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| * -=[DARKREIGN CHRONICLES]=- * |
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| http://darkreign.stomped.com |
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| Maintained by Leviticus |
| lev@stomped.com |
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| * 7/29/9 * |
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*Thanks to D-RiNGER and Orko for helping me developing this FAQ*
Unofficial DARKREIGN F.A.Q Version 1.3
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Updated July 13
Introduction
Gameplay
Customization
Multiplayer
Game Engine
Graphics
Credits
Introduction
·What type of game is Dark Reign?
Dark Reign is an RTS "Real Time Strategy" game that features some of the most incredible new technology that you will see in a strategy game for some time to come. It will give players an amazing level of detail and customization that has not been
seen before.
·Who is programming and producing the game?
The game is based on the Tactics Engine, which is designed by Auran. DarkReign is being co-designing with Activision, who will also be handling beta testing and marketing
·What is the storyline of Dark Reign and its missions?
In the 27th century, civil war rages across the galaxy. The
Imperium, with control of precious water resources,
commands the fate of a thousand worlds. They are under
siege by a small but dedicated resistance, the Freedom
Guard, who are attempting to break the Imperium's grip
on the galaxy's water supply
·When will Dark Reign be released?
The Unofficial release date was originally June, but has been pushed up to September
Gameplay
The Imperium vs. The Freedom Guard
·How many different sides "races" are there in DarkReign?
Freedon Guard, Imperium, and the Togran race
·How are the sides different?
Different units, different goals, different everything
·Does the Torgan race have any units?
Unknown
·What are the different type of single player missions?
There are many different types, each mission has something unique (examples: rescue, capture tech, defection, etc.) Of course we still have some of the good old kill everything missions that everyone knows and loves
Resources
·What are the resources?
Water & Taelon.
·What is the importance of water and Taelon?
Water is sold for credits & Taelon is used to power your generators.
·How are these resources mined or collected?
They are found in naturally occurring pockets located around the map.<
·Are the resources inexhaustible?
Yes, both resources are inexhaustible.
·Since the resources are unlimited, does the player's rate of mining the resources increase with more "mining" buildings?
No the rate of resource collection is limited by the rate at which a water spring refils the water table (that way once a well is dry you have to wait for it to fill back up) this prevents one player from getting more water out of a single well than another player can.
Units and Buildings
·How many units will each side have?
Freedom Guard has 26, Imperium has 21, over 40 units in all. However they share a few (like the construction rig and freighter).
·Why do the Freedom Guard have more units?
The Freedom Guard has more units which have a specific singular function (like saboteur, or mechanic) whereas the Imperium has a more generalized brute-type force. The FG is also more centered around infantry units.
·Will you be able to upgrade the structures in Dark Reign?
Structures, Yes.
·Will you be able to upgrade the units in Dark Reign?
Units, no.
·How will the upgrades and technology research work?
Similar to War Craft 2.
·How many units will the game allow on a map?
The number of units on the map at one time is limited only by memory.
·Must a player build one unit at a time or is there some type of queue feature?
Yes, queuing is provided.
·Is the "building order" of DR like C&C and WC2 in that certain buildings need other buildings to be built first?
Yes there is a pre req system in the game. You must have the pre reqs to be able to build something. Also since the game is engine based, the pre req system is definable. You can change it easily.
·How units suffer from damage?
Some specific abilities are lost if a unit takes too much damage (i.e. units which phase will lose this ability if there health drops to red)
·Do units have weaknesses against certain weapons or will the damage be the same in proportion against all units?
Yes, each unit has some specific weakness against particular other units or weapon types. This is what encourages the use of unit combinations and prohibits the tank rush. We've spent a lot of time really flushing out these relationships so that players who use a well rounded force will gain a tactical advantage.
·Is there location specific damage?
Currently there is not location specific damage.
·Is there a veteran status for units?
Unfortunately this option was one of the features which was cut.
·Is morale a factor at all?
No, we decided that players ultimatly want control and when units misbehave (i.e. get scared) it is often annoying or thought of as a bug.
·How big of a role will Infantry play? Will the game mostly be mechanized units?
Infantry will play a large role as they can travel over terrain elevations that other units can't. While there will be mechanized units, anyone who focuses exclusivly on them will have quite an interesting time defending against the experienced player who uses a combination of infantry and vehicles.
·How are buildings constructed?
Construction Rigs build buildings.
·Can buildings be sold for money?
Yes, they can be sold for credits.
·Are there any non-screen units such as satellites or some kind of space platform?
All of the units have some sort of screen based display (i.e. they have an associated building). However, one of the super weapons could be interpreted to fit with what you are describing.
·Will there be any way to defend against the super weapons?
Yes.
·Are there any water units in Dark Reign?
We felt that with the hover units, it didn't make too much sense to have exclusively naval units 700 years in the future.
·Does Dark Reign have Air To Air Combat
Yes.
·Will you be able to select units while in flight unlike C&C?
Yes.
Terrain
·How many different types of terrain tilesets?
The game will ship with 4 tilesets.
·How many levels of terrains?
