The protagonist of the game, Nick Vrenna, has been unjustly incarcerated in a prison where the staff are performing unethical medical experiments upon the inmates. A prison riot occurs and an experiment goes horribly wrong. The people inside the prison - except for Nick, who seems to be immune - are infected with a substance called Abuse that transforms them into monsters. With the water supply in danger of being infected, Nick arms himself and fights through the horde to prevent this, and then escapes from the prison complex.
Gameplay
Abuse resembles a side-scrolling platform game. The keyboard is used to move Nick, while the mouse is used for aiming the weapons. The gameplay consists of fighting various enemies (mostly the various forms of mutants, who prefer to attack in huge swarms) and solving simple puzzles, usually involving switches.
Abuse had a very different storyline coming out of production. The update for it replaced the original introduction with the current storyline. The original involved an invasion by an alien species called "ants".[1] The player was a special ops agent, sent into their 'hive' to covertly destroy the aliens by shutting down the cooling system. This story was alluded to in a hidden section towards the end of level 14, where a large area, full of maroon tiles, can be found.[2] The game was in development for 6 months by three people with a budget of $150,000[3]
Release
Abuse was originally released on February 29, 1996 for MS-DOS and Linux, as an incomplete shareware version by Electronic Arts in North America, and Origin Systems in Europe. The game was ported to Mac OS by Oliver Yu of Crack dot Com and published by Bungie on March 5, 1997. The port was largely reworked for Mac, with the graphics partially redone to work better in 640x480 resolution.
Source code release
Approximately two years after the release of the game, Crack dot Com decided to release the game's source code.[4] Also the shareware release's game data (excluding the sound effects) was handed into the public domain.
Community development
Based on the source release the game's community worked initially on maintenance work, e.g. making the game work over TCP/IP.[5] In 2001 Abuse was adapted to SDL multimedia library,[6] with other technical refinements like more than the 8-bit color depth the original version was limited to.
The SDL version allowed easy porting to modern platforms, for instance Microsoft Windows, Linux/X11 and also the Mac version has been updated to run on OS X. Over the years, the game became available for many more platforms, for instance BeOS,[7] Nintendo Wii via Wii homebrew,[8]OpenBSD,[9] and in 2009 AmigaOS 4.[10] The game has also been ported to the mobile devices, to iPhone/iPod Touch under the name Abuse Classic.
Until 2011 the game was maintained by Sam Hocevar on his webpage.[11] In 2014 the game was ported to SDL2 and transferred to a GitHub repository.[12]
In 2016, on the 20th birthday of the game, a community developer released a "20th anniversary source port" on base of the previous works[13][14] which enabled custom resolutions, OpenGL rendering, and Xbox 360 controller support, and fixed the music.
Reviewing the DOS original, a Next Generation critic said the game "has everything it needs to be a great arcade classic - intuitive play control, a variety of weapons, creatures, devices, and traps ... scores of secrets to be ferreted out". He also praised the inclusion of an accessible level editor, and said the game's strongest point is the depth of its challenging puzzles, though he criticized the lack of story. He scored the game 4 out of 5 stars.[15] The game was also reviewed in Computer Gaming World.[17]
Due to its futuristic yet spooky atmosphere, Home of the Underdogs regarded Abuse as a 2D platform equivalent of the first person shooter Doom.
Abuse in its open-source version was selected in August 2011 as "HotPick" by Linux Format.[18]
References
^ Nathaniel Krell. . ABUSE @ Net-Mage.Com 1.4. Archived from the original (TXT) on 2007-11-06. Retrieved 2009-05-11. The Ants were fearless, efficient killers. The Unified Underground's only opening was that the Ant defense systems were designed by engineers too arrogant to consider the threat of an individual. It was enough to justify the covert Abuse Missions.
^ Nathaniel Krell. . ABUSE @ Net-Mage.Com 1.4. Archived from the original (TXT) on 2007-11-06.
^Al Giovetti. . Archived from the original on October 2, 2000. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
^. Archived from the original on 2003-06-10. Retrieved 2007-09-07.
