Conflict of Nations, As Kazakhstan

 

By Bixyl Shuftan

 

A few years ago, I did a review on the game Call of War. Soon after, I would give it's sister game "Conflict of Nations" a try.  Gameplay is much the same, build units in city, improve cities through buildings, research technology for better infantry, tanks, planes, helicopters, ships, missiles, and other units, etc. Nukes are devastating, but can be countered. But like before, be prepared to spend some gold currency if you want to win, and free players can be hard pressed against "wallet warriors."

 

Of the scenarios, there are several. There's the European war scenario, there's the American theater in which players fight over a fractured North America. There are scenarios in which the action takes place four times more than realtime, and then there's the zombie fights in which all players have a mutual enemy: the infected. And there are global map games in which players can pick any country on the map.

After playing a few games, I gave the global scenario a try. I looked over the available list of nations, and I noticed among them was Kazakhstan. This wasn't an ideal country in the game. There's no access to the ocean. The cities are a bit far apart. For most Americans, it's best known as the home country of the character "Borat." But those know know me recall my sense of humor can sometimes spark some interesting ideas. So I started a game, and after making a few army units made a declaration or war against a small computer-controlled neighbor, Kyrgyzstan.

I also decided to make an announcement in the news feed. Most of the bulletins there are reports of declarations of war and the results of battles. But players can make them as well. In previous games, they were often warnings against other players or trollish remarks. But I made up a press release ...

 

Hello, is Borat, Minister of Information of glorious nation of Kazakhstan. 

Today, our great leader make decision to restore order to unstable neighbor Kyrgyzstan. Our glorious troops are marching into their city to the cheers of local peoples.

 

*image of ragtag-looking soldiers, some with patches on their uniforms and dents in their helmets, making their way into a city, occasionally stopping as the people up front check the map, scratching their heads as the locals ignore or boo them*

 

Great glory to Kazakhstan!

 

I would do the same with Uzbekistan, and message my neighbors saying I wasn't looking to start any fights. Eventually, I began noticing some player-controlled units had stopped moving. I messaged them to make sure they had gone inactive. And once I was sure the player was gone, I would make my move. In these games typically a lot of countries go inactive as players give up after a difficult fight or having gone to bed or work log back in to see much of their land is overrun.

Hello, is Borat, is Minister of information of great nation of Kazakhstan. 

Today, our great leader ordered our glorious forces into (country) due to it's government collapsing after disappearance of leader. No truth to rumor we have anything to do with disappearance. 

Local forces are laying down arms after negotiations.

 

*image of Kazak troops turning around and running away from a well-defended building*

 

Great glory to Kazakhstan!

By this time, I had researched the ability to make tanks.

 

To those who think of challenging our mighty nation, beware! For our brave soldiers are backed up by mighty, state of art tanks!

 

*image of a somewhat antiquated T-55 with rust spots on it's paint job, lumbering forward, the tank tread breaking and it has to stop.*

 

Great glory to Kazakstan!

 

And was producing fighter jets. They could only damage ground targets a little, but they were great for scouting around.

 

Our most glorious army is matched by a most glorious air force. Behold our jets which will rain death from above on our enemies and will defeat any enemy planes!

 

*image of an outdated MiG-21, with a faded paint job, it's underpowered engine sputtering as it makes it's way down a runway, barely clearing the trees at the end*

 

Great glory to Kazakstan!

 

 To my surprise, among the countries going inactive early on, though after the mass resignation a few days in the game was Russia. This was a challenge and an opportunity, and I sent in a number of units to take over as much of the country as I could. 

 

It is with sorrow that we announce collapse of government of Russia. We are moving forces in before neighbors hostile to Russian brothers do so, so we create an autonomous area under our protection. Already there are reports of Russian soldiers joyously joining our cause. 

*image of Kazak troops turning around and running away from a well-defended building with a Russian flag*

 

Great glory to Kazakstan!

 

I managed to get the bulk of Russian territory, most of Siberia and much of European Russia including Moscow. But China got Vladivostok and bordering countries got some Russian cities including Ukraine getting Rostov, denying me a port. But I had other targets of opportunity, and was moving into Afghanistan, then Pakistan.

