[img]http://wpcontent.answers.com/wikipedia/en/9/98/Hardwar_Coverart.png[/img]
This game is fucking amazing. It's made by the Software Refinery and published by Interplay. SR went out of business, so you may be able to get the game with abandonware sites, though it's most likely in your local PC store's bargain bin. Because at any price this game is fucking epic.
A little backstory:
You're a pilot on the moon Titan, which you may or may not know is one of Saturn's moon. You live in a city known as Misplaced Optimism, which isn't just a euphemism; the place is horridly run-down with political mudslinging and dogfights with pirates. You get to pilot these ships called Moths. They're flying, hovering war machines that can get you to and from your destination.
Your goal as the player: Get off of Titan. It's not easy because eventually you end up working for the two warring factions, Lazarus or Klamp-G. And when you ally one, the other gets pissed off.
Gameplay:
This game SEEMS very simple but the combat is completely fleshed out. You have standard laser cannons, missles, chaff flares to deter any oncoming missles, mines, automated turrets, shields, a power meter that needs to be refilled in sunwells, et cetera.
Just look at the whole docking station and firefight in this video:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9jdwUubHz0[/media]
SPOILERS:
[highlight]Warning, the following content shows plot shift and important main story elements. You have been warned.[/highlight]
[sp]After a while, you come across an alien instrument of some sort that you salvage up. You begin finding weird alien recordings sent to you message log. IIRC, after a while you start getting attacked because of the value of the alien instrument, and you end up in an alien hangar after a while. The aliens aid in your escape from Titan. I am not 100% sure on the ending at this point, but it seems about right. Feel free to correct me.[/sp]
So what do you do in this game?
Anything. It's like a land based, singleplayer EVE online; You can simply barter goods, attack others, etc. There are three main paths to choose:
[b]Trade[/b]
If you fit yourself with a moth and a large cargo container, you can easily buy and sell goods to and from different places. Weapons facility needing scrap? Go buy some. The market is entirely dynamic and changes from time to time. Trading is, however, a negligible route to take because when you begin to sell more expensive items like fusion cell batteries, you make yourself a big target for pirates across Misplaced Optimism.
[b]Attack[/b]
There are actually two routes here, good and evil. If you so choose to be good, you can attack the most wanted pilots on the Misplaced Optimism Police's Wanted List, granting you money from the bounty on their heads. They don't go down without a fight, however; try to pick a place close to police/automated turrets.
If you choose to be evil, you can attack traders and scavenge their goods to sell in the black market. There really isn't a black market, but there are very few stores that will buy from a pirate. It's good money, but the police are far too numerous, and they have the support of (most) of the other pilots on Misplaced Optimism.
[b]Scavenge[/b]
This is simple. Go around, scan nearby for valuables, suck it up, and put it into your cargo hold. Every SINGLE pilot does this in the game, so be quick. Goes well with the Trading aspect.
Here is an unofficial FAQ.
[url]http://www.capsu.org/hardwar/faq/[/url]
As for modding, the game has a lot of user support. Most recent patches, known as Upgrade Ian Martin (UIM patches made by a member of TSR) have been extensively modified. You can change things such as skins for moths, add/remove weapons, et cetera.
The best site for Hardwar mods is the Captain Zedo site. This guy and I have been friends since I was a wee kid.
[url]http://zedo.hardwar.org.uk/[/url]
He has all sorts of pages up, like how to best start your game, good techniques to know in dogfights, et cetera.
[b]MOTHS[/b]
I won't focus on the ships themselves, but instead what you can do to them.
You can upgrade or install:
Laser weapons, missiles, nukes, chaffs, batteries, computer software, Player clones (like in EVE), cargo pod, cargo drone, engine, automated turrets, and a few more I probably forgot. The game is entirely skill based however; if you have a Silver-Y starting moth with decent weaponry, depending on your maneuverability, you can easily kill any policeman or Neo Tiger moth.
Some copypasta from Wikipedia in case I forgot something, which I know I probably did.
[quote]Hardwar places the player in the role of a freelance "Moth" pilot in the city of Misplaced Optimism, a space colony located on Saturn's moon, Titan. The colony was once a profitable mining outpost, but the major corporations backed out, leaving the inhabitants without the capability of space travel. During two hundred years of isolation, neo-feudal systems took precedent on Titan, with a corrupt and inefficient police force maintaining little law and order.
It is at the discretion of the players as to how they will earn their living on Titan. They can trade honestly, having to be wary of pirates. They can choose to hunt Titan's outlaws, collecting bounties from the various police stations. Players may also be lowly scavengers like many AI moths, picking at the dropped cargo of panicked traders, or players can become pirates themselves.
Many AI moths flit about with valuable cargo, should the players decide to take this path; however, stolen cargo in the players' hands can be confiscated by the police, or they could become the target of other outlaws now that they are carrying valuable cargo.
