Difference between revisions of "Presskit"

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* Really free, no in-game currency, no unfair multiplayer.
 
* Really free, no in-game currency, no unfair multiplayer.
  
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== History ==
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== Development ==
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Zero-K is managed and developed entirely by passionate volunteers. These volunteers are primarily drawn from its multiplayer community, which has existed for almost as long as the game itself. The bulk of the work is done by a handful of core developers with the occasional contribution of code or assets by members of the wider community. In Zero-K the concept of community generated content is hard to pin down as members of the community can become core developers through activity and competence. This resulted in a game which was constantly tested and optimized for multiplayer, but we wanted more. More players, specifically.
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=== Background ===
 
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Zero-K runs on the Spring Engine, which is an open source community-developed RTS engine. The Spring engine was initially released in 2005 as a way to play mods of Total Annihilation in 3D. The feature set of Spring grew beyond that of Total Annihilation with many original games created by members of the Spring community. The inclusion of lua scripting in 2007 added the flexibility to support practically any type of RTS or game of a related genre. The engine has undergone steady development since its initial release with ongoing fixes, features and modernization.
 
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The Total Annihilation-derived games within the Spring community enjoyed a long history of forking each others' projects over slight disagreements in design. Complete Annihilation, created in 2007, was one such fork that attracted many players and contributors from within the Spring community. Its principal aims were graphical improvement/replacement and to use lua scripting to experiment with the core systems of the game. The period from 2007-2009 was highly experimental with many iterations on the areas such as the economy and technology structure. This period also saw early versions of many core features such as PlanetWars (the online persistent campaign) and terraforming. The community was also in the process of replacing the art assets of the game to avoid potential licensing issues with Total Annihilation.
 
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=== Zero-K ===
 
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Zero-K was created in October 2010 by the core development team of Complete Annihilation using most of the units and mechanics from Complete Annihilation. The primary motivation was to create a version of Complete Annihilation which only used art assets created by the community so that they could more legitimately advertise as a distinct game. It was at this point that the concept of a single faction was introduced. Each of the two factions of Complete Annihilation had about 7 technology branches. They were merged into a single faction with 11 branches. It is somewhat difficult to track the development history of Zero-K since it uses the community-driven open source approach and is not overseen or managed by any formal or official organization. Over the past 10 years the project has likely seen 20 core developers and approximately 80 contributors. This is not counting engine development, which has its own history. The lead developers are Licho and GoogleFrog, who have both been actively contributing since at least 2008.
 
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In 2014, Zero-K applied for and was accepted into Steam Greenlight. At this point the experimental phase was winding down and the focus was shifting towards polish and approachability. It was generally felt by the development team that a Steam release would be disastrous with the level of infrastructure and content present at the time. In 2015, Zero-K moved to its own lobby server, away from the generic Spring server, to allow for scaling as well as the implementation of matchmaking, better PlanetWars integration and more intuitive managing of custom games. In 2016, the old IRC-style lobby client was replaced with a more standard game menu. In 2017, the new game menu was populated with singleplayer content including tutorials, streamlined skirmish mode, a singleplayer campaign and an AI from the AI sub community that followed the game. In November 2017, Zero-K was released on itch.io and
 
  
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With such a focus on multiplayer Zero-K had become too daunting for many new players. The lead developers, Licho and GoogleFrog, shifted the focus of the project towards polish, singleplayer content and the new player experience. Enforcing this focus was a bit like herding (volunteer) cats as a developers default behaviour is to add cool new features. Despite this, progress was made, interfaces polished, campaigns designed. Luckily Zero-K has an active AI development sub-community which enjoys internal competition to make the strongest non-cheating AI. Now, at the end of this process, Zero-K boasts plenty of singleplayer content while retaining its strong multiplayer roots, alongside new ease-of-use multiplayer features such as matchmaking.
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== Press ==
 
== Press ==
 
* One of PC Gamers best free games of 2017 http://www.pcgamer.com/the-best-free-games-of-2017/.
 
* One of PC Gamers best free games of 2017 http://www.pcgamer.com/the-best-free-games-of-2017/.

Revision as of 06:58, 11 January 2018

Description

Zero-K is a traditional RTS focused on physics and creativity. Construct fortresses or tear down obstacles with free-form terrain manipulation. Launch jumpjet robots into the air with gravity guns and have them rain down on your opponents base. Combine over 100 units types from 12 distinct technology branches. Every unit in Zero-K is defined more by its unique combination of movement and weapon physics than it is by raw attributes, such as health and damage. Use quick nimble bots to dodge the slow projectiles of weapons better suited at hitting ponderous tanks. Conquer the galaxy in a singleplayer campaign spanning 71 missions or grab some friends to fend off waves of alien invaders. Join our online community for games ranging from 1v1 to 16v16 as well as free-for-all and regular tournaments.

Features

  • Physically simulated units, projectiles and terrain.
  • Terrain manipulation - Explosions leave craters. Constructors dig trenches, erect walls and ramps.
  • 100+ varied units with unique abilities.
  • Diverse unit types - Bipedal robots, ponderous tanks, all-terrain spiders, jumpjets, gunships, planes, hovercraft, submerable amphibious bots, ships and massive striders.
  • Diverse weapon types - Lasers, rockets, plasma cannons, heatrays, lightning guns, flamethrowers, gravity guns, black hole launchers, slow bombs and more.
  • Galaxy-spanning singleplayer campaign with 71 missions.
  • Challenging, non-cheating AI.
  • Multiplayer 1v1 - 16v16, free for all, coop.
  • Multiplayer online campaign.
  • 150+ maps.
  • Regular tournaments.
  • Really free, no in-game currency, no unfair multiplayer.

Development

Zero-K is managed and developed entirely by passionate volunteers. These volunteers are primarily drawn from its multiplayer community, which has existed for almost as long as the game itself. The bulk of the work is done by a handful of core developers with the occasional contribution of code or assets by members of the wider community. In Zero-K the concept of community generated content is hard to pin down as members of the community can become core developers through activity and competence. This resulted in a game which was constantly tested and optimized for multiplayer, but we wanted more. More players, specifically.

With such a focus on multiplayer Zero-K had become too daunting for many new players. The lead developers, Licho and GoogleFrog, shifted the focus of the project towards polish, singleplayer content and the new player experience. Enforcing this focus was a bit like herding (volunteer) cats as a developers default behaviour is to add cool new features. Despite this, progress was made, interfaces polished, campaigns designed. Luckily Zero-K has an active AI development sub-community which enjoys internal competition to make the strongest non-cheating AI. Now, at the end of this process, Zero-K boasts plenty of singleplayer content while retaining its strong multiplayer roots, alongside new ease-of-use multiplayer features such as matchmaking.

Press

Videos

Current trailer

https://youtu.be/Ho1K9XP9UMk

2010 trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkZaLLyhEgI

Selected Cast

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vODW8mweGoY

Screenshots

Get the images from the right bar here: https://zerok.itch.io/zero-k

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