Darkwind: War on Wheels
Encyclopedia
Darkwind: War on Wheels is an independently developed 3D turn based racing
and vehicle combat massively multiplayer online game
(MMOG) for Windows
, Mac OS X
and Linux
. It is inspired by the tabletop game
Car Wars
and the Mad Max
movies, but set in its own original universe.
Darkwind was opened to the public on May 4, 2007 after two years of development and has since then been constantly updated with new features and content.
expanses of wilderness between the towns are menaced by gangs of road pirates armed with heavily armed cars and trucks, and travelled by equally well armed trade groups, making a living by carrying food, fuel, and other specialist equipment between the towns.
There are all sorts of activities to do within the game. Players can gain fame and accumulate looted hardware from their defeated adversaries (who may be either computer-controlled or player-controlled), but risk suffering defeat and the lives of their gang members. Wilderness actions are frequently performed by multi-player squads: by joining together, players can greatly increase their chance of survival. Alternatively, players can also join town events, such as races and death races, to gain fame and earn prizes. These can be joined as standard events, competitive leagues or ladders.
Eight towns are currently open to players, each offering distinct death race tracks and wilderness combat maps around it. Darkwind currently has more than 20 racetracks with more under development. Camps were also introduced in 2008, allowing players to establish communities in addition to the towns on the game map. Camps can grow food, harvest water, build weapons, repair vehicles, etc.
Characters can be trained in combat and non-combat skills such as driving, gunnery, mechanic, scouting, first aid, handguns, etc. which adds RPG elements to the game.
It is also worth mentioning that character death in Darkwind is permanent. In addition to perma-death Darkwind has a complex injury system with long-term (broken bones) and permanent (limb-loss). Replacing dead gang members is easy, however, making it usually just a minor setback.
Many of the aspects of Darkwind run to a realworld timescale. It takes days or weeks for the players characters to heal from their injuries; it takes hours or days to repair/upgrade vehicles, and it takes hours to travel between towns. This makes strategic decisions carry real importance, and gameplay aspects such as trading take real time and effort, which allows them to work properly as part of the dynamic economy.
The availability of hardware in the markets is a carefully balanced gameplay factor - if wilderness pirates are not kept under control, for example, then rare chassis types and weapons will not be easy to find.
A carefully developed economic model based on systems dynamic simulation ensures that the control and distribution of key resources unperpins a realistic, dynamic economy, providing real opportunities for trade to be used as a gameplay strategy, and control of key resources to be used as part of long term feuds and warfare. The actions of the player gangs and the victories and defeats of the computer-controlled pirate and trader gangs directly impacts the availability and cost of resources and vehicle hardware at each of the towns in the game. Lucrative trade routes are therefore not static but must be continually devised and modified.
gameplay which is the core of the game is done though a freely downloadable game client
.
In Darkwind, turn-based gameplay racing becomes purely about the tactics of entering and exiting corners, passing opponents, and generally breaking down the nuances of driving that normally become automated in a traditional driving game. As real world professional racing has much more to do with tactics than reactions (for example F1
or Nascar
races), the turn-based nature of Darkwind allows players to race more professionally by letting them battle it out tactically rather just waiting to see who's first to make a mistake. Darkwind's turn-based system also allows for highly detailed rules and strategy, as players have more time to assign orders to characters and vehicles.
There are two phases when the turn ends. One is the Orders phase, in which players will see their vehicles move accordingly. This is affected by many factors, including the vehicle's position, damage to tires, previous velocity, whether it is under fire etc. The second is the firing phase, whereby vehicles open fire on their targets, depending on the orders given. The extent of damage is revealed through text messages, similar to old-school RPGs such as Fallout.
s, SUVs and larger van
s and truck
s. 14 different engines and 50+ weapons ranging from rams and flamethrowers for close combat to rocket launchers and mortars for long-range mayhem. Each of the chassis and weapons offers different advantages which allows players to create a range of unique and interesting vehicle designs. The weapons have detailed statistics underlying them: recoil, close range and ranged accuracy, damage factors, psychological 'fear factors', ammunition, and so on.
.
One of Darkwind's key selling features is the wide variety of activities to participate in. Inside Mac Games, in its review, said: "This is a breath of fresh air in what I consider a very stale and one-sided genre of gameplay, where even the behemoth in the market seems destined for repetition." . Gametunnel reviewer Joseph Lieberman also praises Darkwind for its harsh, unforgiving setting, saying "...it is refreshing to see an online game that doesn't let you off the hook when things go south."
