Email strategy game for PC
"Challenge Everyone!"
Designed and developed by
The Pickford Brothers
Published and hosted by
Zee-3
Zee-3 websites:
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you want to know about Naked War
If you've got a question that isn't answered below feel free to submit it to the webmaster and we'll try to add it to this FAQ.
Contents
» 1. Game
» 2. Technical & Development
» 3. Website
» 4. Purchasing
Section 1: Game
» 1.1. What sort of game is Naked War
» 1.1.1 What does 'turn based' mean?
» 1.1.2 Is there a one player mode?
» 1.1.3 How does the game play over email?
» 1.1.4 Is there a live online link-up mode?
» 1.2. How do you win?
» 1.3. What are these soldiers?
» 1.4. What are vehicles?
» 1.5. How do I start a game against another player?
» 1.6. What are Officers?
» 1.7. What are teams?
» 1.7.1 Hey, I'm on Blue team, but I wanna be on Red (or vica versa), what do I do?
1.1. What sort of game is Naked War?
Naked War is a turn-based battle game for two players, played on PCs over email. The game is played on islands where two squads of four soldiers battle each other for supremacy. Each squad is controlled by a human player. Each turn a player plans the movement and actions of their soldiers, then sends that turn to their opponent before watching the execution of their plan on their screen.
1.1.1 What does 'turn based' mean?
'Turn based' means that each player takes their turn to plan and execute moves in the game - rather like a board game such as chess - instead of playing together simultaneously like a typical multiplayer video game.
A player can take as long as they like to carefully plan each move. There is no need for quick reflexes or 'twitch' gameplay skills, or any chance of being overtaken by a faster thinking player. Naked War can be played as slowly or as quickly as you like.
1.1.2 Is there a one player mode?
No, we have no plans right now to add a one player / computer AI mode to Naked War. The game is only designed to be played against other human opponents, although there is a 'sandbox' mode where players can practice using vehicles and moving units.
1.1.3 How does the game play over email?
The game allows the player to set up a turn (the equivalent to a move in a game of chess) which is then sent automatically over the internet to the Zee-3 server. This turn is processed and forwarded to the opponent as an email with an attached file containing the turn.
The opponent double clicks the attached file in the email to launch Naked War which plays back the turn created by the player on the opponent's computer. The opponent can then set up a new turn in response, and the same process is repeated until the end of the game.
1.1.4 Is there a live online link-up mode?
No, we have no plans to add a live online link-up mode to Naked War. Advantages of using a turn based email system are that players can take as long as they like set up their turn, players can play turns at a time that suits them - regardless of whether their opponent is online at the same time - and players can have multiple games against different opponents all running at the same time.
With a live link up mode at least 50% of any game would involve one player sat around doing nothing, staring at the screen while their opponent planned their next move. We think this would be boring. Our system means that you don't have to worry about making your opponent wait, or finding a time when your opponent is online. You can play each of your moves any time you want, perhaps replying instantly as soon as each email arrives, or maybe waiting until your lunch hour, or the end of the day, or even the end of the week, and then replying to all the turns recieved in session, at a time which suits you.
To find out how the game mechanics work, read the Quick Play Guide.
You play a military officer who is in charge of a squad of four human soldiers, who begin each game as Privates with a 'doofer' each. You can select the look and gender of each member of your squad, and name them, when you first log in to Naked War. They each move and shoot under your control, and can earn promotions in the field which will upgrade the weapons attack strength and their defence ability. Soldiers can drive military vehicles and capture buildings. They can't die, but if their health drops to zero they are 'demobbed', losing all military rank, uniform and weapon, and their doofer. Naked soliders in your squad are still involved in the game, but cannot attack or use vehicles until they are promoted back to Private.
Vehicles are expensive and dangerous pieces of military hardware, handily dotted around each island and available for use by soldiers of any team. There are four types of vehicle - Tanks, Helicopters, Boats and Gun Turrets, each with different properties.
Any empty vehicle can be commandeered by a soldier simply by jumping into it. While inside the vehicle, the soldier takes on the properties of that vehicle - Helicopters allow the solider to fly, Boats allow fast travel over water, Tanks offer increased protection, Gun Turrets launch devestating attacks, etc. Whilst occupying a vehicle a solider is unable to use or collect any pickup items.
