Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri

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Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri
Developer(s)	Looking Glass Studios
Publisher(s)	Looking Glass Studios
Release date(s)	1996
Genre(s)	First-person tactical shooter
Mode(s)	Single player
Platform(s)	DOS
Media	CD-ROM
Input	Keyboard, Mouse, Joystick

Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri is a science fiction first-person shooter, squad combat computer game developed and published by Looking Glass Studios (known then as Looking Glass Technologies) in 1996. The game was partially inspired by the powered armour suits of Robert A. Heinlein's novel Starship Troopers.

Contents 1 Background story 2 Features 2.1 Pre-mission loadout 2.2 Interface 2.3 Graphics 2.4 Environments 3 Reception and repercussions 4 External links

[edit] Background story

The game is set in the year 2327 — otherwise referred to as ClanYear 124 — in the Alpha Centauri star system. The system is inhabited by twelve large clans, analogous to various nation groups from Earth. Some one hundred and fifty years before the events of the game, a government known as the Hegemony took over Earth, disbanding nations and religions, and banning the teaching of culture and history. The colonies on the other planets and moons resisted this new government, and were annexed by the Hegemony one by one, gradually falling to their superior military forces. Only the colonies of Jupiter's moons and space stations were able to hold out for long enough that a diplomatic settlement was reached with the Hegemony. The agreement allowed the Jupiter colonists to colonize Alpha Centauri, which recent probes had shown to have at least one planet capable of supporting life.

Colonies were established on the third and fourth planets in the system: the Earth-like NewHope, and the arctic Thatcher. Eventually, a new calendar and time reckoning system was adopted, based on the day and year length of NewHope. Each ClanYear is equivalent to 1.15 EarthYears.

Each clan maintains its own military forces, consisting of soldiers using PBAs ('Powered Battle Armour', see Powered armor). These forces are mainly used to deal with criminals such as pirates and bandits, as the clans live relatively harmoniously with each other, and rely on one another's trade and skills to survive and prosper. Limited trade has been established with the Hegemony.

As time goes on, the pirates seem to be becoming more organised and better equipped, certainly too well for their available resources. To combat this growing threat, a new Strike Force is formed, Strike Force Centauri (SFC), composed of the best thirteen soldiers of the twelve Strike Forces. This Strike Force has access to improved PBAs and a (not initially) wide array of weaponry and auxiliary equipment to combat the pirate threat.

The player is introduced as Nikola Ap Io, of Clan Io, the newly assigned Squad Leader of Strike Force Centauri, skilled in weapons. His brother, Brandt, is already a member, as a demolitions specialist.

[edit] Features

The game features a variety of missions (recon, intercept, escort, search-and-destroy, even a jailbreak), environments and weather (night and day varies, rain, snow). Missions take place in massive open environments, each spanning approximately nine square kilometres, with (depending on the planet) rolling hills, mountains, ravines, roads, buildings, and bodies of water.

[edit] Pre-mission loadout

Before most missions the player can choose which weapons, suits, systems and squadmates will be used. Very few weapons and systems are available at the beginning of the game, with more becoming available as the game progresses. In some missions, certain choices are set in stone. Some squadmates may already be assigned to other missions, and unavailable to the player's squad.

Each squadmate has one of five specialties. They can be given orders individually or as a group with a menu interface. During combat, squadmates will radio in subjective assessments of their own status or that of the battle, each with their own unique voice.

Specialties	What it means
Weapons	Increased weapon accuracy in combat. Can use most of the Auxiliary Suit Functions (ASFs).
Recon	Skilled in reconnaissance, these squad members are better at detecting enemies at long range, and remaining undetected. They can be ordered to scout to a particular location, and report when they detect enemies. Can use most of the ASFs.
Repair	Can significantly repair their own suit systems and those of any friendly squad member, using a limited number of supplies. Always uses a Repair Pack ASF.
Demolitions	Carries ten explosive charges than can be affixed to designated points or certain specific mission targets, which often cannot be damaged with normal weapons. The player chooses which of three coloured 'fuses' the charges are assigned to. The demolitions expert can then be ordered to remotely detonate all charges assigned to a particular colour fuse. Always uses a Demolitions Pack ASF.
Electronics	Electronics experts can repair, rewire or reprogram various systems found in the field. Can use most of the ASFs.