Darkwind was chosen by Gametunnel for Game of the Month in May 2009, receiving its Gold Award . Bytten has also awarded Darkwind with the "Most Addictive of 2009" Bytten Ernie Award .
Racing
A sport race is a competition of speed, against an objective criterion, usually a clock or to a specific point. The competitors in a race try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time...
and vehicle combat massively multiplayer online game
Massively multiplayer online game
A massively multiplayer online game is a multiplayer video game which is capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of players simultaneously. By necessity, they are played on the Internet, and usually feature at least one persistent world. They are, however, not necessarily games played on...
(MMOG) for Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
and Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
. It is inspired by the tabletop game
Tabletop game
Tabletop game is a general term used to refer to board games, card games, dice games, miniatures wargames, tile-based games and other games that are normally played on a table or other flat surface...
Car Wars
Car Wars
Car Wars is a vehicle combat simulation game developed by Steve Jackson Games. It was first published in late 1980 .-Game play:In Car Wars, players assume control of one or more automobiles, which may include any powered vehicle, from motorcycles to semi trucks. Optional rules include piloting...
and the Mad Max
Mad Max
Mad Max is a 1979 Australian dystopian action film directed by George Miller and revised by Miller and Byron Kennedy over the original script by James McCausland. The film stars Mel Gibson, who was unknown at the time. Its narrative based around the traditional western genre, Mad Max tells a story...
movies, but set in its own original universe.
Darkwind was opened to the public on May 4, 2007 after two years of development and has since then been constantly updated with new features and content.
Story
A disastrous solar event in 2019 and 2020 leaves the world devastated, with only small pockets of human survivors scratching out a living in a bleak, irradiated world. Largely fuelled by the stockpiles of hardware left behind by a dead civilization combined with the desperation of a new world order, the gladiatorial deathsports begin, around 2035. The vastexpanses of wilderness between the towns are menaced by gangs of road pirates armed with heavily armed cars and trucks, and travelled by equally well armed trade groups, making a living by carrying food, fuel, and other specialist equipment between the towns.
Gameplay
The focus of the game is on vehicular combat - cars with guns - both in the wilderness and in manmade arenas and racing circuits. Gameplay is split between a web interface (for strategic management) and a 3D interface which supports Windows, Mac OS X and Linux (for control of your characters and vehicles during a combat or race).There are all sorts of activities to do within the game. Players can gain fame and accumulate looted hardware from their defeated adversaries (who may be either computer-controlled or player-controlled), but risk suffering defeat and the lives of their gang members. Wilderness actions are frequently performed by multi-player squads: by joining together, players can greatly increase their chance of survival. Alternatively, players can also join town events, such as races and death races, to gain fame and earn prizes. These can be joined as standard events, competitive leagues or ladders.
Eight towns are currently open to players, each offering distinct death race tracks and wilderness combat maps around it. Darkwind currently has more than 20 racetracks with more under development. Camps were also introduced in 2008, allowing players to establish communities in addition to the towns on the game map. Camps can grow food, harvest water, build weapons, repair vehicles, etc.
Web interface
Through the web-interface the players can manage the recruiting, finances and the gangs vehicle garage.Characters can be trained in combat and non-combat skills such as driving, gunnery, mechanic, scouting, first aid, handguns, etc. which adds RPG elements to the game.
It is also worth mentioning that character death in Darkwind is permanent. In addition to perma-death Darkwind has a complex injury system with long-term (broken bones) and permanent (limb-loss). Replacing dead gang members is easy, however, making it usually just a minor setback.
Many of the aspects of Darkwind run to a realworld timescale. It takes days or weeks for the players characters to heal from their injuries; it takes hours or days to repair/upgrade vehicles, and it takes hours to travel between towns. This makes strategic decisions carry real importance, and gameplay aspects such as trading take real time and effort, which allows them to work properly as part of the dynamic economy.
The availability of hardware in the markets is a carefully balanced gameplay factor - if wilderness pirates are not kept under control, for example, then rare chassis types and weapons will not be easy to find.
