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* DiegeticInterface: The player's third-person camera actually exists as an entity in the game (the scout), which can be destroyed and interact with the environment. If a player's scout is destroyed, they can only place a stationary camera when switching to third person. It's also a critical part of an exploit called "scout surfing" (see GoodBadBugs on [[YMMV/{{Avara}} the YMMV page]]).
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* DiegeticInterface: The player's third-person camera actually exists as an entity in the game (the scout), which can be destroyed and interact with the environment. If a player's scout is destroyed, they can only place a stationary camera when switching to third person. It's also a critical part of an exploit called "scout surfing" (see GoodBadBugs on [[YMMV/{{Avara}} the YMMV page]]).
* MightyGlacier: The basic idea of heavy hulls, with their high capacity for boosters, missiles, and grenades, and their higher health. However: See AwesomeButImpractical
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* MightyGlacier: The basic idea of heavy hulls, with their high capacity for boosters, missiles, and grenades, and their higher health. However: See AwesomeButImpractical
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More alphabetization
* DiegeticInterface: The player's third-person camera actually exists as an entity in the game (the scout), which can be destroyed and interact with the environment. If a player's scout is destroyed, they can only place a stationary camera when switching to third person. It's also a critical part of an exploit called "scout surfing" (see GoodBadBugs on [[YMMV/{{Avara}} the YMMV page]]).
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* DiegeticInterface: The player's third-person camera actually exists as an entity in the game (the scout), which can be destroyed and interact with the environment. If a player's scout is destroyed, they can only place a stationary camera when switching to third person. It's also a critical part of an exploit called "scout surfing" (see GoodBadBugs on [[YMMV/{{Avara}} the YMMV page]]).
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Amazing alphabetization of tropes still isn't automatic
* ChickenWalker: The body plan of the [=HECTORs=]: A bipedal frame that cannot move sideways, with a swiveling head.
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* ChickenWalker: The body plan of the [=HECTORs=]: A bipedal frame that cannot move sideways, with a swiveling head.
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Spelling/grammar fix(es)
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* AwesomeButImpractical: Heavy hulls, and medium ones to a lesser extent. Light hulls were universally favored by players when 'Avara' was active. Being able to quickly hit opponents with a hail of grenades, and avoiding having the same done to you, were arguably the two most important skills in competitive play, and any slowdown actively worked against that.
to:
* AwesomeButImpractical: Heavy hulls, and medium ones to a lesser extent. Light hulls were universally favored by players when 'Avara' ''Avara'' was active. Being able to quickly hit opponents with a hail of grenades, and avoiding avoid having the same done to you, were arguably the two most important skills in competitive play, and any slowdown actively worked against that.
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* ChickenWalker: The body plan of the [=HECTORs=]: A bipedal frame that cannot move sideways with a swiveling head.
to:
* ChickenWalker: The body plan of the [=HECTORs=]: A bipedal frame that cannot move sideways sideways, with a swiveling head.
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* GrenadeSpam: Generally the optimal strategy for player-vs-player combat.
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* GrenadeSpam: Generally the optimal strategy for player-vs-player player-vs.-player combat.
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* HomingProjectile: Missiles, if the player locks on before firing. However, they turn very slowly and do not account for obstacles between them and their targets, and can be shot down ''en route''.
to:
* HomingProjectile: Missiles, if LevelEditor: Almost any vector graphics editor of the player locks mid-1990s was functionally this for ''Avara'', which would parse the text and shapes into a level upon loading.
* MissileLockOn: Missiles lock onbefore firing.to a target with a red mark visible only to the player, and will home in on it when launched. However, they turn very slowly and do not account for obstacles between them and their targets, and can be shot down ''en route''.
* MissileLockOn: Missiles lock on
* PlasmaCannon: A HECTOR's infinitely usable default weapon, with two barrels. Each barrel does reduced damage if fired before it's fully recharged. They drain the HECTOR's battery to recharge, and will charge much more slowly if the battery is low.
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** Boosters: A temporary power-up that, on activation, rapidly restores the player's shields and reserve plasma.
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** Boosters: A temporary power-up that, on activation, rapidly restores the player's shields and reserve plasma.battery.
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* RegeneratingHealth: In the form of the HECTOR's shields. They recharge fairly slowly, and drain the HECTOR's battery in doing so, which can slow healing down further if it runs low. It regenerates much faster while a booster is in use.
