Line #1 VideoGame/MAXMechanizedAssaultAndExploration


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/max_mechanized_assault_exploration.png]]
2	--> "They were the unwanted. Cults. Religious factions. Even entire governments. Through the intercession of alien rulers called the Concord, they had been taken off a hostile Earth, and given a new chance to gain a new world on which to prosper. Inside each alien-supplied ship lies a faction's entire population. Their alien sponsors promised them a new world on which they can thrive. All they have to do, is fight for it." - OpeningNarration
3
4	''M.A.X.: Mechanized Assault & Exploration'' is a TurnBasedStrategy game developed and published by [[Creator/InterplayEntertainment Interplay Productions]], released for MS-DOS in 1996. Since 2008, it has been available bundled with its sequel from Website/GOGDotCom.
5
6	It is TheFuture. A hundred small factions, [[TheExile exiled from earth]], have been empowered by [[OmniscientCouncilofVagueness the Concord, a council of alien "Star Lords",]] to fight proxy wars for them, [[FightingForAHomeland in exchange earning new worlds to colonize.]] [[ACommanderIsYou The player assumes the role of a]] [[TitleDrop M.A.X. Commander,]] [[BrainInAJar a human brain in a robotic shell]] designed to withstand [[HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace the rigors of hyperspace]] and command [[MechaMooks mechanized shore parties]] to clear suitable areas for new settlements. Trouble is, other M.A.X. commanders have their eyes on these same areas, [[ExecutiveMeddling courtesy of alien meddling.]] A RobotWar for control ensues.
7
8	The game itself was fairly complex. [[YouRequireMoreVespeneGas There were three different resources to manage,]] buildings had to be connected to one another to get power and resources, [[InfiniteSupplies and units needed to be]] [[AvertedTrope resupplied or be unable to build or shoot.]] Though predominantly [[TurnBasedStrategy turn-based,]] the game could be played in "simultaneous mode", which was not true RealTimeStrategy but rather [[GambitPileup every player taking their turns at once.]] As the various units and structures were still limited in what they could do in a turn, this made for rather different game flow then the regular system.
9
10	----
11	!!''M.A.X.'' provides examples of:
12
13	* AFormYouAreComfortableWith: The Concord picked someone from a race [[RubberForeheadAliens that looked somewhat like us]] to be their ambassador to Earth.
14	* AllPlanetsAreEarthLike: Justfied here by the Concord selecting worlds that could be inhabited by humans with minimal [[{{Terraform}} terraforming effort.]]
15	* AllThereInTheManual: Much more of the BackStory, including information about the forming of the Concord and about the eight clans, as well as in-depth descriptions of units and structures.
16	* AmphibiousAutomobile: Certain vehicles, such as builders, Surveyors, APCs and Scout bikes can cross water. The former can build pontoon bridges for everything else to cross.
17	* AwesomePersonnelCarrier: The APC is [[{{Expy}} ripped right out of]] ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' and can transport Infantry and Infiltrators.
18	* ANaziByAnyOtherName: The "Von Griffin" clan is made up of neo-fascists and other foreign-hating groups from old Earth, [[FantasticRacism united in their hatred of everybody else]] and their skill at stealth and espionage.
19	* BlueBlood: The "Seven Knights" and the "Musashi" (more on them below under {{Samurai}}) clans. Unlike the latter, the former was more obsessed with the power and position of nobility then adhering to codes of honor, and this developed into [[StoneWall a specialization in defense and fortification.]]
20	* BrainInAJar: The M.A.X. Commanders. The OpeningNarration states that only the "[[MadeOfIron hardiest]] and [[SamaritanSyndrome most selfless]]" of candidates could tolerate the procedure. These commanders often ended up being separated from their parent clans, and assigned to other forces. The Commanders formed their own group, The Circuit, for the purposes of disseminating information about each clan to each commander.
21	* CityInABottle: The Eco-Spheres, built by Constructors and filled with colonists from your Habitats. These are your ultimate goal- building a certain number of these is an InstantWinCondition.
22	* TheClan: Over the centuries [[TheExile the exiles]] fought for the Concord, old hatreds and creeds from Earth were forgotten, and new ones engendered by their battles against one other meant that the little factions merged into eight great clans, each with a battlefield specialty.
