Darwinia (video game) - Misplaced Pages

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Darwinia
Darwinia box art.
Developer(s)	Introversion Software
Publisher(s)	Introversion Software (Windows/Linux) Ambrosia Software (Mac OS X) Cinemaware Marquee (eGames label) (US PC format)
Designer(s)	Chris Delay
Platform(s)	Windows Linux Mac OS X Xbox Live Arcade
Release	March 4, 2005 (Windows) March 18, 2005 March 30, 2005 (Mac OS X) December 14 2005 (Steam)
Genre(s)	Not well defined; hybrid of Action and RTS
Mode(s)	Single player

Darwinia is the second game made by Introversion Software, the creators of Uplink. It is an action game, similar to Cannon Fodder, with graphics inspired by early arcade machines.

Backstory

Contrary to the indicative name, the world of Darwinia is not a natural phenomenon. It was created as a digital theme world - a Jurassic Park for polygons by the mysterious Dr. Sepulveda (who himself bears an uncanny likeness to renowned ZX Spectrum inventor Sir Clive Sinclair, tying into the retro presentation of the game). Housed in a massive network of surplus Protologic 68000 machines from the '80s, Darwinia is a world where the single-poly Darwinians (also known as DGs or DeeGees meaning "Darwinia Guy" a name that the fanbase created that predates their official title), with their simple, but growing AI, can grow and evolve. And where the world can visit to see them gambolling in their natural, fractal habitat. Except, when the player arrives, something has gone horribly wrong. Darwinia has been infected by a virus, and Dr. Sepulveda is panicking, watching decades of research being corrupted and consumed. Since the player is the only other person there at the time, Sepulveda decides that the player can help him. The player is given access to the combat programs, simple tools that were meant as mini-games, mostly involving guns and blowing things up, but now the only attack against the virus. It soon becomes clear this is not enough, and that triggers the third aspect of the gameplay - evolution.

Gameplay

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Darwinia fails to fall into any game genre, as it mixes elements from strategy, action, puzzle, hacker, and God games alike. Its retro styling coupled with colorful 3D design is unlike most games on the market, and its simple, intuitive gameplay is mysteriously profound. The player has the ability to run several programs through the Task Manager (Windows pun intended). The Squad program will give the player a close up action and stealth game, aiming and firing both primary and secondary weapons. The Engineer program can then reprogram buildings and collect Souls from the destroyed Virus to create Darwinians. The Officer program allows you to indirectly order the masses of Darwinians to run, occupy, and even attack, reminiscent of "Lemmings". Strategy is required whether you use commando raids or control large battles. Research allows the player to develop bigger and better weapons, as the enemy viruses also get bigger and better. All this to complete Mission Objectives at a Location, as the player and the Darwinians wipe out the Virus in a Great War.

Friendly Units

These are the friendly units in the game, units that the player can either directly control or influence. The DGs have a green color, while the player-created units are yellowish-gold.

