3 ms·

OpenRA is currently my favourite free/libre computer game. They've done a fabulous job at keeping the feeling of the original game while updating things like cr

by hjek 5y ago

OpenRA is currently my favourite free/libre computer game. They've done a fabulous job at keeping the feeling of the original game while updating things like cross-platform support, screen resolution and network play and added build queues (and waypoints, I believe) that was present in later C&C games. They've also tweaked the game play, making thieves able to hijack vehicles and cloak (They are probably the most fun unit to micro around) and radar jammers able to deflect / confuse missiles, and added per-country special units like in RA2 (The French invisible phase transport is wild), and changed the tech tree so medium / heavy tanks require service depot. I remember in the original Red Alert, if you ordered an airplane to fly into the shroud, it'd just disappear into the darkness, but in OpenRA you can actually use them for scouting (which totally makes sense). OpenRA also has fog-of-war which suddenly makes planes and helicopters key units for ground support. I don't like war. The arms trade should be abolished. We should help refugees get safe passage and eliminate borders rather than build walls or drop bombs on them. Anyone working with defense in any capacity, like militarizing borders with drones or whatever, should immediately quit or turn whistle blower. Still, I find this war game incredibly enjoyable. Applause to the hackers.

azalemeth 5y ago
I played a round or four with my lab last night. Cross platform play, free hosting, good matchmaking and an excellent experience. The computers on equal number and an equal footing absolutely annihilated us. We were easily able to titrate the difficulty to make it fun. Honestly, a great game and very enjoyable (and I won the 6-player death match at the end with a total Deus ex Machina moment made possible by the fog of war, much to everyone's suprise, including mine). One of the best FOSS games I've ever played, possibly second to Wesnoth. I second your comments about war.
- hjek 5y ago
  > One of the best FOSS games I've ever played, possibly second to Wesnoth. Yea, Wesnoth has a lot of what made the earlier Heroes of Might and Magic games great. I like how many open source games are cool with sticking to 2D, making them accessible for older devices. Wesnoth graphics are first class mix of hand drawn and pixel art. (They could do with a few more unit animations though.) > I second your comments about war. There shouldn't be any contradiction in being okay with pixel people being blown up but not real ones, even though sometimes it feels like there is. I played OpenTTD and even though the graphics were awesome, I got a bit sad from clearing trees just to build roads for hordes of lorries to transport coal and oil and cattle to the slaughterhouse for no obvious "win" in the end (except money).
kQq9oHeAz6wLLS 5y ago
Not to get political, but your last paragraph implies there's nothing worth fighting for. To paraphrase John Ringo, I desire peace, but I require liberty. War is waste - but the only thing worse than war is loss of liberty.
- hyperbovine 5y ago
  Remind me what we’re fighting for again? In 2021.
  - kQq9oHeAz6wLLS 5y ago
    I suppose that depends on your definition of liberty
- hjek 5y ago
  > Not to get political, but your last paragraph implies there's nothing worth fighting for. Do you really believe I'm arguing that there's nothing worth fighting for when I write that: "We should help refugees get safe passage and eliminate borders"?
  - kQq9oHeAz6wLLS 5y ago
    No, it's this bit: > Anyone working with defense in any capacity, like militarizing borders with drones or whatever, should immediately quit or turn whistle blower.
    - hjek 5y ago
      Well, how about this then: It's worth fighting against borders; it's worth fighting for refugees' right to exist and to ensure their safe passage (rather than forcing them to die of thirst in the desert, drowning at sea or getting caught and beaten by border patrols using drones with thermal cameras[0]). I'm aware that some people believe that you "fight for freedom" or "defend your nation" by building border walls, using Reaper drones to launch Hellfire missiles at strangers, putting kids in cages, and perhaps having 70.000 nuclear warheads around, just in case. However, when you read certain reports (e.g. Daliel Hale's leaks about USA's assasination programme[1], or Collateral Murder[2]), then it becomes clear that weapons and wars (that we're simulating in Red Alert albeit in a contrafactual nazi-free timeline) are a major source of suffering and death worldwide. "Defense" is a neat euphemism for attack. [0]: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/mar/26/eu-borders-migrants-hitech-surveillance-asylum-seekers https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/mar/26/e... [1]: https://theintercept.com/2021/07/30/daniel-hale-drone-whistleblower/ https://theintercept.com/2021/07/30/daniel-hale-drone-whistl... [2]: https://collateralmurder.wikileaks.org/ https://collateralmurder.wikileaks.org/

by hjek 5y ago

azalemeth 5y ago

I played a round or four with my lab last night. Cross platform play, free hosting, good matchmaking and an excellent experience. The computers on equal number and an equal footing absolutely annihilated us. We were easily able to titrate the difficulty to make it fun. Honestly, a great game and very enjoyable (and I won the 6-player death match at the end with a total Deus ex Machina moment made possible by the fog of war, much to everyone's suprise, including mine). One of the best FOSS games I've ever played, possibly second to Wesnoth. I second your comments about war.

hjek 5y ago
> One of the best FOSS games I've ever played, possibly second to Wesnoth. Yea, Wesnoth has a lot of what made the earlier Heroes of Might and Magic games great. I like how many open source games are cool with sticking to 2D, making them accessible for older devices. Wesnoth graphics are first class mix of hand drawn and pixel art. (They could do with a few more unit animations though.) > I second your comments about war. There shouldn't be any contradiction in being okay with pixel people being blown up but not real ones, even though sometimes it feels like there is. I played OpenTTD and even though the graphics were awesome, I got a bit sad from clearing trees just to build roads for hordes of lorries to transport coal and oil and cattle to the slaughterhouse for no obvious "win" in the end (except money).

kQq9oHeAz6wLLS 5y ago

Not to get political, but your last paragraph implies there's nothing worth fighting for. To paraphrase John Ringo, I desire peace, but I require liberty. War is waste - but the only thing worse than war is loss of liberty.

hyperbovine 5y ago
Remind me what we’re fighting for again? In 2021.
- kQq9oHeAz6wLLS 5y ago
  I suppose that depends on your definition of liberty
hjek 5y ago
> Not to get political, but your last paragraph implies there's nothing worth fighting for. Do you really believe I'm arguing that there's nothing worth fighting for when I write that: "We should help refugees get safe passage and eliminate borders"?
- kQq9oHeAz6wLLS 5y ago
  No, it's this bit: > Anyone working with defense in any capacity, like militarizing borders with drones or whatever, should immediately quit or turn whistle blower.
  - hjek 5y ago
    Well, how about this then: It's worth fighting against borders; it's worth fighting for refugees' right to exist and to ensure their safe passage (rather than forcing them to die of thirst in the desert, drowning at sea or getting caught and beaten by border patrols using drones with thermal cameras[0]). I'm aware that some people believe that you "fight for freedom" or "defend your nation" by building border walls, using Reaper drones to launch Hellfire missiles at strangers, putting kids in cages, and perhaps having 70.000 nuclear warheads around, just in case. However, when you read certain reports (e.g. Daliel Hale's leaks about USA's assasination programme[1], or Collateral Murder[2]), then it becomes clear that weapons and wars (that we're simulating in Red Alert albeit in a contrafactual nazi-free timeline) are a major source of suffering and death worldwide. "Defense" is a neat euphemism for attack. [0]: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/mar/26/eu-borders-migrants-hitech-surveillance-asylum-seekers https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/mar/26/e... [1]: https://theintercept.com/2021/07/30/daniel-hale-drone-whistleblower/ https://theintercept.com/2021/07/30/daniel-hale-drone-whistl... [2]: https://collateralmurder.wikileaks.org/ https://collateralmurder.wikileaks.org/