Dark Colony

Dark Colony
Developer(s)	GameTek
Publisher(s)	Strategic Simulations, Inc.
Platform(s)	Windows, Mac OS
Release date(s)	August 31, 1997
Genre(s)	Real-time strategy
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer (1-8 players)
Rating(s)	ESRB: Mature
Media/distribution	CD-ROM
System requirements 90 MHz Pentium processor or equivalent, 16 MB RAM, 1 MB video memory, 5 MB hard drive space

Dark Colony is a 1997 real-time strategy (RTS) computer game developed by GameTek and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc.. The game is for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS.

Overview

The game is set on a fictional Mars colony - the so-called "Dark Colony" - in the year 2137. Humans have discovered a "remarkable energy source" by the name of Petra-7 on the red planet. Figuring they'd rather not choke on the atmosphere of Mars whilst mining Petra-7, the Humans begin terraforming the planet. At the start of the game the project has produced jungles and deserts habitable by people. All seems to be going well, until the Taar show up. The Taar are aliens from a scattered and dying race looking for a new homeworld, and Mars seems to be good fit. Before they can move in though, they seek to get rid of the humans.

The game consists of two campaigns where players can either play as the humans, commanding a colonization force from Pan Luma Industries (one of the Earth corporations along with Aerogen and Stratus who are in charge of the Mars project) whose goal is to defend against and defeat the alien threat, or as the Grays, where players have to defeat the human presence on Mars and claim it for as their own.

Balance

Both the human and alien armies have absolutely mirrored units that differ only in appearance, however there are two aspects to the gameplay that can sway the tide of battle: effective use of artifacts and day/night cycle.^{[original research?]} Dark Colony is one of the first RTS to add day/night cycle as a tactical consideration, as the Grays see much better during night time and Humans see much better during day time.^{[citation needed]}

There is a way to play multiplayer online by a special Dark Colony multiplayer client disigned by "maranta" His website is www.darkcolony.pl

The link to download a multiplayer client http://www.darkcolony.pl/downloads.php?cat_id=7

Multiplayer clients allows player to communicate, and create lobbies before starting the game.

Dark Colony: The Council Wars

Dark Colony: The Council Wars
Developer(s)	Sold-Out Software
Publisher(s)	GameTek
Platform(s)	PC (Windows)
Release date(s)	January 1998
Genre(s)	Real-time strategy
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	7.8/10
Media/distribution	CD-ROM
System requirements 90 MHz Pentium processor or equivalent, 16 MB RAM, 1 MB video memory, 5 MB hard drive space

Dark Colony: The Council Wars is an expansion pack to the 1997 video game Dark Colony, published in 1998.

New things players can find are crashed flying saucers, Taar fortress markings, and a revisit of Area 51, featuring rattlesnakes. Apart from that, familiar terrain types have a slightly different appearance, and new ambient sounds.

Gameplay involves eradicating humans as you play the alien Taar, or to destroy aliens as a human player.

External links

• Dark Colony at MobyGames
• Dark Colony: The Council Wars at MobyGames
• (Polish)Polish Dark Colony Fan Site.