Software:Tread Marks

From HandWiki
Short description: 2000 video game
Tread Marks
Original author(s)Seumas McNally
Developer(s)Longbow Digital Arts
Initial release14 January 2000; 25 years ago (2000-01-14)[1]
Stable release
1.7.0 / 20 January 2017; 8 years ago (2017-01-20)
Repositorygithub.com/LongbowGames/TreadMarks
Operating systemWindows
PlatformMicrosoft Windows
TypeSingle Player, Online Multiplayer Tank Combat/Racing
LicenseGPLv3
Websitehttp://www.treadmarks.com (archived at the Internet Archive)

Tread Marks is a 3D, third-person perspective, multiplayer-focused tank combat and racing computer game developed by Independent video game developer Longbow Digital Arts. The game won the 2000 Independent Games Festival grand prize, later renamed to the Seumas McNally Grand Prize in honor of the game's lead programmer Seumas McNally who died on 21 March 2000, after receiving the award.[2][3] A notable feature of the game is fully deformable terrain.

Gameplay

The tanks come in two varieties: steel and liquid. The steel tanks resemble real-life tanks, while the liquid types are whimsical fantasy tanks. Weapons and power-ups are scattered around the maps, and range in destructive power from light machine guns to tactical nuclear missiles.

The game features three gameplay modes:

  • Race mode, in which tanks must race around an off-road course while attempting to stop other tanks from completing the course. Common techniques include using the in-game weapons to attack opponents and using physical tank contact to temporarily 'push' opponents off the course.
  • Battle mode (deathmatch, or DM), in which the tank or team with the most kills win as soon as the global kill or time limit is reached.
  • Capture the Flag mode (CTF) in which there are two or more teams of tanks that compete by trying to capture one of the other team's flags.

The race and battle modes can be played in either team or single-player mode. Tread Marks can be played over a LAN, or over the Internet and includes a program for running a dedicated game server, which lists the computer it runs from on the master server. The master server in turn is operated by Longbow Digital Arts from a location in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[4] Many modifications can be found online, including new maps, tanks, and weapons.

History

Development

The game was developed by Seumas McNally and uses OpenGL to render its 3D graphics and the Miles Sound System for positional sound. A notable feature is the in-game deformable terrain which doesn't harm performance. For instance, a nuclear missile explosion creates a huge black crater in the terrain, while its "opposite", the Matterbomb, creates a huge mountain on the terrain. For the in-game deformable terrain a Binary-Triangle Tree-based dynamic view dependent level of detail height field renderer was utilized.

Open Sourcing

On January 20, 2017 the game was released as freeware and the source code as open-source under the GPLv3 license on GitHub.[5][6] For enhanced cross platform portability, the Miles Sound System was replaced with OpenAL, and the platform dependent Win32 API code with SFML and Qt. A port to Linux and MacOS is in progress.[7] In September 2017 a version for the Linux-based OpenPandora was released.[8]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
GameRankings74%[9]
Review scores
PublicationScore
CGSPStarStarStarStar[10]
GameFan80%[12]
GameStar67%[13]
IGN6.9/10[14]
PC Zone56%[16]

At the time of release, the game received above-average reviews according to the review aggregation website GameRankings.[9]

It won the 2000 Independent Games Festival grand prize, later renamed to the Seumas McNally Grand Prize in honor of the game's lead programmer who died on 21 March 2000, after receiving the award.[2][3] It was also nominated for the "Best Independent PC Game" award at The Electric Playground's Blister Awards 2000, which went to Combat Mission.[17]

References

  1. ↑ "Tread Marks News". Longbow Digital Arts. Archived from the original on February 29, 2000. https://web.archive.org/web/20000229160509/http://www.treadmarks.com/. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Seumas died today". 21 March 2000. Archived from the original on 27 April 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070427182534/http://www.ldagames.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/000135.html. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "In Memory of Seumas McNally". Archived from the original on 16 February 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070216113710/http://www.gamedev.net/community/memorial/seumas/. 
  4. ↑ "Treadmarks [sic"]. Archived from the original on 29 January 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070129003238/http://www.ldagames.com/treadmarks/servers/. 
  5. ↑ Yorgason, Rick (20 January 2017). "Tread Marks 1.7.0 now free and open source!". Archived from the original on 11 February 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170211155405/https://www.longbowgames.com/forums/topic/?id=3623. 
  6. ↑ "TreadMarks". 6 December 2021. https://github.com/LongbowGames/TreadMarks. 
  7. ↑ sago007 (3 October 2020). "TreadMarks". https://github.com/sago007/TreadMarks. 
  8. ↑ ptitSeb (23 September 2017). "Tread Marks". https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/threads/tread-marks.81596/. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Tread Marks (2000) for PC". CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 9 June 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190609204346/https://www.gamerankings.com/pc/199101-tread-marks-2000/index.html. Retrieved 17 June 2021. 
  10. ↑ Lackey, Alan (1 February 2000). "Tread Marks". Strategy Plus, Inc.. Archived from the original on 9 April 2003. https://web.archive.org/web/20030409163551/http://www.cdmag.com/articles/026/004/treadm_review.html. Retrieved 17 June 2021. 
  11. ↑ Harris, Neil (8 August 2000). "Tread Marks". Greedy Productions. Archived from the original on 30 April 2001. https://web.archive.org/web/20010430183402/http://www.elecplay.com/reviewfull_2909.html. Retrieved 18 June 2021. 
  12. ↑ Howarth, Robert (1 February 2000). "REVIEW for Treadmarks [sic"]. Shinno Media. Archived from the original on 11 May 2000. https://web.archive.org/web/20000511181957/http://www.gamefan.com/repre.asp?g=1717&t=r. Retrieved 18 June 2021. 
  13. ↑ "Tread Marks" (in de). GameStar (Webedia). March 2000. 
  14. ↑ Jojic, Uros (14 March 2000). "Tread Marks". Ziff Davis. https://www.ign.com/articles/2000/03/15/tread-marks. Retrieved 17 June 2021. 
  15. ↑ Osborn, Joe (April 2000). "Tread Marks". PC Accelerator (Imagine Media) (20): 72. https://archive.org/details/PCXL20Apr2000/page/n75/mode/2up. Retrieved 17 June 2021. 
  16. ↑ Woods, Dave (April 2000). "Treadmarks [sic"]. PC Zone (Dennis Publishing) (88): 90. https://archive.org/details/PC_Zone_Issue_088_2000-04_Dennis_Publishing_GB/page/n89/mode/2up. Retrieved 18 June 2021. 
  17. ↑ EP staff (2001). "Blister Awards 2000 (PC Games 2)". Greedy Productions Ltd.. Archived from the original on 18 August 2001. https://web.archive.org/web/20010818101410/http://www.elecplay.com/feature.html?id=5130&page=3. Retrieved 10 January 2024. 
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
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