Nuclear Dawn

Nuclear Dawn is a post-apocalyptic video game that blends the FPS and RTS genres. It was originally announced in February 2006 as an amateur mod for the Source engine, but in April 2009 was revealed to have become a commercial project, still using Source, aimed at Windows PCs and the Xbox 360. It is unclear whether a retail release is planned.

Nuclear Dawn joins Counter-Strike, Day of Defeat, Natural Selection, The Ship, They Hunger: Lost Souls and Garry's Mod as former mods of Valve products that have become commercial projects.

Design
One player on each team is a 'commander', who directs his or her team from an overhead view. The remainder are soldiers who have standard FPS player capabilities. Drivable vehicles will be available.

The comparative roles of soldiers and commanders are described by InterWave as being:

On The Field


 * Four distinct classes to choose from with interdependent strengths and weaknesses that promote cooperative teamwork, collaborative tactics and intelligent strategy.
 * A wide arsenal of weapons to deploy on the battlefield including rifles, shotguns, miniguns, explosives, and much more.
 * Original environments rich with detail and perfect for a nice and bloody battle. Take the streets of a desolate Japanese city, infiltrate a Russian nuclear installation, or fight for the treasures of one of several other post-apocalyptic locales.

As a Commander


 * Objective-based game play emphasizes coordinated tactics.
 * The environment and physics shape your strategy. Create chokepoints, defensive positions, and blast your way through the enemy positions.
 * Expand your territory with a variety of well-placed structures to aid your team in its conquest. From support structures to turrets that will pound your enemies into submission.
 * Unlock new technologies to turn the tide in your favour.
 * Secure resource points to deploy weapons and equipment to aid your team.

Development history
Nuclear Dawn suffered a protracted development cycle as a mod, leading to criticism that it was vaporware.

When Nuclear Dawn's move to a commercial product was announced, InterWave's managing director, Michiel Beenen, said:

The game will be as true to its concepts as ever, with our own implementations as well as the key originals, re-applying all of the features that were lost in the final months of the product's life as a modification. As a retail product, we are not looking to extort our community, however, with financial backing the product is capable of so much more than ever before as a free mod, with all of the bells, whistles and goodies that you could dream of in a big-name title.