23	* CombatByChampion: The Concord ruled that resources disputes would be settled via TrialByCombat. Trouble is, these trials would have to be fought for with ground forces, face-to-face. [[RichPeople None of their lazy populace]] [[WarIsHell wanted to fight these wars,]] so they had to find someone else to do it. At first they used MechaMooks, but they needed someone with strategic chops and willingness to fight to guide the machines. [[HumansAreWarriors Enter humanity.]]
24	* ConstructAdditionalPylons: Justified here. Your force is an advance team with the threefold purpose of gathering resources, militarily evicting rival groups and building [[CityInABottle colony domes]] for your colonists to live in.
25	* DealWithTheDevil: Only ''after'' leaving Earth did [[TheExile the exiles]] discover the true extent of their arrangement with the Concord. ''All'' of them (not just soldiers) would have to [[CombatByChampion fight for their sponsors against the other groups,]] and the winning faction would then pay a tax on resources and goods culled from the planet they had won. [[DoNotTauntCthulhu When one colony ship called foul on this,]] [[StuffBlowingUp that ship blew up]] [[MakeAnExampleOfThem in full view of the others.]] There were no further objections.
26	* EasyLogistics: [[AvertedTrope Largely averted]], to varying degrees of annoyance. All your buildings must be connected to one another (either by being adjacent to one other or by building connectors) to facilitate transfer of power and resources. Power Generators need to be connected to the "power-ee" and a supply of fuel. You need storage buildings to house the resources you mine, and you must move vehicles next to or into docks/hangars/depots to resupply and upgrade them. At the very least, you don't have to move them next to the exact building to resupply- as long as it's ultimately connected to one through other buildings, you can refill them. You can even build roads- and should, as units move faster over them.
27	* EnemyDetectingRadar: Radar towers, ground-based Scanner units and AWAC aircraft enable this. Corvettes, Submarines and Ground Attack aircraft pack Sonar to spot and attack other submarines and ocean-going APCs.
28	* EnemyExchangeProgram: Infiltrators can capture enemy vehicles
29	%%* FragileSpeedster: Air units, and the Scout bikes. They have the advantage of always being able to move and fire in the same turn, even if they've used up their movement points.
30	* GatlingGood: The anti-air Escort gunboats use twin Gatling guns, while the land-going equivalent makes due with one.
31	* GlassCannon: Assault Guns are this, being quad-barreled long-range cannons on a lightly armored chassis. Exaggerated with the AreaOfEffect Rocket Launchers and long-range, high-damage Missile Crawlers.
32	* HigherTechSpecies: The Concord races as compared to us. They're still bickering over worlds and resources, but have grown soft and decadent over the ages and now need a strong proxy race to fight for them.
33	* HomeSweetHome: The ultimate goal of the exiled clans. It's the Concord's fault [[FightingForAHomeland they have to fight for it.]]
34	* IJustWantToBeFree: All the clans at some level, but especially the "Sacred Eight", who are made up of religious minorities persecuted by the stronger faiths, often those who now make up "The Chosen". One of their founding groups was a CargoCult that worshiped V-8 cars, lending them an [[FragileSpeedster expertise in fast vehicles]] to outrun their foes and their hate.
35	* InfiniteSupplies: [[AvertedTrope Averted ]]''[[AvertedTrope extremely]]'' [[AvertedTrope hard.]] Every unit needs frequent resupplying. Even [[WorkerUnit Worker Units]], which need to get raw materials from the base in order to build anything.
36	* InvoluntaryBattleToTheDeath: Between entire clans, in this case.
37	* JackOfAllStats: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The Tanks.]]
38	* JoinOrDie: In essence. A hidden rule of the Concord meant that any member race could do anything they wanted to worlds belonging to non-member races, and no other member race could say or do anything about it. On top of that, [[PoliceAreUseless the Concord could not interfere in the affairs of other races unless it was a matter of war.]]
39	* KillSat: These and any other kind of space-to-surface attack were outlawed by the Concord [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill as being overkill.]]
40	* LandmineGoesClick: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Minelayer vehicles]] drop these. They can be spotted by certain units, and your Minelayers can defuse enemy mines and convert them into raw materials.
41	* MechaMooks: ''Every'' in-game unit except [[StuffBlowingUp Infantry]] and [[InvisibilityCloak Infiltrators.]]
42	* MegaCorp: The "Axis" clan is made up of businesses and autocratic governments that believed StatusQuoIsGod, [[DirtyCommunists and don't much like the communistic]] "Crimson Path." They are nonetheless pragmatists [[AssimilationPlot who believe in assimilation]] rather then conquest. To that end, they specialize in [[WorkerUnit construction and repair.]]
