NukeZone

NukeZone is a text-based, real-time strategy wargame played on the Internet via a web browser and requires no downloads to play. It can be played as an individual or as a member of a "clan." Clans compete in three categories - Points, Net Worth and Combo (being a combination of the two).

History
NukeZone was started in 2001, by Swede Stefan Karlström. The game, particularly in its early incarnations in regards to available military units, was highly influenced by the 1996 bestseller Command & Conquer: Red Alert. Despite common perceptions, Stefan is quick to point out that NukeZone was never a school project. Since its creation, it has grown quickly, starting with a few thousand members in 2002 and reaching it's peak of 35,000 members in 2006. Now in 2013 is the number of members is around 20,000. Each round of the game is about two months long and game changes are usually introduced in a one to four week pause between rounds.

NukeZone was the winner of the player-polled Multiplayer Online Game Directory's game of the month award in June 2002, November 2005, February 2008 and March 2009 an award that can only be won once yearly per game.

Gameplay
Each player gets their own "province" once they register for the game. Once registered they will choose a starting bonus out of a choice of four to begin the game. New provinces are in nuke protection for 42 hours. During nuke protection players cannot make attacks or be attacked. Nuke protection is also used for all players at the beginning of each round and for players who have died and will have to restart.

To maintain the balance of the game each player is given three turns every hour, which they use to perform in game actions such as attacking provinces and buying units.

Units
There are many units available in NukeZone, which add to the logistical value of the game. Units are divided into categories of sea, air, vehicle, and infantry, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. Out of the number of units, there are some which are used for specific strategies, like the "building-killing" units Battleship and the Paratrooper. Building killers attack only buildings and have a large advantage in clan wars for killing provinces.

There are also "unit-killing" units, which make up the large majority of units. These are used normally in combination with other units and are efficient in earning "points" for most point-focused clans. There are other units as well such as the Aurora Spy Plane, which spy on enemy buildings, being particularly useful when seeing what defense buildings a province has if you plan to attack them. Thieves are used for stealing money from provinces, which is another highly used tactical strategy. Efficiency in thieving comes through many strategies, much of which comes through sheer experience.

Satellites and missiles are not actual units, but they can also be used for attacking; however they both require research.

Buildings
There are a total of fifteen buildings in the game, a small number but each participate in their respective purpose. The defense buildings, making up a third of the buildings, are another integral part to maintaining a province. These are used mostly when one does not have the required unit to defend against a specific group of units. A fourth of the buildings (Shipyards, Airfields, War Factories, and Barracks) are devoted to producing units. Without these you cannot purchase the specific group of unit you want. Power Plant and Advanced Power Plants are used to supply other buildings with power. If a province has 100% power usage or above, which comes through lack of power plants, the player will not be able to build or fire satellites and nukes, nor send Thieves, Spies, or Snipers. As well, your defense buildings will become de facto null and void of warding off enemy attacks. Research labs are used for increasing research capabilities. Command Centres are used to build the special units, which are Spy Planes, Spies, Thieves and Snipers. Lastly, the Missile Silo is used to house missiles.

Research
Research is a fundamental part of NukeZone gameplay, being primarily used to increase a player's province's abilities in warfare and province stability. Researching sciences requires time, which can be deducted up to 40% with the help of additional Research Labs, and even up to 60% if the player owns an Orbital Research Laboratory. The player may only research one level at a time and each costs 25 turns.

Clans
Provinces are able to join a clan of up to 15 members. Clans normally choose to play for either points or networth, as there are top lists (top 100) for both. (There is also a list for individual provinces' networth and for Combo Points.) A player in a clan can receive monetary aid from members. There is a Clan Leader (CL) in every clan, and the CL has the option to choose four Clan Trustees (CT) in the clan if he sees fit. These four CTs normally help the clan leader in tasks of handling a certain part of the clan, such as recruiting and declaring wars. An incentive to buy a Platinum Clan is introduced in the form of a "fifth" CT, called the CO who is essentially second in command.

A motivation in Nukezone for clans to "war" for points is the clan bonus system. This is set up so that when a clan gains 5,000 in points, they will receive a substantial reward of 150 turns and $750,000 for each province. For every 5,000 points after they will receive another bonus, once you reach 100,000 points bonuses come every 10,00 points. After the first 2,500 points gained the clan receives a mini bonus of 75 turns and $375,000 After every 50,000 points gained, the clan receives a mega bonus of 300 turns and $1,400,000 to each province. To gain points, an army is created and raised. Points are scored for an attack, between 1 and 20, earning more for more NetWorth damage caused to the foe, with extra points added for kills.

