1. Vandersteen 2c

Vangers (Вангеры, also known as Vangers: One for the Road) is a racingrole-playingvideo game developed by K-D Lab, a Russian company.^[3] It was released in North America in June, 1998 after receiving positive responses at that year's E3.^[4] An updated re-release was made available on Steam and GOG.com in 2014. The re-release includes support for OS X and Linux.^[5][6]

Plot and setting[edit]

At the beginning of a new game the player is provided with text introduction to the major events of the game world genesis.

Vander Haag's is your destination for high quality new and used heavy duty truck parts, semi truck salvage, trucks, trailers, equipment and service. Give us a call today. Vangers is a mixture of various, yet consistent gameplay components. The player enters the strange world of the future, emerged as a result of the clash between humankind and another intelligent race of creatures, and now living according to its own rules. The world challenges for the quest.

1. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the sausage until heated through. Remove from pan, and set aside. Add remaining teaspoon of butter to the skillet, and fry the onions over medium heat until tender.
2. Vangers is a mixture of various, yet consistent gameplay components. The player enters the strange world of the future, emerged as a result of the clash between humankind and another intelligent race of creatures, and now living according to its own rules. The world challenges for the quest. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS. Windows Mac OS X SteamOS + Linux.

According to the introduction, a faction of advanced humans, termed as Spirits, at some point in time gains a technology of creating the Passages between different worlds, the source of technology being Spirits' transcendental contacts. With this knowledge humans undertake rushed construction of the Passages and the new worlds colonization. These events are portrayed in the later Perimeter game, which is the prequel to Vangers.

The game of Vangers starts with the Bios of Eleepods producing the player-Vanger. Gameplay-wise, player sees oneself as an automobile-like existence (although protected with regenerating shields, able to be outfitted with weapons and capable of making jumps) in the world-exploration mode. When entering the cities, the player reads the narrations of Bios representatives, is allowed to use the trading facilities, and can ask patterned questions of 'what or who is', about the notions encountered to the point in game. Advancing the plot requires gaining the favor of Bioses, which means for player character to successfully participate in their rituals, to transport goods, to compete with and destroy other, computer-controlled Vangers.

Technology[edit]

Worlds in Vangers were designed by means of Surmap A.R.T., K-D Lab's proprietary terrain editor, and the accompanying voxel-polygonal technology. Minor worlds are modeled to occupy torus surfaces, while three major inhabited worlds form the side surfaces of long cylinders (or rather tori with a single strong barrier set poloidally). Objects of the world are destructible, e.g. vehicle wheels and other impacts leave traces on the ground. Scripted conditional processes are set to affect the terrain. There is a player-controlled option to either keep all changes to the terrain on the hard disk or discard the changes each time the game starts.

Reception[edit]

Next Generation reviewed the PC version of the game, rating it three stars out of five, and stated that 'Sorry, folks, being weird doesn't always work. still, if you like the story and don't mind reading a lot of text, there is a fun game here.'^[7]

Charles Ardai of Computer Gaming World praised the game for its dark, detailed combat simulation with 'ten strange and wonderful worlds filled with alien creatures and constructs'. The game was 'aggressively' priced at US$29.95. However, he found the controls confusing and the futuristic vocabulary contrived. In addition, the README file contained solutions to all of the puzzles in the game.^[1]

Digital release and open-sourcing[edit]

In 2008, work began on porting the game to Linux and other operating systems,^[8] utilizing the SDL library for cross-platform compatibility.^[9]

In April 2014^[10] the new version was digitally re-released on Steam and later on the DRM-free service gog.com^[11] for Linux, OS X, and Windows. Unfortunately, multiplayer support has been removed.^[12][13]