abuse, video, game, abuse, video, game, developed, crack, published, electronic, arts, north, america, origin, systems, europe, released, february, 1996, port, game, published, bungie, released, march, 1997, game, source, code, along, with, some, shareware, co. Abuse is a run and gun video game developed by Crack dot Com and published by Electronic Arts in North America and Origin Systems in Europe It was released on February 29 1996 for MS DOS A Mac OS port of the game was published by Bungie and released on March 5 1997 The game s source code along with some of the shareware content has been in the public domain since the late 1990s and has been ported to Linux and many other platforms AbuseDeveloper s Crack dot ComExakt Entertainment iOS Publisher s MS DOSNA Electronic ArtsEU Origin SystemsMac OSBungieProducer s Dave TaylorDesigner s Duong NguyenProgrammer s Jonathan ClarkArtist s Murray McMillanDuong NguyenComposer s Bobby PrincePlatform s MS DOS Mac OS Acorn Archimedes AmigaOS AmigaOS 4 iOS Android Linux OpenBSDReleaseMS DOSNA February 29 1996EU 1996Mac OSNA March 5 1997AmigaEU 1998iOSAugust 13 2009LinuxOctober 11 2011Genre s Run and gunMode s Single player multiplayerVrenna using his grenade launcher on two flyers Contents 1 Plot 2 Gameplay 3 Development 4 Release 4 1 Source code release 4 2 Community development 5 Reception 6 References 7 External linksPlot EditThe protagonist of the game Nick Vrenna has been unjustly incarcerated in a prison where the staff are performing unethical medical experiments upon the inmates A prison riot occurs and an experiment goes horribly wrong The people inside the prison except for Nick who seems to be immune are infected with a substance called Abuse that transforms them into monsters With the water supply in danger of being infected Nick arms himself and fights through the horde to prevent this and then escapes from the prison complex Gameplay EditAbuse resembles a side scrolling platform game The keyboard is used to move Nick while the mouse is used for aiming the weapons The gameplay consists of fighting various enemies mostly the various forms of mutants who prefer to attack in huge swarms and solving simple puzzles usually involving switches Networked play through IPX SPX is supported Development EditAbuse had a very different storyline coming out of production The update for it replaced the original introduction with the current storyline The original involved an invasion by an alien species called ants 1 The player was a special ops agent sent into their hive to covertly destroy the aliens by shutting down the cooling system This story was alluded to in a hidden section towards the end of level 14 where a large area full of maroon tiles can be found 2 The game was in development for 6 months by three people with a budget of 150 000 3 Release EditAbuse was originally released on February 29 1996 for MS DOS and Linux as an incomplete shareware version by Electronic Arts in North America and Origin Systems in Europe The game was ported to Mac OS by Oliver Yu of Crack dot Com and published by Bungie on March 5 1997 The port was largely reworked for Mac with the graphics partially redone to work better in 640x480 resolution Source code release Edit Approximately two years after the release of the game Crack dot Com decided to release the game s source code 4 Also the shareware release s game data excluding the sound effects was handed into the public domain Community development Edit Based on the source release the game s community worked initially on maintenance work e g making the game work over TCP IP 5 In 2001 Abuse was adapted to SDL multimedia library 6 with other technical refinements like more than the 8 bit color depth the original version was limited to The SDL version allowed easy porting to modern platforms for instance Microsoft Windows Linux X11 and also the Mac version has been updated to run on OS X Over the years the game became available for many more platforms for instance BeOS 7 Nintendo Wii via Wii homebrew 8 OpenBSD 9 and in 2009 AmigaOS 4 10 The game has also been ported to the mobile devices to iPhone iPod Touch under the name Abuse Classic Until 2011 the game was maintained by Sam Hocevar on his webpage 11 In 2014 the game was ported to SDL2 and transferred to a GitHub repository 12 In 2016 on the 20th birthday of the game a community developer released a 20th anniversary source port on base of the previous works 13 14 which enabled custom resolutions OpenGL rendering and Xbox 360 controller support and fixed the music Reception EditReceptionReview scoresPublicationScoreNext Generation 15 Computer Game Review86 100 16 Reviewing the DOS original a Next Generation critic said the game has everything it needs to be a great arcade classic intuitive play control a variety of weapons creatures devices and traps scores of secrets to be ferreted out He also praised the inclusion of an accessible level editor and said the game s strongest point is the depth of its challenging puzzles though he criticized the lack of story He scored the game 4 out of 5 stars 15 The game was also reviewed in Computer Gaming World 17 Due to its futuristic yet spooky atmosphere Home of the Underdogs regarded Abuse as a 2D platform equivalent of the first person shooter Doom Abuse in its open source version was selected in August 2011 as HotPick by Linux Format 18 References Edit Nathaniel Krell Overview and Brief Analysis of Abuse s Plot ABUSE Net Mage Com 1 4 Archived from the original TXT on 2007 11 06 Retrieved 2009 05 11 The Ants were fearless efficient killers The Unified Underground s only opening was that the Ant defense systems were designed by engineers too arrogant to consider the threat of an individual It was enough to justify the covert Abuse Missions Nathaniel Krell The Hive in Level 14 ABUSE Net Mage Com 1 4 Archived from the original TXT on 2007 11 06 Al Giovetti Dave Taylor of Crack dot Com s Golgotha Interview Archived from the original on October 2 2000 Retrieved June 7 2022 Purchasing Abuse Archived from the original on 2003 06 10 Retrieved 2007 09 07 FreeAbuse 1990s Abuse SDL on labyrinth net au 2001 BeOS Bible Games Retrieved 2012 04 14 Abuse Wii Retrieved 2012 04 14 CVS log for ports games abuse Makefile cvsweb openbsd org Abuse ported to AmigaOS 4 2009 07 09 Retrieved 2009 07 11 abuse on zoy org abuse on github com Xenoveritas 2014 Abuse 1996 20th anniversary source port on gog com Abuse SDL 0 9a Enabled custom resolutions and enabled lights on high resolutions Re enabled OpenGL rendering to enable vsync Added cheats via chat console bullettime god giveall flypower sneakypower fastpower healthpower nopower XBox360 controller support with rebindable buttons Abuse 1996 on github com antrad a b Abuse Next Generation No 14 Imagine Media February 1996 p 174 Snyder Frank July 1996 Abuse Computer Game Review Archived from the original on December 21 1996 Computer Gaming World 144 page 136 Linux Format 147 August 2011 page 72External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Abuse video game Abuse at MobyGames Abuse SDL 0 9a current home page Abuse SDL v0 8 home until 2011 by Sam Hocevar abuse2 com official homepage until 2003 archived Amiga portal Free Software portal Video games portal Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Abuse video game amp oldid 1116667502, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
