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[MrFlibble]

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

1. Free content replacement for original engine/engine recreation

Battle Isle 2200

• Advanced Strategic Command

Doom

• Freedoom (Doom engine)

Duke Nukem

• Dave Gnukem [download]

The Great Giana Sisters

• OpenGGS

Half-Life

• Black Mesa (Source)

Heretic

• Blasphemer (Doom engine)

Hexen: Beyond Heretic

• Zauberer (Doom engine)

Panzer General II

• OpenGeneral

Quake

• Open Quartz (QuakeForge, DarkPlaces)
• OpenQuartz 2 (DarkPlaces)
• OQPlus (QuakeForge, DarkPlaces) [SVN]

Quake III: Arena

• OpenArena (Quake III engine)
• World of Padman (Quake III engine)

RPGMaker

• EasyRPG

Total Annihilation

• Zero-K (Spring RTS Engine)

Transport Tycoon Deluxe

• OpenTTD

Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness

• Aleona's Tales (Stratagus)

X-COM: Enemy Unknown

• UFO2000

2. Freeware clones

A-Train

• FreeTrain

Carrier Command

• Thunder&Lightning

Chip's Challenge

• Tile World

Crayon Physics

• Numpty Physics

Crimsonland

• Violetland

Dungeon Keeper

• Dungeon Digger
• OpenDungeons

Elasto Mania

• X-Moto

Elite

• Galaxias
• Oolite

Escape Velocity

• NAEV

Guitar Hero

• Frets on Fire

Herzog Zwei

• Herzog 3D

Lemmings

• Lix
• Pingus

Lode Runner

• SDL Scavenger

Master of Magic

• Continents [download]

Microsoft Flight Simulator

• FlightGear

Minecraft

• Manic Digger
• Minetest

OutRun

• RunOut

Paratrooper

• Dragon Fire

Planet Defender

• Planetary Defense

Railroad Tycoon

• FreeRails
• FreeRails II
• Railz2

Rescue!

• Rescue! Max

RPGMaker

• Advanced RPG Maker
• Mokoi Gaming
• Open Legends
• Open RPG Maker
• Sphere RPG Engine

Robot Odyssey

• DroidQuest
• Gate

Scorched Earth

• Atomic Tanks

Secret Agent

• Special Agent

Sentinel

• Sentry

The Settlers II: Veni, Vidi, Vici

• Widelands

Sid Meier's Civilization II

• Freeciv

Sid Meier's Colonization

• FreeCol

SimCity

• Lincity
• Lincity NG
  Micropolis

Stunts

• Ultimate Stunts

Super Mario Bros.

• Giana Worlds [download]
• Giant Sisters
• Secret Maryo Chronicles
• SuperTux

Super Mario Kart

• SuperTuxKart

Total Annihilation

• Robotic War

Transport Tycoon Deluxe

• Simutrans

Turrican

• T2002

Warlords

• Hostile Takeover

Warlords II

• FreeLords
• LordsAWar!

Wing Commander

• Flight Commander

Wing Commander: Privateer

• Vega Strike

Worms

• Hedgewars
• WarMUX

3. Free games inspired by classic titles (not exact remakes)

Age of Empires

• 0 A.D.

Anno series

• Unknown Horizons

Battle Isle 2200

• Crimson Fields

Battlefield series, Call of Duty series

• Blacklight: Retribution

Bos Wars, Command & Conquer: Red Alert

• Commander Stalin

BoulderDash, Emerald Mine, Supaplex, Sokoban

• Rocks'n'Diamonds

Castle of the Winds, Ancient Domains of Mystery

• Fame

Castlevania series

• Return of Egypt

Celtic Legends, Heroes of Might and Magic, Civilization

• Legendary Legions

Command & Conquer series

• Annex: Conquer the World
• Dark Konflict

Dark Colony

• Dark Hive

Diablo

• Fire & Dragons
• Flare
• FreedroidRPG
• Gates of Destiny
• Summoning Wars

Doom

• Harmony

Doom, Quake etc.

