Fragile Allegiance
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| Fragile Allegiance | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Developer(s) | Gremlin Interactive |
| Publisher(s) | Gremlin Interactive Interplay |
| Designer(s) |
Alex Metallis
Kim Blake |
| Platform(s) | Windows 95, MS-DOS |
| Release date | |
| Genre(s) | 4X, Real-time strategy |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ELSPA 3+ ESRB: Everyone 10+ OFLC: G |
| Media | CD-ROM |
| System requirements | Windows 95, MS-DOS
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| Input methods | Keyboard, Mouse |
Fragile Allegiance is an open-ended 4X real-time strategy game from Gremlin Interactive, released in 1996 for MS-DOS and Windows 95. Veteran video game audio composer Patrick Phelan composed the soundtrack for the game.[3] It features real-time animations for all in-game actions, lip-syncing and includes complex diplomacy between players. Described as a combination of SimCity 2000, Civilization and Risk,[4] Fragile Allegiance uses an image based GUI for all menus and game commands. There is no defined tech tree, with a total of 36 blueprints for additional technologies available for purchase during the course of a game. It is the spiritual successor to K240[5] and there are many similarities between the two.[6]
The game begins on 25 May 2496 as the player begins their employment with TetraCorp (a large interstellar megacorporation) who have set up a new mining franchise operation in the Fragmented Sectors. There are 6 alien races competing with Tetracorp for these resources. Beginning with one building and one million credits, the player is then tasked with building up a successful mining operation to sell as much ore as possible to the Federation. Diplomacy is crucial to the success or failure of this franchise operation as the players colonies begin to encroach into enemy territory.[7]
Fragile Allegiance generally scored well with reviewers, with PC Gamer UK giving the game the "Game of Distinction" award and it was praised for it's graphics, interface and sound.[4] The game has problems running on Windows XP,[8] as it was designed for MS-DOS and Windows 95.[9]
Contents |
[edit] Gameplay
Gameplay takes place in the Fragmented Sectors, an area of space, filled with asteroids found to be vastly rich in mineral resources. The aim of the game is to mine the various ores that are found throughout the Fragmented Sectors and then sell them to the Federation in return for profit. The player can then use this money for empire expansion, purchasing new technologies, construction of buildings, ships and missiles, spying, trading and also to pay fines should the Federation impose any. The game has a stock market where all manner of things can be purchased and then sold later for profit. There is also a black market where unauthorised information regarding the various spies and colony supervisors that can be purchased in addition to buying illegal APV's (Anti-Personnel Virus), selling ore and acquiring certain missiles. The manual states that any TetraCorp employee caught selling ore on the black market will be terminated.[9]
Fragile Allegiance has a simplistic combat system with the player having no direct control over units once a fleet enters combat. Enemy asteroids can be attacked using ships, missiles and agents. During a battle, laser beams criss-cross the screen and buildings will catch fire before being destroyed. Ground turrets fire back at attacking ships and anti-missile turrets will shoot out incoming missiles. Small ships are built in a ship yard while the larger ships require a space dock for construction. Ships range from the small Scoutship - used to discover new asteroids, to the gigantic Command Cruiser - which is used for transporting combat fleets over vast distances that they would otherwise be unable to travel without refueling. Each ship has a limited amount of hardpoints which weapons and other devices can be attached too and ships can be grouped together into fleets.[9]
There are a total of seven races in the game, but only TetraCorp is able to be played. Upon discovering an alien race, diplomacy can be initiated in order to arrange things such as non-aggression pacts and joint-combat treaties, as well as accuse them of spying or trading with the Mauna (Trading with the Mauna is illegal under Federation law). If a faction is found to be trading with the Mauna, Jane Fong (Federal minister for trade relations in addition to her role as Terran ambassador for the Fragmented Sectors) can be informed, who will in turn tell the Federation, which could result in increased hostility towards the offending faction from all others or, they can be threatened with blackmail and forced to pay a tribute in return for the players silence. Each race has a unique look and diplomatic strategies and it all happens in real time with highly detailed characters that are well animated and lip-synced. One of the factions - The Mauna, are not members of the Federation and are unable to negotiated or traded with.[9]
