Difference between revisions of "Dark Reign: The Future of War"

Latest revision as of 22:57, 8 April 2024

Dark Reign
Dark Reign: The Future of War	1997
Dark Reign 2	2000

Dark Reign: The Future of War is a singleplayer and multiplayer top-down view RTS game in the Dark Reign series.

The game received The Rise of the Shadowhand expansion in March 1998.

General information

GOG.com Community Discussions for game series

GOG.com Support Page

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail
GOG.com		Includes 'The Rise of the Shadowhand' expansion. Uses GOG's custom DirectDraw wrapper as of 21 June 2022.

A free demo version is available from Archive.org.

Monetization

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
The Rise of the Shadowhand	Features two new sides, Xenite and Shadowhand along with a new campaign, new maps and terrains.

Essential improvements

Patches

The latest official patch is 1.4.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\TACTICS.CFG^{[Note 1]}

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\save^{[Note 1]}

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
GOG Galaxy

Video

In-game options.

Graphics feature	State	Notes
Widescreen resolution		640x480 only.
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Borderless fullscreen windowed		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Anti-aliasing (AA)
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS
120+ FPS
High dynamic range display (HDR)

Input

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support

Audio

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Sound effects, music
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
French				Retail only.
German				Retail only; download for digital release.
Brazilian Portuguese				Retail only - Atlam Toys.
Latin American Spanish				Retail only.

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play		8
Online play		4	The official multiplayer server has been shut down.

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Self-hosting

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	3

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Audio	Miles Sound System
Cutscenes	Smacker Video Technology

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	95
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium 90 MHz
System memory (RAM)	16 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	110 MB
Video card (GPU)	1 MB of VRAM DirectX 3 compatible
Sound (audio device)	Creative SoundBlaster or 100%-compatible equivalent
Other	28.8 Kbps modem for multiplayer

Not compatible with Windows 3.1

Notes

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).

References

↑ Online Gaming Review - last accessed on 2024-03-31 (archived)

[gamedir-2] 1.0 ^1.1 When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).

[1] Online Gaming Review - last accessed on 2024-03-31 (archived)

[1]