There will actually be ten elevations reserved exclusively for land units. Additionally there will be two levels reserved for terrain deformation (i.e. craters). And an elevation level above all of the other ones reserved for flyers.
·How altitude would be shown? Will it be color-coded (i.e. shades of brown)?
Altitude will be displayed in a multitude of methods... First we will be ramping the pallete on the elevations to give depth. We will be rimming large elevation changes with rimming tiles to indicate what can pass. And will be adjusting all of the unit/building/overlay shadows to reflect their perspective to the terrain (i.e. their relative height).
·Will units take altitude into consideration when shooting and missing? For instance, will bullets hit too low and smack into the side of a mountain?
Since our trajectories are calculated in 3d, yes things can miss too high or too low, however Since the display is 2d, it will look like they are hitting nearby.
·Is there multiple altitude levels in water?
Yes, but the altitude is not in the depth sense. There is only "on water" not under water.
·Will infantry units be able to swim?
No swimming... We are considering this for Dark Reign 2 though.
·Does Dark Reign have weather conditions?
No, it will not contain weather, (even though we agree this is a really cool feature) there are plans to include things of a similar Nature in DR2.
·How will terrain affect unit movement?
Yes, as units move over different terrain types their speed can be affected. When this happens they accelerate and decelerate to the new speed.
·How will terrain affect unit movement?
It will prevent certain types of units and slow others.
·Is there de-facing of the terrain?
Yes.
·How hard will it be to deform terrain?
Terrain is deformed when large objects are destroyed.
·Will Dark Reign have formations?
Yes, formations will be used.
·How important is terrain in Dark Reign?
It is vital.
·Will there be bridges in DarkReign?
Yes, bridges will be implemented.
Movement
·In terms of movement, how are the units controlled?
Select and click.
·What are the added features of the waypoint system?
More specific control of unit movement.
·How does the waypoint system work?
It is scalable, From the simple use of the tab key (just hold it down and click to lay down waypoint, when you release it your unit will move) to complex waypoints which can patrol or loop paths and which can be saved to assign to other units. You can do local waypoints that just show up on the playing area, or map-wide waypoints that make a path across the minimap
·What is Line of Sight?
The realistic portrayal of what a unit can see.
·How does Line of Sight work?
The Line of Sight "LOS" is calculated taking into consideration the different terrain elevations, overlays, and buildings. It is true LOS. If the unit shouldn't be able to see something, then it can't. Units can see anything at or below their terrain level up to a certain range, as long as there's not a building or a tree in the way.
·Is there Fog of War? and if so, can it be toggled on and off?
Yes, the game will allow you to toggle on and off the fog of war and/or the black shroud in multiplayer games. However we strongly believe in the fog of war since it greatly enhances overall gameplay and the strategy involved in information warfare.
Artificial Intelligence
·What is Artificial Intelligence?
How "intelligent" are the units?
Stupid to very intelligent (it depends on their settings).
·Does the Artificial Intelligence of Dark Reign stay smart ? "WC2 and Red Alert's AI were only strong in the beginning of the game then they tend to weaken after the initial attacks."
Yes it does stay smart. Most other games have AI that works on triggers. The AI can only do so much for so long. In Dark Reign the AI is constantly evaluating its situation. It will do whatever it can...down to the last man...to find some way to win.
·Does the computer start with buildings and units?
Sometimes.
·How has the problem of "tank rushing" be solved?
Each unit has a vulnerability, and combinations of units are more effective than a single unit by itself.
Interface, Structure and Misc
·How many units can be selected at one time?
The number of unit which can be selected will not be limited. However, you can set a limit in the text files if you wish.
·How will the campaign structure work?
12 missions, select a side for each one, and a final mission.
·Will there be any random powerups in the game aka C&C Crates?
No.
·Will there be a skirmish mode like in Red Alert?
Yes.
·Will there be any humor in the game aka Warcraft II?
Yes.
Customization
·How customizable is the game?
Very much so
·What features will the construction kit have?
What features won't it have? That is the question.
·Will there be a need for people to write their own utilities?
Not really.
Maps
·What size are the maps going to be and how will the sizes of the maps affect multi-player games?
A 16 meg machine will support maps up to 200x200. Map sizes much over 250 have proven to mean really long multiplayer games, especially if the fog is enabled as there is always somewhere for your opponent to run off and hide.
·Will dark reign be limited in the amount of units allowed on the screen at any one time?
Only by the fact that no two units can occupy the same tile. But each tile displayed can have a unit in it.
·Will there be random maps?
Yes.
·Will you be able to set the victory conditions on your maps?
Yes.
·How easy is it to make a map?
Very easy.
·Will you be able to cut/paste from one map to another?
No.
Units
·Can you create your own units?
Yes.
·How difficult is it?
Not difficult at all.
·Can you edit what a unit looks like?
Yes.
·How does the player created the animation for a unit, and kind of program do you need to make the unit graphics and which programs do you suggest?
We suggest you use a 3d program to create the unit graphics. it will make your job alot easier to create the different rotations. Any 3d program can be used. As well as rendering the units we do alot of retouching on the graphics to tidy them up. A utility will ship with the product to make the ingame sprites.
