DEFCON (video game)

For other uses, see Defcon (disambiguation).
DEFCON
Developer(s) Introversion Software
Distributor(s) Steam, Introversion Software, Ambrosia Software, Pinnacle Software UK, Encore, DesuraNET (Desura), GOG.com
Designer(s) Chris Delay
Gary Chambers
Composer(s) Alistair Lindsay and Michael Maidment
Platform(s) Windows
Mac OS X
Linux
Release date(s)

September 29, 2006 (Steam)
June 15, 2007 (UK retail)
April 15, 2007 (United States)

April 19, 2007 (Macintosh)
Genre(s) Real-time strategy
Mode(s) Multiplayer

DEFCON (stylized as DEFCOИ and sometimes subtitled Everybody Dies) is a real-time strategy game created by independent British game developer Introversion Software, developers of Darwinia, Multiwinia, Uplink, and Prison Architect. The gameplay is reminiscent of the "big boards" that visually represented thermonuclear war in films such as Dr. Strangelove, Fail-Safe, and especially WarGames.

The game has been available by download since September, 2006 through Introversion's web store and Steam. In the UK it was released for the high street shops on June 15, 2007 and for a limited period included the developer's first game Uplink. On April 5, 2007, US publisher Encore announced they would be publishing the game in the United States, and had ordered an initial 50,000 copies of the game for retail.[1]

Gameplay

Players are given a 1980s vector graphics computer-themed world map, a varied arsenal of nuclear and conventional weaponry, and a primary objective: destroy as much of the enemy's population as possible while having as little of one's own population destroyed as possible. A typical game will see civilian casualties numbering in the millions (megadeaths) while players try their hand at annihilating their opponents.

In most games, all sides take heavy losses, but the player with the highest score wins. Players' scores are determined according to one of three schemes: Default (gain 2 points for 1 megadeath caused, lose 1 point for 1 megadeath suffered), Survivor (gain 1 point per million survivors in your territory) or Genocide (gain 1 point for each megadeath caused); though functionally identical in a one-on-one conflict, each scoring scheme suggests large differences in strategy in larger multiplayer conflicts.

The gameplay map.

Gameplay time can be varied by configuring the speed at which events progress from real-time (1 second in-game:1 second out-of-game) to 20* real-time. Most games last 30 to 40 minutes while real-time gameplay can last more than eight hours, depending on the mode of scoring. There is also an "Office" mode of play in which the game is permanently real-timed and can be minimised to run in the background of other computer activities, allowing the player to check in only when important events take place, and only for so long as it is necessary to modify the standing orders of each of the player's assets.

The game offers six territories that may be selected by a player or assigned to an AI opponent. These include:

All territories have a population of 100 million by default.

Pacing and DEFCON levels

DEFCON is a streamlined real-time strategy game, with no unit production (except for automatic fighter regeneration), resource collection, or technology tree upgrades. Players choose and position their forces at the beginning of the game. A countdown system prevents games from disintegrating prematurely. Gameplay begins at alert level DEFCON 5 and counts down to DEFCON 1 (the highest alert level). Each upgrade in alert level brings more possibilities.

DEFCON
level
Status Reached
5 No hostile action. Players may place units and fleets and units can move into international waters. Game start
4 No hostile action. Radar coverage will provide information on units within range. Players may continue to place units and fleets and move units into international waters. 6 min.
3 Conventional naval and airborne combat is authorized. Units and fleets can no longer be placed (those that were not placed are treated as if they were lost). 12 min.
2

No effective change from DEFCON 3. This is the final stage before nuclear weapons are available. Combat becomes more aggressive.

20 min.
1 The use of nuclear weapons is authorized. Intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine medium-range ballistic missiles, and bomber short-range ballistic missiles are available. 30 min.

Once DEFCON 1 is reached, the game proceeds until a certain percentage (80% by default) of the total number of nuclear missiles available to all players have been launched or destroyed. Once this occurs, a victory countdown begins (45 game minutes by default) and the final score is announced when this countdown runs out.

