Thoughts On This Blog From Its Creator (...FAQ)
This blog was created in 2019. The game was released in 2006 for PC, Linux, and Mac. People still play it online and a free demo can still be gotten on the Introversion Defcon website, link at the top of the blog. The game can be purchased at the Introversion site as a digital purchase or a boxed version or both and also be bought on Steam digitally. The Humble Bundle website was selling it in 2018 with the source code included in the sale. If you contact Introversion and ask they will sell the source code to you for about $40.
Lots of 100% free user created mods (not requiring source code at all to make) were created for this game and the official Introversion Forums still exist to browse. Though the majority of links there no longer go to a fan hosted website or web file-hosting server site to download the mod. This blog has a lot of mods for this game that could be found on the internet. Simply type map or graphics into the search bar for all posts containing those types of mods.
If you go to the Introversion site you can also download 4 map mods located at the bottom of this link,
LINK:
https://www.introversion.co.uk/defcon/mods/index.html
and it is linked on that site, and also see the "Useful Links" blog post here on this blog for more links. This game couldn't be easier to mod graphically from planes and ships and such units to entirely new maps which is a little bit more difficult. There was a release of this game on the PlayStation 2 I think.
You can contact me if you have mods via the message box at the bottom of this blog. I care nothing about your email so have no privacy concerns about contacting me. I got a text box to read when testing the message option and it said this is just a message tool and we "google" care nothing about it, so no tracking or storage of your email is made via a 3rd party. So please message me about your mod and I will get an email to respond to you about your mod or send me a link to the file on your google drive or a link elsewhere.
You can message me with any email address doesn't have to be a google gmail email but I did select that you need to have a google account to comment on this blog. If you want to contribute to this blog I can set it up so that you can create posts of your own if you have enough to contribute.
I can't really answer questions about this game if you are having technical issues. The Introversion forum is a good place to start with that. I put up a Post about how to install the Defcon Deterrence mod with a link to a video and so that is about all I can say about technical issues. Possible issues you can encounter are detailed in a blog "Page" post at the bottom of the blog titled "Page: Known Game Issues."
Creating custom maps can create a lot of issues so watch the video and see the Post/Posts how to mod and follow those steps. Basically the travel_nodes can't touch land is all and it is difficult because of the size of the larger size of the travel_nodes image. Likely another issue causing problems is in the formatting of the few .dat files. So for instance you try to play a modded map and the text won't display correctly, then open another map that will and check its .dat files via opening them in Notepad and see what is different, or missing and causing issues for you. I can't do anything for you about that. Modern Warfare mod version 3 and Mars v2, and Geopolitics doesn't work for some reason I still can't figure out. So again, message me, maybe ask a question but do some work on it yourself first if it is a problem you are having. So if you want the quick tips to solve problems it is look at another mod image size bit depth and set the "preferences" document to render_nodes equals 1 not zero, this will display travel nodes and ai markers.
Most all map mods work it is just those 3 so unless a massive influx of new gamers take to this game and rekindle the modding community you likely will never encounter a map mod that doesn't work. Update your version. Introversion has an update file and the game displays a message on the lower left to update, you can go online if you don't but only play with others who also haven't updated. You will see servers but unable to join them, and when that happens the game tells you update. So do that. I am playing v1.6 in 2019. Most mods are made for versions past 1.2 cause this is the version that got the mod loader patch from the Introversion creators. So long story short the demo is version 1.2, the physical disc version is also v1.2 but you need v1.6 for online play and maybe some mods require it as well. No idea but it is only going to be a few files like image or the .dat text files causing you issues.
If a mod is causing issues simply remove it from the mod folder and the game will be fine again. If it isn't fine again then you have a bigger issue and I have no idea. Ctrl+Alt+Delete brings up the Task Manager on Windows computers to end an unresponsive application (game running) meaning if Defcon or any computer application freezes press those keys together to close it. Finally, you must have a pretty good computer to handle Defcon when the nukes start flying and when Big World is used. The game won't crash it will just slow down, and then crash eventually. Online play I have no idea what happens with 5 other players and lag.
