects from the original set. The images of the worms themselves can be transformed into completely different characters, although their movement animations are less flexible regarding modification. The maps can be given permanent terrain other than rocks alone. Destroyable terrain can also be colored more than simply plain dirt. The AI can be modified to be harder or easier. Nearly the whole game can be converted into something entirely different, except for the main aspect having to do with slaughtering another player/AI.
Reception and usage
In 2006 ''Liero'' received a TopDog award from
Home of the Underdogs
Home of the Underdogs (often called HotU) is an abandonware archive founded by Sarinee Achavanuntakul, in October 1998.
Before shutting down the original version in 2009, the site provided reviews for over 5,300 games and offered downloads of so ...
.
[Liero](_blank)
on HOTU (2006)
''OpenLieroX'' has been positively reviewed by multiple gaming news sites.
In 2013
Derek Yu
Derek Yu is an American independent video game designer, video game artist, and blogger.[TIGSource
TIGSource, short for The Independent Games Source, is a news blog and Internet community centered around the creation of independent video games, founded in 2005 by Jordan Magnuson but soon taken over by Derek Yu, both independent game developer ...]
reviewed ''Liero'' v1.36 favorably.
[liero-1-36](_blank)
on TIGsource.com (2014-02-14)
The ''Liero'' variants ''NiL'', ''Gusanos'', and ''OpenLieroX'' were downloaded multiple hundred thousand times from
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 between 2001 and 2016.
Calling ''Liero'' a "masterpiece", ''Liero'' was selected for a collection of 100 classical Finnish games, which were presented on the opening of the
Finnish Museum of Games in
Tampere
Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...
in 2017.
Muistatko vielä nämä suomalaiset klassikkopelit? Nämä 100 pääsevät Tampereen pelimuseoon
on aamulehti
(Finnish for "morning newspaper") is a Finnish-language daily newspaper published in Tampere, Finland.
History and profile
''Aamulehti'' was founded in 1881 to "improve the position of the Finnish people and the Finnish language" during Russ ...
(15.12.2016
English translation
References
External links
* - Created by fans, endorsed by Joosa Riekkinen
''OpenLiero'' official site
(obsoleted by ''Liero'' 1.34)
''OpenLieroX'' official site
''NiL'' official site
Official ''Liero Xtreme'' website
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090220153614/http://lxalliance.net/LXRS/ , date=2009-02-20
''MoleZ'' Official Site
(spiritual precursor to ''Liero'')
1998 video games
DOS games
Linux games
Artillery video games
Video games developed in Australia
Video games developed in Finland
Freeware games
Multiplayer hotseat games
Free software
Public-domain software with source code
Windows games
Software using the WTFPL license