Author: Jason Logue

The Wargamer is proud to present Sierra Studios and Massive Entertainment with our Award for Excellence, signifying Ground Control as one of the best games in the real time strategy genre. Ground Control proves that a game revolving around the military art of tactics is just as playable as one that delves into the world of strategic thinking.

I think I am in some really serious trouble so watch out … her goons are everywhere. It all started when this package arrived at my door asking me to be all I could be. I sat down, took a casual look at the glossy pictures and skimmed over the text in the promotional document, but just threw it on the coffee table. I should have just left it there buried under a pile of women’s magazines (no, they’re not mine), but every time I sat back down to watch the TV, I could see a part of the document sticking out of the pile. Eventually it won. I sat down on a miserable day and read about this fantastic new job opportunity with this huge international company, Crayven Corporation. It sounded too good to be true but another look out the window at the miserable weather soon swayed my decision. I ran to my PC, logged on and signed up to be a member of Crayven Corporation’s security detail. The brochure made it sound like an extremely well-paying security guard job. In reality I ended up on the front lines of one of the bloodiest wars on record. I still cringe when I think of … Umm, I can’t tell you here, it’s not safe. Directive #9 is still hanging over my neck and after my last run-in with that heartless wench Hayes, I just know she would take great pleasure in watching her henchmen burn me alive. If you think your stomach is up to it, continue to read as we are on a secure server, I’ll check your bonafide’s and perhaps I’ll tell you about the modern wonder that is Crayven Corporation.

Introduction

Ground Control is the latest real-time tactical offering from Sierra Studios. Set in a post-apocalyptic future, the game pits two old enemies (big business and religion) against one another in a struggle to dominate the universe. Humans basically wiped each other out on March 27, 2093, in a sixteen-minute nuclear exchange that decimated the planet. Luckily, a wacko apocalyptic cult had been preaching about the end for many years, and while the majority of the human race wrote them off as nutters, a few thousand found solace in the teachings and made preparations for the end. When the war was over and nuclear winter had descended across Earth, believers in the Order of the New Dawn were carefully maintaining the tons of research, medical and industrial equipment they had squirreled away underground. The Order had also taken underground the most comprehensive scientific data available, and were planning on using it all to recreate Earth as they felt it should be.

Only one thing really stopped them. The war may have killed hundreds of millions and wiped out virtually every major city on the planet, but it still wasn’t enough to destroy the corporations. These global business juggernauts were, in the Order’s eyes, the reason for the war in the first place, yet as soon as they could, they managed to take up their old ways and begin carving up the planet all in the name of peace. At the same time, the Order had emerged from its bunkers and began to use its equipment to help the millions of homeless restart their lives by converting them to the faith. Pretty soon, business and religion collided, and with neither side giving an inch, a new war is underway. The Order is now the largest religious organisation on Earth, with almost 700,000,000 faithful populating its holdings from Mars out into deep space. Similarly, Crayven Corporation has emerged as the superpower in the business world, employing more than 900,000,000 people in a range of enterprises across the universe. Crayven specialises in terra-forming marginal worlds to make them livable, at a cost of course, for those wanting to escape Earth.

The war in Ground Control takes place on colony Krig-7B, Crayven’s latest acquisition and a focal point for the Order’s faith. The game is a 30-mission real-time tactical game played on a gorgeous 3D environment through the use of a floating camera. The player takes on the role of a battlefield commander directing and managing forces during the resulting jihad. Ground Control can be played at four different difficulty settings in a single-player game, or multi-player across the Internet or on a LAN.

Installation, Technical Issues & Documentation

Ground Control ships on a single CD and with a 96-page field commander’s handbook covering everything needed to get straight into the game. It also includes historical background, biographies on the leading characters in the game, and a detailed technical section covering units and equipment. The CD case cover doubles as a handy mouse/keyboard control reference card. While the information contained within the manual is more than adequate to begin the game, the official web site has several more pages of historical information that can be used to increase the game’s immersion factor.

Ground Control installed easily, taking up about 250MB of hard-disk space. The installation program also gives players the chance to install the WON software required for multi-player games on the Internet. Each CD is coded with a 20-digit security key in an attempt to reduce piracy. This key becomes particularly important for on-line games, as the WON software will only recognise one key sequence. Each time the player logs into WON.net, Ground Control automatically checks for the latest update and asks whether it should be installed.

The game also features a copy of GenEd, a non-supported editing tool, for the aspiring Ground Control mission designer. It includes functions for unit, building and prop placement as well as the ability to add triggers, script containers and actions within these containers. With GenEd, a graphics program and a text editor, players can create any multi-player or single-player missions for Ground Control.

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