Tempest Rising

**The Tempest Rising Wiki has migrated to a new platform.**

* Dynasty cover
* GDF cover

***Tempest Rising*** is an upcoming real-time strategy game being developed by Slipgate Ironworks and 2B Games and published by 3D Realms and THQ Nordic. It is slated for release sometime in 2023.

## Synopsis

*Tempest Rising* is set in the same universe as *Bombshell* and begins around 100 years before the events of *Ion Fury*. The game takes place in an alternate history where the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 had escalated into a Third World War. In the decades following the nuclear holocaust, an anomalous yet potent and valuable plant called "Tempest" began appearing from the cracks of the Earth's crust around the world. Realizing the potential of this new energy resource as the nuclear winter dissipated, human civilization began to rebuild.

By 1997, two global powers had emerged: the Global Defense Forces (GDF) is a global peacekeeping organization formed by Earth's surviving governments that secures, maintains, and exploits the majority of the Tempest sites; while the Tempest Dynasty is an alliance of Eurasian nations that suffered the most from the nuclear war and oppose occupation by the GDF. The GDF and the Dynasty engage in a world-spanning conflict to control the Tempest resource, while a third mysterious faction lurks from the shadows and may be linked to the origin of the Tempest plant itself.

## Gameplay

*Tempest Rising* is a traditional real-time strategy game with its core gameplay based on titles like Westwood Studios' *Dune*, *Command & Conquer*, and *StarCraft*. There are three playable factions: the Global Defense Forces, the Tempest Dynasty, and a third unrevealed faction currently referred to as the "Tempest mystery". All three factions will be asymmetrical in their playstyles. The game's UI features a sidebar for primary navigation and control, and the main gameplay loop will involve base building and resource collection.

Players will be able to control and produce a variety of ground and air units. Fixed-wing aircraft will appear in the form of support powers. There will be no naval units, but amphibious units have yet to be confirmed. Unit effectiveness against opponents follow the rock-paper-scissors principle. Some units may passively or actively apply a status effect which would affect their stats and behavior on battlefield, such as temporarily buffing combat capabilities of friendly units.

Base buildings are constructed on a grid layout. Before being placed down, buildings can be rotated in 90 degree increments.

Support powers are unlocked from constructing the prerequisite structure. There are no endgame structures analogous to superweapons, but there will be high-tier support powers that deal direct damage to targets in an area.

Several C&C-like gameplay mechanics will be present:

* Tanks and heavy vehicles are able to crush enemy infantry.
* There are engineer units that can capture enemy buildings. Capturing an enemy Construction Yard will give the player access to the enemy faction's build tree.
* The GDF and Dynasty rely on Power Plants to power their buildings. Defenses will be disabled and production will be slowed if there is insufficient power.
* Credits are obtained primarily by harvesting Tempest fields via harvesters. The harvesters deposit their load at the assigned refinery, which is converted into credits up to a limit. Additional harvested Tempest are stored in silos.
* Players in control of multiple production structures of the same type are given extra queues from which they can produce units or structures in parallel.
* There are garrisonable structures and vehicles from which infantry units can fire out of.
* Different types of walls can be built, and certain types of walls allow ground units to fire over them.
* Units earn veterancy upon taking out enemy targets. There are three levels of veterancy.

There is also a unit limit present, but the current limit as of the 2023 Playable Preview is 200, and each controlled unit can take up 1 or more population count. The player will be at the limit at the start as there are no supply structures for building to increase up to said limit.

*Tempest Rising* will feature two 15-mission campaigns, one for the Global Defense Forces and one for the Tempest Dynasty. The third faction will not have its own campaign. Prior to each mission, the player will receive a briefing from their commanding officer, and can later interact with them to either get more information on the mission itself or for background knowledge. Following this, the player can then access the Doctrine, Commissary, and Armory menus for customization options. Players will be introduced to specialists, named characters who in gameplay serve as hero-like units that have their own storyline arc and can perform special abilities on the battlefield. Players will need to earn the trust of up to 3 specialists in a campaign playthrough.

The game will include skirmish and multiplayer modes, along with an Elo rating system for matchmaking.