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* FanSequel: ''Avara: Aftershock'' is a fan re-release of the game, with interface, audio, visual, and UI tweaks, as well as a TeamFortress-inspired class system. It released with a set of new solo and multiplayer maps designed for it.
to:
* FanSequel: ''Avara: Aftershock'' is a fan re-release of the game, with interface, audio, visual, and UI tweaks, as well as a TeamFortress-inspired VideoGame/TeamFortressClassic-inspired class system. It released with a set of new solo and multiplayer maps designed for it.
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* GrenadeSpam: Generally the optimal strategy for player-vs-player combat.
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* HomingProjectile: Missiles, if the player locks on before firing. However, they turn very slowly and do not account for obstacles between them and their targets, and can be shot down ''en route''.
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Avara was ultimately not a great commercial success for Ambrosia, though registration codes continued to be sold up to the company's closure. The game is now considered abandonware. A group of fans created an updated version of the game called ''Avara: Aftershock'', with Ambrosia's blessing.
to:
Avara was ultimately not a great commercial success for Ambrosia, though registration codes continued to be sold up to the company's closure. The game is now considered abandonware. A In 2000, group of fans created an [[FanSequel updated version of the game game]] called ''Avara: Aftershock'', with Ambrosia's blessing.
blessing. This project was thought lost for some time, but a working copy was eventually recovered from a player's hard drive, and it is now available at the [[https://macintoshgarden.org/games/avara-aftershock-15 Macintosh Garden]].
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* AbandonWare: Since the closure of Ambrosia Software, there is no longer any way to purchase a registration code for the game.
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* AbandonWare: Since the closure of Ambrosia Software, there is no longer any way to purchase a registration code for the game.game, though as a shareware title, it's fully playable without one (minus a nag screen and one missing EasterEgg - see below).
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* FanSequel: ''Avara: Aftershock'' is a fan re-release of the game, with interface, audio, visual, and UI tweaks, as well as a TeamFortress-inspired class system. It released with a set of new solo and multiplayer maps designed for it.
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* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Not only are players not immune to their own explosive weapons, but these explosives exist in the game while the player has them readied to fire, and can be shot by other players, triggering their explosion right in the user's face.
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* DiegeticInterface: The player's third-person camera actually exists as an entity in the game (the scout), which can be destroyed and interact with the environment. If a player's scout is destroyed, they can only place a stationary camera when switching to third person. It's also a critical part of an exploit called "scout surfing" (see GoodBadBugs below).
* GoodBadBugs: By positioning their scout as low as possible, players piloting a light hull, or with a nearby platform to jump off of, can land on top of the scout. In this situation, if the player attempts to direct it to view them from a specific side, the scout will simply fly upward in that direction. This technique came to be known as "scout surfing", and could be used to bypass obstacles, travel out of bounds, or get a sniping position on other players from an unpredictable direction. To combat this practice, some user-created levels have a single turret placed in the sky that will instantly one-shot any scouts that appear.
* GoodBadBugs: By positioning their scout as low as possible, players piloting a light hull, or with a nearby platform to jump off of, can land on top of the scout. In this situation, if the player attempts to direct it to view them from a specific side, the scout will simply fly upward in that direction. This technique came to be known as "scout surfing", and could be used to bypass obstacles, travel out of bounds, or get a sniping position on other players from an unpredictable direction. To combat this practice, some user-created levels have a single turret placed in the sky that will instantly one-shot any scouts that appear.
to:
* DiegeticInterface: The player's third-person camera actually exists as an entity in the game (the scout), which can be destroyed and interact with the environment. If a player's scout is destroyed, they can only place a stationary camera when switching to third person. It's also a critical part of an exploit called "scout surfing" (see GoodBadBugs below).
* GoodBadBugs: By positioning their scout as low as possible, players piloting a light hull, or with a nearby platform to jump off of, can landon top of [[YMMV/{{Avara}} the scout. In this situation, if the player attempts to direct it to view them from a specific side, the scout will simply fly upward in that direction. This technique came to be known as "scout surfing", and could be used to bypass obstacles, travel out of bounds, or get a sniping position on other players from an unpredictable direction. To combat this practice, some user-created levels have a single turret placed in the sky that will instantly one-shot any scouts that appear.YMMV page]]).
* GoodBadBugs: By positioning their scout as low as possible, players piloting a light hull, or with a nearby platform to jump off of, can land
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* ScrappyMechanic: The inability of a HECTOR to strafe/sidestep in the conventional manner was widely bemoaned by players.
