WHAT IS open Outcast?

open Outcast – The Hidden Gate is a Crysis Wars mod, programmed by Outcast fans for Outcast fans (and those who want to become Outcast fans). Consequently it’s no(!) official Sequel.

This doesn’t look like an open source project. I don’t see any source code available in download section, download for linux or other O.S. isn’t available either. What is open Outcast anyway?

That is correct. This project is not ‘open’ in the “open source” sense. It used to be but not anymore, since we switched to the commercial Crysis engine. “Open” Outcast is now a MOD. We realize the title is a bit misleading but we decided to keep it because people know us under this name and changing it would create many complications. As a matter of fact, we will make the full ooc source code available with the release of the completed game but not during the development phase.

WHAT TOOLS DO YOU USE TO DEVELOP open Outcast?

Our Artists are using software like “Blender”/”3dsmax” and graphic software a la “Photoshop” or “Gimp”. But we are no millionaires (believe me!), that’s why we use many freeware tools (see “SVN”, “Blender” or “XMind”). The coders are using the SDK of Crysis Wars.

WHAT ENGINE IS open Outcast USING?

To garantuee a maximum quality, we decided to use the Cryengine 2 (Crysis Wars).

WHY DON’T YOU CREATE YOUR OWN ENGINE OR USE A OPEN SOURCE ENGINE?

First of all we are working on oOC in our freetime. Creating a whole engine or using a openSource engine would take a lot of time … so we decided to use a robust, up-to-date engine to have more time for the content creation.

WILL open Outcast SUPPORT VOXEL TERRAIN AS Outcast DID?

Cryengine 2 supports Voxels, but we won´t use It for the whole terrain, just for a few elements.

WHEN WILL THERE BE A DEMO AND WHEN WILL open Outcast BE RELEASED?

Demo is coming on February 10th. Full game release is not fixed.

WILL open Outcast COME FOR FREE?

Yes and no. Since we’re developing a mod you´ll need “Crysis Wars” to play open Outcast. If you haven’t the full game you can use the free Trial version as described in the Forum.

WHICH SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS HAS MY COMPUTER TO FULLFILL?

For this case, you can take the “Crysis Wars” minimum requirements:

CPU: Intel Pentium 4 2.8 GHz (3.2 GHz for Vista), Intel Core 2.0 GHz (2.2 GHz for Vista), AMD Athlon 2800+ (3200+ for Vista) or better
RAM: 1GB (1.5GB on Windows Vista)
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT, ATI Radeon 9800 Pro (Radeon X800 Pro for Vista) or better
VRAM: 256MB of Graphics Memory
Storage: 12GB / 6GB with Trial version
Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c Compatible
ODD: DVD-ROM
OS: Microsoft Windows XP or Vista
DirectX: DX9.0c or DX10

or recommended requirements:

CPU: Core 2 Duo/Athlon X2 or better
RAM: 1.5GB
Video Card: NVIDIA 7800 Series, ATI Radeon 1800 Series or better
VRAM: 512MB of Graphics Memory
Storage: 12GB / 6GB with Trial version
Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c Compatible
ODD: DVD-ROM
OS: Microsoft Windows XP or Vista
DirectX: DX9.0c or DX10

ON WHICH PLATFORM WILL “open Outcast” RUN?

Currently “Crysis” is just available for Windows XP, Server 2003, Vista, Server 2008 editions including 64bit support through WOW64.

I DON’T HAVE A BROADBAND INTERNET CONNECTION. HOW CAN I GET “open Outcast”?

We are going to try to get our game on DVDs of well-known review magazines.

WILL I FEEL RIGHT AT HOME PLAYING “open Outcast”? OR IS IT WHOLE NEW WORLD?

Oh no….we are all Outcast fans ourselves and naturally we won’t throw good old features over board. There will be many new things to explore, but Outcast fans will feel right at home. Approximately also those, who haven”t played Outcast.

AM I GOING TO SEE SOME OLD REGIONS AGAIN?

All old regions are going to be in the game and also one new region.

WHAT KIND OF PLOT AWAITS ME?

The plot was the first thing we worked on. Most story parts are decided and we think you will like it. We are aware of the fact that Outcast veterans are very critical, when it comes to the plot!

WILL I MEET OLD FRIENDS AND TRAVEL TO WELL-KNOWN PLACES?

Yes. But you’ll have fun even if you have never played Outcast. Nevertheless there will be some deja-vu situations.

AM I GOING TO SEE Twon-Ha HERDS AND GAMOR PACKS?

And we are going to expand the flora and fauna.

IN WHICH LANGUAGES WILL “open Outcast” BE AVAILABLE?

At least in English and German.

HOW CAN I HELP IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF “open Outcast”?

If you’ve modeled some nice talan house or created a grass texture you think might be useful for oOC? You can send it to us and will be mentioned as contributor. If you have more time you can become a full member with access to the intern stuff. But it also means you’d have to spend about 3-4h working on oOC a week and visit at least our monthly dev chat(but remember you can contribute some stuff without having so much time). If you still want to become a developer check the “jobs” page.