Empires (mod)
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| Empires | |
|---|---|
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| Designer(s) | Justin "Krenzo" Krenz |
| Engine | Source engine |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows |
| Release date | March 4, 2006 (1.0) |
| Latest release | 2.12 / January 30, 2008 |
| Preview release | 2.2 |
| Genre(s) | First-person shooter/Real-Time Strategy |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
| Input methods | Keyboard and mouse |
Empires is a total conversion modification for Half-Life 2. The gameplay consists of both First-Person Shooter (FPS) and Real-Time Strategy (RTS) elements. The first-person component of the game is played out by the soldiers on the battlefield, while the real-time strategy feature is played out by the commander of either team, in a similar fashion to any ordinary real-time strategy game. The link between the two modes is seamless, with the commander being able to hop between first-person shooter and real-time strategy modes at will.
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[edit] Overview
Empires takes place in a near-future alternate universe. It is set in the middle of a conflict between the Brenodi Empire (BE) and the Northern Faction (NF). Players are divided into two teams (BE vs. NF), and then fight it out on foot or in a variety of vehicles, including Jeeps, Armored Personnel Carriers, and Tanks. One player from each team serves as the commander, who directs his team through the battle.
[edit] Gameplay
In the Classic gamemode, there are two primary roles - that of the commander, and that of the player.
At the beginning of each round, one player from each team is voted to become that team's commander. This player has the responsibility of setting up bases and giving orders to the players on his team. The commander occupies a command vehicle (CV) that is heavily armored, but extremely vulnerable, as it lacks weapons. When this vehicle is destroyed, the round ends and the team with the surviving command vehicle wins.
All other players participate from the viewpoint of a traditional first-person shooter, fighting the other team and constructing buildings, with the ultimate goal of either destroying the enemy command vehicle or forcing the enemy team to run out of tickets. Players can choose from four classes: Engineer, Grenadier, Rifleman, and Scout.
- Engineer - The Engineer is a combination of a builder, medic and mechanic, thus one of the most versatile class in the game. He constructs the buildings that are placed by the commander, and can also heal and revive his teammates, as well as repair their vehicles. The engineer is armed with a choice of Submachine Guns for personal defense. He also carries Seismic grenades, which are highly effective against enemy buildings.
- Grenadier - The Grenadier is the anti-vehicle class. His primary weapon is a guided Rocket Launcher which doubles as an anti-building Mortar. He also carries pressure activated Land Mines.
- Rifleman - The Rifleman is the most traditional fighting class; he serves an anti-infantry role. The Rifleman can chose a variety of weapons including Assault Rifles or a Heavy Machine Gun. He also carries either anti-infantry fragmentation grenades or anti-tank grenades.
- Scout - The scout acts in a reconnaissance-sabotage role as a special ops class. He is primarily suited to harassing the enemy team, such as sneaking into an enemy base and sabotaging their structures. The scout also carries powerful binoculars that allow them not only to have a clear view of the battlefield, but also mark the locations of enemy structures for his team. The Scout's arsenal consists of either a light scoped rifle or a choice of submachine guns. The Scout also gets a choice of smoke grenades to create a thick smokescreen, as well as concussion grenades, which leave players in their area of effect blinded and deafened, and also temporarily disable enemy turrets.
Empires also supports a Conquest gamemode, with gameplay similar to that seen in the Battlefield series of games. In this gamemode there is no commander, and the players attempt to capture flagged control points. The game ends when either all of a team's reinforcement tickets run out, or when all players on a team die and cannot respawn.
[edit] Backstory
During the Kolntus-Emin War, both sides fought mercilessly over ownership of their ancestral empire. Each side believed that they were the rightful heir to its legacy. It did not matter what answers it held to their hazy past or to what mysterious culture and technology had been buried when the earth had swallowed it into the ground. Since the days of the Faction Wars, their blinding anger towards each other had grown beyond any simple emotion. It was even embodied in their physical structures by the conflicting ideologies of genetic manipulation versus nanomechanical integration, and now, it had culminated into a furious war never before seen on the continents of the world, spurred on by the discovery of the buried capital of the ancient empire.
