Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear
Encyclopedia
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear is a tactical
first-person shooter
computer game developed
and published
by Red Storm Entertainment
. It is the sequel to the critically acclaimed Rainbow Six game based on the Tom Clancy
novel
of the same name.
Rogue Spear is based on the same game engine and features gameplay and presentation similar to that of the original Rainbow Six. The game pits the counter-terrorist unit, RAINBOW, against global terrorist organizations that in some cases have taken hostages or have armed themselves with weapons of mass destruction
. Rogue Spear focuses on realism, planning, strategy, and teamwork. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear was released for the PC
on August 31, 1999, with versions for the Mac OS
(2000), Dreamcast (2000), PlayStation (2001) and Game Boy Advance
(2002) released later. A PlayStation 2
port was also announced at the time, but it was later canceled.
has begun buying up surplus military equipment with the assistance of current members of the Russian Army
. During one such arms deal Rainbow forces raid the meeting grounds and recover weapons grade plutonium, tracing the fissile material to a nearby naval base.
A subsequent investigation reveals that the plutonium deals are part of a plan between a Russian organized crime boss named Maxim Kutkin and international arms dealer Samed Vezirzade. These two men intend to use the plutonium purchased from the military to create suitcase sized nuclear weapons through the use of abandoned Russian military facilities, then distribute these weapons to terrorists on the black market. To prevent any instance of nuclear terrorism, RAINBOW mobilizes against both parties, raiding the nuclear weapons production facility and intercepting two separate meetings between the mob and potential buyers with the aid of a dissident group of the Russian mob.
In the final two missions RAINBOW zeros in Vezirzade's base of operations, raiding his house and killing him after an attempt to bring him in alive fails. In the aftermath of Vezirzade's death, Kutkin realizes that the overall plan to manufacture and sell nuclear weapons has failed, and seeks vengeance for the collapse of the arms deals. With the assistance of a small number of men loyal to him, Kutkin seizes control of a commercial nuclear power plant
and threatens to shut off the cooling system for the reactors, which would result in a nuclear meltdown
. To prevent a potential repeat of the Chernobyl disaster
, RAINBOW forces storm the plant and manage to recapture the facility intact.
In the final debriefing, Kutkin is confirmed to have been killed in the raid. His mansion in Russia is acquired by the "Russian Godfather", whose assistance had been vital during RAINBOW's operations. After taking arriving at the mansion the Russian Godfather makes a short speech which is picked up by surveillance bugs planting during an earlier RAINBOW intelligence operation. The godfather then shoots the bug, preventing any further monitoring of the mafia from the mansion.
The term "Rogue Spear" was invented by Clancy and refers to the possession of nuclear weapons by a non-state entity, equivalent to the official terminology Pinnacle-Empty Quiver
.
mode consisted of three main playing fields: GameSpy Arcade
, MSN Gaming Zone
and MPlayer.com
. MPlayer.com was later purchased by Gamespy. The multiplayer game achieved a certain degree of success boasting several thousand players playing at once. After the acquisition of MPlayer.com by GameSpy Arcade, MSN Games became the more popular of the two until Microsoft shut down the MSN Gaming Zone's CD-ROM match-making service on June 19, 2006. As well as pick up games, a higher level of play was reached by players who participated in ladder play
. Several websites throughout the game's lifespan provided this service with the three most notable being Close Quarters Combat League (CQC) hosted by Starlance.com, Clanladder (CL) and Xtreme Gaming Network (XGN), which is currently still active.
These ladder systems provided both one on one deathmatch
as well as team deathmatch where players banded together in clans
and fought matches which ranged anywhere from two-on-two to eight-on-eight. However, eight-on-eight often posed lag problems due to the way game hosting worked. One player would act as the host of the game (rather than a designated third party server) and all others would connect to the host's one computer over a specified port
. This format caused two problems. Firstly, it was prone to causing lag
, a delay in the sending and receiving of packets, which caused for time and spatial distortion in game physics. Secondly, in the opinion of many players, the host had an advantage because of this. Many times a player would be shot and killed without ever seeing his enemy due to high latency
times. It was noticed that the hosts of the game were much more prone to do this. This was referred to as "hosting" or "getting hosted." Often, teams would take turns, allowing a member from each team to host their team's map. Sometimes, especially during tournament matches, a neutral host would be called upon to host the entirety of the match. A neutral host would be a person hosting the game with a good connection and this person would not be a player in the match, when the round began the neutral host would kill his or her character with a grenade.
