liberated games

February 21, 2005 8:13 PM

Doom, Doom2, Duke Nukem 3d, Heretic, Hexen, Hexen II, Quake, Quake 2, Return to Castle Wolfenstein : Enemy Territory, plus dozens more.
posted by crunchland (20 comments total)

Liberated Games is dedicated to cataloging all full commercial games that have been liberated and made free in playable form to the public.

There are two basic types of liberated games:

Source code, no data - These games have had their source code released, which means that the games can often be improved, fixed, and ported to new platforms. The prime examples of these are the games from id Software, like Doom and Quake, which were released under the GNU General Public License (GPL). With nearly every source release, the player must still purchase the assets, like graphics, models, sounds, and music, before playing the full game. This is often done by buying a used version of the game, or when available, a new version. Limited play may be available through the use of the data contained in a shareware version of the game.

Binary executable and data - These games have been released in binary-only form. The packages typically contain everything needed to play: the program, graphics, models, sounds, and music. However, because the source code is not available, these versions are limited to the original platform for which they were built. These games cannot be fixed, improved, or ported to new platforms.
posted by crunchland at 8:16 PM on February 21, 2005

Enemy Territory is fantastic, and has always been free.
posted by Mean Mr. Bucket at 8:22 PM on February 21, 2005

So, is this something I'd need to have a PC to play?

Damn, I wanna play QuakeWorld again...
posted by armoured-ant at 8:33 PM on February 21, 2005

So, is this something I'd need to have a PC to play?

I saw some mac games on there - I don't know how many, but there was at least glider, and various marathon games.
posted by advil at 8:46 PM on February 21, 2005

There are ports for various operating systems for some of the games.
posted by bitpart at 8:47 PM on February 21, 2005

Thanks so much. This will go a long ways toward easing the pain I've been feeling ever since I bought a PC as a test box.
posted by stet at 8:49 PM on February 21, 2005

This is kinda misleading... as stated in the fine print, only the source has been released for the id software games. If you want to play Quake or Doom, you still need to buy a copy of the software.
posted by rockstar at 9:01 PM on February 21, 2005

armoured-ant there's an OS X (which is what I assume you are using, if not a PC?) version of DOSBox. Just played me some Wing Commander (the first one!) the other day without need for VPC.
posted by basicchannel at 9:08 PM on February 21, 2005

Coolness. This takes me back ten years or so when I was actually invested in video games. When I was a kid I used to map levels for old school 3D shooters, and got a little gig designing a replica of Lake Erie for a museum using the Duke Nukem level editor. Just before I saw this post, one of my high school friends e-mailed me this link and jokingly asked me if I made it. So, if anyone wants to run around the Overlook Hotel....
posted by painquale at 9:11 PM on February 21, 2005

In the same spirit, check out abandonia.com for DOS games. Also a Crunchland link tm.
posted by Arch Stanton at 9:14 PM on February 21, 2005

I am 29, self-employed, and play Enemy Territory every day. I am not ashamed; my life is perfect.
posted by TheNakedPixel at 9:34 PM on February 21, 2005

Heretic got me through grade 9. I remember playing head-to-head via modem with my friend from across town. It was unreal.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 11:16 PM on February 21, 2005

Heretic remains the only FPS ever to give me motion sickness.

I used to be one of those annoying grenade-rifle engineers on Enemy Territory, these days to be found loitering with a Kar98 on Call of Duty UO.

I'm not ashamed and so is my wife.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 12:47 AM on February 22, 2005

I am 29, self-employed, and play Enemy Territory every day. I am not ashamed; my life is perfect.

sup. can i get a oz?
posted by recurve at 4:22 AM on February 22, 2005

I used to rule DukeNukem 3D. Whoohooo!
posted by dabitch at 4:24 AM on February 22, 2005

It Came from the Desert... fan-frick-n-tastic!
posted by wfrgms at 4:33 AM on February 22, 2005

Another resource along these lines: The Underdogs.
posted by gd779 at 5:22 AM on February 22, 2005

I presume that this doesn't apply to the Amiga versions of some of the games, some of which have been ported commercially?

Can't RTFA 'cos I'm at work
posted by Chunder at 8:00 AM on February 22, 2005

Urban Terror (free) is being ported to Enemy Territory from Quake 3. No definitive eta as of yet, but once it happens there are 2 free games that rock.
posted by a3matrix at 10:49 AM on February 22, 2005

Holy Shit, I've not played Castle of the Winds since I had a 386...
posted by sciurus at 5:03 PM on February 22, 2005