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Free alternatives to classic games
Just as the title suggests, this is an attempt to list free games that very closely follow a well-known product or franchise and can thus serve as an alternative to that particular game. These are mostly non-commercial projects, but some shareware games are also included.
What I have not included on the list are multiplayer-only games, browser-based games, and all kinds of free-to-play and "freemium" online products. I have also tried not to include projects that make use of original assets like graphics and sounds (unless authorized by original copyright holders, as is the case of T2002), so games like Mortal Kombat Project, Gods Deluxe or Return of the Triad are not on the list. Another thing out of the scope of this list are engine recreations that require original game assets to work. Any further suggestions as to what games qualify as free alternatives are more than welcome :) Update from 2022/02/10: A complete overhaul of the lists, using new groupings, which are hopefully more informative. 1. Original engine + free/libre game data These are games based on the original code of their inspirations. Often, a free/libre game data set (levels, graphics, music) is created as a replacement for the original proprietary game data, while the playing mechanics remain the same, but sometimes, other aspects of gameplay undergo considerable alterations, which is reflected by the [mod] suffix in the list below. In some cases, the source code/engine is still not public, but has been provided by owners to the community so that new free games or mods may be created. Yet another case when the code is not available are various game construction sets that allow users to freely distribute games created with them. These are marked with the [toolkit] suffix. AbuseAlien ShooterThe Bard's Tale
2. Engine recreation + free/libre game data Very similar to the above, but the original game source is not available in any form, so an attempt is made to recreate it from scratch and/or by means of reverse engineering. Usually such projects start by requiring the original game's data, and then a free/libre replacement data set is created by the community. In some rare cases, the author of a recreation received permission from the copyright holders of the emulated game to use original proprietary game data, characters, title etc. These projects are marked with the [authr] suffix in the list. Atomix
3. Clones and remakes that faithfully recreate original mechanics This is likely the most common type, with many projects being not only accurate reproductions of the original game mechanics, but often also trying to follow the original "look & feel" of their inspirations. At least some of these projects are motivated by the desire to create a FOSS alternative to a proprietary game for Linux users, or to fill in what is perceived as an empty niche for modern platforms. Note that some of these games actually make rather drastic changes compared to the original titles they emulate, such as the transition to 3D graphics from 2D, or a cosmetic/thematic overhaul by using free software mascots as game characters for example. A-TrainAge of EmpiresAlien BreedAnno seriesArkanoidBattle Isle IIBlockOut
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Oh my, so many titles, I don't know where to start :omg:
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Robot Odyssey
* DroidQuest: http://mysite.verizon.net/thomasfoote/DQ/index.htm * Gate: http://quinndunki.com/OGOL/GATE.html |
I know this won't fit your list because it uses "original assets", but a long time ago I uploaded a fan-made remake of DOOM 64 to a freeware game site. The trick was that I used FREEDOOM.WAD to power the game instead of DOOM2.WAD, and it still works!
Link: http://www.caiman.us/scripts/fw/f3391.html P.S. There's a better fan-made remake out there now called DOOM 64 EX, which is more faithful to the original game and also has multiplayer support. I can't provide a precompiled package for this one though, as it requires the original N64 ROM to be converted into a DOOM WAD. |
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I'm not surprised that it worked since it is my understanding that from the start the Freedoom project was intended for running mods and TCs.
It's also very similar to the way the DOS full version of HacX (v1.1) can be run without the original DOOM2.WAD. HacX v1.2 uses assets from Freedoom in its main IWAD to substitute for the files (like the main palette) that it would originally read from DOOM2.WAD. |
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Others are welcome as well. |
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Nice
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I DL Blasphemer because i like Heretic saga. Thanks a lot, MrFlibble. :OK: |
Another Scorch alternative: http://www.scorched3d.co.uk/
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So i DL file Scorched3D-3.3d.exe from your link also, dear barat hunvagy. 69.1 MB. Merci. :hello: |
...and I'm not convinced to this concept, just as I didn't like 3D remakes of Worms or Lemmings. They play like a completely different game, so don't fool us by using the established title.
On the other hand, Duke Nukem Manhattan Project had 3D (vector) graphics, while retaining 2D platformer gameplay. I loved it! |
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As for your personal opinion about Cube, I find the games very playable. They don't always have perfect models or level design, but it's an overall quite an enjoyable experience nevertheless IMO. Quote:
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Off-topic: could you recommend similar games then? I only recall modern console remake of Prince of Persia. Nothing related to Sonic or Mario, please :D I really loved selected level design of DNMP, like the gritty subway (Max Payne-like), where you could almost get lost.
