Joined: 28 Feb 2005 Location: 3,000,000 years away from Earth
Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 12:46 pm Post subject:
Hard Vacuum
Subject description: A Dune II clone that was never completed
I just stumbled upon this very interesting game: Hard Vacuum. Inspired by Dune II, it would have preceded both Warcraft and Command & Conquer, were it released in time. Unfortunately, Hard Vacuum was never completed, and only graphics are available for download.
Apart from regular features associated with the then-newborn RTS genre, some interesting things were planned for this game:
Quote:
There were several interesting systems in Hard Vacuum. Some made it into future RTS games and some did not.
Supply Lines: When you built a mining tower on a resource deposit, there was no need to manually build and manage drones to carry the minerals back and forth. Instead, a road was built from your base to the mine. Drones were automatically created when the mine had a full load and sent along the road to your base. Enemies could blast your supply line and interrupt your flow of resources. So protecting fixed supply lines became a bit part of the strategy.
Variable Height Terrain: This was a 2D tile-based game intended to run on 386 and 486 machines. We had a full system of variable height terrain. Units on higher ground would have targeting advantages over units on lower grow
Deformable terrain with flowing water and lava: You could blow huge holes in terrain with artillery in order to divert streams and lava. Drop a water bomb on a city and watch it wash away an entire troop. Drop a dirt bomb to create a mountain.
Walls: Walls played a huge part in the game to give large defensive barriers to attack. These existed in Dune2, but were extended in HV
Player created landscapes: Walls, base building, supply lines, and advanced terrain modification all contributed to a game where players built intricate maps during game play. We couldn't afford to spend lots of money building maps so instead we had to create fun systems that let players create unique and interesting combat situations.
_________________ I am MrFlibble. Just MrFlibble. From the Potato King to Uncle Arnie to MrFlibble. I am his right hand. FED2k Forums - Westwood Studios' Dune games and more QUICK_EDIT
Deformable terrain with flowing water and lava: You could blow huge holes in terrain with artillery in order to divert streams and lava. Drop a water bomb on a city and watch it wash away an entire troop. Drop a dirt bomb to create a mountain.
That sound awesome. _________________ Hallå hallå!
sluta knuffas!
Check out that link! I'm making my own RTS, and you can support me with suggestions!
VV
http://ppmsite.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=25048 QUICK_EDIT
No, but mine will >:)
(Check link in sig) _________________ Hallå hallå!
sluta knuffas!
Check out that link! I'm making my own RTS, and you can support me with suggestions!
VV
http://ppmsite.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=25048 QUICK_EDIT
Joined: 28 Feb 2005 Location: 3,000,000 years away from Earth
Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 12:21 pm Post subject:
Hey guys, maybe someone will make a tribute to this game, since most of the graphics are freely available? I think modern-day RTS engines would allow for implementation of all those ideas. _________________ I am MrFlibble. Just MrFlibble. From the Potato King to Uncle Arnie to MrFlibble. I am his right hand. FED2k Forums - Westwood Studios' Dune games and more QUICK_EDIT
It was well beyond its time, as with most other games running on the amiga. The painstakingly constructed graphics are awesome, It is a shame that it didn't see the light of day since it was almost complete. QUICK_EDIT
Joined: 28 Feb 2005 Location: 3,000,000 years away from Earth
Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 3:45 pm Post subject:
raminator wrote:
but gfx are kinda useless except for maybe dune2
What are you talking about, they're a fine example of excellent pixel-art.
I wonder if there's a working build of the game itself anywhere left. It would be a shame if they completed it thus far, and then lost the program... _________________ I am MrFlibble. Just MrFlibble. From the Potato King to Uncle Arnie to MrFlibble. I am his right hand. FED2k Forums - Westwood Studios' Dune games and more QUICK_EDIT
yeah....I wonder what you would do to it, if you found it Mr Flibble _________________ Please, I DON'T read the signature rules of the forum. QUICK_EDIT
What are you talking about, they're a fine example of excellent pixel-art.
I wonder if there's a working build of the game itself anywhere left. It would be a shame if they completed it thus far, and then lost the program...
in that time it looked nice...
but today you could use these gfx only for other games of that time or a remake like those Dune2-Remakes...
for games like TS/RA2 or even TD they are not really usefull except as a concept _________________ just a simple logo by bricks @ raminator, on Flickr QUICK_EDIT
Joined: 28 Feb 2005 Location: 3,000,000 years away from Earth
Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 6:19 pm Post subject:
Of course they cannot be used in a TD/RA/TS/RA2 mod, but I think there have been several projects (I don't know if any is still being worked on) that use this GFX (one is called Burning Dust). _________________ I am MrFlibble. Just MrFlibble. From the Potato King to Uncle Arnie to MrFlibble. I am his right hand. FED2k Forums - Westwood Studios' Dune games and more QUICK_EDIT
Also Known As: evanb90 Joined: 20 Feb 2005 Location: o kawaii koto
Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2020 5:53 am Post subject:
I like the retro aesthetic. Would be really awesome if it was completed, with the text/UI elements having that same look _________________ YR modder/artist, DOOM mapper, aka evanb90
Project Lead Developer, New-Star Strike (2014-)
Former Project Lead DeveloperStar Strike (2005-2012), Z-Mod (2006-2007), RA1.5 (2008-2013), The Cold War (2006-2007) QUICK_EDIT
Ah yeah this one. I remember stumbling into that article years ago. IIRC it was made by the guy who made Tyrian 2000. _________________ ~ Excelsior ~ QUICK_EDIT
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