The events leading to the war were set into motion upon the uncovering of their ancestors' ancient city which was once the heart of their ancient empire. The Brenodi had initially discovered the ruins and were unwilling to share their discovery with the Jekotians. A fierce stand off began with both sides forming battle lines near the ruins from which to launch their initial attacks. In such a tense face off, the most minor of mistakes could initiate war. In this case, however, they managed to hold their ground until the earth began to tremble. Once the quakes began, every single soldier’s mind leapt to the same exact conclusion, that the end times had arrived once again as experienced in the final days of the ancient empire. The Jekotians could no longer retain their anger, and their military, with its rows of tank and formations of troops, struck out into the entrenched Brenodi. They fought with such ferocity that the Brenodi were initially overwhelmed. The Brenodi regrouped and launched a retaliatory strike which stalled the Jekotian war machine.
Although the battle had slowed and evolved into a stalemate, the seismic activity increased and began threatening major population centers on every continent. A realization that the end was inevitable swept over the Jekotians, and they initiated battles across the entire world in an attempt to ensure that their centuries old enemy, the Brenodi, were destroyed along with them. They even unfurled their stockpile of obsolete nuclear weapons and attempted to strike at the Brenodi even though they knew it was futile. As they arced through the sky and began gliding down to their targets, they were destroyed by the Brenodi's aging defensive missile systems. They were indeed still fully functional and recently upgraded even though they had not been in service for many years since forming the previous war's stalemate, and it should be noted that this stalemate was directly responsible for initiating the current era of the genetic arms race. The Jekotians had beckoned their own destruction, and it was finally approaching. Their military still continued to fight and deeply gouge the Brenodi forces, but their military could do nothing to prevent the quakes from finally reaching into the heart of the Jekotian civilization. Their capital crumbled, and its once breathtaking skyline was reduced to rubble. The core of their government was in ruins and the body of political power decapitated.
Their military was still intact, however, now only burning on the fumes of hate. The Brenodi, possibly in a display of regret, offered a ceasefire, and the struggling civilian population, which had no political elements remaining, begrudgingly accepted it. The military regrettably withdrew its forces from all major campaigns. With an end to all major fighting, the weakened Jekotians attempted to regroup. The Brenodi continued their research efforts into the ancient city, and they extended their hand once again with a proposal that they could end the destructive seismic activity. The Jekotians warily waited as the quakes died out. They could only accept this as a sign that possibly the Brenodi truly wished to end their conflict, and they began a series of conferences to discuss the future of their war ravaged continents. The Brenodi eventually offered aid and pledged support to help the Jekotians rebuild their capital, and the Jekotians in return offered to help do whatever they could to repair the much lesser damage that had been done to the Brenodi.
Still heavily damaged by the destruction of their capital, the Jekotians were not in a position to respond negatively to the actions the Brenodi carried out next. The Brenodi built up an overwhelming campaign of propaganda based around the ancient empire’s ruins. They created a feverish excitement over the excavation of the ruins and harkened society to consider how great they were when they were one nation, one empire, with an advanced cultural and technological level that no other civilization could even dare to compare themselves with. Finally, once it was gauged that public opinion had been swayed by the propaganda, the Brenodi proposed a treaty to unite the weakened Jekotians and much stronger Brenodi into a New Empire, a continuation of the ancient civilization their ancestors had created before they were split into the two warring nations of the present. The Jekotians no longer had the will power and strength to oppose any retaliatory action from the Brenodi if they declined. Thus, they only had one available option and accepted the treaty.
The first initial years of the New Empire were promising. The Jekotian capital was being rebuilt, and aid to its citizens was increasing now that they were no longer considered Jekotian citizens but rather citizens of the New Empire. However, many disputes were unfolding due to the separate physical characteristics of each race. The Jekotians were heavily genetically modified, but the Brenodi were modified using nonorganic means. Instead, they had become dependent on nanomachines to survive and enhance themselves, and this was reflected in their society. Jekotian citizens could not function in Brenodi society, and Brenodi law even made it illegal to be in highly populated areas without nanomachines. One popular excuse was that of the nanomachines use as a means of identifying negative behavior and alerting government officials before the host is able to commit any crimical actions. Also, leading up to the Kolntus-Emin War, the Brenodi became fearful of the Jekotians’ early genetic manipulation efforts with warranted concerns that it would lead to outbreaks of artificial viruses and bacteria which had occurred before, and this fear, which continued to remain popular even after the creation of the New Empire, further fueled the general consensus against complete integration. With the formation of the new government, the Brenodia had the advantage of political experience in this new nation and were quick to attain the roles of power which left the Jekotians without any means of government representation. Not only did this encourage bitterness among the Jekotians but also severely limited their ability to peacefully influence government decisions to a position not entirely in favor of the Brenodi.
