a Tron Clone in 3d
Armagetron is a multiplayer game in 3d that attempts to emulate and expand on the lightcycle sequence from the movie Tron. It's an old school arcade game slung into the 21st century. Highlights include a customizable playing arena, HUD, unique graphics, and AI bots. For the more advanced player there are new game modes and a wide variety of physics settings to tweak as well.
News
0.2.9.2 - March 23rd 2023
We have macOS builds again now!
There is not much else to this release. Mostly bugfixes, adaptions to new environments, fixes to the build system that bring it more in line with standards, code quality improvements from fixing all the warnings the macOS compiler raised.
There is now a VSYNC enable/disable/default option in the display system setup backported from trunk! That probably was a Z-Man specific itch. Changes in Linux land switched the default from On to Off, and it is annoying to override with the command line.
Changes in AppImage Land: Our AppImage files now are signed and support bandwidth-saving updates via AppImageUpdate. They no longer carry their version in the filename because after an update, that would be a lie.
We now support installation via Flatpak for the 64-bit Linux client. Get the stable versions from Flathub; our own repository has those and also carries the usual test builds.
Get it from downloads or, if you're reading this later, the archives.
0.2.9.1 - December 1st, 2020
This release welcomes our new ultrawide monitor using overlords!
And, to be frank, also the old, regular widescreen overlords. All this time, the game had been optimized for 4:3 or 5:4 screens, with menu text and HUD elements getting stretched to the side for widescreen users. No more of that! The changes also benefit splitscreen users; for a horizontal split, the HUD will now no longer cover half the (split) screen.
And while we were at fixing fonts, the default console rendering now tries to display the bitmap font precisely as it is designed, pixel by pixel; that should make the console more readable and sharper looking for everyone.
Playing back debug recordings has been made simpler and more robust; the --playback command line switch is no longer required and the network code should no longer give up when the recorded server response does not match what the playback code expects. Especially, this version should have no problems playing back tournament recordings made with version 0.2.8.
What Steam users had for a while is now available for everyone: The onboarding process has been tweaked a little. The intial game is less frustrating, and the tutorial tooltips are spammed less.
Furthermore, compatibility of the generic Linux binaries has been improved, with more systems supported out of the box.
Get it from downloads or, if you're reading this later, the archives.
The security fixes and build system integration from the 0.2.9 series have been backported into 0.2.8.3.6, also available now.
0.2.9.0 - July 31th, 2020
We never intended to release a 0.2.9 version, instead the plan was to go directly to 0.4. But 0.4 got stalled, badly. And we had continued improving the source on the 0.2.8 branch little by little. Then Covid-19 came around, forcing a lot of people to stay at home, which gave us the motivation to release the game on Steam and itch.io. That’s basically why this version exists, so we did not have to publish a 0.2.8.3 based version there. But of course, we have to make 0.2.9.0 available for everyone.
Enjoy! Get it from downloads or, if you're reading this later, the archives.
Major changes since 0.2.8.3 on the game client are better readability for the console output, text input and ingame menu, better initial configuration, keyboard layout reminders and an initial, slightly easier match against an AI.
Major addition on the server are external scripts; they get fed the ladderlog output and their output is parsed as console input. The ladderlog output has been expanded to make that feature more useful. Since these scripts are launched as external processes, they can be written in any language.
We will continue to publish security updates and adaptions to new compilers and Linux versions for the 0.2.8.3 series. Linux distributions with a focus on feature stability should stick to that for the time being. We transition softly into a more continuous delivery model with this release, further 0.2.9.X will bring more changes.
PS, August 14th: An update to 0.2.9.0.1 fixes the AppImage for several Linux distributions.
Armagetron Advanced about to hit Steam - July 9th, 2020
If all goes according to plan, you will be able to play Armagetron Advanced on Steam as Retrocycles. Release date is July 22nd. Help it gain early momentum by wishlisting it now!
0.2.8.3.5 - February 19th, 2020
A security fix release. Head over to the archives to fetch it. Also contains fixes to make the game run again on current Linux systems.