Urban Operations was re-released by KAMA Digital Entertainment in South Korea - this new edition included two exclusive missions and two new weapons.
" or modifications. Previous releases of the Rainbow Six series did not have this system, and using a mod required overwriting existing game content. With the mod system, mods could be used without overwriting, as they were installed into a separate folder within the installation and could be turned on or off. When a mod was activated, its content would take priority over the default game content. This allowed the addition and/or customization of all game content, allowing new operatives, weapons, maps, missions, etc. to be added.
Red Storm also released "unsupported" plugins for 3D Studio MAX
and Photoshop, to aid in the creation of new content. This enhanced the popularity and replay value of the series for some time, as hundreds of modding teams within a large modding community released new mods constantly. Police and military organizations also sought the customizable game engine for training purposes, due to the realism of planning and mission strategy.
Because of these effects, a mod management system was later added to Red Storm's Ghost Recon
series as well, although it was somewhat more restrictive.
and three of the levels were done by Red Storm Entertainment. It was published by Red Storm Entertainment. It was released on September 28, 2000. It included nine new missions, because the product was primarily developed as an educational program on real life counter-terrorism history and tactics.
The training simulator developed by Magic Lantern Playware was actually a Computer Based Training program. "Recruits" would create a profile, and then read eductional materials such as actual military Field Manuals, view video interviews from anti-terrorist experts, take multiple-choice tests to progress in rank, and see live-fire demonstrations of the weapons included in the game. For the live-fire videos, Sergeant Anthony Levatino (now Deputy Chief) from the Santa Ana Police Department (CA) was contracted to provide content expertise for the educational material and for the on-camera demonstrations. Having access to all the weapons included in the game, and being a SWAT Team Leader/Sniper and SWAT Academy instructor, Sergeant Levatino provided brief weapon introductions and live-fire demonstrations.
, and released as a stand-alone add-on on December 15, 2001. Black Thorn featured nine new single-player maps. Mission eight was edited in the US release (modified from an airport into a coach terminal) and a mission featuring an A380 aircraft was removed in all releases after the September 11, 2001 attacks
. This delayed the release. Six new multiplayer maps, 10 new weapons, and a new multiplayer variation on the "Lone Wolf" game type in which one player takes on everyone else; the winner of the round then becomes the new "Lone Wolf". The plot features a mentally disturbed ex-SAS
operative challenging Team Rainbow with reenactments of real-life terrorist attacks, such as the Entebbe raid and the Japanese embassy hostage crisis
.
Tactical shooter
A tactical shooter is a subgenre of shooter game that includes both first-person shooters and third-person shooters. These games typically simulate realistic combat, thus making tactics and caution more important than quick reflexes in other action games...
first-person shooter
First-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
computer game developed
Video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
and published
Video game publisher
A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a video game developer....
by Red Storm Entertainment
Red Storm Entertainment
Ubisoft Red Storm is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ubisoft Entertainment, specializing in video games and related merchandise, mainly based on the works of the writer Tom Clancy. The company develops and markets their own CD/DVD-ROM games...
. It is the sequel to the critically acclaimed Rainbow Six game based on the Tom Clancy
Tom Clancy
Thomas Leo "Tom" Clancy, Jr. is an American author, best known for his technically detailed espionage, military science, and techno thriller storylines set during and in the aftermath of the Cold War, along with video games on which he did not work, but which bear his name for licensing and...
novel
Rainbow Six (novel)
Rainbow Six is a techno-thriller novel written by Tom Clancy. It focuses on John Clark, Ding Chavez, and a fictional multi-national counterterrorist unit codenamed Rainbow, rather than Jack Ryan and national politics...
of the same name.
