Check out our Monthly Survey Page to see what our users are running.
We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.

Ready for even more open source goodness? The classic real-time strategy game Warzone 2100 is gearing up for a new release with some absolutely huge changes.

Warzone 2100 was originally developed by Pumpkin Studios and published by Eidos Interactive, released as open source in 2004 and the legacy of it continues on as a completely free game. To this day it's still one of the most innovative RTS games around.

The brand new 4.0.0 Beta version is out and it brings in a rendering overhaul. There's now support for Vulkan, OpenGL ES 3.0 / 2.0, DirectX (using libANGLE) and Metal (using MoltenVK) in addition to the OpenGL 3.0 Core and OpenGL 2.1 Compat modes it already supports. Switching can be done in-game via the Video menu.

By itself the new rendering systems would make for a huge release but there's plenty more, here's the highlights:

  • New “Factions” for multiplayer / skirmish
  • Higher-res terrain textures, backdrops
  • New Music Manager, + AlexTheDacian’s new soundtrack album
  • Support for “script-generated” / “random” maps (and two new built-in maps that take advantage of this: 6p-Entropy and 10p-Waterloop)
  • Scrollable room chat, and many other UI / widget improvements
  • Updated / smarter AI bots (Bonecrusher, Cobra)
  • New “headless” mode (for --autogame, --autohost, --skirmish)
  • JS API enhancements, + a new “Script Debugger”
  • Removal of Qt as a dependency, + a new embedded JS engine: QuickJS
  • Quality-of-Life / smoothness improvements
  • Hundreds of bug fixes

Will let you know once the full release of 4.0 is out, looks like it's shaping up to be one of the best releases ever for such a classic game. Yet again, we see the community keeping it alive and continuing to enhance it thanks to the original being opened up. Would be nice to see more developers do this with their old games.

See the release announcement here.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
15 Likes
About the author -
author picture
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
See more from me
The comments on this article are closed.
3 comments

bossbob88 Mar 1, 2021
Great news! I think WZ2100 has to potential to become in the RTS world, what OpenTTD in thy tycoon genre.
GustyGhost Mar 2, 2021
There is a really nice high detail model mod, it would be neat if that could get pulled in as new assets.
LupusMechanicus Mar 3, 2021
Glad to see that people are still following the news and enjoying this ol' gem.
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
The comments on this article are closed.