 

Our most glorious forces are moving south into Afghanistan in order to deal with most dastardly terrorists threatening our glorious nation and many others. We have recently captured video footage from terrorist training camp.

 

*image of a scruffy middle-aged man in Afghan garb and a turban before a small crowd of similarly dressed younger men*

 

"All right students, step number one, put on the vest" *the man takes a vest with it's insides stuffed with dynamite, with a wire attached to a rod with a red button on the top, then puts it on, holding the rod*

 

"Step number two, find a place with a number of infidels. Step number three, press the button."

 

*the man presses the button, followed by a huge explosion that knocks the camera to the ground. When the smoke clears, the crooked camera shows an empty pair of shoes where the man used to be, followed by a turban falling down*

 

Great glory to Khazakstan!

 

I do remember I was able to avoid fighting with Turkey and Iran. I don't remember how the fight with India started. It was also about this time I got into an alliance with Japan and Indonesia.  

Today, our most glorious nation signed pact with two most intelligent countries. The signing was followed by a performance by artists of our most glorious culture.

 

*image of a woman in an ethnic dress on stage singing very much off key, whom when finished walks aside as acrobats also in ethnic costume leap and flip over various farm animals to a confused audience of several diplomats*

 

Great glory to Khazakstan!

 

Indonesia took Malaysia, and Burma, and we ended up splitting India, with the Kazaks taking the larger share. We eyed China cautiously, but I don't remember any big incident. Lacking a port, my response was to build up my airplanes, helicopters, and easily transportable infantry, as well as factories, recruiting centers, and infrastructure.

 

Our glorious army is backed by a strong population, Here at our recruiting center, we see numbers of eager patriots signing up.

 

*image of several scruffy men lined up at a recruiting center, one looking to the camera*

 

"Actually, we were drafted. We're just here to turn in our papers."

 

Great glory to Khazakstan!

 

 

Our most glorious army and air force has mighty weapons. But mighty weapons need mighty factories. Behold our recently expanded arms factory!

 

*image of a very sooty brick building, with cracks in the older part and the newer part having uneven layers of bricks and an open double door showing some very rusty machinery inside*

 

Great glory to Khazakstan!

 

Then the player behind Ukraine attacked. My producing large numbers of planes and helicopters paid off as his few fighters were brushed aside and the attacking units were pummeled. This was followed by a counterattack which took the once-Russian city of Rostov. When cities change hands, infrastructure is usually damaged. But the port was intact. I quickly repaired it, and fast-tracked the building of a cruiser. I now had a navy.

Our most glorious army and most glorious air force is now joined by most glorious navy. Behold our mighty battleship!

 

*image of a Kirov-class cruiser with a worn and rusty paint job, the ship clearly having seen better days*

 

Great glory to Khazakstan!

 

The player behind Ukraine quit in the middle of the fight, either because he didn't expect a hard counterattack. Or maybe it was the forces from Romania. I can't remember if they were moving up before or after he quit. But in any event we ended up splinting Ukraine him getting Kiev. 

 

I forget exactly when, but someone sent a few spies at me. When one was caught, I made light of it.

 

Our most glorious nation was the target of most dastardly spy campaign. Here, we have footage of arrested spy confessing to crimes.

 

*image of a man in uniform standing over a harmless-looking young man wearing jeans and a t-shirt sitting on a stool*

 

"I tell you it's all a mistake! I'm just a tourist who got lost and - "

 

"We know you spy. You will confess, or we go third degree."

 

"I don't know anything, I swear!"

 

"Very well." *the official gets a tape player and presses a button*

 

"I loooovvvveee yooouuuu, yoooouuuu loooovvveee mmmmeeeee ...."

 

"WAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!! I'll talk! I'll talk! I'll taaaalllllk!! Anything but that!"

 

Great glory to Khazakstan!

 

And I responded by sending a few spies his way. 

 

While our glorious nation can beat any force against us, we can always use intelligence. So we send spies to unfriendly dastardly country. 

*image of a man in a trenchcoat, with noseglasses over his face*

 

"Hello. I am friendly tourist of friendly nation. Not spy from Kazakstan. Where is government building?"

 

Great glory to Khazakstan!

 

The first response to the spying got some chuckles, one player saying, "Hahaha! Bixyl is the soul of this game!"