It was becoming clear that the Jekotians were the have-nots of this new nation, and social disorder grew among them. The Brenodi were initially able to continue to use the propaganda of the rebirth of their ancestral empire to keep the Jekotians in check. However, the remnants of the once powerful Jekotian military were still breeding their undying hate for the Brenodia and began forming insurgent cells throughout the new nation. They slowly began to inflict damage upon the internal structure of the New Empire, and the Brenodi were quick to take notice. The Brenodi initiated a series of crack downs on the insurgents, and within a short time frame, all major leaders of the insurgency were executed. The ordinary citizens continued the insurgency and kept it alive even though it could not sustain the momentum it possessed before the retaliation.
Today, there are still many problems facing the New Empire. The Jekotians are continually repressed by the Brenodi from political power in the government to quality of living in the designated areas they are allowed to inhabit. The Jekotians are unable to fight back diplomatically due to their little representation in the government. Therefore, they continue their insurgency to fight back violently although it has been contained to a much smaller degree compared to its original ferocity. The internal physical differences between the two races still acts as the main catalyst to fuel their opposition, and the New Empire will never unite until this is eliminated. It’s also questionable that if the physical differences are eliminated that it will also eliminate the centuries of hate between the two races that almost wiped them both out. There is hope as rumors supposedly hold that the President of the New Empire has been heavily funding a program to manipulate the genetic structure of the Jekotians and allow them to accept nanomachines into their system. However, it’s questionable if the Jekotians would be receptive to such a program or only use it to further fuel their dwindling insurgency.
New speculation has also begun surfacing that the Northern Faction and the other remnants of the Jekotian Empire have found new sources of personnel and equipment to aid in their struggle to win back their independence. Although unimaginable, could they have found sympathy within the Brenodi population or is it something that has been overlooked? When asked to comment on the topic, the Brenodi's Head of Local Affairs brushed it off as nothing more than an attempt by the Northern Faction to gain political footing and strike a deal before they are eventually cornered and brought to justice. One can only hope the rumors are unfounded as reports continue to mount that the Brenodi military are facing more and more open confrontations from the insurgent group, perhaps signifying the initiation of a last ditch campaign born out of desperation or the beginning of something larger...
[edit] Aircraft
The gunship is suited for the role of an anti-tank aircraft. Its weapon loadout is focused on air to ground weaponry and is fitted with a capable hover engine for ground patrol missions. It is highly armored, but its weakness lies in its slowness and inability to attain the same speeds as other aircraft.
The figher is designed the role of air superiority and excels at it. Its weapon loadout focuses on air to air weaponry such as three customizeable types of homing missiles, and its defensive capabilities are geared more towards outrunning an enemy than outlasting it.
The bomber's main role is that of devastating enemy ground targets such as enemy bases and stationary vehicles. It is slow moving but contains defensive armor and anti-homing systems to ward off anti-air weapons long enough to conduct its bombing run. It also possesses a gunner turret for protection from anti-air fighters and light ground defenses.
The transport is the work horse of the modern military. Its main role is for transportation of vehicles and supplies and for carrying infantry to the front line. It is designed for quick pickup and dropoff by an actuated grip system that can acquire cargo crates and vehicles with only seconds spent on the ground. It's even capable of carrying armored crates filled with infantry behind enemy lines and dropping from a height providing safe distance from ground defenses. The ride may not be pleasant for the infantry, but it allows for them to be dropped off while inside protective cover compared to a parachute jump.
[edit] Buildings
Aircraft Factory
The aircraft factory's sole purpose is the creation and maintaining of aircraft. Aircraft can be purchased by entering the tower and accessing a console to begin construction of the desired aircraft and any custom parameters. It will appear in an incomplete state on the pad area and then fill in until fully built. Once built, it can be piloted off of the pad and entered into service. Later on, aircraft can return to the aircraft factory for resupply and recustomization.
The armory's purpose is for the replenishment and reconfiguration of infantry. It contains an infinite supply of ammo, and infantry inside may access their configuration and change their class, upgrades, or abilities without needing to respawn.
The barracks serves as the initial entry point for players into the game. Any barracks can be chosen as a spawn point and can serve the same purpose as the armory of resupply and reconfiguration but at a much higher cost. Soldiers who find themselves living on the frontlines during a long campaign will quickly learn to call it home.
The radar functions to supply vital information to the commander, players, and automated services regarding such things as enemy troop movements, incoming aircraft, and seismic activity. It is very valuable to each team's ability to maintain focus on the battlefield, and if it is sabotaged by an enemy soldier, it can quickly blind the host team and welcome a surprise attack. Automated turrets depend on the radar to function, and if the radar is destroyed or ceases to function, turrets will cease to function with their automated programming.