1.5. How do I start a game against another player?
New games are started by issuing Challanges from within Naked War. A Challenge takes the form of an email sent to your opponent, inviting them to join you in a game of Naked War.
To issue a Challange you need to log on to Naked War using your Zee-3 username and password (registration is free). New users get to send one Challange for free, but after that you will need to buy a subscription, which purchases the Challenge Credits needed to issue further Challanges. Your opponent does not need to make any purchase to play against you, they simply download the free version of Naked War which will be linked to in the Challenge email.
Each Challange costs 1 Challange Credit to send, and should result in at least one hour's gameplay for both your and your opponent.
Officers are registered players of Naked War. Anyone can become enrolled as an officer, for free, by first registering on the Zee-3 website to create a Zee-3 user account, then logging in to Naked War with their username and password. New players are enrolled with the rank of Cadet, and are assigned to one of the teams (red or blue). Higher ranks are awarded by purchasing a subscription, which also gives access to the Officer's Mess on this website, and activates the Player Stats page.
Games played between officers on different teams are competitive games, and count towards your personal and your team's statistics, and the monthly competitions. Games played between officers on the same team are friendlies, and don't count towards you or your teams total wins / losses.
Players don't have to create an account an log on in order to accept a Challange from an existing Naked War officer. They just download the game and run the turn. However, because they haven't enrolled as officers these players will not belong to a team. They will fight in neutral colours (green), and such games will always be friendlies.
There are two teams - the Red team and the Blue team - and every Officer is assigned to one of these teams.
We keep track of the number of wins and losses each team has scored, and award prizes to active members of the winning team each month.
1.7.1. Hey, I'm on Blue team, but I wanna be on Red (or vica versa), what do I do?
Teams are assigned randomly whenever a player is enrolled as an officer for the first time (usually the first time the player logs in to Naked War, but possibly the first time they buy a subscription if they subscribe before ever logging in). Whenever subsequent subscriptions are purchased, the player is given the option to switch teams, but this will wipe their won / lost statistics.
Section 2: Technical & Development
» 2.1. What platform does this game run on?
» 2.1.1 Where's the Mac version?
» 2.1.2 What's the Linux version?
» 2.1.3 Why isn't Naked War on Xbox Live Arcade, or Sony PSP, or Nintendo DS? You guys are console developers aren't you?
» 2.2. What PC spec do I need to run the game?
2.1. What platform does this game run on?
Naked War is currently available for Windows PC only.
2.1.1. Where's the Mac version?
We'd really like to get Naked War on the Mac, but it probably isn't going to happen very soon. The game is written in Blitz3D, which doesn't have a Mac version, so we'd have to rewrite the game to get it on the Mac. To be honest, we'd probably rather spend the time writing a new game instead, but who knows...
2.1.2. What's the Linux version?
We have no plans to adapt Naked War for any other PC operating systems.
2.1.3. Why isn't Naked War on Xbox Live Arcade, or Sony PSP, or Nintendo DS? You guys are console developers aren't you?
Naked War would work very well on a number of console platforms, however, for reasons explained in more detail elsewhere on this website, we chose to develop Naked War as a self-funded, self-published 'indie' PC game.
There is no way we would have gotten anybody to fund us to make Naked War on any console platform with the freedom and flexibility we needed to make the game as it is. If we'd developed it as a console game it would have a movie license attatched by now, the email system would never have happened, the turn system would almost certainly have been dropped, it would probably have been turned into an urban FPS, and would have been rushed out about a year too soon in order to boost the publisher's end of year sales figures to keep their flagging share price up.
It would probably look a lot prettier and slicker, but it wouldn't be the same game.
However, now we have a finished game which is pretty much how we intended (albiet a 'low budget' game). If the game proves popular, if people like it and buy it without the movie license and mega production values, then we can look at finding a home for Naked War on a console platform.
2.2. What PC spec do I need to run the game?
The minimum required spec is pretty low, and is detailed on the title page. The recommended spec is a little higher, but still fairly reasonably by modern standards.
We've worked hard to make Naked War run on the widest range of PC hardware possible. There are lots of graphical options and settings to fiddle with to get the game running on older / slower machines (and to make it look nicer on newer / faster machines), and the turn based nature of the game means that it doesn't need to run at a super high frame rate to be perfectly playable.
