Page 1 of 1

Defcon 5/ I'm Back!

Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2007 7:03 pm
by Blades
Hey guys, sorry I hadn't posted here in like forever. I lost the bookmark to this site and kinda forgot about it.

Anyways, I recently got a copy of Defcon 5. And I hafta tell you, it's an amazing game! It's just really hard and frustrating. How in hell, do you do anything in it?

The little voice says "something has entered" or something. So I go to the turrets and try to shoot them down. I fail. They get in base. They kill me. The graphics are truly astounding so I don't think the developers were that stupid.

Anyone care to enlighten me?
Thanks guys,
Blades

Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2007 7:41 pm
by UnholyTancred
Hahaha I'm as clueless as you are. I wandered around through the base for about a half hour before finally accidentally stumbling across the main computer or whatever it is you're supposed to find in the beginning. From one of the reviews I read on GameFaqs you're supposed run around repairing and refilling the turrets but once the base gets penetrated you have to find some self-destruct code, a ship for you to escape one, and 2 computer controlled ships as decoys.

Honestly I've barely even got into the game. I tried playing it twice and always got killed when they invaded the base.

Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2007 11:04 pm
by 3DOKid
I'm staggered you found something to kill.

Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2007 3:15 am
by Blades
Ok, I figured it out. I got this card (randomly stumbled across it), and used it in the computer! Wow!, Computer control the turrets now! So I set about finding more cards...and couldnt find any.

So you guys dunno anything? Is there an instruction manual on the net somewhere?

Thanks,
Blades

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 1:49 am
by Gunstar
I've tried on several occasions to get into this Defcon 5, the latest just a few days ago. I'm a big FPS fan, and the graphics on this one are really good. But it's too much like work trying to figure out what to do, even with the manual. I did, for the first time, get into some shooting action with some mechdroids this last time, as the computer said that a certain area of the base had been invaded, and I went and sought them out for a little action for a change. The biggest problem is the computer terminals aren't all that user friendly, it's far to difficult to navigate the computer menus and figure out how to do what you want to do. The graphics and control are good enough for me to try again once in a while, but it's a game that going to take patience and thinking to get going in it. I wish Killing Time had the control of Defcon 5 though.

Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2007 6:46 pm
by Vance
I did figure this game out a looong time ago. It wasn't worth figuring out, in my opinion. About as fun as Kileak, really.

Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2007 10:03 pm
by 3DOKid
Blades wrote:Ok, I figured it out. I got this card (randomly stumbled across it), and used it in the computer! Wow!, Computer control the turrets now! So I set about finding more cards...and couldnt find any.

So you guys dunno anything? Is there an instruction manual on the net somewhere?

Thanks,
Blades
You should submit this info to Gamefaqs. It's more than they have up there on this game already. I have persisted with this game beyond my usual patience limits - for reasons I don't understand.

I've been to the turrets and shot the helicopters and jets and stuff. And I have wandered the halls and passages but I never saw anything else. Ever. The Limo shuttle thing is the highlight. Sometimes you see a city fly-by, credit-where-credit-is-due that's pretty cool. And the introduction is professional.

If you can stomach this game - you should play Pyramid Intruder. It's a totally different game but at least it's interesting. ;)

Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2007 12:44 am
by UnholyTancred
3DOKid wrote:
Blades wrote:Ok, I figured it out. I got this card (randomly stumbled across it), and used it in the computer! Wow!, Computer control the turrets now! So I set about finding more cards...and couldnt find any.

So you guys dunno anything? Is there an instruction manual on the net somewhere?

Thanks,
Blades
You should submit this info to Gamefaqs. It's more than they have up there on this game already. I have persisted with this game beyond my usual patience limits - for reasons I don't understand.

I've been to the turrets and shot the helicopters and jets and stuff. And I have wandered the halls and passages but I never saw anything else. Ever. The Limo shuttle thing is the highlight. Sometimes you see a city fly-by, credit-where-credit-is-due that's pretty cool. And the introduction is professional.

If you can stomach this game - you should play Pyramid Intruder. It's a totally different game but at least it's interesting. ;)
Hah. Maybe you shot down all those alien crafts preventing them from penetrating your space station thus saving the day ^_^

Re: Defcon 5/ I'm Back!

Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 5:54 am
by goldenband
Bit of a necropost, but I started futzing around with this game tonight. I'm not terribly engaged so far; it seems overcomplicated and obscure, and in my experience games like that are usually very shallow affairs masquerading as deep. And the lack of an automap is irritating.

That said, in fairness I wanted to play a dumb and instant-action FPS tonight, so maybe I'm just not in the right mood. (I should have fired up Disruptor on the PlayStation, which was originally a 3DO game at that.)

Anyway, it's worth pointing out that the Saturn manual -- which is available in full as a PDF at SegaRetro -- seems to give the necessary info for getting started and making sense of the game, including a walkthrough of the steps needed to reach the Control Room. I was confused at first, but managed to bumble my way there before long.

Re: Defcon 5/ I'm Back!

Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2021 5:25 am
by goldenband
I haven't tried Defcon 5 again since I last gave it a shot over 6½ years ago (!), but I just stumbled across this interesting post by Blades over at Sega-16:
Blades wrote:The PlayStation version runs the best by far, which makes sense since PlayStation was the lead platform. The FMV quality on Saturn is atrocious and the worst of all three. The 3D engine runs about the same on Saturn and 3DO, a little slower on 3DO. The Saturn/3DO versions were done a little later and have a few small changes like sound effects and some music tracks are different. Also, on 3DO a special text window pops up when you are almost at the true ending. I've never gotten that screen in the other ports. The PlayStation version has a hidden mini-game if you press triangle while trying to establish local communications that's not in any of the other ports.

Overall a very impressive title for 3DO in my opinion. Full 3D with a complex artificial intelligence attacking the station. The entire PlayStation game survives the port almost unscathed.

The 3DO version seems to have a game-breaking bug, but I don't know if it's an emulation issue or the original code. The game doesn't run correctly at all on Phoenix, but it does run well on 4DO. However, reading the archive text in VOS on both emulators always results in a crash. Since it happens on two independent emulators, I have reason to believe it's a bug in the original game, but I have no way of checking since my 3DO and original copy of Defcon 5 are long gone. It happens with both the European and Japanese release. If it is a real bug that's a shame because the game can't be completed without reading that text somewhere.
Has anyone else encountered this bug?