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Introduction

Exalted hero or forgettable statistic?

So reads the advertisement for Star Wars Force Commander in several gaming magazines. Unfortunately for Lucas Arts, it’s probably the latter that will describe the fate of Force Commander after the rebel-stomping dust settles. Rumors of a real-time strategy game based on the esteemed Star Wars universe began circulating over two years ago. This game was supposedly going to occupy the pinnacle of strategy gaming, and was destined to be better than anything that preceded it.

Strategy gamers were intrigued when Force Commander screenshots were published on the Internet, showing AT-AT’s and Imperial fighters dominating a fantastic 3D environment. At the time, the 3D landscape with zoomable camera angles was a very innovative and impressive feature for a real-time strategy game. Finally, gamers thought, they were going to have the complete strategy game they had all been hoping for. But in reality, the game was dated even before it was finished. It went through several transitions and redesigns before finally arriving in its present state. The assumption was that all the reworking of the rendering system would end up making the game better, and that releasing an RTS game without 3D acceleration would mean lost sales and poor publicity. But was it worth the wait?