dresnick@athena.mit.edu (David I Resnick) (11/19/90)
I saw the new game "Carrier Command" at Egghead yesterday. Anyone out
there played it? Care to post a review? The description on the box
looked interesting, but it was obviously an IBM port, so I would like
to know how good a port it is before I think about getting it.
BTW, has anyone out there actually got Harpoon yet? I have heard
various dates from various mail order firms, but no one seems to have
it in stock NOW!
--
David Resnick dresnick@athena.mit.edu jtgorman@cs.arizona.edu (J. Taggart Gorman) (11/20/90)
In article <1990Nov19.024516.13579@athena.mit.edu> dresnick@athena.mit.edu (David I Resnick) writes: >I saw the new game "Carrier Command" at Egghead yesterday. Anyone out >there played it? Care to post a review? The description on the box >looked interesting, but it was obviously an IBM port, so I would like >to know how good a port it is before I think about getting it. First things first, it's not new. It's about two years old. (I'm on campus and don't have it near me.) The game itself is a nifty idea. In the near future, an energy starved earth is looking for new sources of energy. One country finds this new chain of volcanic islands in the (Pacific, I think) ocean. The country decides to harvest the volcanic energy as power. They decide to build two *massive* carriers to remote build factories and power stations on these new islands. But wait, something goes wrong! The second carrier is built with no crew - it is *totally* automated, and the computer program has been re-written by terrorists. They threaten to destroy the island chain with the carrier unless their demands are met. Thus your mission, as commander of the first carrier is to stall the enemy carrier from destroying islands, and maybe even destroy it, if possible. This is no simple undertaking. You yourself must capture unoccupied and enemy islands and use them to your benefit. All islands produce resources which are used to build missiles and weapons for your ship and fuel. Your carrier is equiped with 4 attack jets and 4 landing craft (basically tanks.) You choose how to arm them and where to send them. The planes are useful for recon and the tanks are how you convert islands to produce for you. For a port to a Mac Plus, it's okay, but I think it will leave color users wanting more. The box shows color, but our version does not, and in some places color would help. As for the game itself, it kept me occupied for a week (until I got 3 in Three! That is *addicting*! :). The hardest part is figuring out how to take enemy islands. When I first started playing, I couldn't take a single enemy island without losing half my APC and getting my carrier badly damaged. I now have a trick that lets me take an island with little or no loses. The only real complaint that I have is that you cannot find the enemy carrier on your main map. The only way to find it is to nearly run into the damn thing. | John Taggart Gorman Jr. | "I'm a no rust build up man myself." | | -Christian Slater | jtgorman@caslon.cs.arizona.edu | in 'Heathers'
hirai@cs.swarthmore.edu (Eiji Hirai) (11/20/90)
jtgorman@cs.arizona.edu (J. Taggart Gorman) writes: > The only real complaint that I have is that you cannot find the enemy > carrier on your main map. The only way to find it is to nearly run into the > damn thing. One nifty trick is to attack and take over an island which seriously disrupts the enemy supply chain. Then park your carrier a little bit off the island and wait for the enemy carrier to come in. Once you see the message that the island is under attack, move your carrier towards the enemy carrier. Sometimes, you'll have to fight the fighters that may come towards your carrier but you can come in opposite from the island and have the enemy fighters be too busy with attacking the island to attack your carrier. Once you get within missle range, shoot your missles at it. A couple of missles should blow the enemy carrier away. A simple win. I played this on a friend's Atari and the colors were VERY nice. I can't imagine why they would port this into a B&W game. -- Eiji Hirai @ Mathematics Dept., Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA 19081-1397 hirai@cs.swarthmore.edu hirai@swarthmr.bitnet rutgers!hirai%cs.swarthmore.edu Copyright 1990 by Eiji Hirai. All Rights Reserved. Permission to reproduce or quote explicitly denied except on Usenet. I don't speak for Swarthmore College.