Asteroids

This Asteroids1) is a modern version of the arcade classic, utilizing OpenGL and GLUT (and optionally SDL_mixer). It has a freshmeat.net project too: asteroid.

• Powerups: rapid-fire, shield, and more!
• Shiny and fast OpenGL rendering (with textured asteroids!)
• All-original sound effects using SDL_mixer
• Near-infinite gameplay with increasing difficulty: you’ll die before you run out of score (trust me)
• Near-universal portability (tested and working in Win32, MacOS X, and GNU/Linux)
• Of great magnitude

See our sourceforge file releases page.

This screenshot is from v1.0.4, but you get the idea.

Trying to install Asteroids on a Debian or Ubuntu system? I know firsthand how much of a pain this can be. I blame apt.

Thanks to Jared Hansen for bringing this to my attention. Here’s what Jared and I discovered. You’ll need at least the following packages, and their dependencies, to build and play Asteroids:

• libgl1-mesa-dev
• libglu-mesa-dev
• freeglut3-dev
• g++-4.2
• libxmu-dev
• libxi-dev
• libsdl1.2-dev
• sdl-mixer-dev

(The last two only if you want sound.) You can substitute alternate implementations/versions of anything as your system requires. This list comes from an Ubuntu system, and I believe it covers everything you need that’s not installed by default (I haven’t verified this, though). A plain Debian system may have slightly different dependencies, I don’t know. I’m just sayin’: this list is a good starting point if you’re having trouble building Asteroids on a Debian/Ubuntu system.

Good luck!

The email address chaoslizard [at] gamebox [dot] net no longer exists. Use charles [at] chaoslizard [dot] org instead.

Thanks to a patch from Scott Barr, I was able and motivated to add sound to Asteroids! I even spent some time recording some unique sound effects (100% guitar-generated). But space is a vacuum—there’s no sound in space! you note? Sorry, you’re wrong! Asteroids is an advanced physical simulation. The fact that the sounds emanating from the explosions and other game events reach your ears is undeniable proof that you can hear within the vacuum of space.

You should probably get the new version. And please let me know if anyone has issues with it—it’s not as well tested as it could be.

I’ve released v1.0.4. Asteroids can now be played flawlessly (or so I think) in Win32, GNU/Linux, and MacOS X!

• ChangeLog
• README

• Bug tracker
• Email the author: Charles Lindsay