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'Avara' is a multiplayer first-person shooter, developed by Juri Munkki and published by Creator/AmbrosiaSoftware in 1996 for the Platform/AppleMacintosh as a {{shareware}} title. The game takes its name from a Finnish word for wide, open spaces. In it, players pilot remotely-controlled bipedal combat machines called [=HECTORs=], which stands for "Hostile Environment Combat and Tactical Operations Remote".
to:
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Avara was ultimately not a great commercial success for Ambrosia, though registration codes continued to be sold up to the company's closure. The game is now considered abandonware. A group of fans created an updated version of the game called 'Avara: Aftershock', with Ambrosia's blessing.
to:
Avara was ultimately not a great commercial success for Ambrosia, though registration codes continued to be sold up to the company's closure. The game is now considered abandonware. A group of fans created an updated version of the game called 'Avara: Aftershock', ''Avara: Aftershock'', with Ambrosia's blessing.
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* NoPlotNoProblem: Avara's manual provided little more setting detail than the names of the mecha, and the official solo missions, while vaguely alluding to some sort of military operation or conflict in some levels, provided no further details. While a few fanworks or fan-made levels tried to attach some sort of storyline to 'Avara', it's essentially a pure shooter.
to:
* NoPlotNoProblem: Avara's manual provided little more setting detail than the names of the mecha, and the official solo missions, while vaguely alluding to some sort of military operation or conflict in some levels, provided no further details. While a few fanworks or fan-made levels tried to attach some sort of storyline to 'Avara', ''Avara'', it's essentially a pure shooter.
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* ShareWare: 'Avara' was released as shareware, as was the norm for Ambrosia Software. The only formal limitation of an unregistered copy was not being able to use the black/white HECTOR easter egg, but players can see if other players have passed the requested timeframe for playing unregistered, and some online lobbies would kick such players on sight.
to:
* ShareWare: 'Avara' ''Avara'' was released as shareware, as was the norm for Ambrosia Software. The only formal limitation of an unregistered copy was not being able to use the black/white HECTOR easter egg, but players can see if other players have passed the requested timeframe for playing unregistered, and some online lobbies would kick such players on sight.
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Creating article for 90s game published by Ambrosia Software.
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[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/avara_logo_2.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Avara startup splashscreen]]
'Avara' is a multiplayer first-person shooter, developed by Juri Munkki and published by Creator/AmbrosiaSoftware in 1996 for the Platform/AppleMacintosh as a {{shareware}} title. The game takes its name from a Finnish word for wide, open spaces. In it, players pilot remotely-controlled bipedal combat machines called [=HECTORs=], which stands for "Hostile Environment Combat and Tactical Operations Remote".
Unusually for the time of its release, the game utilizes untextured 3D polygon graphics, although most entities and objects in the game utilize simple cuboid-shaped bounding boxes, even if the underlying shape appears more complex. 'Avara' further differentiated itself from shooters of the time by combining mouse-look controls for the HECTOR's head with separate forward/backward/turn controls for the legs. [=HECTORs=] cannot strafe or sidestep, so players wishing to do so must instead turn profile to their target and move forward or back. The game also features optional an optional third-person camera that appears in-game as a helicopter-like drone called a scout.
The game's primary draw was its multiplayer for up to six players over a local area network or the internet (although the server tracker for the latter has been inoperable for some time). The typical goal is to simply eliminate all enemy players or teams, though custom or solo levels could change these rules up. Players can select from three hull types for their HECTOR, from light to heavy, with heavier hulls being able to take more damage and having more space for weapons, but turning and running more slowly and unable to jump as high. The game also features a small roster of computer-controlled entities that usually serve as enemies in solo levels.
The game initially released with a handful of multiplayer levels and a short solo campaign, but players could create new levels simply using vector-based drawing programs, with the ability to add assets like music, ambient sound, and models via [=ResEdit=]. The game supported a simple built-in scripting language that allowed managing variables and automatic triggers, so that creators could create customized goals, rules, and mechanics. Uses of these options led to levels ranging from basketball or soccer matches, King of the Hill and Capture the Flag modes, an in-game game of {{TabletopGame/Battleship}}, races, and more.
Avara was ultimately not a great commercial success for Ambrosia, though registration codes continued to be sold up to the company's closure. The game is now considered abandonware. A group of fans created an updated version of the game called 'Avara: Aftershock', with Ambrosia's blessing.
