## Description

_Orda: Severnyi Veter_ , also known as _Horde: The Northern Wind_ , is a
real-time strategy game that is very similar to Warcraft II. It is set in the
world of Semirechye (Russian for “Land of the Seven Rivers”), a medieval
fantasy setting loosely based on Slavic folk tales, and the player, who takes
on the role of a tribe leader, must build up settlements, explore and interact
with his neighbours, and eventually uncover the main plot of the game. Unlike
other RTS games, there are no missions; the world is divided into 9 large maps
(in a 3×3 pattern) and the player’s units can traverse between them at any
time, given that the path between the two adjacent maps is not obstructed.
Once the player’s alter ego leader unit moves into a new map, control of the
settlement and all remaining units in the previous map is relegated to the AI.
There is a vague global goal of slaying the dragon, but as the game
progresses, the player has to figure out how to find said dragon and deal with
it, introducing a non-linear element to the gameplay.

There are detailed elements to the visual style and how it influences the
gameplay. Buildings catch fire if attacked by flame weapons, such as lighted
arrows or ballista bolts, as opposed to fire as a generic damage indicator.
The flames may then spread to adjacent structures if the wind is blowing in
that direction, thus causing a large fire in the settlement; forest fires are
possible as well. Flags on all structures are animated, and are affected by
changes in the direction of the wind; units leave tracks on sandy river banks
etc. etc. Foot soldiers can move through the woods (at a lower speed than on
open terrain), although it can become dangerous, as wolves and bears easily
chew up a troop of inexperienced soldiers wandering in the forest.

The economy system is a bit more complicated than what is usually found in
similar games. Generally, the player has to pay more attention to the
management of their settlement, especially early on in the game. There are
four types of resources: ore, wood, gold and population. The first three are
collected in a regular way: workers chop down trees and carry sacks of gold
and ore from the mines to the town centre. The only real difference is that
the player must first construct a mine over a gold or ore deposit to be able
to collect those resources. As for population, building farms in _Horde_ does
not increase the number of units that can be built or trained, but adds to the
overall population growth in the settlement. Every time a worker or a soldier
is trained he is recruited from the available population, making it a resource
as well. The same goes for newly built structures (except farms), which
require a varying number of people to operate them. Population also pays taxes
(in all three other resources, not just gold), so the more populated a
settlement is, the more resources the player can get. Some of the taxes are
spent to pay salaries to the army and workers (this time only in gold). Tax
collection and payments are done automatically.

Base construction can be described as a mixture between _Warcraft_ and Command
& Conquer. The player’s castle functions both as a town hall and a
construction yard, able, on one hand, to train workers and store resources,
and to issue construction orders on the other. Once a building is placed down,
it begins construction by itself, without the need for workers; the same goes
for building repairs. All buildings, with the exception of mines and lumber
mills, can only be constructed within a certain range of the castle. Some
buildings like the barracks or the factory can somewhat expand this radius,
but the size of the settlement is still limited. There can be one castle per
map, and thus one settlement, although the player may destroy their current
castle and build a new one elsewhere. However, in this case all the old
buildings that remain outside the new castle’s radius will be abandoned and
will dilapidate slowly until completely destroyed.

When the player encounters other factions that populate the world, combat is
not the only option. Every newly encountered nation is initially neutral
towards the player. This status can be changed via the diplomacy option; the
player can declare a war, propose an alliance, or surrender and become a
vassal of an overwhelming opponent. Diplomacy options are limited but they are
quite useful, as conflicts can be seldom resolved by complete decimation of an
opponent. It is up to the player to experiment with different approaches and
find out what fits best in each situation.

Battles, especially when they involve large numbers of units, are rather
chaotic, as units often seem to ignore the player’s orders in the heat of
battle. Up to 400 units can be selected at a time, and group management is
simplified by the ability to exclude entire unit types from a group by a mouse
click. Units cannot be upgraded, but they will gain experience over time,
making them stronger, more resistant and able to heal wounds.

While exploring the world, the player can find various items that are either
quest- or story-related, or allow the use of special abilities like the
summoning of magical allies, revealing parts of the map etc. On some maps,
different creatures can be found that, upon their release, will either join
the player or attack at random. In some places there are cryptic hints
engraved in stones that should help the player in their quest; important
information can also be obtained from ancient scrolls that are found in
possession of some of the wizards.

Orda: Severnyi Veter