Rogue Spear is based on the same game engine and features gameplay and presentation similar to that of the original Rainbow Six. The game pits the counter-terrorist unit, RAINBOW, against global terrorist organizations that in some cases have taken hostages or have armed themselves with weapons of mass destruction
Weapons of mass destruction
A weapon of mass destruction is a weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large number of humans and/or cause great damage to man-made structures , natural structures , or the biosphere in general...
. Rogue Spear focuses on realism, planning, strategy, and teamwork. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear was released for the PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
on August 31, 1999, with versions for the Mac OS
Mac OS
Mac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
(2000), Dreamcast (2000), PlayStation (2001) and Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
(2002) released later. A PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
port was also announced at the time, but it was later canceled.
Plot
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the economic situation in Russia and the former Eastern Europe falls into chaos. Terrorism in the region is commonplace as people fight a seemingly endless stream of battles for supplies and other necessities. In this power vacuum though a dangerous a situation arises: the Russian mafiaRussian Mafia
The Russian Mafia is a name applied to organized crime syndicates in Russia and Ukraine. The mafia in various countries take the name of the country, as for example the Ukrainian mafia....
has begun buying up surplus military equipment with the assistance of current members of the Russian Army
Russian Ground Forces
The Russian Ground Forces are the land forces of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, formed from parts of the collapsing Soviet Army in 1992. The formation of these forces posed economic challenges after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and required reforms to professionalize the force...
. During one such arms deal Rainbow forces raid the meeting grounds and recover weapons grade plutonium, tracing the fissile material to a nearby naval base.
A subsequent investigation reveals that the plutonium deals are part of a plan between a Russian organized crime boss named Maxim Kutkin and international arms dealer Samed Vezirzade. These two men intend to use the plutonium purchased from the military to create suitcase sized nuclear weapons through the use of abandoned Russian military facilities, then distribute these weapons to terrorists on the black market. To prevent any instance of nuclear terrorism, RAINBOW mobilizes against both parties, raiding the nuclear weapons production facility and intercepting two separate meetings between the mob and potential buyers with the aid of a dissident group of the Russian mob.
In the final two missions RAINBOW zeros in Vezirzade's base of operations, raiding his house and killing him after an attempt to bring him in alive fails. In the aftermath of Vezirzade's death, Kutkin realizes that the overall plan to manufacture and sell nuclear weapons has failed, and seeks vengeance for the collapse of the arms deals. With the assistance of a small number of men loyal to him, Kutkin seizes control of a commercial nuclear power plant
Nuclear power plant
A nuclear power plant is a thermal power station in which the heat source is one or more nuclear reactors. As in a conventional thermal power station the heat is used to generate steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator which produces electricity.Nuclear power plants are usually...
and threatens to shut off the cooling system for the reactors, which would result in a nuclear meltdown
Nuclear meltdown
Nuclear meltdown is an informal term for a severe nuclear reactor accident that results in core damage from overheating. The term is not officially defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency or by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission...
. To prevent a potential repeat of the Chernobyl disaster
Chernobyl disaster
The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine , which was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities in Moscow...
, RAINBOW forces storm the plant and manage to recapture the facility intact.
In the final debriefing, Kutkin is confirmed to have been killed in the raid. His mansion in Russia is acquired by the "Russian Godfather", whose assistance had been vital during RAINBOW's operations. After taking arriving at the mansion the Russian Godfather makes a short speech which is picked up by surveillance bugs planting during an earlier RAINBOW intelligence operation. The godfather then shoots the bug, preventing any further monitoring of the mafia from the mansion.
The term "Rogue Spear" was invented by Clancy and refers to the possession of nuclear weapons by a non-state entity, equivalent to the official terminology Pinnacle-Empty Quiver
United States military nuclear incident terminology
The United States Armed Forces uses a number of terms to define the magnitude and extent of nuclear incidents.-Origin:United States Department of Defense directive 5230.16, Nuclear Accident and Incident Public Affairs Guidance, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Manual 3150.03B Joint Reporting...
.
