Tribes-like GarageGames Web Title Revealed by Alpha Video Leak

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Unprotected links on the InstantAction.com website, a browser-based gaming platform in development by GarageGames, have today lead to the discovery of several alpha-level videos showing off the company's upcoming team-based online shooter.

A source close to GarageGames stressed that the videos--depicting Tribes-like combat on an alien world--represent early work, and were meant for internal use only. The clips are viewable below, edited into a single silent movie. We have also isolated a batch of screenshots from the footage.

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

GarageGames was founded in 2000 by four former employees of Dynamix, the developer responsible for the popular multiplayer shooter Starsiege: Tribes.

The identity of the new InstantAction project was uncovered in October, along with the news that GarageGames had ramped up its employee count in advance of development.

Announced earlier this year, InstantAction is set to launch sometime in early 2008. The service aims to offer a multitude of community features along the lines of Xbox Live or Steam, while generally skewing to a more casual line of games.

Unlike Flash, the InstantAction platform allows for full 3D rendering. Games run directly inside a web browser window, with a friends list and chat window off to the side.

For more on InstantAction, check out Chris Faylor's preview.

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From The Chatty
  • reply
    December 23, 2007 12:56 PM

    Shazzbot!

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      December 23, 2007 1:06 PM

      [deleted]

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        December 23, 2007 1:36 PM

        The browser stuff is mainly the InstantAction stuff, lots of community features, etc, living design which lets us push out updates and all that very easily. I'm not involved too much with the IA side of things, but the stuff they keep showing us is pretty insane, it wasn't what I expected at all. Kind of like Steam on steroids, and more transparent like how the youtube community stuff works with links and all that.

        My personal opinion on the browser stuff is the game should come first. I'm directing the project and am a hardcore FPS player. We won't sacrifice anything that would feel bad. The first thing we actually decided as a team was that we want to bring back the feelings of 1997 again, simple, but not overly simple, but not too complex. We want it to be like the era of Quakeworld again. Most of our fondest memories are of the quakeworld/tribes era, how cool and fun it was, not a huge investment of time and complexity, easy to get into and play but hard to master, you don't have to worry about a huge complex rules, the game just makes sense and feels good (especially the freedom of movement) out of the box. The coolest part of the IA stuff is it's like steam/quakeworld (or old gamespy stuff) and youtube all wrapped into a single spot. That means game stats and stuff talk about to the server, games carry through, it's easy to launch and share, that whole feeling of freedome but community.

        That doesn't mean we don't want to make the game simple or not complex, not by any means, but we want it to just be fun. We've been fairly disappointed with a lot of FPS multiplayer titles lately (some, not all) and want to make something that is just fun for us to play. The cool factor about our arrangement with IAC this spring is they basically gave us a sandbox to create what's cool, so we can set our own guidelines and factors, no publisher or marketing interference. We were like, well shit, this would be a perfect API for doing something like this, let's go for it, and we are, and hopefully we can find a way to bring that whole PC multiplayer gaming experience we miss back in some form to the people who miss it, and maybe introduce it to many more.

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          December 23, 2007 1:41 PM

          Well, sounds great, and good luck.

          I'm not sure you're able to respond, but how would the delivery of game content work? Would the game have to be installed (and the browser is just the matchmaking frontend), or is everything streamed to the client when you join a server or what?

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          December 23, 2007 2:03 PM

          You have no idea how excited I am to hear this, all of it sounds great

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          December 23, 2007 2:08 PM

          Wow... you just got me really excited for this. I'm glad I'm not the only person out there whose fondest multiplayer memories are from Quakeworld and Tribes! Quakeworld Thunderwalker and Tribes... that's about as good as it gets for me. :)

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            December 23, 2007 2:17 PM

            It's funny you mention Thunderwalker as it's come up several times in design discussions by our lead game designer. We actually played a bunch locally with FUHQuake not long ago when we first started wrapping our heads around it trying to figure out why CTF was so much fun back then in TW. (We played a lot, it was awesome)

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              December 25, 2007 10:24 AM

              Nice... you guys have good taste. :) I'm even more exicted for ths game now.

              Yeah, I put countless hours into QW TW... I don't think I've had some much fun in a multiplayer games since then.

              Thunderwalker with South Park sounds was my favorite. "Owe... my Liver!"

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                December 28, 2007 8:29 AM

                The clips that always stuck in my head were Warf saying "It is a good day to die..." and Kilgore saying "I love the smell of napalm in the morning!"

                Ah.. memories.

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              December 27, 2007 6:06 PM

              Tim aint lyin. Thunderwalker CTF, along with Tribes, harbors my fondest memories as a young FPS player. This project is definitely more of a spiritual successor than a rehash, though. We're less concerned with filling their shoes than we are in simply following in their footsteps. That means freedom of movement, compelling open combat, and the opportunity for a cohesive team to overcome more skilled players who are acting as individuals. At least, that's the idea.

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                December 27, 2007 7:08 PM

                Thomas your alive! Do you need a ride?

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                  December 28, 2007 1:33 AM

                  Heh... I wound up getting my flight changed to Sunday. Also, yes.

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                    December 28, 2007 3:19 AM

                    word I got back into town last night, so just drop me a line whenever, catching up on some games rest of week so will be taking it easy

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                December 28, 2007 5:24 PM

                Thunderwalker CTF...my all time Favorite FPS..

                FaTF8S] (Thomas' dad!)

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          December 23, 2007 4:11 PM

          Good luck and Godspeed. I've been mourning Tribes for far too long.

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          December 27, 2007 5:13 PM

          Holy crap Tim, that is music to my ears. I've been waiting so long for someone to take a step back to the old days of QW and Tribes. I'm so sick of dumbed down, noob friendly crap like Quake 3, or over worked 'let's see how many different guns we can cram into our game!' bollocks like UT.

          Painkiller and now TF2 have made good showings for the old hardcore FPS scene, can't wait to see you guys bring Tribes back! Good luck, go hard!

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        February 9, 2008 8:33 AM

        Enemy Generator Destroyed!

    • DM7 legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
      reply
      December 23, 2007 1:44 PM

      DefendTheNexus!

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      December 23, 2007 4:52 PM

      Requesting APC pickup!

    • reply
      February 9, 2008 8:35 AM

      Enemy Generator Destroyed!

    • reply
      February 9, 2008 8:38 AM

      Enemy Generator Destroyed!

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