Harpoon (computer game)

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Harpoon
Developer(s) Three-Sixty Pacific (now bankrupt),ACSI->AGSI
Publisher(s) Matrix Games
Designer(s) Larry Bond
Engine Proprietary
Platform(s) Deprecated: MS-DOS Amiga

Currently: MS-Windows, Macintosh
Release date 1989, 2001, 2004, 2006
Genre(s) Real-time strategy, Wargame
Mode(s) Single player, Multiplayer
Rating(s) ESRB: Everyone
Media Deprecated: Floppy disk, Currently: CD, Download
System requirements Originally EGA, 8088, 512kb RAM, 1.2mb Floppy Disk. Presently P3+, .5Gb, 120mb

Harpoon is a realistic air and naval computer wargame based upon Larry Bond's miniatures game of the same name. A Player can play one side: Blue or Red, in simulated naval combat situation, both local conflicts, as well as in Cold War confrontation between the Superpowers. Missions differ from small missile boat engagements to large oceanic battles with tens of vessels and hundreds of aircraft. The game also includes large database containing many types of real world ships, submarines and planes.

The simulation has a small but very dedicated fan base with several websites offering a varying style of scenarios and discussion forum. Often described as a 'niche within a niche market', development of the simulation has progressed steadily over the years in the face of the overwhelming numerical and graphical superiority of First-Person-Shooter types such as Half-Life, and Real-Time-Strategy games such as Starcraft. AGSI, developers of Harpoon, currently distribute the simulation through Matrix games, with technical support being handled on a co-operative basis via AGSI and Matrix games employees.

Harpoon was originally developed by Three-Sixty Pacific, and had several development paths and publishers, but now all computer rights rest with Advanced Gaming Systems. The game's development history is quite long and sometimes confusing, especially considering that there were two separate versions of the game on the market, Harpoon Classic and Harpoon II (later Harpoon Commander's Edition and Harpoon III ANW respectively).

Harpoon's interface emphasises technical accuracy over graphical polish, with simple 2D symbols reminiscent of a warship's radar display. There has been considerable debate in the game's user community about the decision of the developers to utilize 3D graphics in later versions of the program. As of May 2008, two releases are available to AGSI civilian customers. Harpoon Commanders Edition is an "introductory" offering based upon the game engines of the original series and Harpoon III ANW is the current civilian distillation of the product. Military customers are offered Harpoon III Pro, which is tailored for customer specifications. Development of both versions is ongoing, with ANW V3.8 released and V3.9 expected in Fall 2008. V4.0 is expected to undergo a graphical overhaul. Further development of the civilian variant will include a totally new user interface and improved graphics capability.

[edit] Gameplay

The game plays in real time, with time acceleration capability in case the action slows down. The player can control single or multiple platforms (up to the hundreds if the computing power is available). The game is extremely comprehensive, although certain elements of naval warfare are not modelled, such as radar ducting, sonar bottom and surface bounce, and COMINT/SIGINT.

[edit] Titles and Release Dates

  • Harpoon
  • Harpoon II (1994) becomes Harpoon III
  • Harpoon Classic (1994, 1997, 2002) - also for Windows - becomes Commander's Edition below
  • Harpoon III (2001) (Updated 2004) - Mac only - ended at v3.6.3. Windows version becomes Harpoon Advanced Naval Warfare
  • Harpoon 3 Professional (2002,2006,2007) - Windows only
  • Harpoon 3: Advanced Naval Warfare (v3.7 June 14, 2006, v3.8 Feb 2007)- Windows only
  • Harpoon Commanders Edition (v1.0 Early 2007) - Windows only

[edit] External links