Why Odamex has (almost) no players?

[Katamori]

Since Odamex Saturday Nitro is coming, the timing of this question is good, I think.

Odamex looks very well, has a lot of servers, give me a classic feeling, but also able to handle slopes, for example, etc.

Why it has almost 0 players? This stuff is great!

[Hekksy]

The port has a very small niche community compared to zdaemon and zandronum.The best thing to do to play odamex is to sit in a server until someone joins, or get on the odamex IRC channel that is full of players.

Oh and also, spread the word. Many people just do not know that Odamex exists, or they played it years ago when it was very unpolished and they refuse to retry it.

[printz]

Same problem as Eternity, I guess. Lack of publicity.

[Memfis]

Also lack of features that really make it stand out. There is not much reason to choose Odamex over ZDaemon unless you're into really hardcore competition and online Doom politics. :p

[Gez]

I think that might change once the 32-bit renderer is officially completed. It's so pretty.

[Feniks]

Memfis said:

Also lack of features that really make it stand out. There is not much reason to choose Odamex over ZDaemon unless you're into really hardcore competition and online Doom politics. :p

There are a number of reasons - it's simpler, has a classic feel (unlike ZDaemon, let alone Zandronum) and has a great control setup that should suit almost anybody.

This is basically the only multiplayer port I can accept, being a traditionalist, but like the OP said, almost nobody is using it at the moment. To boot, I suck at DM and the idea of blowing me to smithereens all the time isn't probably the most appealing. In the end, most Doomers like challenges :)

[LexiMax]

Memfis said:

Also lack of features that really make it stand out. There is not much reason to choose Odamex over ZDaemon unless you're into really hardcore competition and online Doom politics. :p

I would argue that Odamex's biggest "competitor" isn't ZDaemon, but Zandronum. And that's simply because it's "Doom enough" for most people, but also supports a good chunk of ZDoom's functionality, so it's the logical place for people who are new to online play to go.

That said, I think they fit two different niches, and there's no reason why players can't have both installed.

[Feniks]

Zandronum isn't Doom enough for me, in fact, it has very little to do with classic Doom. Don't really know why people use it at all. ZDaemon is a bit better, but even its FAQ makes fun of people playing in 320x200, so go figure...

[Springy]

I have wondered about the same thing. Odamex is a great port and highly underrated in my opinion. I played it a couple of times as I've seen a couple of servers with a few people in (Dr.Sean included) and had a couple of good DM's with those people.

[Katamori]

I was lucky enough to play with RjY and some other guys in Saturday Nitro.

Seriously, it was f&ckin' awesome! Even better than on ZDaemon!