The refinery serves the function of resource collection from vital resource nodes on a map. These resources are then utilized for the production of vehicles, aircraft, weapons, and other buildings. The refinery can only be placed on geothermic vents found on the map which serve as the escape paths of pressurized gases from the planet's core. The refinery is designed to take this gas and convert its thermal energy into mechanical work through the use of turbines for the ultimate generation of electricity. In addition to the generation of electricity, the mineral rich material of the outer layer of the vent is also extracted for use in the production of physical objects such as vehicles and aircraft. Both teams utilize the material differently however. The Northern Faction utilize their expertise in artificial bacteria to metabolize the material and produce metals which are useful in their factory facilities. The Brenodi Empire uses their nanomachines to directly rearrange the molecular structure of the material for the building process. Ultimately, the end result is the same of utilizing the material for use in construction. It's also known that the refinery technology discovered from the ancient empire is capable of disrupting the underground ventilation system of the plant to indirectly generate seismic activity in an approximate area. It's been theorized that this could be utilized as a weapon, but any research by the Brenodi regarding the natural geothermal ventilation with such a possible goal has been censored to the general public.
Repair Station
The repair station serves as a point for relatively quick repair of any vehicle or aircraft which is not in perfect shape, possibly from damage suffered in battle. It is also capable of utilizing debris and wreckage from destroyed units for recycling into raw material for reuse in the production process.
Vehicle Factory
The vehicle factory is one of the most vital buildings for both armies. Utilizing its production capabilities, a few thousand kilograms of raw material can be quickly turned into a battalion of tanks for use in destroying an enemy army. It is capable of producing the standard vehicle units of jeep, APC, light through heavy tank, anti-air tank, and artillery tank. Once a standard unit is ready for construction, it can be customized extensively for a specific task in terms of weapons, ammo, armor, engine, etc.
Turrets are available in both manual and automated versions. Automated turrets rely on other systems to supply them with radar images of the area for the tracking of enemy units and without such systems, the turret will default back to manual mode. Such turrets available for production are standard turrets which will fire on nearby enemy units, anti-air turrets which concentrate on airborne enemy units, anti-projectile turrets which serve to create a defensive shield within an area by destroying incoming missiles and tank rounds, and anti-armor turrets which specialize in an anti-vehicle role.
Walls
Walls are defensive structures able to be built to deny passage to enemy units and for defense from enemy projectiles. Once built, they can be further integrated into defensives by placing turrets on top of walls for better coverage area but at the sacrifice of being wide open.
[edit] Vehicles
The jeep's main role is that of transportation. It can be customized for speed to quickly get into enemy controlled territory and then get out, or it can be lightly armored for a light combat role. Jeeps are the cheapest vehicle, and therefore, are the least resistant to damage.
The APC's role is for the safe carriage of infantry through hostile territory. It is lightly armored but more resiliant to attack than the jeep while generally sacrificing speed. However, it can be customized for greater speed by stripping any defensive weaponry and installing a better engine. It can also possess the special ability of allowing units within a squad to respawn from their designated APC so long as their are remaining unused units in the APC and the squad has not been wiped out.
Light/Medium/Heavy Tank
The tank is the general purpose vehicle of the New Empire era. All tank versions use tank treads for greater mobility and feature either one or two cannons for the firing of tank based projectiles. They are more heavily armored than the APC with the heavy tank chassis being most heavily armored. Custom options allow for greater anti-infantry defenses such as reactive armor and a topside machine gunner but will ultimately still be susceptible to anti-armor infantry weapons from close range.
The artillery tank is designed for the role of striking an enemy position from great distances without fear of direct and immediate retaliation. The artillery tank features a main cannon capable of sending a mortar based round great distances. It can be customized for a small defensive weapon such as anti-infantry gun, but it is very susceptible to all forms of anti-tank weaponry. It should be utilized from a defensive position and in multiples for maximum effect.
[edit] Weapons
The heavy machine gun is available to only the rifleman class but is quite capable in holding a defensive position. It is able to be fired from the hip, but its accuracy is severely reduced to the point to make its offensive ability almost useless. It features a side loaded ammo box capable of supplying in excess of a hundred rounds without reloading. It is generally recommended for those experienced enough to handle its weight.
The .50 Cal assault rifle is restricted to the rifleman class due to its extreme size and kickback properties. Only those proficient in its use can successfully handle its kickback to fully utilize its extremely powerful properties. Its power is offset by its small clip size.