 

Time went on. The leader of our alliance ended up tossing out Indonesia as Australia wanted to join. I kept close tabs on Indonesia, and asked the others to remain on friendly terms with them. But eventually the player quit, letting me know ahead of time and moving his units away from my territory and toward China and Australia.

 

It is sad that we report the collapse of most glorious government of Indonesia. Our forces our moving in before hostile neighbors do, so we establish autonomous zone.

 

Our glorious soldiers are meeting enthusiastic crowds as they enter cities.

 

*image of angry crowds throwing garbage at army transport trucks*

 

Great glory to Khazakstan!

 

From what I recall, a tiff started with China. So I was sending some assistance with planes and some ground forces. Then the Romanian player attacked, and he had help from the USA player who dropped nukes on a few of my cities.

 

We are sad to report nuclear reactor has exploded. Was not nuclear missile attack.

 

*image of a mushroom cloud going up*

 

We soon clean area and rebuild.

 

Great glory to Kazakhstan!

 

I fell back, managing to keep Rostov, but cruise missiles kept targeting the city, damaging the port and halting further ship construction. Thankfully I quickly developed anti-missile technology, and soon had ABM batteries over my best cities. I was able to slowly rebuild my factories, and the rate I was producing units.

Eventually, I got the city of Rostov producing ships again, and was able to push the Romanian player back, taking Kiev, and the rest of Ukraine. Then was going into Romania and the Balkans. My teammates were pressing against China, taking Indochina and going into China itself. I even managed an invasion of the USA's occupied territories in South America. Our point total got higher and higher.

 

Then the game announced it was over. Our faction had won, and I had the highest point total in the game!

 

It was time for one more bulletin.

 

Hello, is Borat, is Minister of Information of most glorious Kazakhstan.

 

Today, it is announced that negotiations have result in peace around world. All major countries order their men stop fighting. The Great War is over! Kazakhstan is strongest of all winning nations with most glorious empire ...

 

This just in. Great Leader announce formation of Kazak Commonwealth, with territories granted self rule, starting with countries who cooperate with Kazakhstan. Great Leader announce elections year from now, will not be running. 

 

Oh is sad. New leader mean new information minister. I Borat be looking for new job.

 

Great glory to Kazakhstan!

 

I would play a few more games of Conflict of Nations. But none would match the fun I had with this game I was prepared to lose as playing a second rate nation with a wacky minister of information, and ended up on the winning team.

 

Good gaming to you!

 

Bixyl Shuftan

 

A Glance At World of Warships

 

 By Bixyl Shuftan

With combat games, usually the focus is on land battles. Just give someone a rifle and maybe a tank and let them blast away. Ocean combat, not so much. It should be no surprise that Wargaming's first big hit game was "World of Tanks." But as those of us who study history know, sea power is important to. So soon after Wargaming released World of Warships in 2015, I signed up for it. Over time, yours truly lost his taste for World of Tanks, tiring of being little more than cannon fodder. But I still continue with "Warships" to this day, having recently gotten my 100th ship after about seven years of gaming.

For those familiar with the "Tanks" game, there are some similarities. Destroyers take the place of light tanks and are more nimble. Battleships take the place of heavy tanks and have a smaller rate of big gun fire, but pack quite a punch. Cruisers are in between, able to take on the roles of both to a degree. Carriers are the equivalent of artillery, able to strike from far away, but need some skill or luck to be truly effective, and tend to be lousy at close-range combat. Not unlike Tanks, players can also use terrain to their advantage, the islands. And just as tank players can fall off a ledge if not careful, ships can collide with rocks and sandbars and are stuck for some moments. And like Tanks, ships are ranked from 1 to 10/X, with matches seeing opponents close to one another in rank.

There's much more to the game than that though. 

There are several types of matches. And the big difference between "Tanks" and "Warships" are the "Player versus Enemy" battles. Instead of taking on other players, you take on AI controlled opponents. There are the "Random Operations" battles in which players are on a team out to complete objectives such as destroying all ships at a port before enemy reinforcements arrive. But more played are the Co-Op battles in which a fleet of player controlled ships takes on a fleet of AI controlled ships. AI opponents tend to be more predictable and easier to defeat than experienced human ones, so the potential rewards for beating them are less than with human opponents. On the other hand, friends such as Nydia Tungsten have observed less drama in these matches (and far less than World of Tanks). PvP matches consist of Random Battles (the standard Warships fight), Ranked Battles, and the newest type, Brawls. 

