Tribes (game series)

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Tribes
developer United StatesUnited States Dynamix (1998–2001) Inevitable Entertainment (2002) Irrational Games (2004) Hi-Rez Studios (from 2010)
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Publisher United StatesUnited States Sierra On-Line (1998-2004) Hi-Rez Studios (from 2010)
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First title Star victories: Tribes (1998)
Last title Tribes: Ascend (2012)
Platform (s) Windows , Linux , PlayStation 2
Genre (s) Ego shooter

Tribes is a computer game series with science fiction and first-person shooter influences. It was originally developed by Dynamix , a Sierra Entertainment development studio . Hi-Rez Studios has owned the rights to the Tribes series since 2010 .

Versions

  • Starsiege: Tribes was released on November 30, 1998 for Microsoft Windows and was one of the first computer games in which human players could play against and with each other exclusively via a network (such as the Internet or LAN ). It has almost no single player mode. Only a few training missions exist as single player variants.
  • Tribes 2 was released on March 28, 2001. More vehicles, weapons and items were added and some game elements were changed. The game uses the Torque Game Engine .
  • Tribes Aerial Assault is the PlayStation 2 version of Tribes 2 and was released on September 23, 2002. Developed by Inevitable Entertainment and published by Sierra, the game only includes a scaled-down version of Tribes 2 (fewer maps and vehicles) with network capability for up to 16 players.
  • Tribes: Vengeance was released in October 2004 for Microsoft Windows and, in addition to the multiplayer mode, has a single player mode with a background story. Was developed Tribes: Vengeance of Irrational Games , the game uses the Unreal Engine .
  • Tribes: Ascend closed the open beta on April 12, 2012 and has been available on Steam since June 27, 2012 . The game was conceived as free-to-play and developed on the basis of Unreal Engine 3 by Hi-Rez Studios. It adds a match-making feature to traditional server search, which allows players to be automatically connected to similarly good players with a game in progress selected by the master server. Unlockable and upgradeable equipment for classes has been added. The game was expanded to include new maps , pieces of equipment, game modes and game functions at regular intervals until further development in favor of newer products was discontinued in July 2013.

Further development

In Germany, Starsiege: Tribes was distributed by Deutsche Telekom AG in a German version with German sounds in order to advertise the in-house gaming platform CMGA ( Community of Massive Gaming Agents ).

Since May 2004 the first two parts of the series, Starsiege: Tribes and Tribes 2 , have been available as freeware for download on the Internet.

The Starsiege master servers: Tribes and Tribes 2 have been switched off since the end of 2008 . Instead, community-operated master servers are available for both games. For star wins: Tribes are ready-to-play versions that already contain the necessary server entries. For Tribes 2 one's community patch available that allows you to locate the running game servers.

In mid-January 2009 it was announced that GarageGames had acquired the rights to the Tribes series from Activision / Vivendi in late 2008. GarageGames announced on March 17th, 2009 that it would release Starsiege: Tribes version 1.40 via InstantAction technology, which allows games to be played in a web browser.

In 2010 Hi-Rez Studios bought the rights to the Tribes franchise and announced the development of the MMO Tribes Universe and the online first person shooter Tribes: Ascend for Microsoft Windows and Xbox . The development of Tribes Universe has been discontinued in favor of Tribes: Ascend .

Game elements

The following features distinguish the Tribes series from other first-person shooters:

