''Carrier Force'' is a 1983

computer wargame A computer wargame is a wargame played on a digital device. Descended from board wargaming, it simulates military conflict at the tactical, operational or strategic level. Computer wargames are both sold commercially for recreational use an ...

published by

Strategic Simulations Strategic Simulations, Inc. (SSI) was a video game developer and video game publisher, publisher with over 100 titles to its credit from its founding in 1979 to its dissolution in 1994. The company was especially noted for its numerous wargames ...

for the

Apple II The Apple II (stylized as ) is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. It was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Jerry Manock developed the design of Apple II's foam-m ...

Atari 8-bit family The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1979 as the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The series was successively upgraded to Atari 1200XL , Atari 600XL, Atari 800XL, Atari 65XE, Atari 130XE, Atari 800XE, ...

, and

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...

. ''Carrier Force'' was Grigsby's fourth game. While he had started developing games part-time while working for the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secu ...

, he left to become a full-time game developer halfway through his third title, ''

North Atlantic '86 ''North Atlantic '86'' is a 1983 computer wargame written by Gary Grigsby and published by Strategic Simulations. The game covers a hypothetical conflict between NATO and the Soviet Union. A Macintosh version was released in 1986.

''.

Gameplay

''Carrier Force'' is a

that simulates

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

warfare.

Development

''Carrier Force'' was the fourth game by designer

Gary Grigsby Gary Grigsby is a designer and programmer of computer wargames. In 1997, he was described as "one of the founding fathers of strategy war games for the PC." '' Computer Games Magazine'' later dubbed him "as much of an institution in his niche of ...

. It was released in 1983, the same year he debuted ''

''.

Reception

Tom Cheche reviewed the game for ''

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through ...

'', and stated that "CF has been exhaustively researched, and beautifully produced. In many ways it is the kind of game that we had in mind several years ago when we were daydreaming about where the wargaming hobby was headed now that the computer had arrived." In a 1985 survey of computer wargames for ''Current Notes'', M. Evan Brooks called ''Carrier Force'' "worth the effort for anyone desirous of learning about the period", but considered it "extremely slow in execution" and saw it as having historical errors. In his similar 1989 survey, J. L. Miller of ''Computer Play'' found that the game was "hampered by very slow execution" and offered it a middling score.

Reviews

* ''

Casus Belli A (; ) is an act or an event that either provokes or is used to justify a war. A ''casus belli'' involves direct offenses or threats against the nation declaring the war, whereas a ' involves offenses or threats against its ally—usually one b ...

'' #23 (Dec 1984)

Successor

Grigsby decided to build on ''Carrier Force'' in his later game '' Carrier Strike''. He told ''

Electronic Games An electronic game is a game that uses electronics to create an interactive system with which a player can play. Video games are the most common form today, and for this reason the two terms are often used interchangeably. There are other common ...

'', "I liked the subject matter and, given the evolution in computer capability and my programming skills, I wanted to refine it."

References

External links

*
Article
in

Tilt Tilt may refer to: Music * Tilt (American band), a punk rock group, formed in 1992 * Tilt (British band), an electronic music group, formed in 1993 * Tilt (Polish band), a rock band, formed in 1979 Albums * ''Tilt'' (Cozy Powell album), 1981 * ...

(French) {{Gary Grigsby 1983 video games Aircraft carriers in fiction Apple II games Atari 8-bit family games Commodore 64 games Computer wargames Japan in non-Japanese culture Naval video games Pacific War video games Strategic Simulations games Turn-based strategy video games Video games developed in the United States