 

Most matches involve close matchups of ships in terms of ranks and class ratios, the number of destroyers, cruisers, battleships and carriers. Brawls though offer more different ones, sometimes pitting a larger number of lower ranked ships against a smaller number of higher ranked ones. With some matches such as Operations, Ranked Battles, and Brawls, only certain tier levels can take part. 

New players start out with several tier one cruisers, one for each nation in the game. As you play, you'll earn credits, ship experience points, or XP, and free experience points. To get a tier 2 cruiser, you're going to have get some credits and XP. You can get those by taking part in battles, or you can buy some doubloons and convert them to either free XP and/or credits. Ship XP is good only for getting the next tier ship in line, or better equipment. Free XP can be used for any ship. Credits and doubloons can be thought of as silver currency and gold currency. Silver currency is used for repairing your ship after battles, as well as upgrading it (more on that later) and getting new ones.

 

Once you've researched the tier 2 cruiser, depending on which nation's tech tree is involved you may also have a chance at getting the first destroyers. Researching the first battleships in your tech tree is usually an option once you've gotten tier 3 cruisers. Nations available to play include Japan, America, Russia, Germany, Britain, and France. For a few nations, Europe, Pan-Asia, and the Netherlands, their tech-trees are smaller with no battleships available. Carriers are first available at level four, but are fewer in number, available later at tiers six, eight, and ten. Naturally, higher tier ships take more XP to research and more silver currency to purchase. The time it takes to earn what you need for a tier ten ship can be many weeks. And oh yeah, if you're going to get more ships, you need to get docks for them, which either takes buying them with gold currency or winning them in missions (more about those later).

Matchups are typically 12 versus 12, a mix of cruisers and battleships, and maybe one carrier and one or more destroyers. Seldom are there two carriers or a match of all cruisers. Depending on the time of day, Random Battles can take some time, five minutes or so late at night, to arrange as the matchmaker looks for even matches. For PVE matches, setting things up is usually 30 seconds or less, with 'bots filling in the gaps of the player team if not enough players are found. On a late night game, I've occasionally been in Co-Op fights with just one other human teammate. One late-night PvP match pitted me against *exactly one* opposing ship. Rare, but it can happen.

Fighting other ships requires some strategy. You can't just simply point and fire as your shells take some time to reach where they're aimed, especially at longer distances. And if your intended target is moving not at or away from you but to the side, firing directly at them when they're a distance away is going to result in a miss. To have a chance at hitting them, you're going to have to aim your guns ahead of them, and try to time it so when you fire your opponent will have moved onto where the shell lands. If your shell hits at a wide angle, it will ricochet and cause little damage. A low angle means a penetrating shot is likely. This means firing broadside at an enemy should be done with some caution. You might be able to train all your guns at a target. But the low angle of your hull to the enemy's fire means you're more likely to take damage, including a critical hit which can really hurt you. 

All ships can fire shells from their main guns. Shells come in two varieties: armor penetrating and high-explosive. AP ammo has a higher chance of scoring penetrations and critical hits. HE ammo has a chance of causing fires, which slowly cause damage over time. The bigger the guns, the slower your rate of fire will be. So destroyer guns don't cause much damage but can reload fairly quickly, while battleship shells take a while to load, 30 seconds or so, but can pack a wallop if they hit right. Firing your main guns makes your ship easier to see over a long distance, so you may want to hold your fire at times. Destroyers and many cruisers also have torpedoes as a weapon. They travel slower than shells, but aren't seen until they're close to a ship and cause more damage. This makes sailing closely alongside an enemy destroyer or cruiser hazardous as if they fire several torpedoes at just the right angle, your ship may be done for (or close to it). 

 

Carriers have planes as a weapon. They can launch dive bombers, torpedo bombers, or fighters. Dive bombers attack ships from above. Torpedo bombers will usually try to drop their "tin fish" from the side. Fighters will damage an opposing carrier's planes, and can be used defensively to help protect teammates. Most ships have some anti-aircraft guns, particularly battleships. So when several ships are close together, bomber squadrons will likely take damage and possibly end up getting shot down.

