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Darwinia (computer game)
Encyclopedia
Darwinia is the second game by Introversion Software
.
polygon
s by Dr. Sepulveda. Housed in a massive network of surplus Protologic 68000 machines from the 1980s, Darwinia is a world where the single-poly Darwinians, with their simple, but growing AI, can grow and evolve. Darwinia is also where the world can visit to see them frolicking in their natural, fractal habitat. Darwinians live a life, working and growing, until eventual death, which releases their digital soul to be reincarnated.
However, the player arrives in the midst of an emergency. Darwinia has been infected by a virus
, and Dr. Sepulveda is in near panic watching decades of research being corrupted and consumed. Sepulveda enlists the player, a curious hacker who stumbled across Darwinia by accident, to aid him in rescuing the Darwinians and drive off the virus. The player is given access to the combat programs, simple tools that originally began as mini-games, but now are the only means of attack against the virus. As the player progresses, it soon becomes clear this is not enough, and that triggers the third aspect of the gameplay - evolution.
The first two levels act as an introduction and allow the player to familiarize themselves with the controls. After that, Dr. Sepulveda begins assigning tasks that span several levels to achieve a long-term objective. The first task involves clearing the virus population from and reactivating the Mines and Power Generator to provide resources for the Construction Yard. Once done, the Yard begins producing armored units, allowing the player to move on. The next task involves the reincarnation of Darwinians: the Soul Repository in the center of Darwinia collects the floating souls, and sends them down to the Receiver, where the Darwinians collect them and send them to the Pattern Buffer to be reprogrammed with the main Darwinian blueprint code, where they are sent to the Biosphere to be reborn. The player must clear the Viruses from and reactivate all of these facilities.
In the final level of the game, Dr. Sepulveda traces the Viral infection back to its source: E-mail spam
. The Darwinians had managed to access Sepulveda's computer, downloading several files and eventually, the Spam. The E-mails were infected with a very nasty strain of internet virus which corrupted the Darwinians. The player is tasked to destroying the few remaining emails.
Darwinia does not fall into any one game genre, as it mixes elements from strategy, action, puzzle, hacker, and God games alike. The player has the ability to run several programs through the Task Manager (a reference to the Windows Task Manager
), similar to units used in many real time strategy games. Research allows the player to upgrade programs and weapons, which is critical as the enemy develops. Mission Objectives are given at each location/level, as the player and the Darwinians attempt to wipe out the Viruses.
released via Xbox Live Arcade
on 11 February 2010. It includes updated versions of both Darwinia and Multiwinia
. This was Introversion Software's first venture onto a video games console.
Introversion Software
-History:The company was founded in 2001 by three friends, Chris Delay; Mark Morris; and Thomas Arundel, who met when they were undergraduates at Imperial College London...
.
Plot
Darwinia was created as a digital theme world for artificially intelligentArtificial 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...
polygon
Polygon
In geometry a polygon is a flat shape consisting of straight lines that are joined to form a closed chain orcircuit.A polygon is traditionally a plane figure that is bounded by a closed path, composed of a finite sequence of straight line segments...
s by Dr. Sepulveda. Housed in a massive network of surplus Protologic 68000 machines from the 1980s, Darwinia is a world where the single-poly Darwinians, with their simple, but growing AI, can grow and evolve. Darwinia is also where the world can visit to see them frolicking in their natural, fractal habitat. Darwinians live a life, working and growing, until eventual death, which releases their digital soul to be reincarnated.
However, the player arrives in the midst of an emergency. Darwinia has been infected by a virus
Computer virus
A computer virus is a computer program that can replicate itself and spread from one computer to another. The term "virus" is also commonly but erroneously used to refer to other types of malware, including but not limited to adware and spyware programs that do not have the reproductive ability...
, and Dr. Sepulveda is in near panic watching decades of research being corrupted and consumed. Sepulveda enlists the player, a curious hacker who stumbled across Darwinia by accident, to aid him in rescuing the Darwinians and drive off the virus. The player is given access to the combat programs, simple tools that originally began as mini-games, but now are the only means of attack against the virus. As the player progresses, it soon becomes clear this is not enough, and that triggers the third aspect of the gameplay - evolution.