0.2.8.3.4 - November 27th, 2016
This release is a compiler compatibility release only; we noticed 0.2.8.3.3 had severe problems with gcc 6, all our fault. If you're trying to compile from source, go grab the latest downloads. Users of 0.2.8.3.3 binary builds do not need to hurry.
0.2.8.3.3 - February 28th, 2015
Despite our best attempts at killing it off, we've had to releas another security patch for 0.2.8.x. Let us all hope for 0.4.x. It's in the pipeline. Head over to downloads to get 0.2.8.3.3 in the meantime.
Raspberry Pi port! - April 1st, 2014
Happy 10th anniversary forums! As a belated gift, I give you all Armapitron. Armagetron Advanced running on a Raspberry Pi computer.
Android port! - April 1st, 2013
First real news in a while, so it's definetely news. Armagetron has been ported to the Android OS. Play on all your favorite devices - phones, tablets, eyeballs, you name it. Find it on Google Play under the name of Androgetron, and enjoy! Discussion on the forums as usual.
Androgetron Promo Video:
Just kidding.
Apologies to those who briefly got their hopes up. This is not actually a port of Armagetron but rather a clone - a game that looks similar but is actually different. Still, you can enjoy some local Tronning with some friends!
0.2.8.3.2 - New Version! - September 21st, 2011
Purely fixes for security issues, easy bugs and compilation problems for GCC 4.6 users. Download Now!
New bots! - April 1st, 2011
One of the oldest and most annoying features of Armagetron Advanced has been upgraded at last. The reason why no one really played until there was a master server. Yes, it's the bots. They've been rewritten, from scratch. The bots are now powered by a new self-learning algorithm. As you play against them they learn from their mistakes and grow.
Introducing gLATIS
gLATIS - Learning Artifical Tron Intelligence System. (The g comes from the class name.) It describes what it does. In the situation where the bot dies it records what was around it when it died. Everytime there after when gLATIS reaches a decision point it compares it to it's past - or what it's learned - and makes the decision for the best possible outcome. If it still dies, well, that's experience for it! (Nothing can go wrong.)
Check out this video hilighting gLATIS:
Now head to the forums to discuss!
0.2.8.3.1 - New Version! - February 21st, 2010
By pass 0.2.8.3, and straight onto bug fixes! There was a bit of a delay getting this information posted here. This page suffers from a bit of a bus factor problem. We're working on that. Enjoy the new release, Download Now! Loads of things fixed and updated for what will hopefully be the last set of changes before 0.4.0!
0.2.8.3_beta3 - National Pi Day (3/14, 2009)
0.2.8.3_beta3 has been uploaded for testing. We're almost to 0.2.8.3 being our final 0.2.x series build. More Information.
Other happenings
We've also recently been investigation the idea of updating the designs of our homepage, forums, and wiki to match, be clearer, and be more up to date. We've hijacked a thread to talk about design ideas.
0.2.8.3 release process under way - March 1st, 2009
The final release in the 0.2.8.x series is nearing completion. 0.2.8.3_beta2 has just been released and is availble now. Help us test! Visit this thread for more information.
Other happenings
It's been recently pointed out that the site here's a bit out of date generally, and never has much news. So we've updated the site, and I'll point out these two neat things I saw on the forums. Graphic artist sinewav came up with the rather brilliant idea of dressing out the light cycle as a train engine, and the walls as carriages. Wrtlprnft added in a floor with tracks, and Jonathan put together a cool video showing it off.
Match Winner ed has also chimed in to show us Armagetron on his homemade retro console. It looks like it'd be awesome to play. I wonder if the coin loader works? (And is that sombrero standard equipment?) Check it out!
Thanks everyone! - February 17th, 2009
I don't know how to say it, so I'll say it plain. A big, big thanks to everyone that's donated these last two weeks. Nearly two-hundred dollars were donated that'll keep us in business for the next two years at least. Thanks everyone!
Donation Drive! Hosting Costs! You can help! - February 5th, 2009
Our hosting is coming up for renewal in two months. This time around, we'd really appreciate some help. It's a bit to ask, but we'd like to get $150USD to help us through the next two years. http://forums.armagetronad.org/viewtopic.php?t=19025
In other news, progress is being made on the release of 0.2.8.3! Stay tuned!