----
!!Tropes present:
* AbandonWare: Since the closure of Ambrosia Software, there is no longer any way to purchase a registration code for the game.
* AwesomeButImpractical: Heavy hulls, and medium ones to a lesser extent. Light hulls were universally favored by players when 'Avara' was active. Being able to quickly hit opponents with a hail of grenades, and avoiding having the same done to you, were arguably the two most important skills in competitive play, and any slowdown actively worked against that.
* EasterEgg: If your copy of the game is registered, adding two spaces after your username will color your HECTOR black, or white with three spaces. This is a cosmetic change only, and has no effect on what color team you're on, but is visible to other players.
* ChickenWalker: The body plan of the [=HECTORs=]: A bipedal frame that cannot move sideways with a swiveling head.
* DiegeticInterface: The player's third-person camera actually exists as an entity in the game (the scout), which can be destroyed and interact with the environment. If a player's scout is destroyed, they can only place a stationary camera when switching to third person. It's also a critical part of an exploit called "scout surfing" (see GoodBadBugs below).
* GoodBadBugs: By positioning their scout as low as possible, players piloting a light hull, or with a nearby platform to jump off of, can land on top of the scout. In this situation, if the player attempts to direct it to view them from a specific side, the scout will simply fly upward in that direction. This technique came to be known as "scout surfing", and could be used to bypass obstacles, travel out of bounds, or get a sniping position on other players from an unpredictable direction. To combat this practice, some user-created levels have a single turret placed in the sky that will instantly one-shot any scouts that appear.
* MightyGlacier: The basic idea of heavy hulls, with their high capacity for boosters, missiles, and grenades, and their higher health. However: See AwesomeButImpractical
* NoPlotNoProblem: Avara's manual provided little more setting detail than the names of the mecha, and the official solo missions, while vaguely alluding to some sort of military operation or conflict in some levels, provided no further details. While a few fanworks or fan-made levels tried to attach some sort of storyline to 'Avara', it's essentially a pure shooter.
* PowerUps: Players have three additional armaments that can be restocked from pickups in-game.
** Boosters: A temporary power-up that, on activation, rapidly restores the player's shields and reserve plasma.
** Grenades: Explosives that launch in an arc. The most damaging weapon in the game but trickier to aim. More or less the cornerstone of high-tier multiplayer.
** Missiles: Ranged explosives with a smaller explosion than grenades. If a player points a missile toward a target before firing, it locks on, and will automatically (if clumsily) pursue that target. Some players would use customizable keybinds to launch missiles in rapid succession without locking on first.
** Some user-created levels also added power-ups for extra lives (or provided other benefits), though these were uncommonly used.
* PressXToDie: The game features a self-destruct button. Double-tapping it ends the game immediately.
* ScoringPoints: There is a token score system in Avara, though it's usually ignored unless playing some sort of variant game.
* ScrappyMechanic: The inability of a HECTOR to strafe/sidestep in the conventional manner was widely bemoaned by players.
* ShareWare: 'Avara' was released as shareware, as was the norm for Ambrosia Software. The only formal limitation of an unregistered copy was not being able to use the black/white HECTOR easter egg, but players can see if other players have passed the requested timeframe for playing unregistered, and some online lobbies would kick such players on sight.
* ShoutOut: The HECTOR acronym is a reference to Ambrosia Software's mascot, an African Grey parrot named Hector D. Byrd.
[[caption-width-right:256:Avara startup splashscreen]]
'Avara' is a multiplayer first-person shooter, developed by Juri Munkki and published by Creator/AmbrosiaSoftware in 1996 for the Platform/AppleMacintosh as a {{shareware}} title. The game takes its name from a Finnish word for wide, open spaces. In it, players pilot remotely-controlled bipedal combat machines called [=HECTORs=], which stands for "Hostile Environment Combat and Tactical Operations Remote".
Unusually for the time of its release, the game utilizes untextured 3D polygon graphics, although most entities and objects in the game utilize simple cuboid-shaped bounding boxes, even if the underlying shape appears more complex. 'Avara' further differentiated itself from shooters of the time by combining mouse-look controls for the HECTOR's head with separate forward/backward/turn controls for the legs. [=HECTORs=] cannot strafe or sidestep, so players wishing to do so must instead turn profile to their target and move forward or back. The game also features optional an optional third-person camera that appears in-game as a helicopter-like drone called a scout.