The first two levels act as an introduction and allow the player to familiarize themselves with the controls. After that, Dr. Sepulveda begins assigning tasks that span several levels to achieve a long-term objective. The first task involves clearing the virus population from and reactivating the Mines and Power Generator to provide resources for the Construction Yard. Once done, the Yard begins producing armored units, allowing the player to move on. The next task involves the reincarnation of Darwinians: the Soul Repository in the center of Darwinia collects the floating souls, and sends them down to the Receiver, where the Darwinians collect them and send them to the Pattern Buffer to be reprogrammed with the main Darwinian blueprint code, where they are sent to the Biosphere to be reborn. The player must clear the Viruses from and reactivate all of these facilities.
In the final level of the game, Dr. Sepulveda traces the Viral infection back to its source: E-mail spam
E-mail spam
Email spam, also known as junk email or unsolicited bulk email , is a subset of spam that involves nearly identical messages sent to numerous recipients by email. Definitions of spam usually include the aspects that email is unsolicited and sent in bulk. One subset of UBE is UCE...
. The Darwinians had managed to access Sepulveda's computer, downloading several files and eventually, the Spam. The E-mails were infected with a very nasty strain of internet virus which corrupted the Darwinians. The player is tasked to destroying the few remaining emails.
Gameplay
Windows Task Manager
Windows Task Manager is a task manager application included with the Microsoft Windows NT family of operating systems that provides detailed information about computer performance and running applications, processes and CPU usage, commit charge and memory information, network activity and...
), similar to units used in many real time strategy games. Research allows the player to upgrade programs and weapons, which is critical as the enemy develops. Mission Objectives are given at each location/level, as the player and the Darwinians attempt to wipe out the Viruses.
Development
- Initial beta testing on Darwinia started on August 27, 2004, and full game beta testing started on November 26, 2004.
- A demo level was released on January 21, 2005 and can be downloaded from the Darwinia website.
- Darwinia was released on March 4, 2005, while the MacintoshMac OS XMac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
version was released March 30, 2005 by publisher Ambrosia SoftwareAmbrosia SoftwareAmbrosia Software is a predominantly Macintosh software company located in Rochester, New York. Ambrosia produces utilities and games. Its products are distributed as shareware; demo versions can be downloaded and used for up to 30 days....
. - A patchPatch (computing)A patch is a piece of software designed to fix problems with, or update a computer program or its supporting data. This includes fixing security vulnerabilities and other bugs, and improving the usability or performance...
was released on April 28, 2005 for Microsoft WindowsMicrosoft WindowsMicrosoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, bringing the version to 1.2. New features included an improved unit selection system, as well as numerous modding updates including the ability to create custom strings. - Another patch (version 1.3) was released in September 2005, which includes the option (enabled by default) of clicking icons or using keyboard shortcuts to create units instead of using the gesture system.
- A new demo, using features of the above-mentioned version 1.3 patch and an entirely new level "Launchpad" not in the full game, was released in September 2005.
- Darwinia was released on Steam on December 14, 2005.
- With the Steam framework open to them, Introversion now hopes to implement the long-planned multiplayer mode into Darwinia http://www.steamreview.org/?p=27.
- Beta testing signups for the next Windows Patch started on the February 22, 2006.
- A new patch was released on March 10, 2006 bringing the version up to 1.42 and adding difficulty settings ranging from 1 to 10. Higher difficulties increase the number, speed, and health of monsters. It also increases the speed of the player's own units. When played on the highest difficulty, the players will experience "Darwinia on Steroids", a term coined by Introversion and referring to the high speed.
- eGamesEGameseGames, Inc. is a software publisher and developer for casual and traditional computer games based in Langhorne, PA.-History:EG was originally called E-games when it went public in 1996...
-owned CinemawareCinemawareCinemaware was a computer game developer and publisher that released several popular titles in the 1980s based on various movie themes. The company was resurrected in 2000, before being acquired by eGames in 2005.-Cinemaware Corp...
on April 4, 2006 issued a press release announcing they would bring Darwinia to US markets in June 2006. - Beta testing signups for version 1.5.x started on the December 15, 2006.
- A Windows Vista exclusive version of Darwinia with extra eye candy and 3 additional levels was released on January 31, 2007.
- Version 1.5.1.1 patch released on June 18, 2007, providing support for DirectX 9c, including extra eye candy and the "Launchpad" level.
Darwinia+
Darwinia+ is the version of Darwinia for the Xbox 360Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
released via Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade is a type of video game download distribution available primarily in a section of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360, that focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent game developers...
on 11 February 2010. It includes updated versions of both Darwinia and Multiwinia
Multiwinia
Multiwinia is the fourth video game made by Introversion Software, the creators of Uplink, Darwinia and Defcon. It is a real-time strategy game. It is included with the Darwinia+.-Plot:...
