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[MOD] 1984: Defcon the Orwellian Way

Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 12:49 pm
by shinygerbil
This mod is based upon George Orwell's famous novel Nineteen Eighty-Four; it is an attempt to model (with a view to keeping the map balanced-ish) the three superpowers present in the book. So far, I have added a fourth territory, comprising of all the land which is "disputed," and in the novel fought over.

Although the book is quite clear on the fact that the war should never be won, that's not what Defcon is all about, so here I present you with a chance to find out who wins for yourself ;P

I am tempted to split Oceania into two smaller territories, to make it more manageable; human players have a fairly hard time of it, although CPU players seem to wipe the floor. (Against other CPUs.)

I have also begun work on changing the look of the game to a vaguely retro-steampunk-ish look, which I feel is roughly in keeping with the style of the book. But of course this is down to interpretation. So far, all units have been remade, and the first version of the colour scheme is going well.

Get the mod in its simplest form (i.e. just the modified territories) at http://www.shinygerbil.co.uk/files/1984.rar and give it a go!

I will soon be uploading a version of the mod with the graphics you see below.

Any ideas welcome :)

Screenshots:

Image
Image
Image

Edit4: Cleaned up this post a bit.

Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 1:00 pm
by Xan
well what can i say go for it ) it could be a very nice mod that i would like 2 play.

Re: Silly idea, but I might do it anyway

Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 2:07 pm
by zach
shinygerbil wrote:Take a look at this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:1984_fictious_world_map_2.png and tell me what you think.
Thank me for the proper spelling of Eastasia in that picture 8)

Oh, and awesome idea for a mod ... get to it!

Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 4:23 pm
by shinygerbil
No, I didn't think you could, I've had a good look through english.txt :)

It's a little messy, but here's a quick screenie:

[i've put it into the original post...]

Feedback welcome!

Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 4:34 pm
by Useful Dave
I Think you should add abit more sea onto Eurasia, taking space from Oceania.

Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 4:40 pm
by VANGUARD
Oh, that is COOL

Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 4:42 pm
by Daxx
Useful Dave wrote:I Think you should add abit more sea onto Eurasia, taking space from Oceania.


I agree. Maybe off the coast of Portugal/North-West Africa.

Otherwise, very nice work.

Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 4:51 pm
by shinygerbil
Check the updated screenshot!

Image

Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 5:46 pm
by rawera
Now to make a "floating fortress" image for the battleships.

Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 5:59 pm
by xander
shinygerbil wrote:Check the updated screenshot!

Looks good. Oceania would be a real challenge to play -- resources spread across the globe and all. I would imagine that it gets hit hard. I think the strategy would be to give up on defending more than a small portion of it, and concentrate defensive forces in a very small area. Either that, or attempt massive preemptive attacks, before either Eastasia or Eurasia can get a shot off. It would be an interesting scenario.

xander

Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 6:04 pm
by zach
Personally can't wait to play it.

This and LegendCON looks very promising, a real change of strategy indeed.

Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 6:26 pm
by tChr
But in Orwell's 1984, it's pretty clearly stated that the war wasn't meant to be won, but just to be fought; wouldn't this defy the concept of DEFCON, which turns out into an all-out nuclear exchange in a matter of hours? And besides, were ICBMs even invented in Orwell's dystopia?

Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 6:34 pm
by zach
tChr wrote:But in Orwell's 1984, it's pretty clearly stated that the war wasn't meant to be won, but just to be fought; wouldn't this defy the concept of DEFCON, which turns out into an all-out nuclear exchange in a matter of hours?
No-one wins.

tChr wrote:And besides, were ICBMs even invented in Orwell's dystopia?
... And the world will never know :roll:

~ Well thought, anyway. You're right, the war is meant to go on and on and on, to hog up the resources leaving every citizen extremely poor, making the repression of the people possible for those with power (if there ever were such ones).

Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 6:46 pm
by shinygerbil
Ssshhhh. ;)


xander, after a quick playtest, Oceania is pretty hard to defend indeed; it would make sense to add more units by default, as all the territories are bigger (with the possible exception of Eastasia.) Interestingly, the Eastasia, the smallest territory, lost heavily; that probably has more to do with AI than anything else, though.

Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2006 7:02 pm
by xander
shinygerbil wrote:Ssshhhh. ;)


xander, after a quick playtest, Oceania is pretty hard to defend indeed; it would make sense to add more units by default, as all the territories are bigger (with the possible exception of Eastasia.) Interestingly, the Eastasia, the smallest territory, lost heavily; that probably has more to do with AI than anything else, though.

Perhaps require that the game be played without defection, and put two or three players in Oceania, one in Eastasia, and one in Eurasia? This would require that the host set it up properly, but it could work -- say a North American player, an Australian player, and an African/South American player. Of course, that would give the advantage to Oceania.

xander