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Free alternatives to classic/well known games

User is offline   MrFlibble 

#1

Now that I've mentioned "lots of quality products that have been from the start developed under a GPL license" in another thread, I thought I'd share this one too. Some time ago I got interested in games that are obviously aimed at recreating a certain well-known commercial game but aren't doing exactly a remake - rather, it's a "same but different" kind of game that follows the original very closely in most cases, but uses completely new resources, name etc. to avoid copyright infringement. (The game that actually prompted my search in this direction was Freedoom.) The results are very interesting more often that not. Here's what I've managed to find so far, take note though that it's quite biased towards my own genre and style preferences, but I've also included suggestions from other people.

Clones and similar games

A-Train - FreeTrain
Abuse - fRaBs
Advance Wars - Tanks of Freedom
Age of Empires - 0 A.D., The Fertile Crescent
Alien Breed - Alien Assault II
Alien Shooter - Theseus: Return of the Hero
Anno 1602 - Unknown Horizons
Another World, Flashback - onEscapee (MajorGeeks.com)
Arcade Volleyball - Hairy Harry
Arkanoid - PopCorn
Asteroids - Roxx
Astrosmash - Cosmosmash
Atic Atac - The Burps (TheBurps.zip)
Atomix - WAtomic, Atomic, Moleculix, Atomix (NiMuSi Software)
Bard's Tale Construction Set, The - Bt Builder
Bard's Tale, The - The Bard's Lore, The Bard's Quest, Tower of Fortune
Battle Isle II - Advanced Strategic Command, Crimson Fields
Bejeweled - Freegemas
Bomberman - Mr.Boom, Fracas, Bombs and Bugs, I Can't Believe It's Not Bomberman (Wayback Machine)
Bombuzal - Bombzuka
Boulder Dash - GDash, Rocks'n'Diamonds, RockRush
Bouncing Babies - Gargoyle Revenge
Breakout - Mega Breakout
Bubble Bobble - Acter World
Bust-a-Move/Puzzle Bobble - Bobble Puzzle, Frozen Bubble, Zorx
Carrier Command - Thunder&Lightning
Castlevania - Silver Night’s Crusaders
Catacomb Abyss, The - The Vigilance of Nephthys
Centipede - Megapede'95, Crawly-Pede, The Rustic Classics
Chaos - Anarchy, Chaos Reborn
Chip's Challenge - Tile World
Choplifter - Airlift Rescue (rescue.zip)
Chuckie Egg - Chickie Egg
Clonk - OpenClonk
Columns - Bref, Columns (Brian Boese)
Command & Conquer - Dark Konflict, Future Conflict (fc_101pm.zip), Arrakis, Eudora, Dark Konflict (caiman.us), OpenHV, Annex: Conquer the World
Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun - Fractured Realms
Commander Keen (second trilogy) - Planet Cloudius IX
Connect 4 - Velena
Contra - iiChantra
Crayon Physics - Numpty Physics
Crillion - HitBlock, Crillion '97
