M.U.G.E.N
M.U.G.E.N is a freeware 2D fighting game engine designed by Elecbyte, written in C with the Allergo Library. The engine was originally released in July 17, 1999. Beta versions of it were made to work on DOS, Linux and Windows
platforms, distributed through their website or to donors via email.
With the release of the Linux version, support for DOS ceased.
The engine allows anyone to create characters, background stages and
other game objects through interpreted text files, graphics, and sound
compilations. It supports various types of audio formats such as MP3 and MIDI initially, although it can be configured to play various audio formats via Winamp plugins, such as ADX and OGG,
as background music during gameplay or at other points such as an
introduction or the select screen. The engine allows for most of the
same type of functionality found in most any commercial 2D fighting games,
up to and including close recreation of those games' characters and
gameplay. While the engine is set up primarily for fighting game
development, several other game types have been developed using it,
including shooter and platformer style games.
History
DOS and Linux Versions
First released on July 17, 1999, M.U.G.E.N was initially created for MS-DOS. Development of the DOS version ceased when
Elecbyte switched to the Linux platform in November 2001. For a time, Elecbyte had posted a request for donations on their site
to legally obtain a Windows compiler to make a Windows version of
M.U.G.E.N. However, the development group discontinued the project in
2003 and shut down their site. Later speculation pointed at leaks made
public of a private Windows-based M.U.G.E.N beta that was provided to
donators.
Windows Version and Subsequent Hacks
The private WinM.U.G.E.N beta contained a two-character roster limit, locked game modes, and nag screens, and dubbed "Doritos 3D"
by American community facet MRev. With the beta leaked and Elecbyte
gone, a "no limit" hack that removed most of these limitations was made
available in 2004 by Rou Hei, followed by subsequent updates to deal
with bugs and other issues. This version of M.U.G.E.N. is functionally
the same as the last Linux release, though with subtle differences and
unique issues, mostly revolving around proper music and music plugin
support. Because of the changes between the DOS and Linux versions of
M.U.G.E.N however, many older characters required at least the SFF
files to be modified to show palettes correctly (notably on portraits)
as well as some changes in how certain CNS script controllers
functioned, causing some minor upset and those that could still run the
DOS version in some form sticking to that, as well as DOS patches to
downgrade characters to be compatible with the older version of the
engine.
In May 2007, a hacked version of WinM.U.G.E.N was released by a third party that added support for high resolution stages (like those seen in Guilty Gear)
at the cost of losing support to standard resolution M.U.G.E.N stages.
Later that month, another hack was done to add support for high-res
select screens. In July 2007 another hack created by Sion and Kung Fu
Man based off the last high-res hack allowed for only the select screen
to be high-res and not the stages. In December 2007, a hack from an
anonymous source allowed both low-res and hi-res stages to be
functional in the same build, requiring only a single line of code to
be added to hi-res stages.
Elecbyte's Website
In mid 2007, Elecbyte's site returned, though not without some
controversy as to the legitimacy of it, as it only showed a single logo
with Google ads on the side. On July 26, though, a FAQ
was added to the site. This FAQ went on to claim that they would
release a fixed version of WinM.U.G.E.N before major format changes in
the next version,
and noted the formating changes would remove compatibility in regards
to older works: "Do not expect old characters to work. At all."
These claims are still being questioned, with the possibility this
is a hoax by someone who bought the domain, or someone that hacked it.
Although the logo presented on the website is much different than the
original logo--which
is subject to copyright/trademark laws--further evidence beyond
speculation does not exist at this time. However the most recent change
to the page, one that states that a new version of M.U.G.E.N would be
out "when 2D is back in fashion", the site has been written off as being fake. |