Different ships require different styles of play. Battleships are best at firing their guns from a medium to long distance. They should be careful in closer combat as their huge mass makes them slower to change direction than cruisers or destroyers. As destroyers are hard to hit with the slow-to-reload main guns, a battleship captain is best to leave enemy destroyers to the cruisers and destroyers on his side and concentrate on other targets. If an enemy destroyer is closing in with no other teammates firing at it, a battleship should steer away to avoid it and it's torpedo attacks, letting it's secondary guns whittle away at it. In real life, a battleship shell could easily demolish a destroyer on it's own. In the game, they often need several such hits, even when hitting their hulls at low angles. 

Destroyers are smaller and quicker than battleships, but also have less hitpoints, so players are going to have to take advantage of their maneuverability and speed if you want to get very far. Most carry smoke charges, which can provide cover for the ships behind you. The job of destroyers in a team is to scout for enemy ships, provide smoke cover for their teammates, and try to get through the destroyers and torpedo the battleships. Emphasis on try as destroyers are often the first ships sunk in the game.

Ships have various combat buffs, usually called consumables in the game. All ships have a number of repair parties that can put out fires and plug leaks. Many also have sonar or radar broadcasts. Destroyers have speed boosters and usually smokescreen layers. Battleships have a buff that can repair some of their damage and usually another that can sent a scout plane in the air. Cruisers have a mix, depending on the ship, sometimes having a fighter that can be launched. These are not unlimited. Once you use a buff, you have to wait a certain amount of time before you can use it again. And usually you can only use them so many times per battle, usually three to four.

Ships are upgradeable. In the Equipment screen, you can use experience points and silver currency to give them a better hull, a better aiming system, a better engine, etc. There are also options to improve turret speeds, the ability for engines to still work but at reduced capacity if damage, etc, which cost credits only. You can also install signal flags that give the ship small bonuses such as faster speed or repair times. These have to be ether won or bought. 

 

Ship captains also get better over time. As they gain experience, over time they get experience points. You can use them to give then abilities, such as being able to see which ships are training their guns on them to being able to make buffs/consumables last longer. 

You can also give your ship Economic Bonuses. In the past, these were signal flags, but more recently changed to separate economic and experience buff

You can get up to three bonus containers per day by getting enough experience points. The first you need only a couple thousand, which takes me usually just one or two matches. The second takes more, about ten thousand. The third is fifteen thousand. You can choose between containers with mostly signal flags to economic bonuses to coal (for use in the armory). The last option is to take a chance and if you're lucky you get a supercontainer, though odds are you just get a small one with a small reward.

 

Players also get a reward for logging in daily. This can be free XP to silver currency to bonus containers. Log in enough, and you get a supercontainer. You may get upgraded to a Premium account for a week, lots of signal flags, or *maybe* a new ship.

If you have ships tier five or above, there are missions that they can qualify for. These can be as simple as winning one or a few battles, to spotting so many ships, to winning a certain amount experience or credits over time. The prizes can be things from camouflage paint jobs to signal flags, to special flags that are awarded only at certain times. Some missions come in a series in which if you win them all you get a special prize. For instance in the Drydock missions in which a ship is slowly built as you complete objectives, if you win the last mission, you get the ship. One ship I got for completing a mission was the HMS Dreadnought, the first battleship as we think of them in history. As it's tier 3, I don't play it much, but it's neat to have.

Players can join clans. There are benefits to being in a clan such as small bonuses for research points earned and reductions on how many you need.

Fans of history, particularly naval history, should enjoy the ships. After the level 1 ships, you start out with early pre-WW1 vessels, with later and stronger models as you move up, ending up with the best WW2 could offer plus some post-war ships and concepts. This includes some famous ships, such as the battleships Bismark and Yamato. Some of the more recent warships introduced never made it past the drawing board in real life.

And then there's the music. The tempo was particularly fitting at times. It wasn't hard to imagine it in a movie about naval battles. 

 

On occasion, there are available scenarios in which some ships are temporarily available. The Halloween seasonal battles involve some fictional steampunkish vessels. The post-apocolyptic ones involve some freakish looking ones. There's also been some science-fiction themed ones taking place on an alien sea.

