Note: This article was featured in the June, 2008 edition of the Arch Linux Newsletter.

Cited from the Tremulous website, “Tremulous is a free, open source game that blends a team based FPS with elements of an RTS.” Sounds good? Yeah, and in my opinion, it is good. I have been addicted to this game since I started using Arch Linux full time, the fact that I have no other Operating System installed on my system makes me rely on Linux for everyday tasks and even for gaming. Tremulous is the game I have enjoyed the most so far in my Linux gaming experience, so I took on the challenge of trying to enjoy it to the maximum. Here is what I came of with:

First, install Tremulous. Its a simple command you can probably guess:

# pacman -S tremulous

Second, update your Tremulous executable file to the latest version:

This site provides an updated version of the tremulous.x86 file which on an Arch Linux system, after the installation of Tremulous is placed in /opt/tremulous/tremulous.x86. This file is the one that executes Tremulous. When you go to this site, click on the linux/ folder so that you start downloading the updated tremulous.x86 file. After successfully downloading it, change to the folder where you downloaded the file and as root (or using sudo):

# mv tremulous.x86 /opt/tremulous/tremulous.x86
followed by:
# chmod a+x /opt/tremulous/tremulous.x86

Now, try to execute the game and see if it starts, if it doesn't then don't blame me. (just kidding). But it is always better to backup the original file first, with:

# mv /opt/tremulous/tremulous.x86 /opt/tremulous/tremulous.x86.bckup

What does this update provide? Well, along with other things it provides support for http downloads, and cl_guid support, which uniquely identifies you in game. I know, it does not provide ground breaking features, but it does help to better enjoy Tremulous.

Third, find useful sites which provide content for the game:

MercenariesGuild is one of those sites that you should bookmark, they provide a server for the testing of the tremulous 1.2 technology. Using their server you can help in the balancing of the release of Tremulous 1.2. Their site also has a downloads link which includes maps, mods and other goodies for you to make the best out of your Tremulous experience.