Crimsonland - Bloodworks, Violetland
Crusade - Conquests
Crystal Quest - XQuest
Daedalian Opus - Puzmania
Defender - Defendguin, Abductor, Glook
Defender of the Crown - King Arthur's KORT (download), Knights of War
Deflektor - Mirror Magic, Reflektor
Descent - Sublevel Zero (Prototype) (mega.nz)
Diablo - FreedroidRPG, FLARE, Summoning Wars
Doom - Freedoom (Phase 1), Harmony, Shaw's Nightmare, Anarch
Doom II - Freedoom (Phase 2), HacX, Shaw's Nightmare II
Duke Nukem 1 - Dave Gnukem
Duke Nukem 3D - Mr The Killer, Shadow Warrior
Dungeon Keeper - OpenDungeons, Dwelvers (Alpha), OpenDungeons Plus
DX-Ball / MegaBall - SDL-Ball
Elasto Mania - XMoto
Elite - Oolite
Empire Deluxe - GEMpire
Escape Velocity - NAEV
Fantastic Dizzy - Giddy 3: The Retro Eggsperience
Flight Sim Toolkit - OpenFly
Forgotten Realms: Unlimited Adventures - Dungeon Craft
FreeCell - Bolitaire
Freespace 2 - Wings of Dawn
Frogger - Revenge of Froggie, DIV Frogger, Toad
Frontier: Elite II - Pioneer
Galaga - Cosmic Ambush
Galaxian - Galaxi
Gradius - Hydorah
Grand Prix Legends - Dolphinity Racer
Great Giana Sisters, The - Akiko and Minami
Guitar Hero - Frets on Fire
Gun - Guns and Spurs
Heretic - Blasphemer
Herzog Zwei - Herzog 3D, RAD - Rapid Aerial Deployment
Hovertank 3D - Robot Redemption (source code)
Jetpac - Jetpak (JETPAK.zip), Jetman (jetman.zip)
Knights and Merchants - Knights Province
Kula World / Roll Away - Cubosphere
Lemmings - Lix, Pingus, Hamsters, Lemmis
Lethal Tender - Industrial Killers (ikillers.zip)
Lode Runner - Infiltrator, Scavenger
Lords of Midnight, The - Lords of Midnight PC, The War of the Solstice
Lost Vikings, The - freeVikings
M.A.X. - M.A.X. Reloaded
MadTV - TVTower
Magic Carpet - Ogrian Carpet
Master of Monsters - The Battle for Wesnoth
Master of Orion - Star Lords, Remnants of the Precursors, FreeOrion
Mastermind - Dr. Mind
Mechwarrior - Linwarrior 3D
Mega Lo Mania - Gigalomania
Mega Man - Rockbot
Minecraft - Manic Digger, Minetest
Mortal Kombat - Open Mortal
Natural Selection - Tremulous, Unvanquished
Nibbles - Zmiy, The Rustic Classics, Nibbles (George Tzoumas)
OutRun - 'GhiniRun, RunOut
Oxyd - Enigma
Pac-Man - Paku Paku, Greedy, Open Greedy
Pang - Pang Zero, PANGG!
Panzer General - LGeneral + K.u.k. General
Panzer General II - Open General, OpenPanzer / Panzer Marshal
Paradroid - Short Cut
Paratrooper - Ack-Ack Attack!
Pengo - WetSpot 2
Pong - Emeritus Pong
Populous - Reprisal Universe (Beta)
Pulsoids - Pulsoid
Puzznic - Brix, Wizznic!, Japure
Quake - LibreQuake, Open Quartz, Open Quartz 2, Nexuiz Classic, Rexuiz, Xonotic
Quake II - CodeRED - Battle For Earth, CodeRED - The Martian Chronicles, Alien Arena, D-Day Normandy, Warsow