Medals
After each round ends, medals are awarded to the leaders of the following areas:
 * Medal of Honor — Most clan points gained by a province
 * Medal of Growth — Highest networth
 * Medal of Death — Killed most provinces during clan wars
 * Medal of Earth — Highest Land Area
 * Medal of Courage — Performed most attacks
 * Medal of Thievery — Most money stolen
 * Medal of Knowledge — Quickest to research all sciences
 * Medal of Mass Destruction — Most damage dealt with missiles (excluding Tomahawk Missiles)
 * Medal of Development — Province who first reaches $2,500,000 networth and keeps it for 48h, counting from the beginning of the round.
 * Medal of Superiority — Province who first reaches 2500 clan points, counting from the beginning of the round and based on Clan Points Gained (total).
 * Medal of Accomplishment — Province who wins both the Medal of Honor and Medal of Superiority in the same round. The Medal of Accomplishment will be rewarded instead of the two other medals if this feat can be accomplished.

Clan Awards
After each round ends, clan awards are awarded to the leaders of the following areas:
 * Points Champion (Gold): The clan with most clan points.
 * Points Champion (Silver): The clan with second most clan points.
 * Points Champion (Bronze):. The clan with third most clan points.
 * Networth Champion (Gold): The clan with Highest networth.
 * Networth Champion (Silver): The clan with the second highest networth.
 * Networth Champion (Bronze): The clan with third highest networth.
 * Golden Shotgun: The first clan that reaches 10,000 Points.
 * United Boundaries (Gold): The clan with most land in total.
 * United Boundaries (Silver): The clan with second most land in total.
 * United Boundaries (Bronze): The clan with third most land in total.
 * United Arms (Gold): The clan with most attacks made.
 * United Arms (Silver): The clan with second most attacks made.
 * United Arms (Bronze): The clan with third most attacks made.
 * Combo Champion (Gold): The clan with most combo points
 * Combo Champion (Bronze): The clan with second most combo points
 * Combo Champion (Silver): The clan with third most combo points

Gold user
For those who wants extra features, there are gold users, gold clans and platinum clans available for sale. Beyond the gold user, there is the much coveted "Gold User Plus", or "GU+" as it is commonly known. This special membership is available only through rare sales events or as a reward for winning a contest.

An example of a Gold User/Gold User+ feature is that these users can use an avatar in the game forums. The avatar can be anything as long as it is not abusive in nature.

Gold User+ users only difference to other Gold User members is that the membership is unlimited.

Gold User memberships cost the following at the moment:
 * 1 Round : 8 Euros / 70 SEK
 * 3 Rounds : 21 Euros / 190 SEK
 * 5 Rounds : 32 Euros / 290 SEK

Community points system
The community points system was implemented on September 10, 2006. It rewards users by giving them points for being frequent in the forums, and supporting Nukezone whether it be through donations, or buying gold users or platinum clans.

Community Levels
Level 1 is the standard level you start out at, you receive standard access to all forums and features.

Level 2 is achieved by receiving 1,000 community points, you receive nothing but a congratulations for reaching this level.

Level 3 is achieved by receiving 2,500 community points, you receive the ability to use colors, fonts and images on the forums.

Level 4 is achieved by receiving 5,000 community points, your picture gets added to spotlight section on the nukezone Portal.

Level 5 is achieved by receiving 10,000 community points, you receive the ability to rate post quality and vote for popular topics on the forums.

Level 6 is achieved by receiving 17,500 community points, you receive veteran status and 10 online shop credits awarded.

Level 7 is achieved by receiving 27,500 community points, you receive an invitation to private rounds of NZ/NZT and 15 online shop credits awarded

Level 8 is achieved by receiving 40,000 community points, you become eligible to purchase a Gold User+, 20 online shop credits awarded and ability to create topics in The Zone forum.

Level 9 is achieved by receiving 60,000 community points. This is the big mystery. What you get will be revealed once the first person reaches this level.

The Highest Level reached so far is Level 6, but the user has had the score reset by choice.

More Information
This site basically has all the information needed about the community points system

Popularity
Over the years, the NZ community has developed a sort of subculture, with its own gaming slang, history, and meetings. Player interaction out of the game is encouraged, with occasional gatherings in the games' player hotspots in Sweden, The Netherlands, North America, and others.


 * 1) NukeZone is the name of the official community IRC-channel on Quakenet, operated by the Nukezone crew.

Spin offs
Some NukeZone players who have had disputes with the Nukezone crew have made what are more or less clones of the game. These have generally been composed of members from the NukeZone community. The first was Covasion (2003), later DefCon5 (2003), Warrior Adventures (2004) and Federation Wars (2004). None of these games have reached the same popularity as NukeZone, but some do have large cult followings.