Darwinian (DG): The natives of Darwinia, these green sprites roam about freely. They are the product of Dr. Sepulveda's life work, and their intelligence has been evolving for thousands of generations. The DGs at first are defenseless, with screaming and running as their only reaction to the virus. They can be later upgraded with lasers (and use a fire-and-flee behavior when attacking) and later with grenades (fired very rarely). They are not very effective by themselves, but a large-sized group can be very formidable. Darwinians can operate buildings such as the Refinery and Mines. However, Dr. Sepulveda had endowed them with free will, so you cannot control them directly.
Officer: These are Darwinians promoted with a special program that the Doc had created and that you find in a research cube. They are the only Darwinians that can be directly controlled, and do not take up any space on the task manager (except when the program is created). They are very conspicuous, with their larger yellow bodies and waving flag. They can issue the rally point GOTO (basic) order, the stronger FOLLOW (upgrade) order, or ABSORB (upgrade) Darwinians to create a Soul Shield. They are not very effective combat units, as they rarely fire lasers, and only one can be selected at a time. However, any DG in their command radius will instantly obey their orders.
Squad: Your basic combat unit, and your primary weapon against the viral outbreak. Their primary weapon is a barrage of lasers, while their secondary weapon can be either grenades, rockets, or airstrike beacons. The squad originally has three members, but can be upgraded to have six members. Several squads can be on the map, but only one squad can be controlled at a time. Their lasers and secondary weapons can be upgraded for range except the Airstrike (increases the number of bombers instead).
- Squad Weaponry
Laser: The Squad is always equipped with the standard laser weapon. Effective against basic Virii and Centipedes, but almost useless against anything else. The laser must be firing in order for the Squad to be able to use any secondary weapons.
Grenade: The first secondary weapon obtained in the game. They are effective against all types of Virus, especially in large groups. However, the grenades need time to be lobbed, and sit about two seconds on the ground before exploding. The grenades are also affected by gravity and slope, so your grenades can bounce right back to you or overshoot your targets. Fully upgraded DGs have access to Grenades, but no other squad weaponry.
Rocket: The Rocket weapon is one of the more powerful weapons the squad obtains. The rockets are high explosive, and even spiders fall after a full volley of Squad Rockets. While extremely powerful, the rockets are also highly dangerous to your Squad and DGs. The Rockets originally have a very short range, only going out a short distance before going off. The biggest drawback is that rockets explode on contact to the terrain, so two rockets fired into the hill can easily wipe out your squad.
Airstrike: The airstrike program is the most powerful secondary weapon the squad has, especially when fully upgraded. When triggered, the Squad will lob airstrike markers (one for each squadmate), which will then be attacked by hit-and-run bombers (known as "Invaders"). The airstrike marker originally has only one bomber for each marker, but can be upgraded to have a maximum of 4 bombers to each marker. The Airstrike is not without drawbacks. The bombers do take some time to get to the target, and, like real airstrikes, can be a bit off-target from their markers.
Engineer: The basic utility unit, a dumb debugger. This useful tweezer-looking program automatically reprograms nearby buildings and collects "souls" left by dead virii to be reborn into new DGs. At the DG core is a digital "soul," represented by a green diamond (yellow in the case of an Officer, red in the case of Viruses. Engineers, Squads, and Armour do not drop souls) that can be brought back to a friendly incubator to be reborn into a new DG. They are slow, but they can move over water. They can be upgraded to collect more souls before having to return to the nearest incubator. They have no weaponry.
Armour: The Armour can be created when the Construction Yard is re-activated. The Armour functions like an APC, being able to transport and protect a number of DGs across rough land and even through water. They can be upgraded to contain more DGs, but have no weaponry. Be aware that if an Armour is destroyed or closed while DGs are still inside of it, the DGs will be destroyed (reverted to soul form).
Battle Cannon: The Armour can reform into a Battle Cannon, a four-barreled stationary turret. The battle cannon needs to be on level ground to reform, and needs four DGs for maximum effectiveness. An unoccupied Battle Cannon is useless, one DG will fire one barrel, two will fire two, and so on and so forth. The Battle cannon does have a minimum and maximum range of fire, so it can't fire at things right under it and cannot hit things out of range. Battle Cannons cannot be moved once placed, and must be destroyed to be removed. The player can directly control a Battle Cannon if there's at least one DG in it, but only one turret can be controlled in this matter. The DGs aren't the brightest when it comes to weapons of extreme power. When they see a virus in range, they will shoot at it, and they will continue to shoot at it until they kill it, even if player units or even friendly DGs are in the line of fire. The DGs inside are easily killed, and the Battle Cannon itself can be used by enemy DGs. However, this weapon has the most firepower in the game and is effective against all Virus types, even the ones that require explosives to destroy. Their upgrades are joint with the Armour upgrades, and cannon range will increase with each one.

Buildings

Control Tower: Controls the connected building. These can be reprogrammed by an Engineer to retake that building.
Incubator: Rebirths Souls into Darwinians. Engineers can return collected Souls here.
Radar Dish: Teleports units to another Radar Dish. Player must aim the sending Radar Dish at the receiving Radar Dish, which must be facing it.
Trunk Port: Connects different parts of Darwinia together. Mission objectives usually include turning these back on.
Mine: Used to mine polygons from the ground. DG operated.
Refinery: Used to refine polygons into Primaries. DG operated.
Spawn Points: Spawns Darwinians until the island maximum is reached. Unlike the Incubator, no souls are needed. DG operated.

Viral Units

These creatures are the by-product of the viral infection, corrupting and consuming the virtual world bit by bit. They all have a trademark red color and usually attack when they see a player unit or a DG. Because they had consumed so much of the digital world, they also drop souls when they are defeated.

