KKND2: Krossfire
| KKND2: Krossfire | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | Beam software | ||
| Publisher |
 Melbourne House GT Interactive
|
||
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
Windows October 31, 1998 |
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| platform | Windows 95 , Windows 98 , Windows NT 5.0 , Windows XP , PlayStation | ||
| genre | Real time strategy game | ||
| Game mode | Single player ; Multiplayer via IPX , TCP / IP or modem | ||
| control | Mouse , keyboard | ||
| system advantages preconditions |
CPU : 133 MHz; RAM : 16 MB; HDD : 100 MB; SVGA graphics card; 2 MB Soundblaster or 100% compatible sound card | ||
| medium | 2 CD | ||
| language | German, English, French, Spanish, Chinese | ||
| Age rating |
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KKND2: Krossfire is the successor to the real-time strategy game KKND: Xtreme and was released for Microsoft Windows on October 31, 1998 . It was also ported to the PlayStation in 1999 under the title KKND: Krossfire .
action
The action takes place in a fictional scenario in the year 2179, after the earth was ravaged by a nuclear world war 100 years earlier. After the events in the first part, the survivors' army was forced to retreat to underground bunkers for 40 years after the defeat against the mutants. Equipped for a new encounter, the two groups are now confronted with another enemy: The agricultural robots of series 9. Robbed of the meaning of their existence as a result of the nuclear destruction, they formed an army in order to defend themselves against theirs to avenge former masters.
Gameplay
The game is played in an isometric 2D perspective, in which the maps can be divided into three different types of terrain: fallow desert terrain (desert), green highlands (highland) and crumbling urban areas (urban). As usual in games of the genre, the player can build a base, mine raw materials and train units. The aim of the game is usually to completely eliminate the opposing faction and its units. In the single player mode, the player can choose between three campaigns, each with 16 missions, which aim to wipe out the other two factions. The player can select missions on a triangular map and must fight his way further and further into enemy territory as the level of difficulty increases. In the multiplayer mode, which can be played with up to eight human or seven computer-controlled players, additional cards are available. Connections can be made via LAN (IPX or TCP / IP), serial cable or modem.
The construction of buildings and the training of units require oil, which is the main energy source in the game. This is obtained with the help of drilling rigs that are built on bubbling oil wells. Tank vehicles transport the oil to a refinery. In addition, unlike in the first part, there is the possibility of buildings such as B. to generate wind turbines an additional source of income. The landscape of the respective terrain types can be used to the player's advantage in different ways. There are cliffs in the highlands and in the desert, from which units can only shoot down on one side, or in the cities there are numerous winding rows of houses behind which units can be hidden. Also, certain units can be above water z. B. move through rivers and lakes to surprise the enemy. On the other hand, bunkers are seldom placed on some maps, in which special or particularly strong units are stored, which the player can bring under his control.
The center of each base is the main building. Each faction has two buildings for training units: one for infantry and the other for vehicles. There is also an equivalent for the other buildings in the other factions. With a research laboratory / shrine / data center , new units and technologies can be unlocked on the other buildings through research. Research at a refinery increases the amount of oil extracted. If you do research on the research building, the costs for further research are reduced. Defense towers can be built by researching the armory / smithy / fire control center. A map, an enemy radar and other buildings can be unlocked on the main building. Depending on the game mode, a maximum of five levels can be explored.
Factions
Survivors
The survivors (English. "Survivors") represent the group of the remaining normal humanity who had to seek refuge underground because of the radioactive contamination of the surface by the nuclear hellfire of 2079. When they saw how bad the first war against the mutants was for them, they withdrew to their bunkers and have been developing new weapons, constructions and technologies ever since. Nothing has changed in their militant stance. The infantry are armed to the teeth, and the armored vehicles do the rest. Always with the goal of eliminating the revolting Series 9 and wiping the disgusting mutants from the face of the earth, they dare to surface again to use their new technologies and reclaim the claimed habitat.
