By Jim Rossignol on September 14th, 2009 at 3:54 pm.
So Bohemia Interactive’s other announced project – in conjunction with Black Element – is Carrier Command. The long overdue remake of the aged sci-fi classic uses some of the same tech as Arma 2, and you can see some of the influences in these first in-game screens. No action to speak of, just environments and a few glimpses of your future-vehicles, but it’s definitely got the right vibe for a Carrier Command game. Hard, gritty sf, huge, expansively vehicular. Awesome. Oh god this could be so good/bugged. Go take a look. (Thanks to James for the info.)
Click for full size.
Ooooh, very pretty. Those desert shots are particularly nice, if the ArmA 2 engine can do that then I hope they do a desert map for it, ala South Sahrani.
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I drooled for months over an advertisement for the original Carrier Command in ‘Computer Gaming’. I didn’t have a computer at the time and so I didn’t get to try CC until many years later. CC2 looks interesting, but the indy remake of CC also caught my eye — anyone know if that’s still going ahead?
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Carrier Command is the game your dad played and you never really understood. If you’re my age. Which I am. This looks lovely though.
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Yes! Finally, I thought this project was dead. Hopefully this will revive the FPS-RTS genre that once stood proudly during the golden era of Battlezone.
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meeper: there’s an indie remake? I didn’t know that, I thought this was the only remake.
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Looks purdey, but Hostile Waters had both Warren Ellis and Tom Baker involved, hence is likely to remain my spiritual sequel of choice. Pleasingly they do look like they have pushed the boat out with this one, clunkily written tie-in novel and all.
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I’m looking at the screenshots but all I’m seeing is wireframe models.
This is not a bad thing.
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I’m going to have to upgrade my computer for this, aren’t I? I’d been able to put it off for so long as well…
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Carrier command was the game I played when I had my first own (as in not shared with my family and set up just in my room) x86 PC way back in…erm… nineteen eighty something or other.
The first game (after Elite) to absorb all of my spare time like a big spare time absorbing spongey thing.
I got so good at this game that I could set up the autopilot/autolaunch and waypointing feature, brush past the coast and launch some Walrus’ (walruses, walrusi??) into action in a rapid flurry of keystrokes.
And I always beat the enemy carrier by ramming it with the Manta.
Want this very much; i hope it’s not shite.
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I found a trick in the Amiga version to lure the enemy carrier to the very first Island. You could then ambush it and win the game very quickly. I even sent it in to C&VG at the time, but I don’t think they published it.
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Best games news I’ve heard this year.
To the developers
Get the game play right i.e. make it play like the original CC
Don’t worry about having the most technically impressive 3D engine or Hollywood voiceover or any of that nonsense.
Just make it feel the same as the original CC
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@phil
Think of this as the spiritual sequel to Hostile Waters and you might be onto something.
“This is Ransom.. target destroyed” etc etc.
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Nice environs, but I’m not liking the presence of a generic sci-fi soldier at the bottom of the website. I also doubt it’s going to be anything like as tight as Hostile Waters – there’s concept art of infantry for a start.
At least consolisation isn’t much of a threat here, both because it’s Bohemia and because Hostile Waters would actually have worked really well on a console. (Not often you get to say that of a PC classic!)
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Hope the formula work again.
CC was the first, and maybe only, mix of Simulator and Strategy game.
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I need to play the old carrier command. The idea appeals to me for a new one (i was a long time hostile waters player) but arma is a car crash of an engine. I’m not sure i expect much.
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Take my money, please. Seriously, take my money!
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GLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
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Kudos should totally have been called “Career Command”
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I AM EXCITE
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Drooooooool.
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I was thrilled about this until the words Bohemia and Interactive came into view. I got all the enjoyment I could out of modding OFP and Arma, but it’s become pretty obvious that Bohemia has made it their trade to release games that are about halfway finished.
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WOOOT!!!
This is seriously awesome. No, really, I had no idea a remake was even considered by anyone – and then Bohemia frickin’ Interactive decides to do it?
Right now I honestly can’t even think of a studio that would be better for this property. As long as they stick to their strengths; this should be very hard SF. No lasers, no energy fields, space marines, none of that Battlefield 2142 crap. Just slightly next-gen tech.
Oh! Oh! I know! I’d also be excited if Relic were to do this. Specifically the old Relic, from when they made Homeworld. I’d trust them to do it. But nobody else.
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You’re not wrong. But I’m hoping that the relatively limited scope of Carrier Command (compared to ArmAII) helps with quality control. And also I prefer a game that’s awesome after a year of patching to a game that’s mediocre out-of-the-box.
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@ Bursar: “This is Ransom…”-ah, near brought a tear to my eye, that did. The Antaeus crew are sorely missed :D
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I drive tanks, son.
That is all.
(As if)
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Hostile Waters trivia:
The russian translators recorded all of Korolev’s lines with a male voice, reasoning that he MUST be male, as if it was a woman she’d be called ‘Koroleva’.
