Dark Future

Dark Future is a new strategy game under development by Grasshopper Software. Aimed at Risc PCs, three months of development has gone into the product so far, with the screenshots on this page showing the current state of the game (the pictures here have all been scaled to two-thirds of their original size). A release date of early in the new year is hoped for.

Dark Future is a turn-based game, a little like Heroes of Might and Magic 2. You and your enemies take it in turns to give orders to your troops, deciding where to move, who to attack and so on. It is intended to support multiplayer games not only on the same machine but also over the internet and via email(!).

^{The surface of a planet}

Also like Heroes of Might and Magic 2, the game will come with both a story-driven mode and an arcade one where you simply fight for the sake of it. In the story mode apparently the outcome of your battles will affect what happens next within the game.

^{A galaxy - with a solar system in the foreground by the look of it!}

Running in a 640x480 screen-mode with 256 colours, the developer is not aiming to make Dark Future a large, all-encompassing game with many different elements, and nor is it intended to be a graphics-fest - instead Grasshopper are aiming for what they think is a more feasible target of a working, fun game. That said, the game engine already supports such features as context-sensitive ambient lighting and real-time transparencies, and much of the in-game scenery will be interactive and not just for show.

Dark Future is expected to cost £25 and to come on one CD, requiring a Risc PC with at least 8Mb of RAM.

^{Reading the handily-supplied encyclopaedia}

Screenshots used with permission

...this page last updated: 11/12/98...
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