As the players empire expands, agents and supervisors will make themselves available for employment. Agents are used for gathering intelligence on alien asteroids and can also be deployed on the players own asteroids for counter-intelligence. Other uses for agents include deploying APV's and destroying various buildings such as defense installations, life support, production, etc... The chances of an agent successfully completing their mission and their chances of escaping detection are increased if there is a spy satellite orbiting the asteroid they are assigned to. Colony Supervisors are able to be employed to help manage the building and maintenance of asteroid colonies. There is no research in the game - being replaced with the Sci-Tek blueprint system allowing players to buy new technologies as needed.[10] Multiplayer is available over an IPX network with TetraCorp being the only playable race.[9]
[edit] Plot
The player begins the game as the latest recruit to TetraCorps mining franchise operation and is tasked with selling as much ore as possible to the Federation, which is comprised of Representatives from six of the seven known alien cultures : the Terrans, the Artemia, the Mikotaj, the Achean Gatherings, the Braccatia and the Rigellians. The Federation was inaugurated in 2439 following a coup deposing the last Terran Emperor Dramon Salaria in 2437 and was established to encourage commercial competition rather than full scale wars between its constituent parties. The authority of the Federation is constantly challenged - in part by those who helped to create it, and the further away from the Federal center a person is, the less the Federation can influence their day to day lives. The seventh alien culture - the Mauna are not members of the Federation and it is revealed in the game that they are an untrustworthy and cruel species. It is not known if the Mauna were consulted with prior to the creation of the Federation, and trading with the Mauna is frowned upon by the Federation.[9]
Numerous megacorporations exist within the Federation and TetraCorp is one of the largest and oldest. Their sister company is Sci-Tek, which manufactures and supplies most of the technology that the player has access to. Sci-Tek also has blueprints for advanced technologies that the player can purchase. The opening cinematic plays like a corporate recruitment video and at one point is jammed by a Terran male who tells the viewer that TetraCorp has a history of exploiting workers of all races and cultures with low pay and wretched working conditions. The movie is jammed a second time by an Artemian who tells the player that Terran progression was responsible for 68% of all alien mortalities during the past three centuries and that the reason for this high percentage is due to megacorporations such as TetraCorp.
[edit] Development
Fragile Allegiance is essentially a remake of Gremlin Interactive's 1994 Amiga game K240, with the graphics and user interface revamped for the improved PC hardware available at the time.[5] The core gameplay elements of K240 are retained ; the game is set in an asteroid belt, the Sci-Tek blueprint system replaces research and the player is tasked with building up a successful mining operation. Many of the buildings, ships and missiles have the same names and functions as those in K240 and in both games there are six alien races competing against the player.[6] The soundtrack for the game was composed by Patrick Phelan who also composed the soundtrack for K240 and Utopia.[3] The game was released in 1996 and competed against other empire building titles such as Ascendancy and Master of Orion 2.[11]
Fragile Allegiance was marketed as an intense deep space real-time strategy game complete with complex face-to-face diplomacy.[11] Two versions of the game were released - a European version and a North American version,[12] with each region having different box art.[13] There were two different demo versions, one with audio[14] and one without audio.[15] A cheat code is available for the game and is entered slightly differently between the two versions. For the European version the code is FRAGILE /cKim.Jon.fmsti, while FRAGILE /c.Osiris.fmsti must be entered for the North American version. These codes reward the player with decreased construction time, extra money, the ability to see all asteroids in play, the ability to change the game speed in-game and gives the player access to all of the information in the game.[12]
People report that Fragile Allegiance does not work properly on Windows XP, as the game was designed for MS-DOS and Windows 95. The most common issues being reported are no audio, the game failing to start, and the game crashing when trying to rename anything, including saved games. As no patch was ever released for the game, people have had to use emulators such as VDMSound or DOSBox in order to get the game to function properly on Windows XP, but it may still crash when trying to rename a saved game.[8] The same also applies on windows Vista.