  • Fighting takes place mainly in the open air. The landscape is created in such a way that it is far too large to be traversed on foot in a normal game. Some maps are lush green with rivers, others are snowy and covered in snow.
  • All players have a jetpack on their back that allows short flights. The jetpacks get their energy from the armor of the players; the armor energy charges more slowly than the jetpack consumes, forcing the player to take short breaks between flights. Experienced players can run down a hill to use the momentum built up in this way on the next mountain and to cover long distances using the jetpack ( skiing ). This technique allows even heavily equipped players to cover long distances in a short time. skiing was originally a bug , but it became an important element in the game and was ultimately built into all future Tribes titles and taught in the tutorials.
  • The Tribes titles require teamwork and strategic thinking from their players. A game consists of a maximum of 32 players, 16 on each side. Instead of attacking the enemy directly, a player can also choose to defend the base, which includes setting up defense towers / sensors and repairing the base. If the player decides for the offensive, he can deprive the opponent of his ability to equip himself or to order vehicles by interrupting the power supply. Individual players can thus help their own team to victory in different ways, even without fighting opponents directly.
  • Various land and air vehicles play an important role in the Tribes universe. Transporters fly heavily equipped teammates into enemy territory. Mobile equipment vehicles enable the team to set up small, extended bases with sensors and defensive towers.
  • Each team has one or more equipment stations, depending on the map. Here the player can choose between three different types of equipment: the light equipment makes it possible to move quickly, the heavy equipment is slow, but withstands more damage and allows supplies and objects to be carried; the middle gear is a compromise of the two. A player can also specialize by choosing a backpack : For example, the Repair Pack enables objects and fellow players to be repaired; the energy pack lets the player use the jetpack longer and provides the energy for the sniper rifle; the cloak pack gives the player the ability to make himself invisible.
  • In addition to the standard Capture the Flag , Tribes also includes additional game modes. When you win, there is a defending and an attacking team. The goal is a switch that must be reached within a certain time limit. If the attacking team succeeds, the sides are swapped and the previously defending team must undercut the given time. In Rabbit mode, there is a flag on the map. Whoever picks them up first is the rabbit and will be hunted by all other players. In the case of a virtual death, the rabbit loses the flag and someone else can pick it up. The winner is the one who has held the flag for the longest time at the end of the round.
  • An extensive collection of key combinations allows players to send each other short, pre-written messages. These are underlaid with a voice output that simultaneously reproduces what has been written. The player has the possibility to choose between different voices for his character.
  • Each player can initiate a vote, for example to ban players from the server or to change cards. Tribes has included this option since the first title was released in 1998. It was only years later that games like Counter-Strike had functions that were comparable in scope and convenience.
  • The Windows version of the game contains an extensive programming language which can be used for extensive changes and the creation of mods .

reception

Metascore
Star victories Tribes : not available
Tribes 2 : 88
Tribes Aerial Assault : 73
Tribes: Vengeance : 83
Tribes: Ascend : 86

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Maria Walters: Free-to-Play Tribes: Ascend Now Available On Steam. (No longer available online.) In: Hi-Rez Studios blog. Hi-Rez Studios, Inc., June 27, 2012, archived from the original on July 23, 2012 ; accessed on July 19, 2012 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.hirezstudios.com
  2. Is This The End For Tribes Ascend?
  3. Jens Ihlenfeld: Telekom - New Products for E-Commerce. In: golem.de . August 26, 1999, accessed on July 19, 2012 (German).
  4. Thorsten Wiesner: Shooter Starsiege Tribes and Tribes 2 for free download. In: golem.de . April 13, 2004, accessed on July 19, 2012 (German).
  5. Community-operated master server for star wins: Tribes and Tribes 2
  6. Starsiege Tribes v1.30 Ready-To-Play
  7. TribesNext Community Patch for Tribes 2
  8. Chris Faylor: GarageGames Acquires Tribes Property Rights. In: Shacknews.com. Shacknews Ltd., March 19, 2009, accessed July 19, 2012 .
  9. a b Eric Caoili: InstantAction Acquires Starsiege, Tribes Rights For Web Game. In: gamasutra . UBM TechWeb, March 19, 2009, accessed July 19, 2012 .
  10. ^ Mike Fahey: InstantAction Brings Tribes To Your Web Browser. In: Kotaku, the Gamer's Guide. Gawker Media, March 17, 2009, accessed July 19, 2012 .
  11. Jim Rossignol: Hi-Rez Announce Tribes Universe. In: Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Rock Paper Shotgun Ltd., October 24, 2010, accessed July 19, 2012 .
  12. Star victories Tribes. Accessed August 8, 2019 .
  13. Tribes 2. Metacritic , accessed on July 19, 2012 (English).
  14. ^ Tribes Aerial Assault. Metacritic , accessed July 19, 2012 .
  15. Tribes: Vengeance. Metacritic , accessed July 19, 2012 .
  16. Tribes: Ascend. Metacritic , accessed August 25, 2012 .