Nexuiz

Lore & Background

Nexuiz development started as a Quake modification in the summer of 2001 by Lee Vermeulen. Soon afterward the project moved to the DarkPlaces engine created by Ashley Hale, who later joined the project. The original design called for a simple deathmatch project with a few levels and one character model to be released the next summer. After four years of development with no budget, Nexuiz 1.0 was released on May 31, 2005, completely under the GNU GPL. Development continued after the initial release, with versions 1.1, 1.5 (February 14, 2006), 2.0 (June 14, 2006), 2.1 (September 9, 2006), and 2.4 (February 29, 2008) which brought major improvements to the GUI and graphics engine, including reflective water and improved particles. In October 2008, a call for more developers was made by the main QuakeC developer, citing organizational issues. Responses highlighted the need for better documentation of QuakeC and the Nexuiz code. On March 1, 2010, IllFonic purchased the rights to the name Nexuiz. On March 22, 2010, the fork Xonotic was announced, as many core contributors and community members felt the sale mishandled the original project. On July 13, 2010, Crytek announced it had licensed CryEngine 3 for IllFonic's Nexuiz.

Reader's Guide

Nexuiz is significant as a free, open-source first-person shooter that demonstrated the viability of community-driven development in the 2000s. Its release under the GNU GPL allowed widespread distribution and modification, leading to over 250,000 downloads within a month. The game's use of the DarkPlaces engine, a modified Quake engine, tied it to the Quake modding tradition while enabling graphical improvements like reflective water. The commercial licensing of the Nexuiz name to IllFonic in 2010 caused a community split, resulting in the fork Xonotic, which continued development under the original open-source ethos. The remake for Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, and Steam used CryEngine 3 and adopted a futuristic, Victorian art style, diverging from the original. Nexuiz also received coverage in PC Gamer (September 2006) and appeared on cover disks of Maximum PC and PC User. Phoronix deemed version 2.5 'the best open-source first person shooter we have ever played.' GameStop held in-store Nexuiz challenges in eight US cities, offering gift cards to high scorers. The game's legacy includes influencing later open-source FPS projects and highlighting tensions between commercial and free software models.

Did You Know?

• Nexuiz development began as a Quake modification in summer 2001 by Lee Vermeulen.
• A commercial remake using CryEngine 3 was released for Steam and Xbox 360.