So what were my favorite ships to play? Early on, I liked the tier 3 US cruiser St Louis for it's rapid firepower, and the tier 5 US cruiser Omaha was another early favorite. The Japanese battleships Konga and Fuso, Tier 5 and 6 respectively, were also good. Over time I've also gotten a few premium ships. The Russian tier five cruiser Kransy Krym can be fun with it's firepower. But the tier seven US cruiser Atlanta can really pepper away with small but numerous guns, and can make quick work of a destroyer caught in it's fire. Same thing with the Flint, also a tier seven US cruiser. The tier seven British battleship Nelson stands out with all three turrets facing forward. 

One recent addition to the game are submarines. Players are still trying to figure these out. Some like them, others dislike them. They're more of a challenge to sail as they can dive and rise to the surface. They'll need to dive sometimes as they can't take much punishment and easily destroyed with airborne attacks available to be called in by certain ships, or depth charges by destroyers and some cruisers. One near the surface is also vulnerable to shelling. So far, I've had mixed results when sailing them (temporarily given one as a prize for missions). Against AI subs, more often than not I end up KOing them or helping to before they deal much damage to me, if any at all.

So how much does the game cost? Well, the initial price of the game is free. So what's the catch? Well, as I mentioned, gold currency often takes real money to get. And unless you can win docks in missions, you'll have to spend such money to get the docks. If you want a Premium account, that usually takes money. Unless you're willing to wait for months, and perhaps years, to get that shiny powerful ship in the Armory that looks really good, you're going to need to spend real money to get the needed doubloons. Patient players can play the game, and spend just a little real money to get the needed docks to eventually get some tier five ships so they can start winning some in missions. Less than patient ones will need to fork over more cash.

There's probably a detail or two or three that I've forgotten. But this should cover just about every important one in the game.  The game isn't perfect, and there are occasional glitches. I've gotten penalized for crashing while the battle is being set up, and the computer reading it as quitting in the middle of a fight. Still, it's a great game that I recommend, especially to those who like ships. It may not be truly free, but I've kept playing it for years.

Image Credit: Cynthia Farshore, "Foxyfluff," Nydia Tungsten

Bixyl Shuftan

Toontown MMO Back: Toontown Rewritten

By Bixyl Shuftan


Some readers may remember when the Newser wrote about the Disney multiplayer online game "Toontown" in September 2013. The overall plot was the cartoon town's inhabitants fighting using jokes and gags against corporate robots trying to take over their home. The article was done as something of a farewell salute as the comany had decided to shut down the game that month. But as cartoon fans would tell you, the cancellation of a show isn't necessarily the end. Fans of the MMO have created private servers of the game. The most popular of which is "Toontown Rewritten."

The FAQ page of the game's website states that the development of the game was announced the day the original Toontown was closed, "for the past month, a band of players known as the 'Toontown Rewritten Team' had been working on the possibility to keep Toontown alive." By the end of October, the game was ready for a small number of alpha testers. At first, the game was just a shadow of the original. But over time, the development team worked on it.  In a few ways, it's gone beyond the original, notably the addition of two more species of cartoon animals, deer and gators.

So how can a game exist when someone else owns the copyright? The game is completely free to play, all expenses paid for by the development team, as well as their time contributed done so for free. This way they avoid cease-and-desist orders. The team says they won't even accept donations. They did say there are several ways to help them out, such as joining online Toontown communities, attending their real-life ToonFest convention, or just playing the game.

So what would happen to them if Disney changed it's mind and brought back the original Toontown? The Toontown Rewritten team states that's their ultimate goal, "Toontown deserves a team of full-time employees who can give the game the love it deserves, and we absolutely want that to happen!"

I've had no experience with the original game, but playing the fan made version, it ran smoothly. A few of the other players had rather generic names such as "Green Dog," but it was still fun clobbering the bots, and doing little games to earn jellybeans, the game currency, to buy more squirt flowers and pies as ammo, and within an hour had gotten a player-owned house and a crack at the fishing game.

Currently, the game boasts over 1,400,000 registered players. For those wanting to play, head to https://www.toontownrewritten.com , register an account, agree to the terms of service, download the launcher, create a character, then step into Toontown and join their deziens as they fight the cogs with a pie in the face and try to have a little fun.

Sources: Wikipedia, toontownrewritten.com

Bixyl Shuftan