Multiplayer
Rogue Spears multiplayerMultiplayer game
A multiplayer video game is one which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time. Unlike most other games, computer and video games are often single-player activities that put the player against preprogrammed challenges and/or AI-controlled opponents, which often...
mode consisted of three main playing fields: GameSpy Arcade
GameSpy Arcade
GameSpy Arcade is a shareware multiplayer game server browsing utility. GameSpy Arcade allows players to view and connect to available multiplayer games, and chat with other users of the service. It was initially released by GameSpy Industries, a division of IGN Entertainment, in early 2000, to...
, MSN Gaming Zone
MSN Games
MSN Games is an online games site devoted primarily to casual games, both stand-alone and multi-player online games. Games are available in free on-line versions, trial versions, and full feature pay-to-play versions...
and MPlayer.com
MPlayer.com
Mplayer, referred to as Mplayer.com by 1998, was a free online PC gaming service and community that operated from late 1996 until early 2001. The service at its peak was host to a community of more than 20 million visitors each month and offered more than 100 games...
. MPlayer.com was later purchased by Gamespy. The multiplayer game achieved a certain degree of success boasting several thousand players playing at once. After the acquisition of MPlayer.com by GameSpy Arcade, MSN Games became the more popular of the two until Microsoft shut down the MSN Gaming Zone's CD-ROM match-making service on June 19, 2006. As well as pick up games, a higher level of play was reached by players who participated in ladder play
Game ladder
A ladder tournament is a form of tournament for games and sports. It is an extended tournament, which can potentially go on indefinitely. In a ladder tournament, players are listed as if on the rungs of a ladder. The objective for a player is to reach the highest rung of the ladder...
. Several websites throughout the game's lifespan provided this service with the three most notable being Close Quarters Combat League (CQC) hosted by Starlance.com, Clanladder (CL) and Xtreme Gaming Network (XGN), which is currently still active.
These ladder systems provided both one on one deathmatch
Deathmatch (gaming)
Deathmatch or Player vs All is a widely-used gameplay mode integrated into many shooter and real-time strategy computer games...
as well as team deathmatch where players banded together in clans
Clan (computer gaming)
In computer and video gaming, a clan or guild is an organised group of players that regularly play together in a particular multiplayer games. These games range from groups of a few friends to 1000-person organizations, with a broad range of structures, goals and members. The lifespan of a clan...
and fought matches which ranged anywhere from two-on-two to eight-on-eight. However, eight-on-eight often posed lag problems due to the way game hosting worked. One player would act as the host of the game (rather than a designated third party server) and all others would connect to the host's one computer over a specified port
TCP and UDP port
In computer networking, a port is an application-specific or process-specific software construct serving as a communications endpoint in a computer's host operating system. A port is associated with an IP address of the host, as well as the type of protocol used for communication...
. This format caused two problems. Firstly, it was prone to causing lag
Lag
Lag is a common word meaning to fail to keep up or to fall behind. In real-time applications, the term is used when the application fails to respond in a timely fashion to inputs...
, a delay in the sending and receiving of packets, which caused for time and spatial distortion in game physics. Secondly, in the opinion of many players, the host had an advantage because of this. Many times a player would be shot and killed without ever seeing his enemy due to high latency
Latency (engineering)
Latency is a measure of time delay experienced in a system, the precise definition of which depends on the system and the time being measured. Latencies may have different meaning in different contexts.-Packet-switched networks:...
times. It was noticed that the hosts of the game were much more prone to do this. This was referred to as "hosting" or "getting hosted." Often, teams would take turns, allowing a member from each team to host their team's map. Sometimes, especially during tournament matches, a neutral host would be called upon to host the entirety of the match. A neutral host would be a person hosting the game with a good connection and this person would not be a player in the match, when the round began the neutral host would kill his or her character with a grenade.
Urban Operations
Rogue Spear Mission Pack: Urban Operations, released on April 4, 2000, was the first expansion for Rogue Spear. It was developed and published by Red Storm Entertainment. It added eight new maps and five classic Rainbow Six maps from the original game, as well as three new weapons.Urban Operations was re-released by KAMA Digital Entertainment in South Korea - this new edition included two exclusive missions and two new weapons.