In March 2016, the Vangers source code was released^[14] under the GPLv3 license. As the art content was not released as freely redistributable freeware (or open content), the data files from the digital re-releases on gog.com and Steam are required to run the game.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^ ^abArdai, Charles (October 1998), 'Mad Maxima', Computer Gaming World, San Francisco, CA: Ziff-Davis (171): 224–226
2. ^Steam store page
3. ^K-D LAB: Vangers
4. ^'K-D LAB: Official profile'. Archived from the original on 2007-04-16. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
5. ^Official English website of Steam re-release
6. ^Announcement of the GOG release
7. ^'Finals'. Next Generation. No. 46. Imagine Media. October 1998. p. 134.
8. ^vangers.org forum topic on vangers.org
9. ^Kranx Productions blog
10. ^kranx-productions-announced-reissue-of-vangers-on-steam
11. ^GOG.com release on gog.com (Sep 23, 2014)
12. ^Steam community discussion of re-release
13. ^GOG.com community discussion of re-release on gog.com
14. ^Vangers on github.com (2016)

External links[edit]

• Official Vangers web site (Old, English version)
• Vangers source code repository on github.com
• 'The way of the Vanger the way it is meant to be', a walkthrough of the game by the developers

Overview

Welcome to a future in which road rage is not only approved of, it is a way of life. Especially for a Vanger, a mechos pilot whose only duty is to serve the counselors. To do this, the successful Vanger must explore new worlds, haul dangerous cargo, race rival Vangers, and sometimes, even hunt or be hunted by them. As the game begins, the player as a newbie Vanger begins with a small mechos -- a motorized, armored vehicle -- and the simple task of going out to be a Vanger. Be a good Vanger and your reputation will go up. As your reputation rises, you will discover new worlds, gain new weapons, and destroy many other mechos.

Vangers presents a unique game world that actually remembers your interaction with it. Tire tracks appear and remain. Holes that you dig in the ground never disappear. This presents an ever-changing world that you have to be very careful to survive in. If a bridge takes too much damage, it becomes increasingly difficult to cross. This could be disastrous if you accidentally hit one of the holes while trying to win a race or escape an enemy.

This may sound interesting, and it was for a while, once I was able to figure out what was going on. The game and manual are full of nonsense terms that come from the worlds you explore. I suppose they were intended to increase the immersion in the game world, but there are far too many terms and far too little explanation for my taste.

Gameplay, Controls, Interface

Most of the game is spent driving the mechos from one colony to another, or from one world to another. With so much time spent behind the wheel, it would have been nice if Interactive Magic had taken the time to develop an interface that was easier to control. After a couple of hours I had to resort to using the keyboard because it was the only way I could get enough control to take on other mechos or win races.

The main problem was the over-sensitivity of the mechos. The mechos, supposedly a four-wheeled vehicle, would bounce, flip, roll, and turn, making even almost flat terrain difficult to drive over. When I got to driving over rougher terrain, there was no way to control the direction I was trying to go.

Graphics

The graphics are one of the few high points in this game. It was nice to see that all sides of the mechos were nicely detailed as I flipped out of control, turning in all directions. It was also very satisfying to see my shots explode into the enemy mechos when I actually managed to hit them.

Audio

There is absolutely nothing noteworthy about the audio in Vangers. The soundtrack, while not inspirational or even interesting, didn’t get as annoying as the sound in most games. The sound effects give the same impression as the music, not jarring enough to be irritating, but certainly nothing to get excited about.

System Requirements

This game requires a Pentium 133MHz with 16 MB RAM and 50 MB free disk space. It also requires DirectX 5.0 and a 4X CD-ROM drive. The recommended system is a 200MHz system with 32 MB RAM and 200 MB of disk space. The game ran nicely on my P166 and I believe that someone running on the minimum configuration wouldn’t have any trouble either.

Documentation

In hindsight, the manual wasn’t too bad. But when I first read it, as I mentioned above, it was so full of nonsense terms that it was almost useless. After playing the game for a while and figuring things out for myself, I was able to go back to the manual, but that just doesn’t cut it.

Bottom Line

This is a game that most people will probably want to skip. Although the game is at times interesting, it is difficult to overcome such awkward controls and meaningless documentation. However, if you are a hardcore game fan and have played and enjoyed games such as Auto Duel (a very old game), this may be something to check out.

Vandersteen 2c