Multiplayer and alliances

A DEFCON game can host up to six human or AI players. Alliances can be formed, broken, or renegotiated at will with human players. Alliances with CPU controlled players can only be set at the start of the game. Allied players share radar coverage and line of sight, but there is no allied victory and there is only one winner. This means that almost all alliances are broken by the end of the game. Lead designer Chris Delay explains:

We've seen alliance members shooting overhead friendly planes down because they believed the planes were scouting the area for targets in preparation for a strike. This results in arguments in the chat channels, followed by skirmishes at sea, followed by retaliation, before finally the whole alliance collapses and everyone starts nuking the hell out of each other. It's awesome.

The chat system features a public channel, in which all players may communicate, as well as channels private to specific alliances, and direct player-to-player private messaging.

Multiplayer modes

You can set up a LAN network game with your friends.

Diplomacy mode

All players start as members of a single alliance, and attempts to stay on top as the alliance disintegrates. The score is determined not by the enemy population killed, but by which territory has the highest percentage of survivors at the end of the game.

Office mode

In office mode, the game runs in real time and cannot be sped up. The game can be quickly forced to the background making the computer available for other use. While the game continues to run in the background, a system tray icon will notify the gamer of certain events as they occur. The office mode hotkey, sometimes referred to as the boss key, is activated by striking the escape key twice in rapid succession. A game in office mode lasts no more than six hours. The boss key is available in all game modes, but it is designed for this mode in particular.

Units

DEFCON uses a real-time line of sight system common to traditional RTS games, where only enemy units within radar coverage may be seen. However, a nuclear missile launch from a silo or submarine is automatically detected by all players (though the missile itself is not, and must be detected by radar), which reveals the location of the unit launching the missile. A nuclear missile launch from a bomber, however, does not reveal the location of the bomber.

Most units have several operating modes for different functions, and require several minutes to switch modes. For instance, ordering a missile silo to switch from offensive launches to missile defence will leave it inoperative while it switches.

Ground units

Ground installations are immobile, and can be destroyed by nuclear attack.

Ships

Naval units are organized into fleets of up to six ships which move and fight together. Fleets must be placed in territorial waters at the beginning of a game. Ships may move through the ocean, albeit slowly.

Aircraft

Aircraft are launched from other ground and sea units. Typically they operate autonomously after launch, but bombers and fighters can also be controlled while airborne.

Nuclear missiles

Mods

The game gives enough to make simple unit, text, and map modifications. The user has the ability to edit any part that the files give out, but the user cannot go beyond the max limits for the options or change the size of the units. There is an official forum that holds a mod board, and a user-made list (open domain) listed on the official website.

Reception

Reviews
Aggregate scores
AggregatorScore
GameRankings83.3%[2]
Metacritic84%[3]
Review scores
PublicationScore
1UP.comA[4]
Edge7/10[5]
Eurogamer8/10[6]
Awards
PublicationAward
PC GamerTop 100 PC Games July 2008 (# 59)
Way of The RodentBest Involuntary Yelp
Way of The RodentBest Sound

Reviews of DEFCON have been mostly positive with a Game Rankings average score of 83.3%,[2] and a Metacritic average score of 84/100.[3]

1UP.com said, "this just may be the finest piece of 'budgetware' ever produced, with every bit as much to offer strategywise as RTS games three times its cost," praising the "elementary" interface and calling the strategic depth "enormous." 1UP also praised the visuals, calling it "one of the best-looking PC games all year."[4] Edge said DEFCON was "worth it for the presentation alone."[5] Eurogamer commented that it was "the least ambitious of Introversion's games in terms of design," and "its limitations are ones of the game's basic scope," while praising DEFCON "as pure and direct a game as its inspiration."[6]

See also

References

  1. "Defcon Bombing US Retail". Next Generation. 2007-04-05. Retrieved 2010-04-01.
  2. 1 2 "DEFCON: Everybody Dies Reviews". Game Rankings. Retrieved 2008-08-15.
  3. 1 2 "DEFCON: Everybody Dies (pc: 2006): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2008-08-15.
  4. 1 2 Peckham, Matt (2006-10-07). "DEFCON Review". 1UP. Retrieved 2008-11-22.
  5. 1 2 Edge magazine, November 2006, p.90
  6. 1 2 Gillen, Kieron (2006-10-02). "Defcon Review". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2008-11-22.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, April 19, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.