[edit] Reception
| Reviews | |
|---|---|
| Publication | Score |
| Edge | 8 out of 10[16] |
| GameSpot | 6.2 out of 10[17] |
| IGN | 5.5 out of 10[18] |
| PC Gamer UK | 91%[4] |
| PC Player | 89%[16] |
| PC Gameplay | 82%[16] |
| PC Games | 76%[16] |
| Computer Gaming World | 70%[16] |
Fragile Allegiance was generally well received, achieving average to good scores from reviewers.[10][16] It was praised for its graphics and icon driven interface which was condsidered slick and well integrated but a little confusing at first.[4][17] Reviewers noted that after figuring out what all the icons did the game was immensely engrossing, with the player always having something to do.[4] The game was criticized for its difficulty, simplistic combat model, the time spent transporting ore between asteroids and for the large amount of micromanagement involved once the players empire got large although reviewers noted that the latter two could be countered with the Ore Teleporter blueprint and Colony Supervisors respectively.[4][17] There were mixed feelings regarding the replacing of research with the Sci-Tek blueprint system as any blueprint can be bought in any order provided the player has the money to do so.[4][10][19]
The game was also criticized for only having one playable race - TetraCorp, but despite these criticisms PC Gamer UK gave it the "Game of Distinction" award for Christmas of 1996 stating "Takes ages to work out what's going on, and immense concentration. But this is completely engrossing." and awarded it a score of 91%.[4] European reviewers such as Edge, PC Gameplay, PC Games and PC Player generally scored the game higher than in North America with Computer Gaming World awarding it 70%.[16] Users of internet gaming sites GameSpot and IGN rated Fragile Allegiance significantly higher than the site reviewers with GameSpot users rating it 8.7/10 and IGN users rating it 6.9/10.[17][18] Game Rankings gave the game a score of 65%.[20]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Fragile Allegiance US and UK release dates. Mobygames.com. Retrieved on February 16, 2008.
- ^ Fragile Allegiance US release date. Gamefaqs.com. Retrieved on February 16, 2008.
- ^ a b Patrick Phelan Developer BIO. Mobygames.com. Retrieved on February 17, 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f g h “Fragile Allegiance review”, PC Gamer (UK: Future Publishing Ltd) 1 (38): 96-99, 'Christmas' 1996
- ^ a b K240. NationMaster.com. Retrieved on February 3, 2008.
- ^ a b K240 review. Amigareviews.com. Retrieved on March 23, 2008.
- ^ Fragile Allegiance Hints and Tips. the-crypt.info. Retrieved on March 16, 2008.
- ^ a b Details for Fragile Allegiance. NTcompatible.com. Retrieved on March 7, 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f (1996) Fragile Allegiance Manual. Gremlin Interactive.
- ^ a b c Download Fragile Allegiance. classic-pc-games.com. Retrieved on April 3, 2008.
- ^ a b Fragile Allegiance PC review. Computerandvideogames.com. Retrieved on March 23, 2008.
- ^ a b Fragile Allegiance versions. GamePublic.com. Retrieved on March 23, 2008.
- ^ Fragile Allegiance cover art. MobyGames.com. Retrieved on March 23, 2008.
- ^ Fragile Allegiance demo with sound. ezgoal.com. Retrieved on April 2, 2008.
- ^ Fragile Allegiance demo without sound. Download.com. Retrieved on April 2, 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f g Fragile Allegiance at MobyGames. MobyGames. Retrieved on March 8, 2008.
- ^ a b c d Gamespot Fragile Allegiance review. Gamespot. Retrieved on February 3, 2008.
- ^ a b IGN Fragile Allegiance review. IGN. Retrieved on February 6, 2008.
- ^ Fragile Allegiance a.k.a. K240. The-Underdogs.info. Retrieved on March 23, 2008.
- ^ GameRankings Fragile Allegiance score. GameRankings.com. Retrieved on February 9, 2008.
