Hardwar (Windows)

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Description

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...

Screenshots

Promo Images

Alternate Titles

• "Hardwar: The Future is Greedy" -- Jewel case release title
• "Hardwar: Die Zukunft ist gierig" -- German title

Part of the Following Group

• Merchant / Trade-oriented games

User Reviews

The Future of 1998	Ashley Pomeroy (233)
massively multiplayer sci-fi game	[email protected] (36)

Critic Reviews

Power Play	Sep, 1998	87 out of 100	87
Svenska PC Gamer	Sep, 1998	86 out of 100	86
Score	Oct, 1998	8 out of 10	80
Gameplay (Benelux)	Nov 02, 1998	78 out of 100	78
PC Joker	Sep, 1998	70 out of 100	70
Computer Gaming World (CGW)	Feb, 1999		70
Game Over Online	Sep 04, 1998	68 out of 100	68
PC Player (Germany)	Sep, 1998	66 out of 100	66
GameStar (Germany)	Oct, 1998	58 out of 100	58
PC Action	Sep 16, 1998	45 out of 100	45

Forums

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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 Web Sites

• 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)