However, PCs are strange machines, and its impossible for us to know exactly how the game will run on every different possible hardware configuration, so the best thing to do is download the game itself, for free, and try it out on your machine.
Section 3: Website
» 3.1. Why are there two Naked War websites - the Media site and the Player's site?
» 3.2. Why can't I access the Player's site?
» 3.3. The Player's site changed colour! It used to be all green, now its blue (or red) What's going on?
3.1. Why are there two Naked War websites - the Media site and the Player's site?
The two websites have two different functions. One is for newcomers to Naked War, and one is for existing players.
This is the Naked War media site. Its an online brochure open to everyone. Its here to explain what the game is to people who've never heard of it before, to provide in depth information to people who want to know more, and to provide access to the latest versions of the game.
Then at Zee-3.com there is the Naked War Player's site. This website is just for registered Naked War players. It contains up to date stats, rankings, community and competition info. It allows players to keep track of their games and turns, and provides access to web based tools to complete games, recall Challenges, or pick up community turns.
3.2. Why can't I access the Player's site?
The Player's site is exclusive to registered Naked War players. In order to access it you need to be a Naked War player already, and you need to log in to the Player's site using the Zee-3 account you use to play Naked War.
3.3. The Player's site changed colour! It used to be all green, now its blue (or red) What's going on?
The Player's site changes colour whenever one team has won more than 60% of their games this month.
The default colour scheme is green - the neutral colour. All competitive games contribute to the won / lost ratio of the teams of the competitors in those games. The current team win ratio is always show in the 'Recent activity' block on the left side of the website. More detailed information is given in the Teams section. At the end of each month the won / lost ratio is reset, and prizes are awarded to active members of the winning team.
Section 4: Purchasing
» 4.1. How much does this game cost?
» 4.2. What are subscriptions? Do I have to pay every month?
» 4.3. Why can't I just buy the game outright?
4.1. How much will this game cost?
The Naked War game is free to download, install and play. There is no cut down or time limited demo - its the full version of the game.
However, certain features of the game - primarily the ability to send Challanges to your friends - only become available when you purchase a subscription. There are several different subscription types available, with prices starting from from $19.99.
4.2. What are subscriptions? Do I have to pay every month?
No. Our subscriptions are not recurring, they are one-off single purchases which add Challenge Credits to your account, and increase your rank.
There is no obligation to buy more than one subscription, and we expect that most players will only every need to purchase one subscription. If you really enjoy the game however, then you may choose to come back and re-subscribe to buy more Challange Credits to start more games, and increase your rank to gain some in-game benefits.
4.3. Why can't I just buy the game outright?
Good question! Our initial plan was to sell copies of the game outright, in the ordinary way. At that point we also planned to for the game to send turns directly through the player's ISP's SMTP email server. It became clear that there were a large proportion of people out there with no access to an SMTP server (such as people who use University or corporate email systems), and at the least we'd have to provide an email forwarding service through our server as a backup. As the list of people who either couldn't access an SMTP server (users of webmail accounts like Hotmail or Gmail), or who didn't want the hassle of configuring the game in this way grew larger and larger, we decided to ditch the SMTP idea and concentrate on making the Naked War server turn forwarding system as good as we could.
The server side expanded, with stats pages, Community Games, web-based game tracking, and competitions etc. (all accessible on the Naked War Player's Site), and it became clear that we would actually be providing a significant ongoing service as well as selling a game - a service which would be costing us money to maintain. We didn't think it would be fair to try to sell people a game AND then charge them seperately for the service on top of that, but if we provided the service for free we'd be charging money for a game which might not work in a few years down the line if we have to switch the service off (say, if the game stopped selling). We felt that selling the game on this basis would be dishonest.
So, the honest and fair answer seemed to be to charge for the service, but to give the game away for free. So that's what we did; you can download and play Naked War for free, but you must buy a subscription to initiate new games, and access all of the website features.
The Pickford Brothers
Updated: 25th July 2006
Naked War game design, code, graphics, audio, documentation and website copyright © 2005, 2006 The Pickford Brothers.
Naked War and the Naked War logo are trademarks of The Pickford Brothers. Licensed to Zee-3.
Zee-3 and the Zee-3 logo are trademarks of Zee-3. Zee-3 is a trading name of Zee 3 Limited.