Mutants
The mutants (Evolved) are people who were on the surface at the time of the nuclear war and were therefore exposed to strong radioactivity. As a result, there were mutations, which on the one hand led to physical deformities, but also increased the resistance to external influences. Since the mutants (also called "evolutionaries") lost their technological connection in the course of the nuclear catastrophe, they use comparatively backward weapons. However, they have learned to use the power of mutated animals such as B. to make use of giant scorpions and gigantic wasps. The mutants, organized in clan structures, are fanatically religious and believe that they have been punished by their gods for their ignorance of nature and the abuse of technology (also known as "the scourge"). The survivors are pejoratively referred to by them because of their external normality as "symmetrists" and the series 9 as "soulless machines". Fearing a worse visitation and appeasing their gods, they do everything in their power to free the earth from the plague of men.
Series 9
The Series 9 (Series 9) is a new and thus third faction in KKND2. The agricultural robots once served people as work machines in the fields. However, after the humans destroyed their crops at the height of the armed conflicts with the mutants and thus robbed the robots of the original meaning of their existence, they swore revenge. When Series 9 began to develop its own consciousness, it was clear to them that the robots in Series 5–8 were still following the previous programming of humans. So they decided to switch off the other model lines in order to gain complete independence. Although the Series 9 was already active during the First War, they realized that pitchforks and shovels could not do much against tanks and mastodons. In order to become an equal opponent, they invested some time in adapting modern weapon systems to their agricultural tools. This is reflected in unit names such as B. "weed killer". With this in mind, Series 9 has set itself the task of destroying humans and mutants like weeds.
units
infantry
| Survivors | Mutants | Series 9 |
|---|---|---|
| Machine gunner | Berserk | Seed spreader |
| grenadier | Rioters | Sleeve shooter |
| flamethrower | Pyromaniac | weed killer |
| Rocket launcher | Bazookoid | Spore thrower |
| kamikaze | martyr | Michaelangelo |
| Laser shooter | Archer | sterilizer |
| Scourge Demon | ||
| technician | mechanic | Systech |
vehicles
| Survivors | Mutants | Series 9 |
|---|---|---|
| Off-road motorcycle | Wolf beast | Scouting robot |
| Off-road vehicle | Giant scorpion | Attack robots |
| Hoverbuggy | Crinoid | radiator |
| Anaconda tank | War mastodon | Robotic tanks |
| Rocket organ | Battle hippopotamus | Dome of doom |
| The conqueror | Rocket crab | Cauterizer |
| Jaganath | Mega bugs | reaper |
| Mobile outpost | Mobile clan tent | Mobile shed |
| Mobile derrick | Mobile oil extractor | Mobile oil production system |
| Oil tankers | Tank ant | Tankeroid |
Planes
| Survivors | Mutants | Series 9 |
|---|---|---|
| Transport plane | Slider | Transport glider |
| Orville hunter | Pteranodon | AI attack hunter |
| Wilbur bomber | Wasp bomber | Pest bombarders |
building
| Survivors | Mutants | Series 9 |
|---|---|---|
| outpost | Clanzelt | Dandruff |
| Barrack | Warrior tent | Microbot factory |
| Machine hall | Animal enclosure | Macro robot factory |
| power plant | Earth blood generator | Energy converter |
| Armory | Wrought | Fire control center |
| Research laboratory | shrine | Data center |
| Repair bay | menagerie | Maintenance depot |
| derrick | Oil sucker | Oil production system |
| Solar collector | Giant pig | Windmill |
| Heat exchanger | Pig pen | Wind turbine |
| Altar of the Visitation | ||
| Guard cannon | Desymmetrizer | Seed cannon |
| Cannon tower | The worm | Pod cannon |
| Flak tower | Bazooka battery | Solar amplifier |
| Laser tower | Touch of death | Lightning generator |
| barricade | Skeleton fence | Border wall |
| Energy barrier | Thunder fence | Vermin trap |
Map editor
At that time, the developers could no longer deliver a perfectly functioning map editor with the game in time. The separate program, which can be started via the kme.exe file in the installation folder , has numerous shortcomings that make creating your own map extremely difficult or even impossible. Reasons for this include a. Compatibility problems, glitches when compiling and missing functions within the program. Furthermore, it was only possible to design cards with an incomplete desert "tile set". The tilesets for the other two terrains were completely missing. An improved version of the editor was never submitted by the developer.
Around 2010, the prototype of a new map editor with the corresponding Hochland tileset, which is compatible with Windows XP , was published in cooperation between the Chinese programmer firefly3233 and the German player LOEweNz @ Hn . From then on it was possible to create both new single player missions and multiplayer maps for the game. Since this was an early version ( kmpe.exe ), this program is not fully functional either.