• Cube
• Cube 2: Sauerbraten

Dune II

• Arrakis

Earthworm Jim

• Kapitan Binarny

Empire Deluxe

• GEMpire

Fleet Command, Harpoon

• Global Conflict Blue

Frontier: Elite II

• Pioneer

Gradius, Castlevania, R-Type

• Hydorah

Grand Prix Legends

• Dolphinity Racer

Grand Theft Auto series

• Crimelife
• Crimelife 2
• Crimelife III

Gun

• Guns and Spurs

Half-Life: Counterstrike

• AssaultCube
• Assault Cube Reloaded
• Urban Terror

Heroes of Might and Magic series

• Knights of War

KKnD, StarCraft

• Bos Wars

Lost Vikings

• Lost Snowmen

Master of Magic

• Leylines

Master of Orion

• FreeOrion

Natural Selection

• Tremulous
• Unvanquished

Oxyd, Rock'n'Roll

• Enigma

Populous

• Reprisal

Puzzle Bobble

• Frozen Bubble
• Hex Bubbles
• Zorx

Quake III: Arena, Unreal Tournament

• Alien Arena
• Arena of Honour
• Nexuiz Classic
• Red Eclipse
• Warsow
• Xonotic

R-Type

• GazerStar

Scorched Earth

• Scorched3D

Sid Meier's Civilization II

• C-evo
• Conquests

SimCity

• City of Rauma
• Kylavanem
• OpenCity

Star Wars: TIE Fighter, Descent: Freespace

• Space Combat

StarCraft

• Priority: Survive

Solar Fox

• Solar Wolf

Super Monkey Ball

• Neverball

Turrican series

• Hurrican

Ultima series

• The Kingdom of Syree
• Nazghul
• Untima IX: Descension
• Zorak: The Mountain of Terror

Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness

• Dark Oberon
• Wyrmsun

Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos

• Glest
• MegaGlest

Warsong, Master of Monsters

• The Battle for Wesnoth

Warlords II

• The Wargame Project

Wizardry VII

• Escape From The Maze
• LostHero - Story of Gilgamesh

X-COM: Enemy Unknown

• Project Xenocide
• UFO: Alien Invasion
• X-Force: Fight for Destiny

4. Board game implementations

Diplomacy

• Ludus Regius

Risk

• JavaRisk
• NetRisk
• OpenFracas
• yura.net Domination

Space Hulk

• Alien Assault

Titan

• Colossus

[RRS]

Oh my, so many titles, I don't know where to start

Originally Posted by MrFlibble

FlightGear

Thanks, that was new to me. Why don't you mention it in flightsimmers thread I started on that other forum?

[Scatty]

Originally Posted by MrFlibble

• Yendorian Tales Book I: Chapter 2 S
• Yendorian Tales: The Tyrants of Thaine S

Actually I have full versions of both games above. Since the original company behind the game series doesn't seem to exist anymore and there seem to be (to my knowledge, maybe GOG?) no copyright holders for them, I could upload both to 4Shared for better linking, if that's ok with admins.

[The Fifth Horseman]

Robot Odyssey
* DroidQuest: http://mysite.verizon.net/thomasfoote/DQ/index.htm
* Gate: http://quinndunki.com/OGOL/GATE.html

[SpiDoL]

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.

[MrFlibble]

Originally Posted by RRS

Why don't you mention it in flightsimmers thread I started on that other forum?

Which one?

Originally Posted by The Fifth Horseman

Robot Odyssey
* DroidQuest: http://mysite.verizon.net/thomasfoote/DQ/index.htm
* Gate: http://quinndunki.com/OGOL/GATE.html

Thanks! I think I've heard of Robot Odyssey but never played it. BTW, this made me remember some other strategy/puzzle game involving robots or something, I think the title has the word "Planet" in it. Anyway, that game also has a freeware enhanced remake (or an "inspired by" game).

Originally Posted by SpiDoL

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!

I know about the Doom 64: Absolution project, and I thought that it should work with Freedoom's version of DOOM2.WAD. Are you part of the development team?

[SpiDoL]

I know about the Doom 64: Absolution project, and I thought that it should work with Freedoom's version of DOOM2.WAD. Are you part of the development team?

Unfortunately no. All I did was, where the game said to place DOOM2.WAD, I placed the FREEDOOM WAD instead, and it still worked.

[MrFlibble]

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.

[RRS]

Originally Posted by MrFlibble

Which one?

http://www.mobygames.com/forums/dga,2/dgb,5/dgm,170269/
Others are welcome as well.

[Tomekk]

Unreal series

• Cube
• Cube 2: Sauerbraten

Just... no. The Cube games are basically an engine with textures and models randomly slapped together into barely playable maps to showcase it's capability, last time I checked. <.<