Quake III Arena - OpenArena, Acid Arena, World of Pandman
Quest for Glory - Heroine’s Quest
R-Type - GazerStar
Raptor: Call of the Shadows - Kraptor, Rafkill
Repton 3 - Rock 'n' Spin
Rescue! - Rescue! Max
Rick Dangerous - Lao’s Quest
Rise of the Triad - Rise of the Wool Ball
Robbo / The Adventures of Robbo - GNU Robbo
Robotron - Llamatron
Rogue - Rogue Clone IV, TileRogue
RPG Maker - EasyRPG, Open RPG Maker
Scorched Earth - Atomic Tanks, Scorched3D
Scramble - Zeroth Zone
Secret Agent - Special Agent
Sensible (World of) Soccer - YSoccer, Tux Football, Open World Soccer
Sentinel - Sentry
Settlers II, The - Widelands
Settlers of Catan, The - Pioneers
Sid Meier's Civilization - Freeciv, Great Nations, Kingdoms, Conquests
Sid Meier's Civilization II - Freeciv, C-evo
Sid Meier's Civilization V - Unciv
Sid Meier's Colonisation - FreeCol
SimCity - Lincity, LinCity-NG, OpenCity
SolarFox - SolarWolf
Sonic the Hedgehog - Open Surge
Sopwith - Sopwith (The Author's Edition), Sopwith 3
Space Hulk - Alien Assault
Space Invaders - Spaced-Out Invaders, XInvaders 3D
Space Quest - Cosmos Quest
Spit Wad Willy/Pea Shootin' Pete - Bubble Jeopardy (dpdl_bubble.zip)
Star Castle - Star Fortress
Star Wars: TIE Fighter - Space Combat
StarCraft - Priority: Survive, Bos Wars (latest Windows build), Astroseries
Starion - Starion 2010
Stars! - Stars! Nova
Street Fighter II - Super Fighter, Tough Guy
Stunts - Ultimate Stunts
Super Hexagon - Open Hexagon
Super Mario Bros. - Secret Maryo Chronicles, SuperTux
Super Mario Kart - SuperTuxKart
Super Monkey Ball - Neverball
Super-VGA Harrier - Jaguar GR1: Strike Force Delta Zulu, Tornado Squadron, Skyhawk Attack
Terminal Velocity - TerraScape: Breakdown Velocity
Tetris - Super ACiD Block Attack, Falling Block Game, Ptakovina, Tetris QUEEN
Thief: The Dark Project - The Dark Mod
Thrust - Thrust
Titan - Colossus
Total Annihilation - Zero-K, Robotic War, War Machines, Beyond All Reason
Tower Toppler - Tower Toppler
Trailblazer - Blazing Trails
Transport Tycoon Deluxe - OpenTTD, Simutrans
Tron - Cycles 3D
Trugg - Heartlight PC
Turrican II - Hurrican
Ugh! - CaveExpress
Ultima I-III - The Kingdom of Syree, The Kingdom of Syree 2
Ultima IV-V - Haxima
Ultima VI - IRE
Ultimate Doom, The - Freedoom (Phase 1), REKKR
Warcraft II - Aleona's Tales, Wyrmsun, Dark Oberon, Astroseries
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos - Glest, MegaGlest, Loria
Warlords - Hostile Takeover
Warlords II Deluxe - LordsAWar!
Wing Commander - Flight Commander
Wizardry VII - Escape from the Maze, Wizardry Legacy
Wolfenstein 3-D - Zillion 3D
Worms - Hedgewars, WarMUX
X-COM: Terran Defense Force / UFO: Enemy Unknown - X-Force: Fight for Destiny, UFO: Alien Invasion, UFO2000

