User:JKtheSlacker/FreedroidRPG

FreedroidRPG is a free, open source action role-playing game. The game was originally developed by Johannes and Reinhard Prix and released in 2002, and is now maintained by the FreedroidRPG team.

The game was originally based on Freedroid, a clone of the Commodore 64 game Paradroid. With the addition of RPG elements, the Freedroid project was split into two games, the original becoming known as Freedroid Classic. The combat and leveling system is loosely based off that of Diablo, while the dialog system is inspired in part by Fallout.

FreedroidRPG is available under the GPL license in source form. A zip file with a compiled Microsoft Windows version is also available, as well as a Windows executable installer. A universal package for Mac OS X was formerly available, but was removed due to problems with the package.

Gameplay
FreedroidRPG is a real time action RPG game with science fiction elements. The player character gains experience by destroying or hacking enemy droids or non-player characters. This experience automatically grants level gains at certain thresholds, which provides talent points that may be used to improve any of four basic stats. The player may purchase or improve abilities and spells from in-game trainers using a combination of in-game currency and talent points.

The player character is able to be customized in the vein of the traditional three-role system common to role-playing games. In the case of FreedroidRPG, these three roles are a melee focus, a ranged weapon focus, and a program-oriented focus similar to the magic-using system of Diablo. This class system is loosely defined in the game, such that placement of talent points determines role rather than any arbitrary class limitations placed upon a character. Weaponry and Sourcebooks (items granting the use and improvement of programs) can be found in chests scattered around the game, purchased from vendors, dropped by enemies, or given as quest completion awards.

The game offers a complete tutorial scenario separate from the game itself, written from an in-game perspective and offering instruction on every aspect of gameplay separate from using the store interface.

Story
FreedroidRPG is set on an Earth-like planet sometime in the 21st century, after a faulty firmware update by the monopolistic Megasys corporation caused the worldwide robot population to rebel against humanity. The player character, a sentient penguin-like alien known as a Linarian, is discovered to be in cryogenic storage by a caretaker tasked with shutting down life support in an attempt to conserve power for a nearby mining colony. The caretaker recalls from history that Linarians are supposed to have an affinity for computers and machines, and awakens the player character in the hopes that something can be done about the rebel machines. The player character proceeds through the game performing tasks for the people of the colony as well as the Red Guard, a military group that has set up a totalitarian regime in the wake of the disaster.

The player character also performs quests for various independent factions and individuals throughout the game world, including an independent robot faction that has achieved sentience and desires to save both humanity and the Megasys drones. As the plot moves forward, the player character is tasked with infiltrating the Hell Fortress, the former Megasys bot production facility, and issuing a new firmware update to restore the robots to proper working order and save humanity.

Game Features
FreedroidRPG includes a fully interactive dialog system implemented in the Lua language. This system not only supports the story and the in-game questing system, but has also allowed the implementation of a Nethack-like minigame. The dialog system interacts with the engine through a Lua scripting interface, which is also used to implement event triggers based on map locations. The game also includes a full-featured level editor similar to that in The Sims, allowing for the implementation of additional game content by non-programmers.

The game makes use of a takeover minigame based originally on the found in Paradroid. Players are presented with a grid of wires connected to a central bus, which is composed of multiple rectangles in two different colors. The player chooses a side, then is given a certain number of cores to be used. Activating a core on a wire will attempt to change any rectangles attached to that wire to the player’s color. The opposing robot also plays the game against the player, attempting to use its cores to maximize the number of colors it controls. At the end of the game, the opponent with the greater number of active rectangles wins. A win for the computer results in damage to the player and continued independence of the robot. A draw causes the minigame to be restarted. A win for the player causes the robot to change to the player’s faction and begin attacking other bots. The player can then open a dialog with the bot to change its general behavior, or to cause it to self-destruct.

Cultural References
The Linarian race is based on Tux, the mascot of the Linux operating system. The Megasys corporation is based heavily off the Microsoft company, with the entire premise of the game serving as an allegory of the alleged dangers of proprietary software. FreedroidRPG also shares elements of such films as I, Robot and the Terminator series. Three of the in-game NPCs are based off of Richard Stallman, Kevin Mitnick, and Bill Gates.

Development
The FreedroidRPG engine is developed entirely in the C (programming language). The savegame and bot chatting functions are handled using Python, and the dialog system uses Lua. Images are stored in the Portable Network Graphics format, and model development is performed using Blender. FreedroidRPG uses original music by various composers stored in the Ogg Vorbis format, as are in-game sounds.

FreedroidRPG offers both an OpenGL hardware-accelerated graphics system, and a slower but more compatible SDL software mode.

Reception
In the summer of 2010, FreedroidRPG was accepted as a mentoring organization for the Google Summer of Code. Three students were mentored, and contributed heavily to the game. FreedroidRPG was accepted again for Google Summer of Code 2011, and is mentoring four students.

In December of 2010, FreedroidRPG was featured, along with Freedroid Classic, as the week 119 Good Games to Grab offering on Giveaway of the Day.

Some reviewers have found the activist theme against proprietary software prevalent in past versions to be distasteful.