- Fleet Command
Infobox VG
title = Fleet Command
developer =Sonalysts Combat Simulations Inc.
publisher = InitiallyElectronic Arts , laterStrategy First
designer = Sonalysts Combat Simulations Inc.
released = Janes's Fleet Command1999 SCS-Fleet Command2006
genre =Real-time tactics
modes =Single player , multiplayer
ratings = ESRB: E (Everyone)
platforms = Windows
requirements = Jane's Fleet command:Windows 95 ,Windows 98 ,Windows 2000 To install the Janes's FC on a Windows 2000 or XP system you need to use the [http://www.sonalystscombatsims.com/game_downloads/game_downloads.html 2000/XP Installer] ] orWindows XP , 200 MHz Pentium, 32MB RAM, DirectX 6.0 compatible, 8x CD-ROM drive, 2MB PCI or AGP video card.
SCS-Fleet Command:Windows 98SE ,Windows 2000 andWindows XP Recommended -550 MHz processor, 128MB RAM, 8x CD-ROM/DVD-ROM drive, Direct 3D compliant Video Card with 32 MB RAM and Sound Card both withDirectX 9.0c compatible drivers, Desktop Resolution of 800x600 @ 16-bit color depth, 1GB hard-drive space for full installation.Internet orLAN connection required for multiplayer.
media =CD-ROM "Fleet Command" (FC), also known as "Jane's Fleet Command", is a
real-time tactics naval warfare simulationcomputer game released in 1999. It was developed bySonalysts Inc. and published byElectronic Arts (EA). The game licensed parts ofJane's Information Group 's military information database, which was used as an in-game "Jane's Library"; reference material the player could refer to while in-game. Jane's also licensed to EA the "Jane's" name and the "Jane's Combat Simulations" logo, and the game was marketed under the "Jane's" name, much like the previous "Jane'sFighters Anthology ", also published by Electronic Arts. However, the copyright that appears on the CD and in the documentation shows that the actual name of the work is, in fact, "Fleet Command", as does the name of the Windows executable that is at the core of the game. The game was also released in a three game combat pack along with 688(I) and F/A-18 Hornet.The game supported 3D rendering by either D3D or 3dfxGlide, but not OpenGL or software rendering. Fleet Command was written primarily for the use of the now defunct Voodoo brand video cards that used Glide. D3D rendering is slower then the native 3dfxGlide rendering of the same map, even when using the newest D3D-capable cards. The game was written for Windows 98, although it would run (albeit slightly less stable) on Windows 95. On Windows XP the game had serious stability and installation issues until the 1.34 and 1.38 patches and the XP installation utility/patch.Fact|date=April 2007
Re-release
On
October 26 , 2006Strategy First re-released Fleet Command as SCS-Fleet Command, without the "Jane's" branding. It was released as part of a three-game retail package calledNaval Combat Pack (NCP), which also included688(I) Hunter/Killer andSub Command and also includes a video CD "A Century of Silent Service." The changes in the new release are as follows:
* Removal of all references to the name "Jane's" in both text and art work
* Data revised using unclassified sources
* Reworked rendering engine to beDirectX 9.0c andWindows XP compatible
* Minor code improvements to make itWindows XP compatible [ [http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=274548&postcount=27 Discussed on a Subsim.com forum] ]The SCS-FC re-release has so far been quite reliable, stable and crash free. The graphics are smoother than before, but not using the Direct3D video mode instead of the 3dfx results in a darker 3D video display. The 3dfx compatibility was retained and some players have reported better graphics using a
Glide wrapper .The 2006 version of Fleet Command was also released on
GameTap as of Thursday, March 20, 2008.Gameplay
Setting
The game is set in the modern world, on Earth. The game focuses exclusively on contemporary units. Units that were in service when the game was released were featured, and units that were out of service or not yet in service were not featured. the game reflects that some of the world's military forces are more advanced than others.
Realism
The game is basically a naval combat strategic training simulator. It covers the full spectrum of modern naval operations, including submarine warfare, surface warfare, naval aviation, and
electronic warfare . Air Force, Marine Corps and Army units are also modeled in the game, although the Army units are generally static. Although the initial release focused mainly on theU.S. Military , it did include a wide variety of forces from nations around the world including theU.K. ,India ,Russia ,China , and others. The actual forces under a player's command can include units from several nations (a multi-national force), or it may be limited to a selection of forces from just the one nation's military Arsenal.The game includes both aircraft carriers and land-based air bases. It maintains a level of realism in that aircraft that are limited to land-based operations in real life are similarly limited to land-based operations in the game. This prevents the player from having heavy bombers (like the B-52) taking off or landing from aircraft carriers, something that never happens in the real world. Moreover, only aircraft that are actually assigned to a particular class of aircraft carrier in real life are available on in-game carriers. This concept of realism in units carries through to the weaponry, ordinance, speed, accuracy, radar coverage, detectability, and survivability of all of the units and weapons in the game. The game does not model any sort of
electronic countermeasures . One feature that was deliberately kept out of the game was nuclear weapons.Game Dynamics
In a single-player game, the player starts by selecting a stand-alone scenario or a campaign scenario. Campaign scenarios are linked in that if the player successfully completes a scenario in the campaign, this unlocks the next scenario in that campaign for play. However, the game is limited in that it can only ever have the one campaign available to the player at any one time. In fact, the original version of the game only included one campaign (since then, several replacement campaigns have been made by FC and NWP-FC enthusiasts). A stand-alone scenario is not linked to other scenarios like the campaign scenarios are, although they may be related in terms of setting, theater-of-war, combatants, alliances, fictitious or historical conflicts, etc.
Once the player is in the scenario, a 2-D representation of the forces available is presented. This display also shows a representation of the sensor (radar, visual, sonar, etc.) ranges that any of his units have. Individual units are shown in a 3D rendering. If the player has selected the EMCOMS option, none of his units start the game with active sensors on; only passive sensors will be engaged. This can be an effective strategy for keeping the player's ships undetected, but it also blinds their GCI and leaves them "groping in the dark", so to speak. If the player has
AWACS aircraft and/or fighter jets available, these are often the first units deployed; it is important to find the enemy before they find you.Trivia
The
United States Naval Academy actually had the game installed in computer labs and used it to introduce prospective students to the concepts of fleet level decision making during its Summer Seminar program.External links
* [http://www.sonalystscombatsims.com/ Sonalysts Combat Simulations]
* [http://forums.navalwarfare.net/forumdisplay.php?f=4/ Naval Warfare Project - Mod for Fleet Command]References
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