Virii: The first enemy that you face in Darwinia, and by far the most common. They are two-dimensional "snakes" made of triangles, and usually don't stray too far away from a designated spot. They're not a threat by themselves, but they are usually in large groups, and will mindlessly attack any hostile unit, even across water. They can be eliminated easily with basic weapons fire.
Centipede: They essentially the same basic Virii, except they have grown larger and expanded into three dimensions. A dangerous opponent, the Centipede is fast moving and can destroy Squads and groups of Darwinians by crushing them. However, it usually appears alone or in pairs, and will flee if fired upon. However, when hit with enough firepower, it will split into several smaller centipedes, creating a bigger headache. Smaller centipedes are faster and harder to hit, but are weaker. The Centipede can grow new segments by consuming loose souls, so any smaller centipedes must be taken care of quickly before they find a stash of souls and become much tougher.
Jellyfish AKA Spore Generator: These are the egg-laying kind of virus and are usually float above clumps of Virii. These are the first enemies that must be destroyed with explosives, for any laser fire will not harm the creature. It has no attack of its own, it only lays Virii eggs, which must be fertilized by viruses carrying souls. However, this can make it one of the more annoying enemies. When attacked, it will fly back up; consequently, multiple attacks are needed to destroy it.
Spider: These highly agile and dangerous enemies can jump long distances and crush large numbers of Darwinians and Squads alike. The most difficulty in destroying these enemies is that they are absolutely impervious to standard laser fire, which means that only squads and fully upgraded DGs can take them on with their explosive weaponry. Moreover, the attempt to destroy it with explosives can damage a nearby Squad or Darwinians after they have jumped onto a group of them. Spiders have the ability to lay eggs like the jellyfish.
Spore Launcher AKA Triffid: These plants can launch large spores long distances, even to other islands. The spores can spawn a variety of objects, such as multiple Virii, a Centipede, or even a Spider. Their main defense is that they're relatively isolated from main engagement areas, but do not have an other form of attack or defense. Once the player has gotten a squad into range, the Triffids can be burned to ground with explosives. When burning to the ground, the Triffids will try to launch one last egg.
Ants: Individually weak, these workers can pick up Souls or even live Darwinians and carry them back to colonies to form more ants. For every death on the battlefield, a new ant can arise. Ants mindlessly attack any unit within their range, and their nests crank out more and more of the red bugs. Consequently, large battles between Darwinians and ants can result in unstoppable numbers of ants, and even with heavy firepower the result is usually a stalemate. Defeating the ants involves either slow attrition at the battlefront or a sneak attack on the colony itself.
Soul Destroyers: The dragon-like Viruses roam the skies of Darwinia and are the most difficult Virus to destroy. Not only are they heavily armored and fast moving, their attacks will actually destroy the souls of the Darwinians, killing them permanently and leaving behind eerie ghosts instead of Souls. Soul destroyers can be taken down either by battle cannons or by well-timed rockets fired from squads who usually will be destroyed in the process.

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Spam: In the final level of the game, Dr. Sepulveda had managed to trace the Viral infection back to its source. It seemed that the Darwinians had managed to open up a connection to the Doc's computer, downloading several files and eventaully, the Spam E-mails. The E-mails were infected with a very nasty strain of internet virus, and the E-mails activated within the system, corrupting the Darwinians and turning into the Virii. The Doc had managed to find a few e-mails that were still active, and the player is tasked to destroying them. The Emails are a very tough enemy. Though stationary, they regularly spread out red beams that destroy any player unit nearby, corrupt nearby DGs, and spawn more Virii, Centipedes and Spiders. The Emails must be destroyed by explosives at close range, as like all advanced enemies, are impervious to standard laser fire.

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Progress

Initial beta testing on Darwinia started on August 27, 2004, and full game beta testing started on November 26, 2004.
A demo level was released on January 21, 2005 and can be downloaded from the Darwinia website.
Darwinia was released on March 4, 2005, while the Macintosh version was released March 30, 2005 by publisher Ambrosia Software.
A patch was released on April 28, 2005 for Microsoft Windows, bringing the version to 1.2. New features included an improved unit selection system, as well as numerous modding updates including the ability to create custom strings.
Another patch (version 1.3) was released in September 2005, which includes the option of clicking icons to create units instead of using the gesture system.
A new demo, using features of the above-mentioned version 1.3 patch and an entirely new level "Launchpad" not in the full game, was released in September 2005.
Darwinia was released on Steam on December 14, 2005.
With the Steam framework open to them, Introversion now hopes to implement the long-planned multiplayer mode into Darwinia .
Beta testing signups for the next Windows Patch started on the February 22, 2006.
A new patch was released on March 10, 2006 bringing the version up to 1.42 and adding difficulty settings ranging from 1 to 10. Higher difficulties increase the number, speed, and health of monsters. It also increases the speed of the player's own units. When played on the highest difficulty, the players will experience "Darwinia on Steroids", a term coined by Introversion and referring to the high speed. .
eGames-owned Cinemaware on April 4, 2006 issued a press release announcing they would bring Darwinia to US markets in June 2006.

Critical appraisal

Nominated for Best Game in the GameShadow Innovation in Games Awards 2006
Scored 90% from PC Gamer UK and reached number 21 on its 'Top 100 PC Games' list.
Scored 8.5 in GameSpot's review.
"Has to be played" from PC Review
Wired noted that they couldn't stop themselves from playing it.
Darwinia won the Seumas McNally Grand Prize, Technical Excellence, and Innovation in Visual Art awards at the 2006 Independent Games Festival.
Earned a 5 out of 5 on X-Play.

Notes and references

Stone, T: "PC Gamer UK", pages 80, 81. Future Publishing, 2005

External links

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