November 13, 1997

Units, Buildings, Tilesets, Tool Manuals, a Demo...plus 3 new games!

If any of you are still on the fence about whether or not to go out and get the top-selling strategy game this Fall, download the Dark Reign demo below and check it out for yourself. For those of you who already have Dark Reign, love Dark Reign, and are dying for more, we're making available on this site a number of new units, buildings, and tilesets from Auran for you to play with. When we first started talking about Dark Reign we promised you a customizable, expandable gaming product, and it's been very gratifying to see the innovative work so many of you have done with the Dark Reign tools and editors. New maps and misions that have appeared all over the internet. Gamers are making their own units, buildings and single-player scenarios. There are even three new Dark Reign 'conversions'- actual new games made by gamers out there like you. (Special thanks to Mark Major for his impressive triumverate of creations: 'K.O.T.H.', 'Monolith', and 'Greed'.) So scroll down and try it all out!

The Dark Reign Demo: See what all the buzz is about!
Download this executable and double-click. The Installer will guide you through the set-up.

Wild units from Auran!

Just for fun, here are some units created by the guys from down under. To add any of these units, simply click the file name to download the zip file, unzip it, and follow the instructions in the attached README file. Each unit folder contains a simple batch file that will update your game directory with all the necessary files. You can use the units in multiplayer, but only if everyone participating downloads the same files. See the read me for a list of which files to copy where.

Gore Beast

The Gore Beast is omniverous, tough, and fiercely territorial. It attacks primarily with its huge talons. It thinks nothing of tearing open a tank to reach the soft, tasty occupants.

Walker

The Walker is a fast scouting and pursuit vehicle. It is primarily a land based vehicle, but it can convert to a slower arial mode by use of VTOL jets and deployment of chassis and leg-mounted wings.

Phase Mine

Phase mines are auto-destruct droids. They hover to their destinations and then phase out of site. Once the enemy is in range it unphases and self-destructs.

Gunwalker

The Gunwalker is built for close infantry support. Its double-barrel nose cannons and side rocket pods make it quite powerful. Its all-terrain capabilities are outstanding due to its huge legs and light weight.

Tick

The Tick is a light tank that can transform between walking and flying modes. It is fast and nimble.

Buildings and Defensive Installations from Auran!

To add any of these buildings, simply click the file name to download the zip file, unzip it, and follow the instructions in the attached README file. Each building folder contains a simple batch file that will update your game directory with all the necessary files. You can use the buildings in multiplayer, but only if everyone participating downloads the same files. See the read me for a list of which files to copy where.

Flamer Pod

Mounted on a tripod stand, the Flamer spews a jet of gel-foam kerosene. Barbeque Time!

Walls

These walls can be built during your mission. They come in two styles: regular and deluxe with a mounted automatic pulse cannon.

Solar Power Plant

The Solar Power Plant is a compact and easily transportable power supply. It is also inexpensive, but has a lower power output per unit than a regular Taelon Power Generator.

Missile Tower

Rapid-fire missiles pour out of this swivel turret mounted guard tower. It has good range but is not quite as hearty as big Neutron Accelerators.

Pulse Blaster

The Pulse Blaster is designed to provide high speed suppressing firepower.

Remake your world with tilesets from Auran!

To add any of these tilesets, simply click the file name to download the zip file, unzip it, and follow the instructions in the attached README file. Each tileset folder contains a simple batch file that will update your game directory with all the necessary files. You can use the tilesets in multiplayer, but only if everyone participating downloads the same files. See the read me for a list of which files to copy where.

Australian

Get a taste of the sun-scorched outback with this colorful new tileset from down under.

Alien

Battle it out in the weird, other-worldly environs of the Alien tileset.

Asteroid

It's actually a rather built up asteroid - perhaps one that's been converted to a space station. Conduit, control stations, and industrial exhaust vents abound.

K.O.T.H.! Greed! Monolith! 3 great new conversions from gamers

Mark 'Shmitz' Major has cooked up three fun new Dark Reign game conversions. It's a great example of what can be done with the Dark Reign toolsets. We can't wait to see what our gamers think up next! To play any one of these conversions, download the zip file below and follow the instructions in the included README document.

K.O.T.H. : King of the Hill

The object in King of the Hill is to build your throne in a designated spot on the map and hold it there for a certain length of time. Depending on machine speed and internet lag, this time will differ, but should be around five minutes. When you or someone else builds a Throne, an alarm will sound, and twice more after that it will sound again. By convention, the place where you need to build your Throne will always be in the center of the map, and will be within four stone pillars. A Throne requires a Level 3 HeadQuarters to build.

The very fact that the object is not to destroy your opponent gives Dark Reign a new twist. Instead of fighting to simply obliterate, intense, almost frenzied action takes place in one localized area as the players attempt to get control of the "Hill". Currently, KOTH only supports multiplayer. You can try Instant Action, but the AI will not attempt to build a Throne because they have not been set towards the new winning goal. This will probably be added in a future version. - Mark Major

Greed

The object in Greed is rather simple: to aquire 100000 credits. This however, is not as easy as it sounds. If you want the cash, you have to fight for it. At MOST a player gets two "freebie" wells, though that's only in two of the maps. In the other two, you get one and have to fight for the rest. To make things a bit more interesting, Greed features a couple new units and buildings. A neccesity for your monetary survival is the Water Market (requires Level 2 HQ), which comes with a Bank Freighter and sells it's store of water for a whopping 15000 credits. However, it can only harvest water from the Water Banks, round pool looking wells that produce a lot of water. Normal freighters cannot harvest water from these wells. In addition, each side gets a special freighter that can harvest from a water well or Bank. Freedom Guard players get the Phase Freighter (requires Advanced Phasing Facility), which is slow, carries little, takes it's time getting water, costs 5000 credits but since it travels underground, cannot be seen or attacked. Imperium players get the Tank Freighter, which has lots of armor, a Plasma Turret, costs 1700, and not only carries 1500 units of water, but can harvest and deposite it all in one motion, minimizing the time it spends at a water well. However, they ARE killable and it's not advisable to send them into enemy territory. - Mark Major

Monolith

The object in Monolith is to prevent at all costs the monolith that is shared by the four players, while seeking to destroy the monolith of the AI in your quadrant of the map. The four players are neutral to each other, which means that they won't attack each other, but there is no sharing of LOS, units, or resources. There is only one winner, but if the AI's destroy your monolith, there will be no winner. To make matters more difficult, the AI's can repair their monolith, but the players cannot repair theirs. This addon thus requires a strange mix of teamwork and competition alike. You must protect your monolith, and thus you must communicate with the other players as well as spread into their quadrants to get LOS and help protect your monolith. However, if you want to be the winner, you must be the first to destroy your target. Also, it is not wise to attack another player to prevent them from winning. To do so would be to invite their opponent AI even closer to threaten your monolith. It won't neccesarily be the player with the most units that wins, rather the player who can use his or her units most efficiently to reach their goal faster than everyone else. - Mark Major

Manuals from Auran

So now that you've seen the conversions, you want to make your own? The new Tactics Engine and AIP Editor manuals should be a big help. Download the zip files by clicking below

The Tactics Engine Manual

This is the bible for configuring the Tactics Engine.

A.I.P. Editor Manual

This manual provides complete instructions for editing AIPs and End Conditions.

More to come! Stay tuned...