A carefully developed economic model based on systems dynamic simulation ensures that the control and distribution of key resources unperpins a realistic, dynamic economy, providing real opportunities for trade to be used as a gameplay strategy, and control of key resources to be used as part of long term feuds and warfare. The actions of the player gangs and the victories and defeats of the computer-controlled pirate and trader gangs directly impacts the availability and cost of resources and vehicle hardware at each of the towns in the game. Lucrative trade routes are therefore not static but must be continually devised and modified.
Game client
The main turn based tacticalTurn-based tactics
Turn-based tactics , or tactical turn-based , is a computer and video game genre of strategy video games that through stop-action simulates the considerations and circumstances of operational warfare and military tactics in generally small-scale confrontations as opposed to more strategic...
gameplay which is the core of the game is done though a freely downloadable game client
Client (computing)
A client is an application or system that accesses a service made available by a server. The server is often on another computer system, in which case the client accesses the service by way of a network....
.
In Darkwind, turn-based gameplay racing becomes purely about the tactics of entering and exiting corners, passing opponents, and generally breaking down the nuances of driving that normally become automated in a traditional driving game. As real world professional racing has much more to do with tactics than reactions (for example F1
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
or Nascar
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
races), the turn-based nature of Darkwind allows players to race more professionally by letting them battle it out tactically rather just waiting to see who's first to make a mistake. Darkwind's turn-based system also allows for highly detailed rules and strategy, as players have more time to assign orders to characters and vehicles.
There are two phases when the turn ends. One is the Orders phase, in which players will see their vehicles move accordingly. This is affected by many factors, including the vehicle's position, damage to tires, previous velocity, whether it is under fire etc. The second is the firing phase, whereby vehicles open fire on their targets, depending on the orders given. The extent of damage is revealed through text messages, similar to old-school RPGs such as Fallout.
Vehicular customization
As of October 2007, Darkwind had 50+ unique vehicle chassis including subcompacts, sedans, muscle carMuscle car
Muscle car is a term used to refer to a variety of high-performance automobiles. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines muscle cars as "any of a group of American-made 2-door sports coupes with powerful engines designed for high-performance driving." Usually, a large V8 engine is fitted in a...
s, SUVs and larger van
Van
A van is a kind of vehicle used for transporting goods or groups of people.In British English usage, it can be either specially designed or based on a saloon or sedan car, the latter type often including derivatives with open backs...
s and truck
Truck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...
s. 14 different engines and 50+ weapons ranging from rams and flamethrowers for close combat to rocket launchers and mortars for long-range mayhem. Each of the chassis and weapons offers different advantages which allows players to create a range of unique and interesting vehicle designs. The weapons have detailed statistics underlying them: recoil, close range and ranged accuracy, damage factors, psychological 'fear factors', ammunition, and so on.
Future updates
Features planned for the future include: psionic abilities, performance-enhancing drugs and more towns. The developer is constantly seeking input from the game's community, so anything is possible.Subscription
Darkwind is free to download and play with some restrictions. Players are limited to using pre-built vehicles in league and ladder events as well as wilderness combats (restricted to the area around the main in-game town of Somerset) while subscribers are free to buy and customize their own vehicles which they can use to enter special pro-events and participate in wilderness combats.Soundtrack
The soundtrack to Darkwind: War on Wheels uses tracks written by Dean Garcia of the band CurveCurve (band)
Curve was an English music group formed in 1990 chiefly around the collaboration of singer/songwriter Toni Halliday and bassist/guitarist/programmer Dean Garcia.-History:...
.
Reception
Reviews have been consistently favourable, thanks to integration of driving physics into its turn based gameplay - something that is unusual for an MMORPG. Andrew Williams from Bytten remarks that Darkwind "...is a seriously addictive game" . PC Gamer UK calls Darkwind "...the best quasi-real-time, partially browser-based, online, post-apocalyptic turn-based vehicular fighting game we’ve played" .One of Darkwind's key selling features is the wide variety of activities to participate in. Inside Mac Games, in its review, said: "This is a breath of fresh air in what I consider a very stale and one-sided genre of gameplay, where even the behemoth in the market seems destined for repetition." . Gametunnel reviewer Joseph Lieberman also praises Darkwind for its harsh, unforgiving setting, saying "...it is refreshing to see an online game that doesn't let you off the hook when things go south."
Darkwind was chosen by Gametunnel for Game of the Month in May 2009, receiving its Gold Award . Bytten has also awarded Darkwind with the "Most Addictive of 2009" Bytten Ernie Award .