Star Wars: Rebellion (video game)

Star Wars: Rebellion (or Star Wars: Supremacy in the United Kingdom and European market) is a LucasArts strategy game released February 28, 1998.

Overview
Although a real-time strategy game in the wider sense of the term, it belongs to a sub-genre containing galactic conquest games like Master of Orion. The action of Rebellion is more abstract.

The game interface consists of a map of the Galaxy and an advisor droid (which in the case of the Rebellion, is C-3PO and in the case of the Empire, IMP-22). The map is comprised of sectors of 10 systems each (the number of sectors is customizable for either 10, 15 or 20), all known from the Star Wars universe. Some of them belong to 'unknown' regions and need to be explored. The sectors on the game map do not correspond to the canon information otherwise available, so it is assumed that the location of various systems is arbitrary for gameplay.

Characters
There are two kinds of characters in the game: Major and minor ones. Major characters will always be available at the beginning of the game, while most minor ones must be recruited. Only major characters can embark on recruitment missions.

Minor characters will sometimes be generated Force-sensitive and can be trained by Jedi characters (Luke or Vader) to augment their abilities. The main characters with Force control can also enhance their abilities by conducting missions. Characters with higher Force ratings have better abilities in diplomacy, leadership, espionage and combat, and can therefore absolve missions with a higher chance of success.

Some characters can be given military ranks by the player to put them in specific roles.
 * An Admiral increases a fleet's performance.
 * A General increases the performance of troops and reduce the likelihood of successful enemy missions on a friendly planet
 * A Commander increases the combat efficiency of starfighter squadrons.

Rebel Alliance

 * Adar Tallon
 * Afyon
 * Ackbar
 * Bren Derlin
 * Borsk Fey'lya
 * Carlist Rieekan
 * Chewbacca
 * Crix Madine
 * Drayson
 * Garm Bel Iblis
 * Han Solo
 * Huoba Neva
 * Jan Dodonna
 * Kaiya Andrimetum
 * Lando Calrissian
 * Leia Organa
 * Luke Skywalker
 * Mazer Rackus
 * Mon Mothma
 * Ma'w'shiye
 * Narra
 * Orrimaarko
 * Page
 * Roget Jiriss
 * Sarin Virgilio
 * Syub Snunb
 * Talon Karrde
 * Tura Raftican
 * Vanden Willard (confused with Bob Hudsol)
 * Wedge Antilles

Galactic Empire

 * Brandei
 * Bin Essada
 * Bane Nothos
 * Bevel Lemelisk
 * Covell
 * Darth Vader
 * Dorja
 * Daala
 * Emperor Palpatine
 * Grammel
 * Griff
 * Garindan
 * Jerjerrod
 * Klev
 * Labansat
 * Menndo
 * Niles Ferrier
 * Lorth Needa
 * Noval Garaint
 * Ozzel
 * Orlok
 * Piett
 * Pellaeon
 * Pter Thanas
 * Screed
 * Shenir Rix
 * Thrawn
 * Villar
 * Veers
 * Zuggs

Other

 * Boba Fett
 * Yoda
 * Jabba the Hutt

Unit management
There are several kinds of buildable units. Each kind can be constructed by one of three construction facilities.


 * Installations are buildings on a planet's surface or in orbit. They can be construction facilities or defense installations.
 * Mines produce raw material from planets, while refineries refine them into processed materials that can be used for construction. Both increase maintenance and thus allow for larger military forces.
 * Construction Yards build other installations.
 * Troop Training Facilities create troops and special forces.
 * Shipyards construct starships and fighter squadrons
 * Planetary cannons attack assaulting starships and troop transports or defend units escaping a blockade
 * Shield generators defend everything on the planet from orbital bombardment
 * Troops are used to conquer and defend planets, and to claim uninhabited systems.
 * Starships can blockade systems, unleash orbital bombardments and be the platforms for planetary assault. They can carry troops and starfighters up to their respective limits and an unlimited number of characters and special forces. Ships are grouped together in fleets. When opposing fleets meet at a system, the battle between them is fought at the beginning of that 'day'.
 * Starfighters can be stationed on planets or capital starships and are built in squadrons. They can fight in fleet battles, and add to bombardment and detection ratings.
 * Special forces include spies, saboteurs, and long-range reconnaissance teams.

