Midwinter (video game)

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Midwinter

Developer(s)	Maelstrom Games[1]
Publisher(s)	Microplay/Rainbird
Designer(s)	Mike Singleton
Release date(s)	1989
Genre(s)	Action game, strategy game
Mode(s)	Single player
Platform(s)	MS-DOS, Amiga, Atari ST

Midwinter is a first-person strategy game for the Atari ST, Amiga and PC. Is was released in 1989 by Microplay/Rainbird, and was designed by Mike Singleton. The game was well received at the time of release, although the learning curve was quite steep, and keeping track of your agents and mastering the tricky controls put off all but the most determined of gamers. There were many different variables to take into account (character skill level, terrain etc) when even deciding how to move around - and having to then factor in combat made the game quite tough. The entire island was rendered with shaded 3D polygons, and a such a large gameplay area was unheard of in 1989 - which gave the player large scope for trying different approaches and strategies. The game was successful enough to spawn a sequel - MidwinterII : Flames of Freedom

1 Back Story
2 Personnel
- 2.1 Attributes
- 2.2 Injury
3 The Environment
- 3.1 Transport
- 3.2 Buildings
4 The Enemy
5 Cheats
6 Availability
7 Links & References

[edit] Back Story

Midwinter is set on the 160,000 square-mile isle of Midwinter, in a post apocalyptic nuclear winter: the entire island is covered in snow and ice. General Masters is attempting to take over the island by force from his HQ in Shinning Hollow, in the extreme south-east of the island. At the start of the game, the player has control of Capt. John Stark, the commander of the "Free Vilages Police Force" (FVPF). The player takes control as Stark is ambushed by one of Masters' units of missile armed snowmobiles. Stark, armed only with a handful of Grenades, a sniper rifle and a pair of skis, must initially make his escape and alert the rest of islanders, and resist Masters' attack.

This is done by travelling around Midwinter, recruiting civilians & other members of FVPF available, and mounting a guerilla-stype campaign to stem the tide of Masters' troops and eventually over throw him by destroying his headquarters - thus winning the game. However, the game can easily be lost by losing control of all the heat factories.

[edit] Personnel

Each of the 32 recruits has a history of their own, which decides their allegiances and skills. This history provides clues on whether or not a given recruit will be able to recruit any other given recruit. For example, Stark can recruit Nurse Maddocks, as they are engaged. However, Stark cannot recruit Grazzini, as his is jealous of Stark's relationship with Maddoocks. Some of the more useful recruits are only recruitable by a couple of other characters, and a successful strategy involves recruiting these people as swiftly as possible. For example, Prof Kristiansen (an excellent saboteur and the only person who can work the radio!) can only be recruited by his grandson, Davy Hart, or Adams, Hart's girlfriend, who in turn, are only recruitable by a handful of other characters.

[edit] Attributes

Character attributes are graded Abysmal > Poor > Average > Fairly Good > Good > Excellent and can be divided in to 3 sections:

Skills
- These determine how good a character is at Skiing, Driving, Gliding, Shooting and Sabotage. An excellent Saboteur will use less dynamite and take less time to blow up an enemy-held building than a poor one; an excellent Driver with have a higher top speed and be less likely to loose control of his vehicle than an average one.
Status
- such as Morale, energy, alertness, endurance, are effected by what is happening in the game, both in terms of the campaign and the progress of an individual recruit.
Attributes
- such as sturdiness, strength, stamina, optimism & sharpness. Determine how quickly a character injures, tires and heals.

In addition to this, certain characters have other skills which are not immediately obvious: Eg. Prof Kristiansen using the Radio, Nurse Maddocks' first aid skill.

[edit] Injury

During the game, recruits can pick up injuries (but not be killed). Injuries can be either slight or severe, and can be sustained on different body areas: Head, Torso, either arm or either leg. Injuries heal overtime (accelerated by first aid and sleep), but different injuries effect a character in different ways; for example, an injured arm reduces sniping accuracy, whereas an injured leg reduces skiing top speed, stamina and increases the likelihood of a crash. Head and torso injuries effect all activities.

[edit] The Environment

Midwinter is covered in snow, and has some nigh-on impassable mountainous regions as well as some flat rolling plains. Getting around midwinter is a very important part of the game, but can be tedious as the occasionally long journeys have no speed-up option (introduced in the sequel). In addition, if the player did not pay attention whilst travelling, he could crest a hill and slam into a tree or plunge down a ravine, injuring a character and damaging his vehicle.

[edit] Transport

Stark (and any other recruit) has 4 types of transport available to him:

Skis
- Always available. Can be quite slow, and saps energy the further you go, especially over mountainous terrain. Skiers are very vulnerable to attack.
- Armed with Grenades (in motion) and sniper rifle (when stopped)
Snowmobiles
- acquired from garages. There are three types (Cat, Fox & Wolf) with different top speeds and weapons loads. Snowmobiles are the best way to get around as they are fast and well armed.
- Armed with Surface-Surface & Surface-Air missiles, and Ski-missiles.
Cable Cars
- Only available at Cable car staions. The safest way to get up and over mountain ranges. Invulnerable
- Unarmed
Hang Glider
- Available at the top cable car station. Fast, but very reliant on pilot skill.
- Armed with air-air missiles.

[edit] Buildings

House
- A place of refuge, where recruits and eat and sleep.
Garage
- You can obtain, fix and refuel snowmobiles here.
Stores
- Recruits can eat and resupply.
Bunker
- Recruits can catch up on much needed sleep here.
- Can also be used as an impregnable sniper position.
Mountain Hut
- Recruits can eat and sleep.
Church
- Recruits can sleep here - can also snipe from the church tower but player is vulnerable.
Magazine
- Can re-arm recruits and vehicles.
Warehouse
- Can re-arm recruits and vehicles.
Factory
- Can Re-arm vehicles here.
Synth Plant
- Can Re-fuel vehicles here.
Radio Station
- If you can get Prof Kristiansen here, he can recruit up to 5 people by radio before he is jammed and must move on.
Cable Car station
Police Station
- Eat, Sleep and recruit members of the FVPF here.
Heat Plant
- What keeps Midwinter going - prevent Masters' from capturing all these at all costs!

[edit] The Enemy

Enemy Units consist of a variety of missile armed snowbuggies and unarmed transports. The Average unit consists of around 50 vehicles (depending on difficulty level)and 4 units make up 1 squadron. Individual vehicles can be destroyed by rifle fire, grenades or missles - Units can be destroyed by killing the unit/squadron commander, or by destroying a certain proportion of the units vehicles, effectively routing the unit. The remaining vehicles flee. Due to computing limitations at the time of development, only one enemy vehicle is faced at a time.

The difficulty level of the game is modified by enabling the enemy to use mortars and/or bombers. If mortars are enabled, enemy spotter planes are visible which then call in mortar salvoes on your position. Spotter planes can be downed by Surface-air missile fire from snowmobiles. Bombers, when enabled, can also be destroyed this way.

[edit] Cheats

There is no cheat code as such, but there a fairly straight forward way of winning the game (only really applicable if enemy bombers are disabled): Simply get a decent pilot, load him up with explosives and glide from cable car station to cable car station, until you can swoop in on the enemy HQ and destroy it.