Red Eclipse

Overview

Red Eclipse is a free, open-source first-person shooter (FPS) game that combines the parkour mechanics of the Cube 2 engine with traditional FPS competitive gameplay. It emphasizes fast-paced gameplay, multiplayer battles, and customizable maps, making it suitable for both casual and competitive players. Developed by the Red Eclipse team and hosted on redeclipse.net and GitLab, it supports platforms such as Linux, Windows, macOS, FreeBSD, and Haiku OS, and is licensed under the Zlib license. Red Eclipse uses the Tesseract engine (an improved version of Cube 2), supports 16-player online battles, and offers modes such as deathmatch, team deathmatch, CTF, and Instagib, with a built-in map editor. The game is known for its unique "parkour + shooting" gameplay. The latest stable version is Red Eclipse 2.0.5 (released in March 2023), featuring engine optimizations and Vulkan support.

History and Development

• Origins:
  • 2010: Project Red Eclipse was launched as a fork of Cube 2: Sauerbraten, created by members of the original Cube 2 team with the goal of improving the engine and adding FPS gameplay.
  • Initial versions were based on Sauerbraten's open-world editor, adding weapons and competitive modes.
• Development Timeline:
  • 2011: Version 1.0 was released, supporting multiplayer battles and a map editor.
  • 2013: Version 1.5 introduced parkour mechanics and more weapons.
  • 2016: Version 1.6 optimized network and Vulkan support.
  • 2020: Version 2.0 was released, with an upgraded engine and support for Wayland.
  • March 2023: Final version 2.0.5 was released, fixing Vulkan and map issues.
• Community and Support:
  • Maintained by the Red Eclipse team and hosted on redeclipse.net, GitLab, and Steam.
  • Multilingual support; documentation includes a wiki and mod guide.
  • Reddit users call "Red Eclipse the pinnacle of FPS in Cube 2."
• Open source license:
  • Zlib.

Key Features

Red Eclipse is a parkour shooter with the Cube engine and map editing at its core (see references). Here are its key features:

1. Game Modes
   • Multiplayer: Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, CTF, Instagib, Parkour Mode, supports 16 players.
   • Single Player: Against AI bots.
2. Parkour + Shooting Mechanics
   • Features: Free running (wall jumping, gliding, grappling hook) using the Cube engine, combined with FPS weapons.
3. Weapons and Maps
   • Weapons: 15+ types (e.g., shotguns, rocket launchers, grappling hook guns), balanced design.
   • Maps: 50+ user-created maps, supporting a real-time editor.
4. Tesseract Engine
   • Features: Cube 2 engine, supports Vulkan/OpenGL, real-time map editing.
   • System Requirements: 1 GHz CPU, 512 MB RAM, OpenGL 3.3.
5. Hardware Compatibility
   • Minimum: 1 GHz CPU, 512 MB RAM.
6. Security and Privacy
   • Open Source Zlib: Transparent source code.
7. Development Support
   • Map Editor: Built-in editor, supports mods.

Advantages and Limitations

Advantages

• Innovative Parkour Shooting: Superior to traditional FPS games like Quake III.
• Open Source & Free: Zlib licensed, cross-platform.
• Map Editing: Real-time editing superior to Xonotic.
• Active Community: Maintained by GitLab, rich in mods.

Limitations

• Maintenance Schedule: Slower updates after version 2.0.5 (March 2023).
• Game Comparison:
  • Xonotic: More weapons.
  • Cube 2: Powerful editor.

Summary

Red Eclipse is a free and open-source FPS game. Version 2.0.5 (March 2023) is based on the Tesseract engine and supports parkour shooting and multiplayer competitive modes. Compared to Xonotic (weapon balance) and Cube 2 (editor), Red Eclipse's parkour innovation is outstanding.