The player can choose from a variety of weaponry, featuring the traditional sci-fi lineup of lasers, particle beams, high-explosive grenades and rockets, and rail guns. Each suit comes with three detachable, remotely controllable recon drones. The player can equip one of several auxiliary suit functions (ASFs), including power generation boosters and small automatic turrets. Three types of PBAs are available: the fast, lightly-armed, stealthy Scout PBA; the Standard PBA; and the cumbersome Heavy PBA, with unmatched capability to dispense and withstand fire.

[edit] Interface

The main gameplay interface (the visor of the suit helmet), contains three Multi-Function Displays (MFDs), which can show a variety of information, including maps, squad order menus, damage readouts, and a surround view mode. Each suit has an infrared view mode for poor visibility conditions (nighttime/weather), and the view can be zoomed in up to three times (four for the Scout suit). When the suit takes damage, its armor can regenerate (slowly, unless too damaged), and various individual systems (and the soldiers health) can also take damage. As each system takes damage, their performance can be affected. Jumpjets may cut out randomly, drones may not respond well to controls, and video images (such as the surround view or target camera), may suffer random bursts of fuzziness and static. If a squadmates' health drops close enough to zero, their suit will go into emergency evacution mode and launch into the sky, to be picked up by the drop ship. If the players health drops to zero, however, they die.

[edit] Graphics

Unlike most outdoor 3d games both before and after it, the landscapes in Terra Nova do not fade away in the near distance in thick fog (except due to weather), nor is there a 2d backdrop behind it all. Instead, level of detail techniques are used to maintain performance, decreasing the polygon count on distant features. The technology created for the game allows the player to see far into the distance, and anything they can see, they can go and stand on if they so wish. This combined with additional effects such as animated clouds, reflective water and translucent smoke made Terra Nova one of the most graphically advanced games of its time.

PBAs in the game (whether friendly or enemy) are represented by 3d objects composed of several sprites, each of which can be individually moved or swapped (e.g. to change a forward-looking head sprite for a slightly leftwards-looking head sprite) to give them a pseudo-3d effect. The system allows for flexible animation using skeletons and inverse kinematics without the (for the time) excessive CPU drain of utilising polygonal models. An earlier version of the system was previously used to model the player's movement in System Shock [1]. Vehicles, buildings and turrets use 3d polygonal models.

Between missions the plot advances in live-action cutscenes, news, and email messages. A terminal in the player's quarters contains a small library with a vast amount of reading material on the history and nature of the Clans, descriptions of the planets and their native flora and fauna, and a report on the nature of life on Earth under the Hegemony.

A Random Scenario Builder allows play on a variety of specialised maps, with customisation of gravity, weather, enemies encountered (and their weapons loadout) and whether any squadmates will accompany the player. Player and squadmate loadouts can then be chosen as in the story missions. A multiplayer pack was planned for the game, and promised on the back of the game box, but never produced. This was most likely due to the game's poor sales. A single patch is available for the game, to fix a small crash bug in the Random Scenario Builder.

[edit] Environments

There are four environments found in the game:

NewHope: The third planet of Alpha Centauri. Nearly as large as Earth, with a similar environment. Players can expect to see rolling hills, small mountains, valleys, lakes, rivers and ponds, trees, forests and farmsteads. A few missions take place in rain or storms.

Thatcher: The fourth planet. Slightly smaller than NewHope. Arctic. Players can expect to see icy water, mountains, valleys, ravines and scattered vegetation. A few missions take place while it is snowing.

Saara: The second planet. Larger than Earth. Hot, hostile to nearly all life and geologically unstable, with a mildly corrosive atmosphere. Dust obscures features at long range. Players can expect to see tall mountains, valleys, and a lot of rocks.

Karros: The moon of NewHope. Airless and lifeless. Dark, with less changes in elevation than the planets.

[edit] Reception and repercussions

Despite being acclaimed by critics and reviewers, the game was a commercial flop and a contributing factor to Looking Glass' financial crisis and eventual shutdown in 2000. Factors that likely contributed to the commercial failure are the higher system requirements than the average game of the time, the release of the immensely popular titles Duke Nukem 3D and Quake, and the increased cost of development due to the production of the cutscenes.

[edit] External links

• Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri at MobyGames
• Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri at Home of the Underdogs
• Review of Terra Nova at Coming Soon magazine
• Terra Nova on GameSpot's "The Best Games You Never Played"
• Patch and demo downloads at 3d Gamers
• Terra Nova fansite hub at Through the Looking Glass. Some links are dead.