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I haven't played Prince of Persia Classic but to the best of my knowledge it's the very same game but with full 3D graphics - the level design is just the same, unlike DNMP which manages to smoothly introduce the third dimension into the classic 2D side-scrolling platform scheme.
Honestly, I know not of other games that could be comparable to DNMP in this respect. I checked this one out only because it's part of the Duke Nukem franchise, and I don't know other games of this genre and era well. |
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Megabyte Punch comes to mind and ofc the New Giana Sisters game. |
Thanks, but maybe I forgot to add: not Mario/Sonic, because I didn't like kiddie stuff even when I was a kid myself. DNMP was content-rated at least 15+. Oh, and older titles, preferably.
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I downloaded Oolite and played it today and it's very much like original Elite, probably even easier when it comes to docking to a space station and space battles.
I didn't really play much Elite on PC but I spent heaps of time playing it on my C=64. Unfortunately, playing Oolite reminded me why I spent so much time - it takes bloody ages to get to a space station after hyper jump into the system, most of the time just flying with other ships, no conflicts, nothing. But that's the gameplay of the original Elite, not this excellent remake, so if you loved Elite, this is definitely a great game for you. |
Thanks for your feedback - I haven't yet checked out Oolite myself :)
BTW, I'm wondering how well the older instalments in the Star Wraith series of games (which had been released as freeware) would act as an alternative for the Wing Commander titles? |
I was ready to try out Oolite but... I need XP SP3?
Why do so many games lately completely drop support for XP SP2 and lower? I take it has to do with the fact that they also dropped support from Windows 2000 and lower at the same time but isn't it weird that a game support XP SPwhatever but not XP itself? That's pretty stupid to me. |
I guess you have Microsoft to thank for that one. Earlier XP versions without the SP's were so unstable and full of problems that using them was impractical. Even then, I am not sure something that runs on SP3 wouldn't run on SP2, though.
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I'm running XP SP1 as we speak. I can count on one hand the number of times I had to reboot it and it wasn't due to some crappy third party programs. I've been using it for 10 years now. |
Yes, SP1 was stable, if I remember correctly. The SP-less version were the unstable ones. I use SP2 here, and haven't had problems in a long time also. SP2 & 3 were mostly related to security, I think something that runs in SP3 should run in SP2 also, probably even in SP1.
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I wish that were true. I recently wanted to upgrade my Firefox version since the one I use is not supported anymore and many sites started to fail to function because of it...
Learned the hard way that the version I'm using is the latest stable version still guaranteed to work under Windows XP SP1. Things like this baffle me. It was working A1 before. Now it doesn't. It's like I've been using electricity all my life but suddenly someone come in, play with the electrical box and declare that my old appliances won't work anymore even though it is exactly the same current. Doesn't add up. |
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Funniest thing about the XP SP issue is that the Service Packs are a collection of previous patches, so if you had, say, SP2 and installed selected patches (because you don't need the other), it's almost like having SP3 (in terms of security etc.), but the programs are dumb to say that your system is not-up-to-date.
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I sure would love to try out some kind of "emulation" of SP3 if any of you have any clue if it does exist.
It might be just as stupid as to edit some text files so the system think I'm running SP3. |
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IIRC you can simply upgrade WinXP SP1 to SP3 at Microsoft's tech support website, but I remember it didn't work out well for me as everything slowed down drastically on my PC after the upgrade so I had to downgrade back to SP1 (that PC is quite old, true, but it still matches the officially declared system requirements of SP3) :dislike: |
That's exactly why I don't upgrade to SP2 or SP3. It is a retarded upgrade that I don't even need because I never had security issues. I take care of my PC security myself.
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Suddenly I recalled I used to frequent the forums of Wing Commander: Privateer - Gemini Gold, a fan remake. I haven't checked in for years... But as you said you don't want to list here fan-remakes (which re-use copyrighted intellectual properties, even if redoing all content). So it's more important to note that this remake was built upon an open source game called Vega Strike - as you can guess, a space trading & combat "sim". Apart from Privateer, it also sprung Star Trek, Elite and Babylon 5 mods... |
Nice, I didn't know about Vega Strike (I'm not very familiar with the space combat sim genre generally though).