Quick Tip: One player I played with often used his ships in a single placement variety, meaning he stacked his ships one on top of another and not as a single fleet of 6. Pretty time consuming effort but he was able to send all his bombers around so that when they struck it was with a highly effective penetration and kill rate. He wiped out whatever territory and defenses he was placed next to.
HOME
Lots of 100% free user created mods (not requiring source code at all to make) were created for this game and the official Introversion Forums still exist to browse. Though the majority of links there no longer go to a fan hosted website or web file-hosting server site to download the mod. This blog has a lot of mods for this game that could be found on the internet. Simply type map or graphics into the search bar for all posts containing those types of mods.
If you go to the Introversion site you can also download 4 map mods located at the bottom of this link,
LINK:
https://www.introversion.co.uk/defcon/mods/index.html
and it is linked on that site, and also see the "Useful Links" blog post here on this blog for more links. This game couldn't be easier to mod graphically from planes and ships and such units to entirely new maps which is a little bit more difficult. There was a release of this game on the PlayStation 2 I think.
You can contact me if you have mods via the message box at the bottom of this blog. I care nothing about your email so have no privacy concerns about contacting me. I got a text box to read when testing the message option and it said this is just a message tool and we "google" care nothing about it, so no tracking or storage of your email is made via a 3rd party. So please message me about your mod and I will get an email to respond to you about your mod or send me a link to the file on your google drive or a link elsewhere.
You can message me with any email address doesn't have to be a google gmail email but I did select that you need to have a google account to comment on this blog. If you want to contribute to this blog I can set it up so that you can create posts of your own if you have enough to contribute.
I can't really answer questions about this game if you are having technical issues. The Introversion forum is a good place to start with that. I put up a Post about how to install the Defcon Deterrence mod with a link to a video and so that is about all I can say about technical issues. Possible issues you can encounter are detailed in a blog "Page" post at the bottom of the blog titled "Page: Known Game Issues."
Creating custom maps can create a lot of issues so watch the video and see the Post/Posts how to mod and follow those steps. Basically the travel_nodes can't touch land is all and it is difficult because of the size of the larger size of the travel_nodes image. Likely another issue causing problems is in the formatting of the few .dat files. So for instance you try to play a modded map and the text won't display correctly, then open another map that will and check its .dat files via opening them in Notepad and see what is different, or missing and causing issues for you. I can't do anything for you about that. Modern Warfare mod version 3 and Mars v2, and Geopolitics doesn't work for some reason I still can't figure out. So again, message me, maybe ask a question but do some work on it yourself first if it is a problem you are having. So if you want the quick tips to solve problems it is look at another mod image size bit depth and set the "preferences" document to render_nodes equals 1 not zero, this will display travel nodes and ai markers.
Most all map mods work it is just those 3 so unless a massive influx of new gamers take to this game and rekindle the modding community you likely will never encounter a map mod that doesn't work. Update your version. Introversion has an update file and the game displays a message on the lower left to update, you can go online if you don't but only play with others who also haven't updated. You will see servers but unable to join them, and when that happens the game tells you update. So do that. I am playing v1.6 in 2019. Most mods are made for versions past 1.2 cause this is the version that got the mod loader patch from the Introversion creators. So long story short the demo is version 1.2, the physical disc version is also v1.2 but you need v1.6 for online play and maybe some mods require it as well. No idea but it is only going to be a few files like image or the .dat text files causing you issues.
If a mod is causing issues simply remove it from the mod folder and the game will be fine again. If it isn't fine again then you have a bigger issue and I have no idea. Ctrl+Alt+Delete brings up the Task Manager on Windows computers to end an unresponsive application (game running) meaning if Defcon or any computer application freezes press those keys together to close it. Finally, you must have a pretty good computer to handle Defcon when the nukes start flying and when Big World is used. The game won't crash it will just slow down, and then crash eventually. Online play I have no idea what happens with 5 other players and lag.
Quick Tip: One player I played with often used his ships in a single placement variety, meaning he stacked his ships one on top of another and not as a single fleet of 6. Pretty time consuming effort but he was able to send all his bombers around so that when they struck it was with a highly effective penetration and kill rate. He wiped out whatever territory and defenses he was placed next to.
HOME