Assault.Online
In 2016, Geronimo (supported by Veterans of the Nukezone community) founded "the unofficial successor to nukezone.nu", Assault.Online. The game runs a shorter round format, and has features which differ from its predecessor, however many old members have refounded their old clans and provinces. Assault.Online is currently in Beta. Assault.Online remains to go-to for most Nukezone players, having no real contendors.

Idlebase.com
The in 2019 created, creative interpretretation of nukezone, idlebase.com was built and released to the public by August 2019. The game has bi-weekly rounds and implements other mechanisms that are related to todays digital world. Idlebase, having been the new player on the streets is still undergoing heavy development where new features and functionality are added on a regular basis.

Criticism

In recent rounds, NukeZone has received a lot of player criticism about "fading interest from the Moderators and Guffy." However, in Rounds 17 and 18 there have been some more extensive gameplay expansions, which, while largely appreciated for the growth in options, were nonetheless criticized by earlier members who prefer the simplistic gameplay style of the earlier rounds.

There have also been talks about Guffy who has been distancing himself from the game more and more. In a 2005 interview with Guffy, he was asked if he saw Nukezone being around five years down the road. Guffy responded that he doubted it and commented on how long the project has been going.

Cheaters have been present in the game since its beginning. This is a unsolved problem and they still are posing a threat to Nukezone's remaining players. Gaining land, money or points from multiple accounts are just a few uses. They remain illegal to use in the game yet a lot of the gaming population uses or have used them.

Suggestions and Ideas have been posted in a special forum to discuss possible improvements to the game. When an idea is posted it is open to debate by the Nukezone community. In cases where discussion topics are repeated or violate stated forum rules, a Forum Moderator will shut down the topic. To this day, very few player generated ideas have been implemented into the game.

Trivia

 * NukeZone's original slogan, "Nuke the enemy before the enemy nukes you!" was used until September, 2003, when it was changed to "Nuke or Be Nuked!"
 * Old units no longer available include: Cyborgs and Cyborg Commanders, Attack Dogs, Attack Bikes, Flame Throwers, Rocket Soldiers, Rifle Infantry, Aircraft Carriers, APCs, and Heavy Tanks. Old units are occasionally phased out to bring in new units.

Membership
NukeZone is popular throughout Europe and much of the world. As of April 2006, the breakdown by country is as follows:
 * Sweden: 19.2%
 * Netherlands: 17.0%
 * USA: 15.6%
 * United Kingdom: 9.6%
 * Belgium: 4.8%
 * Canada: 4.5%
 * Norway: 3.5%
 * Australia: 3.5%
 * Denmark: 2.8%
 * Finland: 2.7%

And by continent:
 * Europe: 66.9%
 * Americas: 21.9%
 * Australia/Oceania: 4.3%
 * Asia: 3.0%
 * Africa: 1.0%

Crew

 * Stefan Karlström (aka Guffy) – CEO, Lead Developer, Chief Administrator


 * Anthony Wiezoreck (aka EhpeX) – Chief of Operations, Administrator
 * Steve Brown (aka Primal) – Chief of Information, Administrator


 * Keith Hodge (aka Pappahodge) – Director of Customer Relations, Administrator
 * Tim Bos (aka Bosje) – Assistant Chief of Information, Game Moderator

Partial List of Retired Crew Members
 * Donald Maclean (aka Donald) - Forum Moderator
 * Stephanie V (aka Acardi) - Game Moderator
 * Tom Soetaert (aka Gondor) - Game Moderator
 * Tom Green (aka Hotdog) - Forum Moderator
 * Rick van Beerendork (aka ElNino) - Forum Moderator


 * Rob Parker (aka Ethiaa) -Administrator (retired)
 * Christian Anderstedt (aka glamDring) – Administrator (retired)
 * Danny Groenen (aka The Hero) – Forum Moderator(retired)
 * Chris Twine (aka Aqua) – Game Moderator (retired)
 * Chris Norton (aka FireHawk) – Director of Community Development, Game Moderator (retired)
 * Paul Siddall (aka Dakeyras) – Game Moderator (retired)
 * Clayton Nash (aka Kombu) – Forum Moderator (retired)
 * Wim Wauters (aka GranDaddy) – Forum Moderator (retired)
 * Tom Henderson (aka Tommy) – Forum Moderator (retired)
 * Lars Haglund (aka Zuckuss) – Forum Moderator (retired)
 * Duane Waldman (aka Waldo) - Forum Moderator (retired)
 * Jarrad Franco (aka DoC) - Forum Moderator (retired)
 * Jonatan Desmyter (aka Jupke) - Forum Moderator (retired)

The NukeZone Manual

 * http://www.nukezone.info/manual.aspx