BTW, I have Red Alert: A Path Beyond as an alternative for C&C: Renegade, it's also a kind of an exception to my own rules because it's primarily a multiplayer game. But APB isn't a remake of anything in a proper sense, since there's no official Renegade-like game for Red Alert. I'd gladly talk about fan remakes and sequels too, but that certainly warrants a separate thread (I wonder why the Remake Index thread got un-stickied). |
Okay guys, I've added your suggestions to the list :)
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. |
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. |
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Hmm, I don't think I know such a mod. There are mods (included with the Boom/MBF fork of source ports) that enable beta graphics and levels from the press release beta.
There's also a recent project called Doom the Way id Did, which has designed to replicate the original style of John Romero and Sandy Petersen's levels. On another note, Tom Hall did incorporate some of his ideas for Doom which were rejected into Rise of the Triad. |
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Doom: Evil Unleashed |
Nice! Thanks for the link, I didn't know about this mod :) (not surprisingly, I usually skip unreleased projects when browsing ModDB).
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Any free alternatives for Dig Dug, MrFlibble?
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Just want to add that I've been playing Oolite a lot lately and that it's everything that Elite was and much more. I definitely recommend it to everyone that likes or liked Elite.
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*after looking at MobyGames* You could check out the Clonk series of games, one of the aspects there is digging - but there's more to the game than that. The older versions of Clonk games are free. |
Added Jazz Jackrabbit as another counterpart to Sonic the Hedgehog.
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Added Star Lords as an alternative to Master of Orion, and onEscapee as a counterpart to Another World and Flashback.
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Added a working download link for Giana Worlds.
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I don't believe ...nobody reported this before?
http://www.wolfenstein.com Yes, it's what you're thinking... playable in a web browser! |
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I see only black screen after Wolf3D logo. |
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You're right, but I was surprised it's been few months yet nobody mentioned this on abandonia (not just this thread). I also had to add this to MobyGames. Wolf3D may be old, but it's famous, and we're here for old games after all.
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Alright, I've started a liberated games thread, feel free to re-post the info about the Internet release of Wolfenstein 3-D as a "sort of" liberated game (I hope no one gets the idea that the original DOS version can be now distributed freely too! ;)).
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Nazghul is a very nice-looking RPG modelled after Ultima V.
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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. |
Following some constructive criticism in another forum, I've decided to drop the liberated games part from the list altogether. I've come to realize that thinking of liberated games as some kind of Ersatz for other titles is counter-productive, and this topic should be addressed elsewhere.
Further on, I've separated the list into three sub-lists: 1. More or less straightforward remakes or clones of well-known games. In many cases the authors will openly point to the game that they are trying to remake, and if not, the similarity is often quite obvious anyway. 2. Shareware clones of popular titles, mostly from the DOS era. These are generally of historical interest. 3. Games that are definitely inspired by famous titles, but the authors have added enough ideas of their own to make these games something more than direct recreations. As usual, this is the grey area as YMMV what makes for a simple clone and what constitutes an "inspired by" game. Also, the following titles were added: Crayon PhysicsDungeon KeeperEliteLemmingsNatural SelectionRPGMakerSimCityX-COM: Enemy UnknownBos Wars, Command & Conquer: Red AlertDiabloEmpire DeluxeFrontier: Elite IIPuzzle BobbleUltima seriesWizardry VII |
Added some more titles:
A-TrainCarrier CommandDuke NukemEscape VelocityHalf-Life: CounterstrikeQuake III: Arena, Unreal TournamentStar Wars: TIE Fighter, Descent: FreespaceSuper Monkey Ball Also added another section to the list, with the liberated games that have both the source code and all assets released for free, thus making it possible to create new builds of the entire game. |
Path of Exile=Diablo 2. It's F2P, but "Pay" here relate to non-necessary "decorative" equip.
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Thanks for the info! However,
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For a remake of Metroid - a non-DOS game, though you could argue that Vigilance on Talos V was its' DOS equivalent (or a poor rip-off).
Metroid: Confrontation and AM2R. The two (three?) versions of Confrontation were tech/concept demos, AM2R itself is getting slowly finished and released in progressively expanded demos (three so far). |
Can't we find a way to integrate Frodo and Nick back into AB more closely?
