Darwinia

Introversion have finally got around to putting up some screenshots of their newest project, Darwinia. Looks interesting, doesn''t it? The word is that it''s some kind of RTS - we''re guessing you command the little army guys you see in the screenshots. According to an article in PC Gamer (UK), it''s set inside "a network of retro videogame consoles," where you play a gamer who is trying to "beat back a viral infection." The article lists Cannon Fodder and Syndicate as influences, and contains "objets d''art from the annals of videogame history... Along with a conventional array of rocket launchers, machine-guns and laser cannons, you''re able to call upon air strikes, delivered from orbit by a squadron of space invaders." The only other particularly interesting things that the article mentions are a "gesture recognition system" - I''m thinking something like Black and White, but how cool would that be in an RTS? You just wave your cursor at the enemy, and your guys charge at them... - and a "unique sound emulator, built to repoduce the distinctive sound-scapes of ''80s arcade games in a modern Dolby enabled environment." Sounds psychadelic. There''s supposedly another article in the next issue, which I shall eagerly await. This game is particularly interesting, at least to me, because Introversion are the guys who made Uplink - graphically undemanding, written entirely by one guy (though he brought someone else in to help with the Linux port), a true Indie production - which made it to #7 in the PC Gamer (UK) Reader''s Top 100, and was being sold, box-copy, all over the UK. Then they got published in America... it''s a real testament to the fact that Indie games can still make big money. So that''s why Introversion is one to keep an eye on, IMO.

---

Richard "Superpig" Fine
Smoother than a greased baby [TBRF|GP&T|Enginuity1|Enginuity2|Enginuity3|Enginuity4|Enginuity5|TB|DirectXFAQ]