Hardwar
Description official descriptions
The craters together is named Misplaced Optimism... And it's completely appropriate. Located on Titan, one of Saturn's moons, the colony started as a mining colony. As the wealth of mineral discovery spread, gangs moved in... until the whole place is held by two rival gangs, some misc. factions, and a lot of people caught inbetween, with no way out.
You are just one of the "moth" flyer owners, and you want to get out of this godforsaken hellhole, and the only way to do is to play the game... a mean game of survival.
Hardwar is a free-form and plot-driven game that was inspired by Elite and Privateer. Entire Misplace Optimism is simulated with other crafts moving about their own business, from transport to piracy to bounty hunters and more, and you can join them. Transport your own goods from source to destination to earn a profit. Chase down helpless merchant moths and cut them apart with your weapons and then retrieve their cargo. Chase down pirates and other evildoers on commission of the local police. Upgrade your craft with better components, software, or even new moth models. You can even own buildings in this game world, and charge others for repairs and such. Follow through the plot, where you need to undertake a few special missions, and you may even get a chance to escape this hellhole once and for all...
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Credits (Windows version)
79 People (76 developers, 3 thanks) · View all
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Camera Operator | |
Lighting Camera | |
Prop Construction | |
Make-up Desginer | |
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[ full credits ] |
Reviews
Trivia
Actors
Designer & Producer, Ade Carless actually appears in the game's videos as the Police Über-Clerk. The character Syd is played in the FMV clips by British television presenter Ben Shephard, early in his career.
Demo
The demo (while timed and limited to the Alpha crater) has a unique scenario
Extras
Some US releases included a Fragile Allegiance CD (full version - just a CD in a slip case) inside the box.
Hardluck
The Software Refinery released a small utility called "Hardluck" that toggles a 'Misc' tab on the main launch menu. There's several options available from this tab; For example you can browse for and play the videos from the game cd's("Spoiler Warning!"), enable some useful and fun Debug Keys, or create a text Log File for each game played which details all activity in the world
Options
You can actually purchase buildings in each of the craters by locating the real estate agent's location. You can also call for a taxi, buy new "moths" (the crafts you fly), get new weapons and equipment, smuggle (illegal substances of course), be a vigilante (track down/kill wanted moth drivers for police) by visiting the police HQ and get the wanted list, salvage dropped merchandise (if you have a retriever drone), borrow money from loan shark(s), pay fines (to clear your record with the police), trade with various enclaves and shops, hire on as mercenary for one of the factions in the game, upgrade your computer systems in the moth by finding a software house, and much more...
References
Some of the AI Pilots are named after the hacker aliases from the film Hackers (1995) starring Jonny Lee Miller and Angelina Jolie - Acid Burn, Crash Override, Zero Cool, Lord Nikon.
Soundtrack
The radio station in this game, HardWarp FM, is based on Warp Records, an independent electronic music label who did provide the tracks. Both CDs have five full length tracks and eleven short tracks. Here are the names and artists of the full length tracks:
CD1:
Track 2: Black Dog - Raxmus 3:05
Track 3: Black Dog - Chase The Manhattan 5:45
Track 4: LFO - Tied Up 5:21
Track 5: LFO - Shut Down 4:50
Track 6: Autechre - Second Bad Vilbel 9:43
CD2:
Track 2: RAC - Nine 3:47
Track 3: Autechre - Second Scepe 6:41
Track 4: Autechre - Clipper 8:12
Track 5: Squarepusher - Chin Hippy 3:16
Track 6: LFO - Tied Up 5:21
The last track on CD 2 is a recording of a group of the game's creators singing along to the final cutscene There's also this comment: "Right, so it's like, 3 in the morning, and we've like, finally finished the final version, er, oh hang on there's that singing bit..."
Information also contributed by Jack Lightbeard, Kasey Chang, neotiger and Zamppa
Related Sites +
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Alpha Crater
This site caters for many members of the Hardwar community.News,tips,screenshots,chat and the latest updates can be found here! -
Bjarne Jenson's Hardwar pages
Bjarne Jenson's Hardwar pages -
Captain Zedo's
Probably the best fansite for Hardwar; includes an active message board and lots of gameplay tips. -
Crazy's Hardwar Page
Crazy's Hardwar Page -
David Herbour's Hardwar Pages
David Herbour's Hardwar Pages -
Hardwar FAQ
An excellent and very in depth Hardwar FAQ -
Hardwar Tales Of Greed
The very first hardwar fanfiction site. -
Hardwar webring
This Webring has been established For Pilots to reference the associated Facilities that offer anything to do with the HardW[a]r universe. Please visit these facilities as they offer many different things that are interesting and useful to all! -
Highrise Industries
Highrise Industries -
Huz's Hardwar Pages
Huz's Hardwar Pages -
Moth Designs Inc
Moth Designs Inc -
Nar Sluke's Hardwar Emporium
Nar Sluke's Hardwar Emporium -
Omega's Hardwar pages
Omega's Hardwar pages -
Shrekken's Hanger
Shrekken's Hanger -
Timiski's Hardw[a]r map site
The latest and greatest maps for hardwar! -
Titan University
Titan University -
Underdog's Hardwar Pages
Underdog's Hardwar Pages -
Xaffax's Pirate's Nest
Xaffax's Pirate's Nest
Identifiers +
- MobyGames ID: 1991
- Steam App: 1500540
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by cuchulainn.
Additional contributors: Vance, Rebound Boy, jnik, Kasey Chang, [email protected], Jack Lightbeard, Patrick Bregger.
Last modified February 22nd, 2023.