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DrillerElasto ManiaM.U.L.E.NetWarsStuntsX-COM: Enemy Unknown
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Most remakes of copyright title are, of course, not authorized officially. For example, there are lots of Mario remakes and fanmade games. |
From what I understand, it uses a combination of ripped sprites and original art. No official permission, no.
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AtlantisPuzzle BobbleBurgerTimeDogfightOutRunOxydParatrooperPlanet DefenderR-TypeRampartSentinelSimCity
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I've reworked the list yet again. The shareware clones and the open source liberated game build sections were dropped, and now board game implementations are a separate category.
Also, added the following titles: Castle of the Winds, Ancient Domains of MysteryDiplomacyPanzer General IIRPG MakerSid Meier's CivilizationTitanWizardry VII |
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Hmm, trying to access the Reloaded.org Forums gives me an error message. The site itself works fine, but the forums are down for some reason.
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Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness
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The list now has a separate section for free content replacement projects that use either the original engine of the respective game, or a game engine remake that is capable of handling original game data.
Also, added the following: Half-LifeQuake |
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You're welcome :)
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Kosta made a separate place. Some people decided it back then to be a better place than Abandonia to be.
Now, I would be also happy to see Frodo and Nick being active here again. Problem is, there's not that much activity here on the forum these days in the first place. That is, games identifications and regular troubleshooting aside. |
AB and ABR are not in the same kind of business. That's what really made the final argument I guess.
I did try to go to ABR and blend in just like I did with AB... But I had to face up the fact that freeware simply, 98% of the time, is bad quality and poor games. Yeah, sure... Those games are free. But that's not the kind of games I wanted to play and have people be reminded of when you think of "the good old days". There is some few gems in ABR but overall at least 9 out of 10 games are not even worth looking at. Clones of originals, games which are plain bad, etc. Some people like it, other don't. I never questioned the reason why AB and ABR splitted: it always been very obvious to me. |
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They still could be a great site dedicated to collecting links to all the worthwhile freewares on Steam, GoG, and other sites. So far they only excelled in writing fanfiction roleplay stories. (I also took the liberty to correct the grammar in your post, if you don't mind. Yeah, I'm a sworn grammarionalspellcheckialist. Sorry.) |
Unfortunately the "feature a game only when some user writes a review" policy didn't work out quite well for Reloaded, and the community wasn't very active either.
Anyway, considering liberated games (i.e. formerly commercial), there are several neat sources like Remain in Play, Liberated Games and that Spanish blog I mentioned a while ago in another thread. Quote:
In short, a game doesn't have to be commercial to be good, and vice versa, it doesn't have to be free to be bad. It's just that many commercial titles can wrap up a mediocre product in shiny graphics, and run a promo campaign to advertise it so that it surely sells. |
Hello AB. And hello Tracker, what a pleasure to see that you are still making snide comments. Good to know some things (or people) never change. :max:
I actually like the idea of collecting links to Steam, and other services with freeware. But at this point, there isn't much "inspiration" to actually do it. Unlike the staff at Abandonia, we do not have server access. So making any big changes to the site always requires help from people who don't really want to bother. On top of that, the forum has been going down lately with server issues. I've done my best to improve the site. If it wasn't for me, the site would still be called Abandonia Reloaded (as if we still needed Abandonia attached to the name), and the forum would have never been fixed up or improved. I also tried to help the site branch out, by adding freeware software reviews. Meanwhile, if it wasn't for Frodo, the site would have been dead before I got there. She's the only staff member who gave a damn, and tried to keep the site running all this time. She single-handedly updated the site, added reviews, and kept it running. She's also tried to hold contests, and other events, to draw traffic to Reloaded. But it falls on deaf ears. Oh, and let's not forget when management changed all the news links on our homepage to advertisement links! That was an epic moment, showing how much they care about Reloaded. I also tried to do something nice for both sites, by making a video advertising Reloaded & Abandonia. I got trashed by negative comments here.. so now I don't even bother. As for the roleplaying, you can knock us all you want Tracker. But at least it adds some life to the forum. I also recall you being apart of it, until you attempted to destroy it. So don't knock something, when you were a willingly participant just a couple of years ago. -Nick |
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See? I don't know what was wrong with being called "Abandonia Reloaded", but that must have been the beginning of the parting. It reads as if you don't believe you need the Abandonia name and Abandonia itself either (except for when you want to advertise your retro social networks). About the host, they care about us just the same. Video advertisements... well... I couldn't find the thread (it was probably deleted), but I think that an advertisement represents what is being advertised, and why would we want to be represented by something we don't honestly enjoy. Some of us didn't like it, some of us did. I don't think you couldn't have made compromises to your "artistic vision" to satisfy a larger userbase. Last, but not least, your roleplay adds only to your personal life, and not the site's. While the two have common parts they are not the same. You tend not to recall that. That's all I've got to say on the topic, frankly. Good luck with Reloaded.org. |
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We need to have more than just two people adding reviews. Why bother? Server access would be required so we could actually host the games ourselves, like we were able to do in the past. I also have a vision for what Reloaded could be, in terms of updating the site's design, and adding new sections. But I have no control over that. Uh.. no. We don't need Abandonia stuck to Reloaded's name. It never made any sense. It's not like anyone from Abandonia really gives a rat's ass about Reloaded anymore, or actually comes to the forum. The only time we will get AB users, is when someone is looking for an old game that is considered freeware (like Grand Theft Auto). Advertise my social networks? That was once. So don't exaggerate. You don't see me come here anymore. And this is exactly why. OH PLEASE! Above caring about Abandonia and Reloaded the same.. is a complete JOKE.