Mod system
With the release of Urban Operations, a built-in mod system was added to manage user-made "modsMod (computer gaming)
Mod or modification is a term generally applied to personal computer games , especially first-person shooters, role-playing games and real-time strategy games. Mods are made by the general public or a developer, and can be entirely new games in themselves, but mods are not standalone software and...
" or modifications. Previous releases of the Rainbow Six series did not have this system, and using a mod required overwriting existing game content. With the mod system, mods could be used without overwriting, as they were installed into a separate folder within the installation and could be turned on or off. When a mod was activated, its content would take priority over the default game content. This allowed the addition and/or customization of all game content, allowing new operatives, weapons, maps, missions, etc. to be added.
Red Storm also released "unsupported" plugins for 3D Studio MAX
3D Studio Max
Autodesk 3ds Max, formerly 3D Studio MAX, is for making 3D animations. It was developed and produced by Autodesk Media and Entertainment. It has modeling capabilities, a flexible plugin architecture and can be used on the Microsoft Windows platform. It's frequently used by video game developers, TV...
and Photoshop, to aid in the creation of new content. This enhanced the popularity and replay value of the series for some time, as hundreds of modding teams within a large modding community released new mods constantly. Police and military organizations also sought the customizable game engine for training purposes, due to the realism of planning and mission strategy.
Because of these effects, a mod management system was later added to Red Storm's Ghost Recon
Ghost Recon
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon is an American series of military tactical shooter video games created by Red Storm Entertainment, the game development studio founded in part by American author Tom Clancy....
series as well, although it was somewhat more restrictive.
Covert Ops Essentials
Rainbow Six: Covert Ops, is a stand-alone expansion pack of Rogue Spear. The training simulator was developed by Magic Lantern Playware, six of the levels were done by Zombie StudiosZombie Studios
Zombie Studios is an American independent video game developer of console, PC, mobile and web-based games. It was formed in 1994 by Joanna Alexander and Mark Long, formerly of the Sarnoff Research Center. Alexander and Long founded Zombie after they completed the design of a virtual reality game...
and three of the levels were done by Red Storm Entertainment. It was published by Red Storm Entertainment. It was released on September 28, 2000. It included nine new missions, because the product was primarily developed as an educational program on real life counter-terrorism history and tactics.
The training simulator developed by Magic Lantern Playware was actually a Computer Based Training program. "Recruits" would create a profile, and then read eductional materials such as actual military Field Manuals, view video interviews from anti-terrorist experts, take multiple-choice tests to progress in rank, and see live-fire demonstrations of the weapons included in the game. For the live-fire videos, Sergeant Anthony Levatino (now Deputy Chief) from the Santa Ana Police Department (CA) was contracted to provide content expertise for the educational material and for the on-camera demonstrations. Having access to all the weapons included in the game, and being a SWAT Team Leader/Sniper and SWAT Academy instructor, Sergeant Levatino provided brief weapon introductions and live-fire demonstrations.
Black Thorn
Rogue Spear: Black Thorn was developed by Red Storm Entertainment, published by UbisoftUbisoft
Ubisoft Entertainment S.A. is a major French video game publisher and developer, with headquarters in Montreuil, France. The company has a worldwide presence with 25 studios in 17 countries and subsidiaries in 26 countries....
, and released as a stand-alone add-on on December 15, 2001. Black Thorn featured nine new single-player maps. Mission eight was edited in the US release (modified from an airport into a coach terminal) and a mission featuring an A380 aircraft was removed in all releases after the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
. This delayed the release. Six new multiplayer maps, 10 new weapons, and a new multiplayer variation on the "Lone Wolf" game type in which one player takes on everyone else; the winner of the round then becomes the new "Lone Wolf". The plot features a mentally disturbed ex-SAS
Special Air Service
Special Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces and have served as a model for the special forces of many other countries all over the world...
operative challenging Team Rainbow with reenactments of real-life terrorist attacks, such as the Entebbe raid and the Japanese embassy hostage crisis
Japanese embassy hostage crisis
The Japanese embassy hostage crisis began on 17 December 1996 in Lima, Peru, when 14 members of the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement took hostage hundreds of high-level diplomats, government and military officials and business executives who were attending a party at the official residence of...
.