The game's primary draw was its multiplayer for up to six players over a local area network or the internet (although the server tracker for the latter has been inoperable for some time). The typical goal is to simply eliminate all enemy players or teams, though custom or solo levels could change these rules up. Players can select from three hull types for their HECTOR, from light to heavy, with heavier hulls being able to take more damage and having more space for weapons, but turning and running more slowly and unable to jump as high. The game also features a small roster of computer-controlled entities that usually serve as enemies in solo levels.
The game initially released with a handful of multiplayer levels and a short solo campaign, but players could create new levels simply using vector-based drawing programs, with the ability to add assets like music, ambient sound, and models via [=ResEdit=]. The game supported a simple built-in scripting language that allowed managing variables and automatic triggers, so that creators could create customized goals, rules, and mechanics. Uses of these options led to levels ranging from basketball or soccer matches, King of the Hill and Capture the Flag modes, an in-game game of {{TabletopGame/Battleship}}, races, and more.
Avara was ultimately not a great commercial success for Ambrosia, though registration codes continued to be sold up to the company's closure. The game is now considered abandonware. A group of fans created an updated version of the game called 'Avara: Aftershock', with Ambrosia's blessing.
----
!!Tropes present:
* AbandonWare: Since the closure of Ambrosia Software, there is no longer any way to purchase a registration code for the game.
* AwesomeButImpractical: Heavy hulls, and medium ones to a lesser extent. Light hulls were universally favored by players when 'Avara' was active. Being able to quickly hit opponents with a hail of grenades, and avoiding having the same done to you, were arguably the two most important skills in competitive play, and any slowdown actively worked against that.
* EasterEgg: If your copy of the game is registered, adding two spaces after your username will color your HECTOR black, or white with three spaces. This is a cosmetic change only, and has no effect on what color team you're on, but is visible to other players.
* ChickenWalker: The body plan of the [=HECTORs=]: A bipedal frame that cannot move sideways with a swiveling head.
* DiegeticInterface: The player's third-person camera actually exists as an entity in the game (the scout), which can be destroyed and interact with the environment. If a player's scout is destroyed, they can only place a stationary camera when switching to third person. It's also a critical part of an exploit called "scout surfing" (see GoodBadBugs below).
* GoodBadBugs: By positioning their scout as low as possible, players piloting a light hull, or with a nearby platform to jump off of, can land on top of the scout. In this situation, if the player attempts to direct it to view them from a specific side, the scout will simply fly upward in that direction. This technique came to be known as "scout surfing", and could be used to bypass obstacles, travel out of bounds, or get a sniping position on other players from an unpredictable direction. To combat this practice, some user-created levels have a single turret placed in the sky that will instantly one-shot any scouts that appear.
* MightyGlacier: The basic idea of heavy hulls, with their high capacity for boosters, missiles, and grenades, and their higher health. However: See AwesomeButImpractical
* NoPlotNoProblem: Avara's manual provided little more setting detail than the names of the mecha, and the official solo missions, while vaguely alluding to some sort of military operation or conflict in some levels, provided no further details. While a few fanworks or fan-made levels tried to attach some sort of storyline to 'Avara', it's essentially a pure shooter.
* PowerUps: Players have three additional armaments that can be restocked from pickups in-game.
** Boosters: A temporary power-up that, on activation, rapidly restores the player's shields and reserve plasma.
** Grenades: Explosives that launch in an arc. The most damaging weapon in the game but trickier to aim. More or less the cornerstone of high-tier multiplayer.
** Missiles: Ranged explosives with a smaller explosion than grenades. If a player points a missile toward a target before firing, it locks on, and will automatically (if clumsily) pursue that target. Some players would use customizable keybinds to launch missiles in rapid succession without locking on first.
** Some user-created levels also added power-ups for extra lives (or provided other benefits), though these were uncommonly used.
* PressXToDie: The game features a self-destruct button. Double-tapping it ends the game immediately.
* ScoringPoints: There is a token score system in Avara, though it's usually ignored unless playing some sort of variant game.
* ScrappyMechanic: The inability of a HECTOR to strafe/sidestep in the conventional manner was widely bemoaned by players.
* ShareWare: 'Avara' was released as shareware, as was the norm for Ambrosia Software. The only formal limitation of an unregistered copy was not being able to use the black/white HECTOR easter egg, but players can see if other players have passed the requested timeframe for playing unregistered, and some online lobbies would kick such players on sight.
* ShoutOut: The HECTOR acronym is a reference to Ambrosia Software's mascot, an African Grey parrot named Hector D. Byrd.