[Note 1]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{stub}}
 {{Infobox game
 |cover        = Dark Reign The Future of War - cover.jpg
@@ Line 9: / Line 8: @@
 {{Infobox game/row/engine|Tactics}}
 |release dates=
-{{Infobox game/row/date|Windows|September 1997}}
+{{Infobox game/row/date|Windows|September 17, 1997|ref=<ref>{{Refurl|url=https://web.archive.org/web/19980615041130/http://www.ogr.com/news/news0997.html|title=Online Gaming Review|date=2024-03-31}} (archived)</ref>}}
 |taxonomy=
-{{Infobox game/row/taxonomy/monetization      | Expansion pack }}
+{{Infobox game/row/taxonomy/monetization      | One-time game purchase, Expansion pack }}
 {{Infobox game/row/taxonomy/microtransactions | }}
 {{Infobox game/row/taxonomy/modes             | Singleplayer, Multiplayer }}
@@ Line 25: / Line 24: @@
 |steam appid  =
 |gogcom id    = 1207658904
+|hltb         = 2216
 |strategywiki =
-|mobygames    = dark-reign-the-future-of-war
+|mobygames    = 1535
 |wikipedia    = Dark Reign: The Future of War
 |winehq       = 154
 |license      = commercial
+}}
+{{Introduction
+|introduction      =
+|release history   = The game received '''''The Rise of the Shadowhand''''' expansion in March 1998.
+|current state     =
 }}
@@ Line 37: / Line 45: @@
 ==Availability==
 {{Availability|
-{{Availability/row| Retail | | unknown | | | Windows }}
+{{Availability/row| Retail | | disc | | | Windows }}
-{{Availability/row| GOG.com | dark_reign_expansion | DRM-free | Includes 'The Rise of the Shadowhand' expansion. | | Windows }}
+{{Availability/row| GOG.com | dark_reign_expansion | DRM-free | Includes 'The Rise of the Shadowhand' expansion. Uses GOG's custom DirectDraw wrapper as of 21 June 2022. | | Windows }}
 }}
+{{ii}} A free demo version is available from [https://archive.org/details/DarkReignTheFutureofWar_1020 Archive.org].
+==Monetization==
 {{DLC|
-{{DLC/row| The Rise of the Shadowhand |  | Windows }}
+{{DLC/row| The Rise of the Shadowhand | Features two new sides, Xenite and Shadowhand along with a new campaign, new maps and terrains. | Windows }}
 }}
+==Essential improvements==
+===Patches===
+{{ii}} The latest official patch is [https://www.patches-scrolls.com/dark_reign.php 1.4].
 ==Game data==
@@ Line 62: / Line 76: @@
 |epic games launcher       =
 |epic games launcher notes =
-|gog galaxy                = false
+|gog galaxy                = true
 |gog galaxy notes          =
 |origin                    =
@@ Line 100: / Line 114: @@
 |antialiasing               = n/a
 |antialiasing notes         =
+|upscaling                  = unknown
+|upscaling tech             =
+|upscaling notes            =
 |vsync                      = unknown
 |vsync notes                =
@@ Line 106: / Line 123: @@
 |120 fps                    = unknown
 |120 fps notes              =
-|hdr                        = unknown
+|hdr                        = false
 |hdr notes                  =
-|color blind                = unknown
+|color blind                = false
 |color blind notes          =
 }}
@@ Line 164: / Line 181: @@
 |closed captions          = false
 |closed captions notes    =
-|mute on focus lost       = true
+|mute on focus lost       = always on
 |mute on focus lost notes =
 |eax support              =
 |eax support notes        =
+|royalty free audio       = always on
+|royalty free audio notes =
 }}
@@ Line 175: / Line 194: @@
   |interface = true
   |audio     = true
-  |subtitles = unknown
+  |subtitles = false
   |notes     =
   |fan       =
@@ Line 183: / Line 202: @@
   |interface = true
   |audio     = true
-  |subtitles = unknown
+  |subtitles = false
-  |notes     =
+  |notes     = Retail only.
+ |fan       =
+}}
+{{L10n/switch
+ |language  = German
+ |interface = true
+ |audio     = true
+ |subtitles = false
+ |notes     = Retail only; [https://www.compiware-forum.de/downloads/file/993-dark-reign-german-patch/ download for digital release].
   |fan       =
 }}
@@ Line 191: / Line 218: @@
   |interface = true
   |audio     = true
-  |subtitles = unknown
+  |subtitles = false
-  |notes     = Retail - Atlam Toys.
+  |notes     = Retail only - Atlam Toys.
   |fan       =
 }}
@@ Line 199: / Line 226: @@
   |interface = true
   |audio     = true
-  |subtitles = unknown
+  |subtitles = false
-  |notes     =
+  |notes     = Retail only.
   |fan       =
 }}
@@ Line 215: / Line 242: @@
 |lan play modes       =
 |lan play notes       =
-|online play          = true
+|online play          = false
 |online play players  = 4
 |online play modes    =
-|online play notes    =
+|online play notes    = The official multiplayer server has been shut down.
 |asynchronous         =
 |asynchronous notes   =
@@ Line 228: / Line 255: @@
 |dedicated          =
 |dedicated notes    =
-|self-hosting       =
+|self-hosting       = true
 |self-hosting notes =
 |direct ip          =
@@ Line 261: / Line 288: @@
 |windows 32-bit exe     = true
 |windows 64-bit exe     = false
+|windows arm app        = unknown
 |windows exe notes      =
 |macos intel 32-bit app =
 |macos intel 64-bit app =
+|macos arm app          = unknown
 |macos app notes        =
 |linux 32-bit executable=
 |linux 64-bit executable=
+|linux arm app          = unknown
 |linux executable notes =
 }}
@@ Line 280: / Line 310: @@
 |input            =
 |input notes      =
-|cutscenes        = Smacker Video
+|cutscenes        = Smacker Video Technology
 |cutscenes notes  =
 |multiplayer      =
@@ Line 295: / Line 325: @@
 |minHD    = 110 MB
 |minVRAM  = 1 MB
+|minDX    = 3
 |minaudio = Creative SoundBlaster or 100%-compatible equivalent
+|minother = 28.8 Kbps modem for multiplayer
 }}
+{{--}}Not compatible with Windows 3.1
 {{References}}

Developers

	Auran
Publishers
	Activision
Engines
	Tactics
Release dates
Windows	September 17, 1997^[1]
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase, Expansion pack
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Top-down view
Controls	Multiple select, Point and select
Genres	RTS
Themes	Sci-fi
Series	Dark Reign