BattleFleet (game series)
Encyclopedia
BattleFleet is a campaign
-based naval warfare
series and is a strategy series
based on the well known game Battleship
. It is developed and published by Strategy Lights Systems. BattleFleet is publicized alongside Guns Girls Lawyers Spies, Guns Girls Lawyers Dollars, and Fashion Tycoon - War Edition. These are also productions from Strategy Lights Systems.
game. Only a mouse and keyboard are needed to play BattleFleet, as it is simple to control. All of the BattleFleet games are turn-based, with the Player and AI alternating moves. Most of the game revolves around campaign-style missions, which end by completing an objective such as conquering enemy ports, defending your own, destroying enemy ships, eliminating as many units as possible, or simply delivering a transport convoy to another port before the time (turns) runs out. The campaigns end in a win or lose situation, depending on the circumstances of each turn:
The death match mode, which involves either all enemies dead, or all friendly forces dead, is considered to be much harder. The only objective is destroying all enemy units.
BattleFleet maps can be from 16x16 to 96x96, depending in how large the area of operations is for each campaign or death match. Bigger maps also are harder than smaller ones. As of BattleFleet - Pacific War, there are 60 unit types, detailed in the next section. There are more than 60 missions, again, as of Pacific War.
and sonar
, however only certain ships have sonar. Once enemy ships are in radar or sonar contact, they can be attacked on the player's turn. The difficulty is also higher, due to the AI's
ability to move also. There is also the death match mode, which involves either all enemies dead, or all friendly forces dead. This respectively results in a win-lose situation at the end of the match.
The ships, objects, and aircraft included in the games are Battleships
, Aircraft Carriers
, Cruisers
, Submarines
, Bombers
, Destroyers
, Artillery Pieces
, Corvettes
, Patrol Boats
, Torpedo Boats
, Frigates
, Fighter Jets, Auxilliaries, Seaplanes, and Transport Boats.
BattleFleet - Pacific War
Campaign
Campaign may refer to:*Advertising campaign*Military campaign*Political campaign*Advocacy or Advocacy group, relating 'campaigning' on an issue -Gaming:...
-based naval warfare
Naval warfare
Naval warfare is combat in and on seas, oceans, or any other major bodies of water such as large lakes and wide rivers.-History:Mankind has fought battles on the sea for more than 3,000 years. Land warfare would seem, initially, to be irrelevant and entirely removed from warfare on the open ocean,...
series and is a strategy series
Strategy game
A strategy game or strategic game is a game in which the players' uncoerced, and often autonomous decision-making skills have a high significance in determining the outcome...
based on the well known game Battleship
Battleship (game)
The game Battleship is a guessing game played by two people. It is known throughout the world as a pencil and paper game which predates World War I. It was published by Milton Bradley Company in 1931 as the pad-and-pencil game "Broadsides, the Game of Naval Strategy".-Description:The game is...
. It is developed and published by Strategy Lights Systems. BattleFleet is publicized alongside Guns Girls Lawyers Spies, Guns Girls Lawyers Dollars, and Fashion Tycoon - War Edition. These are also productions from Strategy Lights Systems.
Gameplay
The games are highly based on Battleship, another naval warfareWar
War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...
game. Only a mouse and keyboard are needed to play BattleFleet, as it is simple to control. All of the BattleFleet games are turn-based, with the Player and AI alternating moves. Most of the game revolves around campaign-style missions, which end by completing an objective such as conquering enemy ports, defending your own, destroying enemy ships, eliminating as many units as possible, or simply delivering a transport convoy to another port before the time (turns) runs out. The campaigns end in a win or lose situation, depending on the circumstances of each turn:
- Victory - Objective completed before the last turn passes
- Defeat - Objective not completed after final turn or all friendly ships lost
The death match mode, which involves either all enemies dead, or all friendly forces dead, is considered to be much harder. The only objective is destroying all enemy units.
BattleFleet maps can be from 16x16 to 96x96, depending in how large the area of operations is for each campaign or death match. Bigger maps also are harder than smaller ones. As of BattleFleet - Pacific War, there are 60 unit types, detailed in the next section. There are more than 60 missions, again, as of Pacific War.
Ships
Unlike Battleship, ships are not stationary. They are movable on the player's turn. Ships also have radarRadar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
and sonar
Sonar
Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...
, however only certain ships have sonar. Once enemy ships are in radar or sonar contact, they can be attacked on the player's turn. The difficulty is also higher, due to the AI's
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
ability to move also. There is also the death match mode, which involves either all enemies dead, or all friendly forces dead. This respectively results in a win-lose situation at the end of the match.
The ships, objects, and aircraft included in the games are Battleships
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
, Aircraft Carriers
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
, Cruisers
Cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...
, Submarines
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
, Bombers
Bomber
A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, by dropping bombs on them, or – in recent years – by launching cruise missiles at them.-Classifications of bombers:...
, Destroyers
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
, Artillery Pieces
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
, Corvettes
Corvette
A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, originally smaller than a frigate and larger than a coastal patrol craft or fast attack craft , although many recent designs resemble frigates in size and role...
, Patrol Boats
Patrol boat
A patrol boat is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defense duties.There have been many designs for patrol boats. They may be operated by a nation's navy, coast guard, or police force, and may be intended for marine and/or estuarine or river environments...
, Torpedo Boats
Torpedo boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval vessel designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs rammed enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes, and later designs launched self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes. They were created to counter battleships and other large, slow and...
, Frigates
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
, Fighter Jets, Auxilliaries, Seaplanes, and Transport Boats.
Versions
As of February 2011, there are 4 games (versions) under BattleFleet. They include BattleFleet - Pacific War, BattleFleet 1939, Battleship Game World War 2 Edition, and Space General World War IV - Space Strategy. Described below is BattleFleet - Pacific War, the most common version (as of February 2011).BattleFleet - Pacific War
This version includes land, islands, major and minor ports. There are 23 campaign missions and 16 death matches.Reviews
User reviews of Pacific War have an average of 3.5 out of 5, and is described as a good program, easy to use, and decent. The less positive reviews were that it had bad sound, bad graphics, and one reviewer stated "tried to purchase, still waiting for the "instant" download 6 days after payment."External links
Site of Strategy Lights Systems' BattleFleet seriesBattleFleet - Pacific War