Game Zone: Warzone 2100

by AndrzejL

I was messing around with my machine sometime ago. I was bored. Really bored. I decided to find myself something that will entertain me for the rest of the day, so I have started browsing the web, hoping to find something really interesting there. Different search terms. Different websites. Finally I have found a website about an open-source games. That's it I said. I am gonna install a game for myself. But which one? Torcs? Already installed. Some shooters? No thank you. And all of a sudden … BOOM! Warzone2100! What's that? Wikipedia answers this question better than I would ever do. According to Wikipedia, Warzone2100 is "an open source real-time strategy and real-time tactics hybrid computer game." More about it can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warzone_2100.

Basically, it's this: It's a free "Starcraft" or "Warcraft" kind of game, originally developed by "Pumpkin Studios" and published by "Eidos Interactive." The first time the world saw it was in 1999, and it was originally released for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation only. Nowadays, its available for Mac OS X, Linux and other OSes too.

It was a comercial game at first, but in the end of 2004, it was released under the GNU General Public License. WOW I said. Way cool! Now I hope that its not big and that its easy to install, because I dont want to spend the rest of the day downloading it and strugling to install. WOW number 2! Well, it's about 13 MB download, and what is even better, it's available in the PCLinuxOS repositories. That makes it really easy to install via Synaptic, just like everything else. Way cool! I had to have it. I have started installing it, and few mins later, I was good to go and happy as a puppy.

After installation the game can be found in "Kmenu > Games > Strategy > Warzone2100". Click on the entry to start it.

Here game opens in a full screen view and after a short demo the menu is shown. We can choose few audio and video options, as well as some gameplay options. Done? Great — time to start. If you are a beginner, the game offers a tutorial episode. Just follow the instructions to learn the basic rules of the game.

From Wikipedia, you can find out that the story goes like this:

"In the late 21st century, the world's civilizations are wiped out by a series of nuclear strikes. While most of the survivors form scavenger bands to survive, one group of people, who refer to themselves as "The Project", seeks to rebuild civilization using pre-war technology.

The game begins with the Commander, the protagonist, sending teams to gather technology in Arizona that would help with reconstruction. While gathering said "artifacts," the Project fends off attacks from an organization called the New Paradigm, which is under the command of an organization called Nexus, which is actually one man responsible for the nuclear war. In the final campaign, the Project launches a full-scale assault on Nexus, destroying it and thus removing all significant, organized barriers to its reconstruction of the Earth."

In my own words? You start with a few units, 3 trucks and few destroyers. You have to build a base and defend it. Gain control over power sources. Research new weapons/buildings/units from the found artifacts. Destroy enemies. Conquer new places. Sounds like fun? It is fun.

Wikipedia gives more information about the game:

"A New Paradigm dropship takes off after deploying an assault force against the Project. The game is fully 3D, based on the iViS games and 3D graphics engine developed by Sam Kerbeck of Eidos. The terrain is mapped by a grid; vehicles tilt to meet hilly terrain, and projectiles can be realistically blocked by steep mountains. The camera is free-moving and can zoom in and out, rotate, and pan up or down while navigating the battlefield.

In the game, units of different factions are painted different colors. The New Paradigm, the Collective, and Nexus are the enemies of the Project in the campaign, and they can be seen attacking Project forces as well as Scavengers, survivors of the nuclear fallout.

Units can all be customized according to: chassis (which, for example, takes weight and power into account); drive system (such as wheels or tracks); and mounted object (such as a weapon, or one of various support tools). Units can level up from ranks such as Rookie to Trained and Professional.

Mobile mortar weapons bombard Scavenger-occupied shacks from afar.

Warzone 2100 places an emphasis on sensors and radar to detect units and to coordinate ground attacks. Counter-battery sensors detect enemy artillery by sensing their projectiles and firing arcs and pinpointing their location to coordinate artillery strikes against enemy artillery. VTOL sensors work like basic sensors, only they coordinate VTOL attacks. VTOL counter-battery sensors coordinate VTOLs to find and destroy enemy batteries.

There is an emphasis on artillery: although many direct- and close-combat weapons and anti-air weapons can be researched and deployed, artillery is a staple of assault on enemy bases and outposts.While the technology tree is clearly defined and consistent, it never appears in-game and, therefore, the player can be left guessing as to what technology is next in the tree. Technology can be acquired by gathering artifacts left behind by certain destroyed enemy structures or units. Researching is composed of largely small and incremental advancements over existing weapons, armor, and chassis types.

Videos frequently appear during gameplay. This image depicts a dropship transporting the player's forces towards the campaign's first Away mission. Every level, excluding the first and last, has a time limit. This gives a sense of urgency and keeps players from waiting very long to gather more resources for unit construction. However, in Away missions, the player must select a limited group of units to transport to a territory completely away from the original base.

All of the terrain throughout the campaign is essentially composed of three areas, with different sectors for Away missions and other such levels; upon progression, previous maps simply expand and the player's original bases from past levels are maintained. Also, its resource system is quite different from mainstream RTS games; Oil Derricks are established over specific, scarce locations which constantly provide a slow, fixed rate of income. Combined with a mission time limit, this resource method prevents players from simply waiting for long periods of time to amass surplus resources and ridiculously large armies using traditional RTS tactics."

System requirements

Recommended minimum hardware:

• ~1 GHz CPU
• 64 MB graphics card with good OpenGL support (make sure you have the newest drivers installed)
• ~ 100 MB free RAM for the game
• ~ 100 MB HD space for the game, up to ~ 600 MB extra for the large videos

Operating system - one of:

• Windows 2000 or higher
• Mac OS X 10.4 or higher
• Linux or BSD

You will most likely need the latest version of the drivers for your video card.

All I can add is that the game is really likable. It looks great and its a lot of fun. I don't think you will regret installing it.