Official/authorized remakes, source ports and fangames


Abuse - Abuse for Windows
Alien Breed - Alien Breed: Obliteration, Alien Breed Remake (Rob Farley) (1980-jeux-pc.com)
Alien Breed 3D - Project Osiris
Amulets & Armor - Amulets & Armor (Windows)
Anacreon: Reconstruction 4021 - Anacreon v2.1
Arcade Volleyball - GAV
AstroMenace - AstroMenace
Atomix - Atomiks
Blades of Exile - Open Blades of Exile
BlockOut - BlockOut II
Blood - Transfusion
Boppin' - Boppin' 2.0.5 (Windows)
Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars - Broken Sword 2.5: The Return of the Templars
Buzz Aldrin's Race Into Space - Race Into Space
C-Dogs - C-Dogs SDL
Castlevania - Castlevania 2: The Lecarde Chronicles, Haunted Castle II
Chex Quest - Chex Quest 3
Command & Conquer - OpenRA, Dawn of Tomorrow, Tiberian Aurora
Command & Conquer: Renegade - Renegade X: Black Dawn
Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun - Twisted Insurrection
Cyberbox - The Continuing Adventures of Cyberbox
Cybernoid - Cybernoid I
Cylindrix - Cylindrix (Windows)
Cytadela - Cytadela
D/Generation - rE/Generation
Death Rally - Death Rally (Windows)
Deflektor - Deflektor X4
Der Clou! - Clou! Open Source Project
Digger (Alexander Lang) - Digger 2, Digger (Lutz Roeder)
Digger (Windmill Software) - Digger Remastered
Dink Smallwood - GNU FreeDink, Dink Smallwood HD
Duke Nukem 3D - Demon Throne, The AMC Squad, Hectic Realms
Eat the Whistle - Eat the Whistle GPL
Elite - Elite: The New Kind
Escape Towards the Unknown - Escape Towards the Unknown GPL
Fish Fillets - Fish Fillets NG
Gladiator - Openglad
Gravity Force 2 - Gravity Force 20
Great Giana Sisters, The - The Great Giant Sisters, Giant Worlds, Giana's Return
Greedy - Open Greedy
Gunocide II - Gunocide II EX
HacX - HacX 1.2, HacX 2.0
Homeworld - House Globe
Jet Set Willy - Top Hat Willy
Joe Snow - The Rustic Classics, Joe Snow
Ken's Labyrinth - LAB3D/SDL
King's Quest I - King's Quest I VGA
King’s Quest II - King's Quest II Enhanced Edition
King’s Quest III - King's Quest III: To Heir is Human, King’s Quest III VGA Remake
Laser Kombat - Laser Kombat (Wouter Wijsman)
Liero - OpenLieroX
Maelstrom - Maelstrom 3.0
Marathon, Marathon 2, Marathon Infinity - Aleph One
Mercenary, Damocles, The Dion Crisis - MDDClone
Mindbender - Mirror Magic
No Gravity - No Gravity (Classic)
PopCorn - PopCorn 1988
PowBall - PowBall Deluxe
Power Pete - Mighty Mike
Prince of Persia - MININIM
Quest for Glory II - Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire
Ragnarok / Valhalla - NorseWorld: Ragnarok
Rick Dangerous - xrick
Rise of the Triad - Return of the Triad
Robbo / The Adventures of Robbo - Robbo (JavaScript)
Seven Kingdoms: Ancient Adversaries - Seven Kingdoms Ancient Adversaries
Space Quest II: Vohaul’s Revenge - Space Quest II VGA Remake
Star Control II: The Ur-Quan Masters - The Ur-Quan Masters, The Ur-Quan Masters HD
Steel Panthers - SPWW2, Steel Panthers: World at War
Steel Panthers II: Modern Battles - SPMBT
Styx - Styx Remastered
Supaplex - OpenSupaplex, Supaplex Online, Rocks'n'Diamonds
Telengard - Telengard Remake
Triplane Turmoil - Triplane Classic, Triplane Web
Turrican II - T2002
Tyrian - OpenTyrian
VGA Civil War Strategy Game - Civil War Strategy Game
Warzone 2100 - Warzone 2100
Wolfenstein 3-D - Wolfram

Old post:
Spoiler


This post has been edited by Lunick: 08 May 2023 - 05:16 AM

6

User is offline   LeoD 

  • Duke4.net topic/3513

#2

IIRC the new Nexiuz won't be free.
But there is Xonotic.
1

User is offline   MrFlibble 

#3

Right you are, fixed that and also added the "lite" version of Nexuiz too.
0

User is offline   Mad Max RW 

#4

Nice. How about Spring RTS? It's an open source 3D Total Annihilation remake.



This post has been edited by Mad Max RW: 06 July 2012 - 09:02 AM

1

User is offline   MrFlibble 

#5

Yeah, I keep forgetting to add that one. Thanks for reminding about it! :(
0

User is offline   The Commander 

  • I used to be a Brown Fuzzy Fruit, but I've changed bro...

#6

RTS:
Warzone 2100 - http://wz2100.net/ (A game released in 1999 that is now open sourced like EDuke32, in my view a lot of RTS games today used ideas from this game)

FPS:
Red Alert: A Path Beyond http://www.moddb.com...t-a-path-beyond (Red Alert done in the C&C Renegade engine aka W3D)
Renegade X http://www.moddb.com/games/renegade-x (C&C Renegade done in the UDK)

This post has been edited by Cody: 06 July 2012 - 01:11 PM

1

User is offline   Lunick 

#7

Thank you for this huge list. Looks like there are some fun free games here.
0

User is offline   Mad Max RW 

#8

I have another good one. Wing Commander Saga. It's a years in the making free unofficial Wing Commander game based on the Freespace Source Code Project.


