''Crossfire'' is a
free and open source software cross-platform multiplayer online
role-playing video game
A role-playing video game (commonly referred to as simply a role-playing game or RPG, as well as a computer role-playing game or CRPG) is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character (or several party members) immers ...
. features a tile based graphic system with a pseudo-isometric perspective. All content is licensed under the
GNU GPL-2.0-or-later. The client and server will run in
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
,
Mac OS X,
Linux,
IRIX
IRIX ( ) is a discontinued operating system developed by Silicon Graphics (SGI) to run on the company's proprietary MIPS workstations and servers. It is based on UNIX System V with BSD extensions. In IRIX, SGI originated the XFS file system and ...
, and an array of other platforms.
Description
is a multi-player online role-playing game; it can be described as a cross-over of the ideas of
Nethack,
Ultima and
Gauntlet
Gauntlet or the gauntlet may refer to:
Common uses
*Gauntlet (glove), protective gloves used as a form of armor
*Running the gauntlet, a form of physical punishment
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters
*Gauntlet (comics), a Marvel ...
.
Development history
's development history started in mid-1992. It originally started as a
Gauntlet
Gauntlet or the gauntlet may refer to:
Common uses
*Gauntlet (glove), protective gloves used as a form of armor
*Running the gauntlet, a form of physical punishment
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters
*Gauntlet (comics), a Marvel ...
clone
Clone or Clones or Cloning or Cloned or The Clone may refer to:
Places
* Clones, County Fermanagh
* Clones, County Monaghan, a town in Ireland
Biology
* Clone (B-cell), a lymphocyte clone, the massive presence of which may indicate a pathologi ...
developed by Frank Tore Johansen at the
University of Oslo in
Norway. After a name change in that same year and brief hosting time at
University of California, Berkeley (Jul-1999 to Jan-2001), the project now resides at
SourceForge where development continues.
started with just one indoor map and then increased to 4 indoor maps with one-way portals from level 1 to level 4. Upon clearing the last level, there was nothing more for the player to do. Spells were limited to magic bullet (the first spell), fireball, magic missile, burning hands and lightning bolt. Later, when two-way portals were implemented, development and content contribution expanded greatly.
has since grown to encompass over 150 monsters, about 3000 maps to explore, an elaborate magic system, 13 races, 15 character classes, a system of skills, and many artifacts and treasures.
As of July 2018 the game is under active development by the community.
Gameplay
Any number of players can connect and play on the public servers, finding and using items and battling monsters. They can cooperate or compete in the same world which includes both static and randomly generated content. It is a client and server based game with the ability to be played over the Internet, on a local network setting, or on a single computer setup.
is based in a medieval fantasy world. Players can choose any of 13 races from dragons (fire hatchlings) to quetzalcoatl as well as the more average human and elf. They can also play as one of 15 classes or professions which range from alchemist to a monk to a warrior. The game has a comprehensive skill system that attributes experience points to each skill, instead of the character earning general experience points.
Once the character creation process is complete, players enter the game world and pick from the two starting towns, Scorn or Navar. Although there are many quests, the game leans towards
hack and slash
Hack and slash, also known as hack and slay (H&S or HnS) or slash 'em up, refers to a type of gameplay that emphasizes combat with melee-based weapons (such as swords or blades). They may also feature projectile-based weapons as well (such as ...
adventuring with other players. The game world is quite large, making exploration a key gameplay mechanic.
Influence on other online games
was used as the base of a number of commercial and free
MMORPG
A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game.
As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...
s, such as , a
Java rewrite, , which closed its code and content, and , which only used the server code but features an isometric view and a different project philosophy focused on a single main server. is another
fork of the Crossfire project, primarily aiming to improve the quality of its code and in-game content.
Reception
In 1999 was featured by
Linux Journal
''Linux Journal'' (''LJ'') is an American monthly technology magazine originally published by Specialized System Consultants, Inc. (SSC) in Seattle, Washington since 1994. In December 2006 the publisher changed to Belltown Media, Inc. in Houston ...
. The game was downloaded over 550,000 times
Download Statistics: All Files
on sourceforge.net
SourceForge is a web service that offers software consumers a centralized online location to control and manage open-source software projects and research business software. It provides source code repository hosting, bug tracking, mirroring ...
(April 2020) from SourceForge.net
SourceForge is a web service that offers software consumers a centralized online location to control and manage open-source software projects and research business software. It provides source code repository hosting, bug tracking, mirroring ...
between 2000 and April 2020.
See also
* List of open source games
References
External links
*
*
*
Crossfire Official Forums
Experience point table and discussion
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crossfire (Computer Game)
Windows games
IRIX games
Linux games
Classic Mac OS games
MacOS games
Massively multiplayer online role-playing games
Graphical MUDs
Video games developed in Norway
Open-source video games
Role-playing video games
1992 video games