. This was Introversion Software's first venture onto a video games console.
Intros
Darwinia features a number of intros randomly selected when launching the game. These contain a number of references that may be obscure to some players, especially those unfamiliar with older European computers. These include:- Cracktro text scroller: A spoof of the crack intros that were common among pirated computer games, especially on platforms popular in Europe, such as the AmigaAmigaThe Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
and Commodore 64Commodore 64The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
. The text humorously references both coding for 38 hours straight and finishing the intro in 12 minutes. Allegedly, the release of Darwinia on the Steam platform was delayed for several hours when a Valve employee saw the intro and believed there had been a security breach. - The Matrix: One intro features green Darwinians dropping from the top of the screen to form a logo, a reference to The MatrixThe MatrixThe Matrix is a 1999 science fiction-action film written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, and Hugo Weaving...
(See Matrix digital rainMatrix digital rainMatrix digital rain, Matrix code or sometimes green rain, is the computer code featured in the Matrix series. The falling green code is a way of representing the activity of the virtual reality environment of the Matrix on screen. All three Matrix movies, as well as the spin-off The Animatrix...
). - Real-time Raytracer: Another cracktro-style intro featuring a raytraced scene of spinning spheres. This was a popular effect in many old demo scene productions.
- Cannon Fodder: A black screen displaying the text "This game is not in any way endorsed by Sensible SoftwareSensible SoftwareSensible Software was a software house active during the 1980s and 90s, from the United Kingdom.The company was well-known for the very small sprites used for the player characters in many of their games, including Sensible Soccer, Cannon Fodder and Sensible Golf.- Early history :Sensible Software...
" while the beginning of the theme from Cannon FodderCannon FodderCannon Fodder is a short series of war themed action video games developed by Sensible Software, initially released for the Commodore Amiga. Only two games in the series were released, but were converted to most active systems at the time of release...
plays. The text is a reference to the message that shows at the start of Cannon Fodder, "This game is not in any way endorsed by the Royal British Legion." Some see this as an acknowledgement of Cannon Fodders influence on Darwinia. - ZX Spectrum: One of the intros is designed to look like the ZX SpectrumZX SpectrumThe ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
when loading a tapeCompact CassetteThe Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...
-based game. - Life: A simulation of the cellular automatonCellular automatonA cellular automaton is a discrete model studied in computability theory, mathematics, physics, complexity science, theoretical biology and microstructure modeling. It consists of a regular grid of cells, each in one of a finite number of states, such as "On" and "Off"...
game of LifeConway's Game of LifeThe Game of Life, also known simply as Life, is a cellular automaton devised by the British mathematician John Horton Conway in 1970....
in which Darwinians live, die and spread in a grid based on just a few basic rules. - MBTI into: This intro scrolls through the four dichotomies on a Myers-Briggs Type IndicatorMyers-Briggs Type IndicatorThe Myers-Briggs Type Indicator assessment is a psychometric questionnaire designed to measure psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions...
, listing introversion last as it is the name of the developer.
Reception
- Nominated for Best Game in the GameShadowGameShadowGameShadow is a gaming community website and an advertising-supported software utility that keeps PC gamers up-to-date with patches, game demos, trailers, mods and other content for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 games. GameShadow identifies the product version of supported games installed on a user's PC,...
Innovation in Games Awards 2006 - Scored 90% from PC GamerPC GamerPC Gamer is a magazine founded in Britain in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future Publishing. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games magazines in their respective countries...
UK and reached number 21 on its 'Top 100 PC Games' list. - Scored 8.5 in GameSpotGameSpotGameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
's review. - "Has to be played" from PC Review
- Darwinia won the Seumas McNally Grand Prize, Technical Excellence, and Innovation in Visual Art awards at the 2006 Independent Games FestivalIndependent Games FestivalThe Independent Games Festival is an annual festival at the Game Developers Conference, the largest annual gathering of the indie video game industry. It was founded in 1998 to assist and inspire innovation in video game development and to recognize the best independent video game developers...
. - Earned a 5 out of 5 on X-PlayX-PlayX-Play is a TV program about video games, known for its reviews and comedy skits...
. - New Age Gaming magazine awarded Darwinia a score of 97, its highest ever, and an Editor's Choice award. No other game has exceeded 96 as of June 2007. A scan of the review can be found on the official site. It also received a video review included on NAG's cover DVD.