1

#9

Really enjoying Freedoom. Probably the best Doom remake I've ever played.
0

User is offline   MrFlibble 

#10

View PostCody, on 06 July 2012 - 01:08 PM, said:

RTS:
Warzone 2100 - http://wz2100.net/ (A game released in 1999 that is now open sourced like EDuke32, in my view a lot of RTS games today used ideas from this game)

FPS:
Red Alert: A Path Beyond http://www.moddb.com...t-a-path-beyond (Red Alert done in the C&C Renegade engine aka W3D)
Renegade X http://www.moddb.com/games/renegade-x (C&C Renegade done in the UDK)

Thanks for bringing these up, I know most of these projects and they're all very different - perhaps with some adjustment of initial criteria they can be included in the list, although I think a separate remake index is a good option too :(

Also, of interest might be the Open Source Game Clones list, which mostly focuses on engine recreations and source ports, but also has a section of "inspired by" games.

View PostMad Max RW, on 06 July 2012 - 03:44 PM, said:

I have another good one. Wing Commander Saga. It's a years in the making free unofficial Wing Commander game based on the Freespace Source Code Project.

Thanks for the info and links on this one, I'm not very familiar with the Wing Commander series and TBH I thought that the "Saga" was an official release :(

BTW, there are some "fan sequels" of well-known games, like Return to the Roots (a.k.a. The Settlers 2.5), Broken Sword 2.5, Heroes of Might and Magic 3.5: In the Wake of Gods and Space Quest: Vohaul Strikes Back.
0

User is offline   MrFlibble 

#11

Added several more titles to the first post:
Alien Assault
Flare
Guns and Spurs
La-Mulana
Lao's Quest
Summoning Wars
0

User is offline   MrFlibble 

#12

A couple of oldies:

Hostile Takeover - a turn-based strategy game that borrows a lot of elements from the Warlords series. This one has a random map generator and both single-player against an AI opponent and two player hot-seat mode. Download: HOSTIL11.ZIP

Screenshots:
Posted Image Posted Image Posted Image Posted Image
Posted Image Posted Image Posted Image

The Kingdom of Syree - a role-playing game that is obviously modelled after the early Ultima games. This game is free but its sequel is already shareware. Download: SYREE102.ZIP

Zorak: The Mountain of Terror - another Ultima clone. Download: ZORAK100.ZIP
0

User is offline   MrFlibble 

#13

Here's a neat site dedicated to free gaming alternatives:
Free alternative games
0

User is offline   MrFlibble 

#14

I've reworked the list so that now the items are sorted by the game they're an alternative to, with the original games in alphabetical order. Also the list now includes shareware and liberated games, not just pure non-commercial ones.
0

User is offline   Martin 

#15

Hedgewars is indeed an awesome Worms clone. I highly-recommend it! Graphics are on-par with Worms Armageddon, and it's got great gameplay. If you want Worms but don't want to pay for it (or pirate it), this is the game for you.
0

User is offline   MrFlibble 

#16

Okay, added some more stuff (Super Angelo as the obvious Super Mario Bros. clone, Skunny Kart and Wacky Wheels as Super Mario Kart clones, and some others). If you have further suggestions (especially concerning old shareware clones of very well known games), be sure to post 'em here ;)
0

User is offline   MrFlibble 

#17

Added the following titles to the list:

Robot Odyssey

Scorched Earth

Wing Commander series


I've also found a couple of neat community-made Doom episodes that work nicely with Freedoom as a first episode replacement (the internal Freedoom levels are okay but they often have a noticeably different style):

CH Retro Episode
This is a creative reimagining of the shareware episode of Doom, with immediately recognizable yet subtly different visuals, and overall clever level design. It starts as a relatively straightforward thing but the levels quickly get interesting, and are full of puzzles and secret areas. The download link at the review page does no work but the file can be obtained here.

