Tremulous is a free and open source team-based first-person shooter with real-time strategy elements. It was released on March 31, 2006 . Game-play is similar to the Quake II mod Gloom. The game features two teams, humans and aliens, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. The game has been downloaded over 800,000 times and was voted "Player's Choice Standalone Game of the Year" in Mod Database's "Mod of the Year" 2006 competition. Though Tremulous features a similar theme and game-play to Natural Selection, it is not based on it, nor inspired by it. Development on the game began "long before NS was in the public domain".
Tremulous is a first-person shooter featuring two teams - humans and aliens - with elements of real time strategy. Players must build and protect a base which is essential for their survival. The base is used primarily to allow the players to spawn and as a secure location to heal. Builders access a build menu and select the building they want to construct. A translucent place holder for the desired structure appears to help the placement.
Each building takes up a certain number of build points available to each team. The total build points available limits how large bases can become. This number can vary server to server, with the resulting differences in game-play. In some "fun servers" there is an unlimited build points round, where all teams can build anything they want without having to worry about losing build points. In addition, most games enter a "sudden death" or "SD" mode ten to fifteen minutes before the draw/tie time limit. This is a period when all build points are taken away, effectively disabling the ability to build all buildings or a subset of them.
The teams do not have access to all possible upgrades at the beginning of the game. Each team must accrue a number of kills in order to advance to the next developmental stage, of which there are three (commonly referred to as S1, S2, and S3, or Stage 1, 2, and 3). The point at which a stage change occurs varies dynamically depending on the number of players on each team. Each new stage brings more upgrades for the humans and more classes for the aliens. At Stage 2 the Aliens get the ability to become an Advanced Basilisk, an Advanced Marauder or an Advanced Granger. An Advanced Basilisk can spray a poison gas, which makes the humans' screen shake. An Advanced Marauder learns the ability to "zap" someone. An Advanced Granger has the ability to walk or build on any surface. It can also produce more advanced structures than a stage one Granger. Humans gain the Helmet, which tells them the direction of nearby aliens, which appear as red dots on a HUD. They also gain the grenade and jet pack. In weapons they gain the pulse rifle and flamethrower. In S3, the aliens can evolve to the Advanced Dragoon, which can shoot 3 poisonous barbs, and the Tyrant, the strongest Alien class. Humans get the Battle Suit and the Lucifer Cannon, which is the strongest Human weapon. Correctly used, the "Luci Cannon" can do up to 265 damage, killing all aliens except the Tyrant instantly. The Luci Cannon also does "fallout damage", which means that aliens near the impact of the cannon's shot can incur damage. One catch though, the Lucifer Cannon is extremely hard to use, since it fires very slowly. The Aliens and Humans also gain additional buildings at each new stage. The Aliens get the Trapper and Booster in S2, and the Hive and Hovel in S3. The Humans get the Repeater and Defense Computer in S2, and the Tesla Generator in S3. In addition to requiring a certain stage, each human item or alien class must be purchased using currency earned in game. Alien currency are called Evolution Points, or "evos". The Humans get Credits, or "creds". Players earn currency by killing enemies, after which the player will earn an amount of currency relative to how much damage he did, and how upgraded his opponent was.
Download
