DEFCON (video game)
A real-time strategy simulation of global nuclear war.
DEFCON (often written as DEFCOИ) is a real-time strategy game from the British independent studio Introversion Software. It simulates a global nuclear war, and its on-screen display is designed to look like the "big boards" seen in films about thermonuclear conflict, including *Dr. Strangelove*, *Fail-Safe*, and especially *WarGames*. The game was released for download on September 29, 2006, through Introversion’s own web store and on Steam. In North America it sometimes carries the subtitle *Everybody Dies*, while the European version is subtitled *Global Thermonuclear War*. Publisher Encore announced on April 5, 2007, that it would release the game in the United States, ordering an initial 50,000 retail copies. The UK retail release followed on June 15, 2007, and for a limited time included a copy of Introversion’s first game, *Uplink*.
Players see a world map rendered in 1980s-style vector graphics. They control a mix of nuclear and conventional weapons, with the main goal being to destroy as much of the enemy’s population as possible while keeping their own casualties low. A typical match results in millions of civilian deaths (called megadeaths). In most games, all sides suffer heavy losses, and the winner is the player with the highest score. Scoring can follow one of three schemes: Default (2 points per megadeath inflicted, minus 1 point per megadeath suffered), Survivor (1 point per million survivors in your territory), or Genocide (1 point per megadeath caused). While these systems work the same in a one-on-one match, they encourage very different strategies in larger multiplayer games.
Players can adjust the game speed from real-time (one in-game second equals one real second) up to 20 times real-time. Most matches last 30 to 40 minutes, but a real-time game can stretch past eight hours, depending on the scoring mode. There is also an "Office" mode where the game runs permanently in real-time and can be minimised to the background. A system tray icon alerts the player to important events, and a "boss key" (pressing the escape key twice quickly) hides the game. Office mode games last no more than six hours. The boss key works in all modes but is especially designed for this one.
DEFCON is a streamlined strategy game: there is no unit production (except for automatic fighter regeneration), no resource gathering, and no technology tree.
Quick Facts
- Title
- DEFCON
- Developer
- Introversion Software
- Publisher
- NA · Encore Software · EU · Pinnacle Entertainment Group
- Designer
- Chris Delay / Gary Chambers
- Composer
- Alistair Lindsay / Michael Maidment
- Released
- WindowsWW · 29 September 2006 / (Steam) · NA · 26 March 2007 · EU · 15 June 2007OS X / 19 April 2007 / Linux / 11 December 2012
- Genre
- Real-time strategy
- Modes
- Zero-player, singleplayer and multiplayer
- Platforms
- Windows / Mac OS X / Linux
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Players are given a 1980s vector graphics computer-themed world map, a varied arsenal of nuclear and conventional weaponry, and a primary objective: destroy as much of the enemy's population as possible while having as little of one's own population destroyed as possible. A typical game will see civilian casualties numbering in the millions (megadeaths) while players try their hand at annihilating their opponents. In most games, all sides take heavy losses, but the player with the highest score wins. Players' scores are determined according to one of three schemes: Default (gain 2 points for 1 megadeath caused, lose 1 point for 1 megadeath suffered), Survivor (gain 1 point per million survivors in the player's territory) or Genocide (gain 1 point for each megadeath caused).
DEFCON is a streamlined real-time strategy game, with no unit production (except for automatic fighter regeneration), resource collection, or technology tree upgrades. Players choose and position their forces at the beginning of the game. A countdown system prevents games from disintegrating prematurely. Gameplay begins at alert level DEFCON 5 and counts down to DEFCON 1 (the highest alert level). Each upgrade in alert level brings more possibilities. Once DEFCON 1 is reached, the game proceeds until a certain percentage (80% by default) of the total number of nuclear missiles available to all players have been launched or destroyed. Once this occurs, a victory countdown begins (45 game minutes by default) and the final score is announced when this countdown runs out.
A DEFCON game can host up to six human or AI players. DEFCON also features local multiplayer capability, i.e. on LAN, however the metaserver is used to find games anyway. Alliances can be formed, broken, or renegotiated at will with human players. Alliances with CPU-controlled players can only be set at the start of the game. Allied players share radar coverage and line of sight, but there is no allied victory and there is only one winner. This means that almost all alliances are broken by the end of the game. The chat system features a public channel, in which all players may communicate, as well as channels private to specific alliances, and direct player-to-player private messaging.
Reader's Guide
DEFCON received 'favourable' reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. 1UP.com said, 'This just may be the finest piece of budgetware ever produced, with every bit as much to offer strategywise as RTS games three times its cost,' praising the 'elementary' interface and calling the strategic depth 'enormous.' 1UP also praised the visuals, calling it 'one of the best-looking PC games all year.' Edge said DEFCON was 'worth it for the presentation alone.' Eurogamer commented that it was 'the least ambitious of Introversion's games in terms of design,' and 'its limitations are ones of the game's basic scope,' while praising DEFCON 'as pure and direct a game as its inspiration.' The editors of Computer Games Magazine presented DEFCON with their 2006 'Best Budget Game' award. It was a runner-up for their list of the year's top 10 computer games. It also won PC Gamer US's 2006 'Best Indie Game' award. A study by the Concordia University asked participants about nuclear war, including how likely they thought one could happen or if they could survive one, and divided them into two groups: one that played DEFCON and the other that read articles about nuclear weapons. After asking the questions again, the study concluded that those who played DEFCON were less likely to believe that they would survive a nuclear war, but also less likely to believe one could happen.
Did You Know?
- The game's screen is reminiscent of the 'big boards' from films such as Dr. Strangelove, Fail-Safe, and WarGames.
- In the UK, the retail release on June 15, 2007 included the developer's first game Uplink for a limited period.
- A game in Office mode lasts no more than six hours and can be minimised to run in the background.
- The source code is available for purchase, but its distributed version is modified to be incompatible with official binaries.
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