The general use assault rifle is the most widely available weapon in service. The Northern Faction's version is a general machine stamped build with decent mechanical properties, but its strength lies in its availability to everyone. Without the assault rifle, the Northern Faction forces might be without the ability to fight back against the superior forces of the Brenodi military.
Light Assault Rifle
The light assault rifle is a scout class specific weapon ideally suited for long range encounters and for stealth based missions.
The submachine guns are a widely available weapon capable of a high rate of fire combined with an adequately size magazine at the cost of power. There are three models available for each side's army with differing qualities per army. They are ideal for short range and close quarters fighting. Those who are experienced enough may be able to utilize one submachine gun per hand.
The RPG Launcher is restricted to the anti-armor class and is the only weapon they are capable of carrying. However, it more than makes up for it with its versatility. By utilizing the standard RPG launcher of the New Empire era, the anti-armor class is effectively capable of an anti-armor, anti-air, and mortar based role. The RPG Launcher is capable of three different firing modes each with their own multiple forms of ammunition. Form one utilizes the barrel in a contracted form to utilize a smaller anti-armor round which generally consists of a dumb fire round which is manually targeted with the aid of a tracking computer to tell the user how far in front of the target to fire. Form two utilizes the launcher in an extracted format where the barrel is extended to accommodate larger anti-air ammunition with a larger rocket based propellant. It utilizes its own onboard targeting mechanism to track the aircraft in conjunction with the launcher's targeting computer. Form three requires the launcher's aft located blast door to be locked shut, its tripod extended, and the launcher itself to be placed firmly on the ground. Once in this position, mortar based ammunition may be utilized in conjunction with the launcher's targeting computer which links to satellite and scout based reconnaissance for pinpoint accuracy. Ultimately, the accuracy of the launcher is dependent on the user's experience.
The buckshot pistol is able to be used like a short range shotgun offerring quite a blow to any targets within immediate range. It is generally restricted to use by Northern Faction forces who prefer a kick in their sidearm.
Both sides utilize a standard pistol for backup purposes. It isn't worth mentioning in terms of abilities but shouldn't be forgetten in close quarters and is extremely helpful when all other sources of ammo are depleted.
[edit] History
Empires began in February 2003 as a mod for computer game Battlefield 1942. Two versions were released on this engine [1][2], but engine limitations forced the developers to move to another engine. Initial plans were made to move the mod to Far Cry's CryENGINE, and some work was done within the game's level editor, but poor initial mod support turned Empires away. Half Life 2's Source engine was chosen in July of 2004[3]. Empires was first released on Source on March 4, 2006[4]. It has since received several patches and developer support is still ongoing. Empires 2.0, a second version of the mod, containing numerous bug fixes and features as well as optimizations, was released on November 30, 2007[5]. The current version is Empires 2.12. Empires is currently being ported to the Orange Box Engine for version 2.2 and beyond.
[edit] Press
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This article or section is missing citations or needs footnotes. Using inline citations helps guard against copyright violations and factual inaccuracies. (May 2008) |
Various magazines, websites and other reputable media of notice that covered Empires.
- Computer Games June 2006 Issue 187 (half page)[6]
- PC Action June 2006 (full page) (German) (version 1.0 included on DVD) [7]
- Gamestar July 2006 (German) (version 1.05 included on DVD)[citation needed]
- PC Games July 2006 (German)[citation needed]
- PCGamer UK 2006[citation needed]
- Planet Half-Life Featured Mod - 03-06-2006 & 07-06-2006 [8] [9]
- Mod DB, Players' Choice, top released mod of 2007.[10]
- CVG interview[citation needed]
- Xfire support[11]
[edit] References
- ^ Battlefield 1942 Empires mod - Free software downloads and reviews - CNET Download.com
- ^ FilePlanet: Mod Files | Empires | Gameplay
- ^ Empiresmod.com
- ^ Empiresmod.com
- ^ Empires Mod for Half-Life 2 Empires 2.0 Client Released news - Mod DB
- ^ Computer Games June 2006 article. Retrieved on 2008-04-22.
- ^ PC Action DE article. Retrieved on 2008-04-22.
- ^ Planet Half-Life Featured Mod. Retrieved on 2008-04-22.
- ^ Planet Half-Life Featured Mod. Retrieved on 2008-04-22.
- ^ 2007 Mod of the Year Awards Event Player's Choice Winners Showcase feature - Mod DB. Retrieved on 2008-04-22.
- ^ XFire Supported Games List. Retrieved on 2008-04-22.