Because of this we had to change the picture on her chip for the russian release. We used a picture of Warren Ellis :)
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In Soviet Russia, script reads Voice Over Artist.
No, that’s not worked at all, has it?
“Come to Nurse Borden”
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“Ooooh, very pretty. Those desert shots are particularly nice, if the ArmA 2 engine can do that then I hope they do a desert map for it, ala South Sahrani.”
The upcoming ArmA2 expansion is desert-based yeah.
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I’ve not played Carrier Command or Hostile Waters, but am I right in assuming they’re something like a less simulation-y Falcon 4.0?
Although primarily a highly realistic F-16 simulator, the F4 campaign (at least the Allied Force version I mostly played) allowed you to direct the larger war effort, telling land units where to go and assigning flight packages to tell planes what to do where. Most of that was handled by the campaign AI by default, and while it got the basic stuff generally right (and would probably always win due to force superiority and later reinforcements), it also tended to screw up the initial hours of the war (losing a ton of territory and military) and bomb every single bridge in sight (meaning it takes ages for your troops to do anything once defence turns to offence).
So those of us who actually wanted to see a campaign finish before we died of old age would take over from the AI and play it like a hybrid strategy game / flight simulator, assigning a bunch of orders and packages, picking an interesting-looking one, and taking to the air to do some of the bombing ourselves.
The strategy element was rather limited compared to a “real” strategy game — maybe because it was never really meant to be controlled by the player, I don’t know. But if BI is making the same sort of strategy + flight game, then I’m pretty excited, regardless of whether they treat the flight aspect as simulation- or arcade-style.
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Those environments look a bit too big for Carrier Command. It was a game of a large sea and small islands that bases are dynamically built upon. Giant deserts and detailed forests indicate it’ll be a different game entirely.
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I got in a really good and random “In Russia X does Y to you” joke when I was playing poker online :P Some guy asked me where I was from and I said russia and he said how’s that going for you and I said “In Mother Russia, Cards fold you!” was met with much cyber laughter all around and I almost peed myself at my cleverness :P
On topic this looks like it could be either very very good or totally horrible.
Personally I think Derek Smart and 3000AD would have been better of doing this.
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I had a chance to play Hostile Waters a couple of times but passed on it, I regret that now :(
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GJLARP: Unfortunately the indie remake looks quite dead: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/martingbell/projects/
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“Personally I think Derek Smart and 3000AD would have been better of doing this.”
@Railick – have you completely – lost – your – mind?
Screens look awesome, very happy news. Bohemia’s games are buggy, but they do quality work. Here’s to hoping no robotic voices in this one (unless they’re from robots).
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“I waited my whole life to die, now I get to have some fun.”
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everyone go play Hostile Waters!
Wish that game had multiplayer…
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On a slight tangent following up on Tim Austin’s comments.
In Russia if a man who’s surname is Korolev married a woman, would her married name be Korolev or Koroleva or I have I completely misunderstood the concept?
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Ah, carrier command, the game I played and never really understood. I impressively attacked a few islands and colonised some, but never really played a game through to its conclusion…
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Carrier command was amazing. Great memories of the Atari version, so looking forward to his muchly.
I’m old enough to stand a chance of being good at it now also.
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I dont think it is possible to pick a worst developer to make this game. Seriously, Bohemia hasn’t made a functional game at launch, every single one has been a bugged mess that takes months even years to become fully enjoyable with patches…
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Please be good. Please be good. Please be good.
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what a coincidence, just found my original Cc sound track on cassette, that came with the game, many hours played with no regrets, many years ago.
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“Let’s wrap this up, I’ve got googlies to fry.”
hahaha
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“Let’s wrap this up, I’ve got googlies to fry.”
I always chuckled at that line. I loved the AI chatter in Hostile Waters.
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Bursar: I’m not sure if Russian surnames change on marraoge, I think the -a ending is just the femine form of the family name (e.g. Safin, Safina).
Ummm, Rallick?
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Ummm, what?
I do think 3000AD would be a good choice for this. all the games they make are already in this same vein with a carrier and launching ships,managing the carriers supplies ect as well as attacking things on the ground. If they got the same amount of funding as these guys got they could really turn what they have into something beautiful, but alas it is not to be.
What did you want funky Badger?
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ah I see from my above comment you think I’m Russian. To clear that up I was just pretending to be russia so I could do a “In Russia X does Y to you” joke , I’m actually from Kentucky in the US :P so I have no idea about Surnames changing with marriage.
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D’oh!
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@ Ravenger
They may well have because I read that somewhere and subsequently started a new game and shot the bejebuz out of the enemy carrier.
It was super effective.
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Carrier Command is a game that allows you to make it what you want. I hope that the makers only expand on the gameplay, and include a multiplayer option. If its made right this could and should be the game of the decade, but classic named games have been ruined by low quality remakes before. My fingers are crossed!
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