Players may even attract the unwelcome attention of one of the main factions in the game due to their piracy.
Gameplay is against the backdrop of a plot involving the warring power groups on Titan, including the large factions of Klamp-G and Lazarus, and the player's eventual escape. The world is set inside craters on the moon's surface, joined together by a network of tunnels.
Players are able to buy many of the available hangars around Titan, making storage of goods and repairs much simpler. This also allows them to store extra "Moths" safely in one location, to set up trade facilities in different craters, and even purchase and install Clones, to ensure the players' continuance should they meet an untimely demise in the skies.
Alternatively, players can use a public hangar, such as one of the various businesses around the city to trade and repair their moths.
Players are able to trade goods from their hangar(s), and based on market forces such as supply and demand, as well as distance to the supply, players can set their own prices. Based on how good a deal the players make, AI moths will line up in droves to purchase goods, or fly on by for a better deal elsewhere.
Players can even set up manufacturing facilities in their hangars with the purchase of relevant equipment, to turn scrap metal into ship parts, to turn water and chemicals into alcohol, or any number of other products.
The atmosphere of the game is furtive, as the players' solar-powered "Moth" craft hovers underneath an energy well to recharge, the players must quickly plan the next leg of their route. Even when on the side of the law, players must be wary of enemies made along the way...and the ultralight moths are definitely not meant for long flights whilst being under Laser fire, Missile attack and other special weapons.
Individuals can set up home servers so that client players can play together in a single environment, and there are multiple persistent online games that are being run by members of the community.[/quote]
Get this game. It was a childhood favorite of mine. I nostalgia'd so hard making the thread.
Published by Interplay? Could turn up on Steam then if you're lucky.
Interplay? I'm sold, brb ebay!
If it would turn up on Steam that would be amazing. More people need to play this game.
YES! This is the game I asked about in the forgotten games thread!
[QUOTE=Shadaez;16800678]YES! This is the game I asked about in the forgotten games thread![/QUOTE]
Your post inspired me to make the thread. :D
I like the design of the ships.
Kind of looks like Freelancer, but better.
I also asked for a thread on this, in the Underrated Game thread I think. Thanks!
I've been playing the Demo, trying to get the hang of it. It certainly is difficult to get started!
So far, I found the best method to a fast start to be an evil troll! xD
1. Camp a popular trade port
2. Look for incoming traders to that port
3. Blow them up and steal their shit
4. Sell to the same port they were about to
5. When your notorious Trolling ticks off the police a little too much, go destroy a known Pirate. You get Amnesty!
(not my plan, just confirming it works. Read it at the bottom of this page: [url]http://zedo.hardwar.org.uk/zedotricks.htm[/url] )
Lets hope it does show up on Steam or GOG. :)
Apparently one of the old devs made a patch that makes the demo the full version.
I can't find a link, however. It could very easily be one of the UIM patches.
gay
A couple of forums pointed to a patched demo-into-full version was created for Home Of The Underdogs, but that was before HOTUs shutdown and revival.
I loved this game :buddy:
[QUOTE=MisterMooth;16810284]I loved this game :buddy:[/QUOTE]
I still play it. On Vista and above, it works great in WinXP mode
The game can be found at The Home Of The Underdogs, a great site with loads of old classics...
[url]http://hotud.org/component/content/article/46-simulation/23923[/url]
Here's the link
The electrocuted effect in that video looked like it was made in MSPaint. :v:
Still looks likes tons of fun. Does it qualify as abandonware, or is there some place still selling it?
Played the shit out of this game.
This is, or I guess was, one of the titles I could seemingly always bring up in conversation and say 'that was awesome' and people would only have blank stares. In the year it came out, Hardwar was just ... crazy awesome.
Shame they didn't ever get the tram working though; also they never got to make another game after this one, this is their one hit wonder.
Also, there was to be a sequel to this game but it never got made unfortunately.
I guess now I can only name Star Crusader now since I know other people have played Hardwar.
Will I be able to use a flight control joystick with a throttle?
Yeah, game had support for that to my recollection.
[QUOTE=Firgof Umbra;17101541]Shame they didn't ever get the tram working though;[/QUOTE]
That's odd, because the patch I got ([url]http://www.downloads.hardwar.info/patch/ianmartin/uim06.zip[/url]) allows you to dock your moth in a hangar, and ride a tram elsewhere - it also lets you call for a taxi! :P
D: They must've completed it after I stopped watching because I was checking for patches many years after its release.
They were going to have missions and stuff involve the tram as well; did they put those back in?
I DEMAND GOG!
:smug:
Do you not?
Afraid not, it's just a way of leaving one moth at one hangar and getting to another moth in another, unfortunately. :(
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