Simply Phobos
Another Knee-Deep-themed episode, but quite different from the one above. The author of Simply Phobos has a preference for vast, spacious areas, and also isn't shy of almost literal visual quotations from the original levels. It's equally fun to play nevertheless, and captures the atmosphere of the original game quite well too. In addition, this episode comes with an optional music pack in a separate WAD.
0

User is offline   MrFlibble 

#18

Here's a couple more Doom Episode 1 tributes that work with Freedoom:

Phobos Revisited
The aim of the author was to create a "same but different" kind of feeling, following the original levels quite closely yet introducing something new at every turn. Phobos Revisited was designed to run in the original game as well as with source ports, and it won the Cacowards award in 2004. Screenshots can be viewed here at the team's website.

Phobos Outpost/Planet Phobos
Another interesting work, this one deviates a lot more from the original - for example, the first level is nothing like Doom's E1M1 - however later on similar details and areas become more frequent. The levels here are supposed to represent a single, coherent installation (the eponymous outpost), and at the end of each level the starting area of the next one can briefly be seen. Difficulty is a bit higher than in other similar works, or in the first episode of the original game for that matter, but clever design makes them interesting to play. For some reason, the author renamed the episode to Planet Phobos at some point, although no content was apparently changed.

The same author also released an Episode 2 replacement, The Base of Evil (which was also renamed to Planet Hell later), however it doesn't seem to work with Freedoom for now because of a missing textures issue.
0

User is offline   MrFlibble 

#19

Added Jazz Jackrabbit as another counterpart to Sonic the Hedgehog.
0

User is offline   ReaperMan 

#20

Wolf 3d clone/remake.... called wolfram.
http://www.moddb.com/games/wolfram
1

User is offline   MrFlibble 

#21

Yeah, I know about it. It's cool, but I'm in doubts about this one since it's a one-to-one recreation of all original content (levels etc.) - something which had always been looked down upon by companies like id Software or Apogee. I'm no sure if it was created with official permission from id Software. Wolfram also uses original sprites in some cases (e.g. the HUD), and I try not to include such games on the list, since they're not completely free.
0

User is offline   MrFlibble 

#22

Added Star Lords as an alternative to Master of Orion, and onEscapee as a counterpart to Another World and Flashback.

This post has been edited by MrFlibble: 08 January 2013 - 09:00 AM

0

User is offline   MrFlibble 

#23

Added a working download link for Giana Worlds.
0

User is offline   MrFlibble 

#24

I've just realized that Alien Carnage bears a lot of similarities to the Amiga/Genesis version of Alien 3: the levels are timed missions during which you need to rescue captives and reach the exit, and one of the weapons is a flamethrower; not to mention several direct references to the Alien franchise.

Also, added Amulets & Armor to the list.
0

#25

Cube 1 and 2, free Arena FPS:

1
http://cubeengine.com/

2
http://sauerbraten.org/

This post has been edited by TerminX: 27 June 2013 - 07:45 AM

0

User is offline   MrFlibble 

#26

They're already on the list, but thanks anyway.
0

User is offline   Person of Color 

  • Senior Unpaid Intern at Viceland

#27

That free alternative is called BitTorrent. Why does this thread exist?

"Oh look this game is kind of like that game, but shitty."

This post has been edited by 486DX2: 27 June 2013 - 10:14 AM

1

User is offline   MrFlibble 

#28

View Post486DX2, on 27 June 2013 - 10:13 AM, said:

"Oh look this game is kind of like that game, but shitty."

Why do you think "free" necessary means "bad quality"? I hope you did not mean to say that Alien Carnage is a bad quality game? Or many of the other games on the list?

This thread exists because I'm interested in obscure games which possess a certain resemblance of well-known titles. Incidentally, many of those are free games, or have been liberated, or are shareware in the Apogee model sense.
0

User is offline   Person of Color 

  • Senior Unpaid Intern at Viceland

#29

Alien Carnage is amazing, but that's besides the point.

Free game alternatives are usually junk compared to commercial ones. Abandonware is different.

This post has been edited by 486DX2: 27 June 2013 - 11:07 AM

0

#30

Sadly, free does not always mean quality.

Alien Arena for example (which is in the list), cannot be really considered a free Quake III, it is just an Unreal Tournament rip-off without personality and unbalanced weapons e game mechanics.
1

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