User:Goose

Stubborn Armagetron player since 2022, playing as Wild Goose.

Armagetron Memories

Heard about Armagetron for the first time when a friend pulled out his monthly CD from a certain gaming magazine. Of course we had to at least try out every game, that was on it. With Armagetron, alternating in the player seat wasn't that great, but then we found the split screen options and fought it out with three players on the same keyboard. Sounds fun, but awful it was in fact. Three times two simultaneously striking fingers overwhelmed the hardware from back in the day. And skipping a key press being a rather deadly thing in Armagetron... it was maddening.

And then drifting limitless in Need for Speed got us wild kids 1000x more excited than the simple 3-direction-control of the grid, so Armagetron failed to convince us and got left behind as a neat free throwaway game.

A decade goes by. Meanwhile, I got fed up with having to run the rat race to buy new hardware for more holy-poly games and rage quit the market. With that attitude, some Linux penguin was at the doorstep, ready to knock and offer me a solution (I indeed got tangled by a Linux cult). Time to take some scrap pieces from dusty cellars back into action! But games on Linux were disappointing: My old Windows 98 could do better with a quarter of the power. Linux got nowhere near anything with DirectX support. However there was one game which was promising, that being Armagetron. Finally some smooth gameplay! Those little games are those, where the free-software community could shine. And so simplicity finally clicked.

Windows 98?

Never left me. The thing just didn't want to break! To be honest, less Windows 98 itself, as it does need occasional re-installs after years of being in operation. But it's the hardware that is just perfectly reliable. Every other machine died sooner or later, expect those machines from 1998-2001. Those single-cores (Celeron, Pentium 2 and Pentium 3) might have little power compared to today's machines, but with efficent software, you can still do a lot. Like playing online thanks to Armagetron.

Quest for the slowest machine to run Armagetron

The FPS cap in version 0.2.9.3 is a blessing and makes excellent 60 FPS possible with a rather low-end system for 1999, a 400 Mhz Celeron, using an uncooled graphics card of the name Elsa Victory Erazor LT with 8 MB Memory. Worse results gave the older S3 Virage DX with 4 MB Memory, which delivered consistent 20 FPS, but only when text messages were turned off (apparently the 3D action wasn't as complex as displaying a bunch of letters!). An obscure 1995 Miro 12PD PCI graphics card turned the game into a trippy 16 colour art slideshow. When it comes to RAM, 30 MB is all the system needs to run Armagetron 0.2.9. For Linux the graphical performance is worse, so I'd say the Pentium 3 with 1 GHz is the minimum for playing smoothly.

Playstyle

You might have noticed, that I have skill issues when handling my light cycle in tight maze situations. Listen, that comes with playing on some imprecise PS/2-keyboard, which requires a more straightforward approach. Because if you give it three keys at once, it will choke badly. So the most reliable option is "Single Binding", one key per direction. Still, it's not all lost. I must plan better and take every opportunity to compensate for the lack of swiftness in direct combat situations. That's why I love Sumo the most, because it allows for every player to play (most of the time) for himself and play defensively.

Keyboard Setup

J / K / L for peeking, NumBlock4 / NumBlock6 for turning and NumBlock5 for braking. All keys in one horizontal line for the perfect flow. I would avoid using the arrow keys, because if you plan with your keyboard for the next 20 years, of all keys, you don't want the arrow keys to wear.

Are you on Discord?

Will never happen. Have fun ruining the core values of the internet! Like open standards, decentralisation or being able to use alternative programs, like a different browser or a different chat client for example. Also, your credit card data and your phone number just got in someone else's hands. Must be the price of convenience, that you will pay. Ha HA!

Geese?

Yes, as a village kid, I got into a real stand-off with a couple of wild white geese at the local river. The gander yelled at me to get off his lawn. This situation was hillarious but frightening at the same time. Unfortuneatly, the geese's offspring didn't scale like I did, so they never dared to hiss at me again. Maybe it's time to stare a swan in the eyes and ask for a duel!

Armagetron-related Works

A soundtrack clip from 2023: Armagetron 240p. It was filmed by placing an old digital camera in front of a screen. Although the video itself is crude, I believe it sparked something in other players / creators. (The outlook to do something better, more hi-res, more engaging, more modern, more potentially viral.)

Also, a failed attempt at making an Armagetron team, the Windows 98 Dinosaurs, where a decent amount of design ideas have been put together. The team fell apart in its first tournament though. The reason is simple. My squad consisted of too many wimps, who have not been able to do something for the sake of doing something. Also, time zones are a really confusing thing and I messed those up! No second chance, shouldn't be, case closed.

In the hot summer of 2026, I went deep and compiled the Armagetron 0.2.9 source code, with the goal to enable a Mono sound option, so that it works nicer with broken headphones.

Need a computer?

I am the king of the scrap yard. Oh, but let me tell you, that what the bureaucrats declare as scrap is far from it! Ask me in-game about a machine, that's between 10-15 years old, and I might have some access to a whole lot of them and would be pleased to get them back into operation. Though consider that those machines are located in Germany (shipping cost).

Misc

Played a lot of Serpent on the Gameboy. Some instinctal moves, like the full circling of other players, are rather useful in Armagetron as well.