As research progresses, new units and facilities become available for construction. Research can be sped up significantly by ordering characters with the corresponding ability to conduct design missions. Characters can have the ability to research facilities, starships or troop designs.

Encyclopedia
Every element of the game has its own encyclopedia-like 'card' with a short description and abilities sheet. This amounts to a total of several hundred encyclopedia cards.

Objectives
The standard objective of each game is to take the HQ of the enemy (Coruscant or the mobile Rebel base) and capture the two leaders of the opposite side: The Alliance must capture Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine, the Empire's objectives are Luke Skywalker and Mon Mothma.

Story
The game starts right after the Battle of Yavin and the destruction of the Death Star. The Galactic Empire is ready to strike back against the Rebel base of Yavin IV, while the Rebel Alliance is readying to move to another system.

The player assumes the role of an officer of either the Rebellion or the Empire. He is called to manage command and maintenance, like colonization, diplomacy, creation of buildings and units, supervising of mines and resources, building and assigning of fleets, conversion of systems to one's own side, recruitment of characters (55 in the game, both from the movies and the Expanded Universe) and dispatching characters or units to systems (up to 200 available) or fleets.

Apart from the given time of the beginning, the game stops to be story driven and the scenario expands freely. Although events of the later movies might occur (like the capture of Han Solo by bounty hunters, the Jedi training of Luke Skywalker and the construction of a second Death Star), the player can change or avert some events of the canonical timeline, like not migrating to Hoth after Yavin, create more than one Death Stars, and even lead the Empire into victory.

There are however some inconsistencies to the canon, like having to 'discover' planets and characters who, according to the timeline, were already around.

Some characters are Force sensitive and can be trained by Jedi characters (like Luke or Vader) to augment their abilities. This will lead to a powerful team that will turn many missions successful, improve the morale of planets and fleets they are in etc.

Science advances by research and creating new ones or advanced versions of constructions or units. Every element of a game has its own encyclopedia-like 'card' with a short description and abilities sheet,

The objectives of the player are customizable as: either manage to capture the 2 opposite leaders (Darth Vader/Emperor Palpatine for the Alliance and Mon Mothma/Luke Skywalker for the Empire), capture the opponent's capital (Coruscant for the Alliance and the randomly placed Rebel base for the Empire), or both.

Reaction
The game split many fans and players. Some loathed it, reacting with heavy criticism, considering it as one of the most low-quality products of LucasArts, a failed attempt to bring Star Wars into strategy. Others loved it, extolling the value of game play over graphics and considering a high water mark before the death of games connected to The Phantom Menace.

Its orientation towards broad strategy and relatively slow play turned off players who looked forward to controlling battles with greater controls. The only action of the game was focused on space battles above planets that were realized through poor graphics, difficult controls, and a lack of interesting options. Indeed one of the factors most criticized, is the complex interface, which discourages players at first. Despite this, some players embraced the alternative gameplay for its challenges and enjoyed the contrast Rebellion offered against the deluge of real-time strategy games released nearby.

The game has also been criticized for inaccurately placing planets in completely wrong sectors.

Modifications
One of the main problems of Rebellion and surely one of the reasons of its poor success was its rather limited gameplay. This problem was solved when a player named Revolution released his Rebellion Editor (or RebEd). This program allowed to easily edit many aspect of the game, going from ship power to ingame interface. These modifications could be saved as 'cards' which could then be loaded by any other person who had the Editor. Thanks to this, a solid community has been growing, which offers over a thousand cards to download freely.

The last RebEd version to ever be released was 0.26. There has been speculation and suggestion about Revolution having written a 0.27 version; since this version was never found, this is believed to be untrue. The release of the Editor has also allowed the game to be reborn when more and more people started to play it again.