43	* NoBloodForPhlebotinum: The Star Lords and their empires exhausted entire planets' worth of resources, and when they ran out of their own, they started wanting everyone else's. Three entire races were wiped out in the ensuing conflicts, leading to a PeaceConference and the formation of the Concord.
44	* NoRecycling: [[AvertedTrope Averted.]] Structures leave behind rubble when destroyed, which Bulldozers can scavenge some resources from as they clear it.
45	* NuclearWeaponsTaboo: In-universe. Nuclear and biological weapons are banned by the Concord due to their obvious devastating effects. Justifiable, given that they want to control and populate these worlds.
46	* PathOfInspiration: "The Chosen" clan follow one of these, being an amalgamation of various dominant religious groups from old Earth. They have a lot of [[AcePilot Ace Pilots]], making them M.A.X.'s air-oriented faction.
47	* PunyEarthlings: An odd case. [[HigherTechSpecies The Concord's]] writings refer to us as "primitive", [[HumansAreWarriors yet we were willing to fight for]] and colonize the disputed worlds when none of [[RichPeople their decadent populace would.]]
48	* {{Samurai}}: The "Musashi" clan, though their members come from every country that had or [[HeroicWannabe wished it had]] a chivalric tradition. They are displaced BlueBlood, unwanted because of shifts toward democracy or socialism on old Earth. Their love for the KnightInShiningArmor bit translated into a focus on [[TankGoodness armored vehicles of all kinds.]]
49	* SeaMine: Used by sea-going Minelayers, which function much like their land counterparts.
50	* SingleBiomePlanet: All the planets in the game fall into one of four types: [[JungleJapes tropical worlds]], [[SlippySlideyIceWorld ice worlds]], [[ShiftingSandLand desert worlds]], and rocky "crater worlds".
51	* SmallSecludedWorld: The "Ayer's Hand" clan is made up largely of wealthy landowners who felt dispossessed by the intrusion of foreigners. [[HoldTheLine They are united in an intense desire to keep everyone else at arm's length,]] leading to a specialization in [[MacrossMissileMassacre missiles and things that fire them.]]
52	* StrongerwithAge: Works specifically on Skirmish, especially in Hotseat Multiplayer, where the player can spend most of their time building research centers in order to improve all the units available in every aspect, in exception with captured Alien Artifacts. As each aspect researched increases value by 10% in an additive fashion.
53	** Once a player reaches turn counts about 50,000, units become so powerful that a group of unmodified tanks would simply be wiped out by a single infiltrator with [[CurbStompBattle one shot]] each within a single turn.
54	* TheRemnant: The "Crimson Path" clan is this, with some FormerRegimePersonnel. They are what remains of various communist insurgencies. They had some [[{{Pirate}} pirates]] and other "watery desperadoes" join up early on, leading to naval warfare as their [[PlanetOfHats Hat.]]
55	* TankGoodness: Of various types.
56	* TechTree: Mostly confined to research centers for upgrading your units. The construction tree isn't too complicated.
57	* TravelCool: [[MechaMooks Of a robotic variety, anyway.]]
58	** CoolBike: The scout cycles.
59	** CoolBoat: The various naval units. The twin-hulled Escort anti-air gunboats and torpedo-packing Corvettes are perhaps the coolest looking.
60	** CoolPlane: The sleek air units, in particular the Ground Attack craft which bears a strong resemblance to the A-10 "Warthog".
61	* WorldWarIII: Earth was in the midst of this when the Concord's ambassador arrived. [[RefusalOfTheCall Many chose to stay on Earth]], while [[TheExile hundreds of minor factions left.]] The major powers were only too happy to see them off.
62	* WorkerUnit: ''Many''. Engineers build small buildings, Constructors make big ones, and Surveyors scan for resource deposits underground. Then there is a type of cargo truck (and one cargo ship) for each resource (which can resupply units in the field if returning them to base wouldn't be convenient), and Bulldozers to demolish buildings.
63	* YouRequireMoreVespeneGas: Three kinds, all found through mining. Raw materials are needed to manufacture structures, units and supplies. Fuel is needed to run the power generators, and gold is refined into credits and then used for research and upgrades. None of it is found on the surface either, so you need to send out Surveyors to find deposits and then build mining stations over them.

Context VideoGame / MAXMechanizedAssaultAndExploration