Need I go on? Reloaded is just a profit page for Abovo. If they could remove all the games, and just make it an advertisement page: they would. They have no interest in the site. Instead, we're supposed to work on a broken site like volunteers. As for roleplaying, if we didn't post there.. the forum would be dead. What else is there to post about, on a site with two active members? The roleplay keeps Reloaded alive. |
Wow, I haven't updated the list in quite a while. Added the following games:
OpenGGS An open source remake of The Great Giana Sisters (a Super Mario Bros. clone). The author has permission to use original graphics from the Commodore 64 version, but there's also a free tile set as well. Annex: Conquer the World A free, open source real-time strategy game based on the MegaGlest engine, which is apparently inspired by the Command & Conquer series of games, as well as Earth 2140 and sequels, Warzone 2100 and StarCraft. There are four playable factions, several terrain tilesets, customizable tech trees, campaign scenarios, skirmish and mutliplayer modes. The same developer is working on another RTS with a space sci-fi setting, called Terra Centauri: Last Stand. A beta is available here. Wyrmsun A free, open source real-time strategy game that runs on the Stratagus engine (an engine recreation of Warcraft II). Its art style is remarkable close to that of Blizzard's famous game, however Wyrmsun is an original title with its own unique features like individual unit names, traits and experience points, a turn-based grand strategy mode, and a setting that blends fantasy and mythology with real historical background. Wyrmsun is free and open source, but those who would like to support its development can buy copies from Steam and Desura. There are also some other interesting titles but not yet added to the list: openKB is an engine recreation project for New World Computing's King's Bounty, with planned support for the original game's files as well as a free open source data set. The development is in its early stages, so no downloads yet. Free Mars is a free, open source turn-based strategy game inspired by Sid Meier's Civilization, Colonization and Alpha Centauri. Rescue! Max is a remake of Rescue!, a Mac shareware game. CATharsis is a project to create an open source clone of Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project in Blender. It's not an engine recreation, but rather a stand-alone game similar to DNMP but with its own protagonist, art, levels etc. Rather early stages of development. In other news, recently a Windows binary executable was made available for LordsAWar!, a free open source clone of SSG's Warlords II. The version is 0.3.0, which features a two single-player scenarios, random map mode, and network multiplayer. |
The list has been updated with the following games:
Dungeon KeeperHerzog ZweiRailroad TycoonTotal AnnihilationFleet Command, Harpoon |
Traaaainsssss!!!!!
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Recently I've discovered a game called Subevel Zero, which is a 6DoF Descent-like corridor flyer/shooter with randomly generated levels. I checked if a playable demo was available, and found out that apparently this game was originally created for Ludum Dare, and a pre-release free/trial version is available from here.
The free version is quite different from the final commercial game, and it's somewhat closer to the original Descent as well. It allows for infinite play with randomly generated levels, and there are also random powerups that enhance the player's stats (e.g. increased rate of fire or maximum ammo capacity for a certain weapon). Here's a couple of gameplay videos: Ludum dare entry gameplay Commercial version gameplay |
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I haven't touched this in a long while, but recently I worked through the lists and completely rearranged them, based on more useful criteria. I also added a number of new games to the lists as well.
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