·Does a unit need to be created in several different colors if available for several teams or will the engine do this?
They just need one "key" color on them which the engine will replace with their team color.
·How many frames of animation per unit?
User definable.
·When creating new units, we can specify the number of rotational frames, but what about animations within those directions (like infantry might take say 4 frames of walking animation per direction and 6 frames for firing per direction)? How flexible will changing these numbers be? And will we be able to decide if the unit requires specific firing animations or not?
You can specify any number frames for each type of action in as many different angles as you want. The system is very flexible.
·Will newly created units be one file (which includes the data values and the pics of it)?
The unit graphics will be in one sprite file.
·What graphic format should the units be in?
We will provide a utility to covert them.
·Does each unit have its own palette or is there a standard one for Dark Reign?
Standard pallete.
·How does a person create the unit's weapon type?
With the unit editor.
·Will you be able to create new projectiles/projectile graphics?
Not only will you be able to change the projectile graphics, but you'll also be able to change the properties of the projectiles as to what kind of movement they use for travel and the like.
·Can you edit unit stats to make "Heroes"?
Yes.
Buildings
·What is the maximum number of units and building?
Limited only by memory.
·Is it possible to design new buildings in the editor?
Yes.
Artificial Intelligence
·Can you tell the Artificial Intelligence how to act in your maps?
Yes
·How is editing the Artificial Intelligence done?
There will be a utility for editing the Artificial Intelligence
·Will the unit editor have any sort of Artificial Intelligence scripting language?
The exact details of how you edit thie AI will be released in the Tactics Engine Manual.
·Are there difficulty settings?
Yes.
·Is there some sort of unit to power ratio so as not to create a unit that is grossly over powerful?
We have left this up to the people making their modifications. We have a CRC checking feature in multiplayer that does not let players that don't have the same text files to play a game players have their own versions of the text files if someone changes theirs, they'll be unable to play. It will not be possible to cheat in this manner.
Sounds
·How many sound effects per unit?
Usually about 8-10.
·What format are the sounds?
All of the sounds are .wav files.
·Are the .wavs in stereo or mono?
The redbook is 44/16. The computer voice is 11/16 and the in game voices are 11/8. The studio we work with is very good. Their name is Soundelux and they are responsible for some of the best SFX in the movie industry. They won an Academy Award for Braveheart and their current movies out right now are Face Off and Air Force One.
·Will the construction kit have an option for changing sounds?
Probably.
Multiplayer
Connection
·Will Dark Reign have a free server for people to connect to?
Yes, ActiveNet.
·What are some features of activenet?
Activenet will serve mostly as a player matching service, the key functionality will be focused around setting up games and meeting other players.
·Will it allow you to create your own id/pw?
There will not be exclusive password or logons; however there will be the option to create private rooms, etc.
·Will there be some kind of ranking, etc?
We are working on a ladder system however we want to do it right so it will not be implemented by the time the game releases.
·Will Dark Reign allow you to set up your own servers?
Individial users will be able to connect games though manual IP setup so you don't have to go through ActiveNet. There should be an ActiveNet server near you though. We should have 50+ up and running around the wordl once the game released.
·How many players can be handled in a multiplayer game?
DarkReign will support up to four players over the Internet. Modem, serial and Lan will also be supported.
·Will latencey be a big issue?
Reasonable play is 300 and below. Higher pings will mean that there will be delays between user action and response.
·Is there a "spawning" capability for Dark Reign?
Still undecided.
Options
·Is there a multiplayer save?
No.
·What type of alliances are there?
Enemy, Neutral, and Ally.
·Can a human player form an alliance with a computer?
Yes.
·How are Line of Sight, resources and units shared?
Players can select who to give the aforementioned items to.
·Can an Imperium player and a Freedom Guard player be allies?
Yes.
·In multiplayer, is it possible to take screenshots at any time?
Yes you can take screenshots at anytime during the game. There is also a new super screen shot mode.
Game Engine
·What is the Tactics Engine?
Auran's strategy game engine.
·How long has the Tactics Engine been in development?
About 2 years.
·What language is it writen in?
C.
·Will DR have it's own language similar to QuakeC?
DR uses config files. It is not a language like quake but a set of configuration files that tell the engine what to do and how things work. It like this on purpose to make it easy for non programmers.
·Will it be used for other games in the future?
Yes.
·Can it be used for 3D games?
Yes, with some modifications.
·What is the official Activision position on total conversions?
We will encourage people to do what they want with the engine. But we will not allow anyone to sell their games that use the tactics enigne. If you create an awesome game with the engine, let us know and we will probably be more than willing to publish it for you.
Graphics
·What type of thematic approach has been taken on the graphical end of Dark Reign?
Disparate Future Setting.
·What perspective will the view be in?
Top down 2D.
·What resolutions will there be?
640x480.
·How many colors will be supported?
256 colors.
·Will the game be rendered or hand drawn for a cartoonish look?
Rendered.
·What will Line of Sight look like?
It is combined with the Fog of War.
·Will there be an accelerated version? (3DFX)
No.
Credits
Thanks to D-RiNGER and Orko for helping me developing the FAQ.