Since 2014 a small group of volunteers has been working on reprogramming KKND2: Krossfire, which also involves the publication of a complete map editor with all the original "tile sets". The release date is open.
music
For each of the three factions three characteristic background music ("soundtracks") were inserted. Musically, they range from psytrance to psychadelic rock to Australian folk influences. This is particularly noticeable in the use of percussions and native instruments such as B. the didgeridoo of the Aborigines. Listed below are all of the artists and groups who contributed to this.
Survivors:
Dave's Nightmare, The Refo: mation - Traitor, Brain Tuner
Mutants:
Rip Van Hippy - Diabet, Altar of Atlantis, Laws of Chaos
Series 9 :
Rip Van Hippy - How Hip Is A Computer, The Visitors - Tiny Little Engines, Charles Tétaz
Ratings
In the GameStar edition of July 1998, Martin Deppe gave a gaming fun rating of 74% . The author sees the elimination of certain weaknesses of the predecessor as positive. The player now has a little more time to prepare for the first attacks by the enemy AI. The newly introduced veteran system is also judged well, in which units become stronger through fighting and standing infantrymen slowly heal themselves.
In its July 1998 edition, PC-Player awards a gaming fun rating of 76% . The author Manfred Duy sees the speed of the gameplay as a strength of the game, which stimulates a multitude of tactical considerations and maintains the tension in the long term. The level of difficulty is still very high, as in the predecessor, but this is exactly the attraction of KKND2. New features such as B. destroying bridges enrich the game with further tactical elements.
In the July '98 issue of Power Play , Fritz Effenberger had almost nothing but praise for the game. This is reflected in his rating of 83% . The high-quality intro creates an impressive atmosphere in advance. The clearly arranged menu that gets by with the bare minimum and is inconspicuously located on the right edge of the screen, as well as the "mouse over" effect, which shows information about units and buildings, offer ideal ease of use. In addition, he judges positively about the possibility of constructing your own prototypes. The game is rounded off with an atmospheric soundtrack that appropriately reflects the character of the respective faction. Only the graphics cannot keep up with comparable games of the genre, but they are still convincing.
The July 1998 issue of PC Joker was largely positive with a rating of 78% . The clever AI of the computer opponent and the "True Line of Sight" feature are particularly praised (unexplored areas of the map are initially black and must be revealed by the player. However, if no unit is there, the area darkens again, and only the landscape remains visible, but not opposing actions such as troop movements.) On the other hand, the unbalanced degree of difficulty is viewed negatively. The author also accuses the makers of innovation. Compared to the first part, not much has been added. This is particularly noticeable in the units for which there is an equivalent in each parliamentary group.
In the PC Action test from June 1998, the two authors Christian Bigge and Alexander Geltenpoth rate the game with 86% . "A remarkable AI, ..." is particularly emphasized, which gives the impression that computer opponents react to the actions of the player and "... exploit every small weak point mercilessly". The successful control is also praised. Due to the lack of cutscenes, KKND2: Krossfire unfortunately doesn't make it to other genre sizes such as B. StarCraft to unlock.
Trivia
- The mutants can obtain additional raw materials by constructing buildings that look like open pig farms with pipes leading into a silo. This could be an homage to the film Mad Max - Beyond the Thunder Dome , in which the electricity for the town of Bartertown is generated using methane from pigs.
- In 1999, the development of an offshoot called KKND: Infiltrator began, which was later discontinued. It should have been a 3D action game in which the player infiltrates enemy territory with an off-road motorcycle and completes missions in the process.
- During the briefing in single player mode, text messages are continuously displayed on an MS-DOS-like display next to the main screen, which are actually intended to simulate data processing processes or to provide marginal information for the mission. Instead, these texts have a very humorous character.
- In some missions the ruins of architectural icons of the 20th century can be seen, such as B. the Sydney Opera House or the Paris Eiffel Tower .
- Two mission "briefings" on pages 9 of the series are carried out by the fictitious computer HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey (its "eye" is shown all the time); as an allusion to the film, he also drops the sentence: "... I can't do that, Dave!"
Individual evidence
- ↑ News - KKnD. In: www.kknd-game.com. Retrieved July 12, 2016 .
- ↑ Retro Gamer 37 pp. 46/47