## Development

*Tempest Rising* was first conceptualized in 2014, while active development started in 2019. The team within Slipgate Ironworks working on the title numbers over 100, and includes several prominent members from the RTS community serving as designers and consultants. The lead designer on the game is Brandon Casteel, who is known for providing analysis and commentaries of RTS games on the Wayward Strategy site.

The game will feature mostly a dark ambient and industrial soundtrack composed by Michael Markie, Hexenkraft, Adam Skorupa, and Sigurd Jøhnk-Jensen.

The Steam store page for *Tempest Rising* was created on 22 August 2022, 10 days after the release of the announcement trailer during the 2022 THQ Nordic Showcase. At Gamescom 2022 (24-28 August 2022), a demo that features a modified version of the first GDF campaign mission was shown and was available for attendees to play. The same demo was also available for attendees to play at THQ Nordic's booth at PAX East 2023 (23-26 March 2023).

A public Playable Preview featuring the first GDF mission was released on Steam during the 2023 THQ Nordic Showcase (11 August 2023), and was available for all users until 28 August 2023. The full demo including the first Dynasty mission was released as part of the 2023 Steam Strategy Fest.

The game will not be released into early access, but the developers do plan on conducting several rounds of closed beta tests.

## Trivia

### Names in different markets

* Mainland China: 《风暴崛起》
* Taiwan: 《風暴崛起》

## Media

LogoKey artGDF Field ScoutsDynasty Flame TroopersJelena MelnikDynasty Porcupine MLRS

## References

1. ↑ 3D Realms (7 April 2023). "Tempest Rising - PVP Showdown". *YouTube*. Retrieving 7 April 2023.
2. ↑ Schreiber, Frederik [@Freschism] (27 February 2023). "We're using UE5" [Tweet]. *Twitter*. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 THQ Nordic (31 August 2022). "Tempest Rising Official FAQ". *Tempest Rising Steam News*. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Hornshaw, Phil (12 August 2022). "Tempest Rising Channels The Feel Of 1990s RTS Classics". *GameSpot*. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
5. ↑ Schreiber, Frederik [@Freschism] (15 August 2022). "The story in Tempest Rising takes place in 1997 (over 100 years before Ion Fury)." [Tweet]. *Twitter*. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 3D Realms (28 August 2022). "Tempest Rising - Gamescom 2022 First Mission Developer Commentary". *YouTube*. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
7. ↑ Casteel, Brandon (03 March 2023). Marking and networking status effects. *Tempest Rising Discord*. Retrieved 03 March 2023.
8. ↑ Schreiber, Frederik (9 August 2023). "Yes all buildings will be (But in locked 90 degree increments)". *Tempest Rising Discord*. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
9. ↑ Casteel, Brandon (10 April 2023). "Build the prerequisite building, the power becomes available for use". *Tempest Rising Discord*. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
10. ↑ Casteel, Brandon (10 April 2023). "We don't have 'superweapon buildings' that produce effects like the Weather Control Center...". *Tempest Rising Discord*. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
11. ↑ Casteel, Brandon (15 August 2023). "Units can cost 1 or more population. Right now the Hunter tank costs 2 population and the DYN Boar tank costs 3". *Tempest Rising Discord*. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
12. ↑ perafilozof (3 September 2022). "Tempest Rising RTS - Story, Features and Gameplay in 4K explained - Is it like Command and Conquer?". *YouTube*. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 3D Realms (28 September 2022). "Tempest Rising - Dev Blog 1.0". *YouTube*. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
14. ↑ THQ Nordic (27 April 2023). "Tempest Rising - Interview". *Tempest Rising Steam News*. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
15. ↑ Tempest Rising official site. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
16. ↑ Schreiber, Frederik [@Freschism] (16 August 2022). "Involvement of the community was important when we established the Tempest Rising team over 3 years ago." [Tweet]. *Twitter*. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
17. ↑ 3D Realms (23 August 2022). "TEMPEST RISING IS AT GAMESCOM!". *Facebook*. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
18. ↑ Tempest Rising [@TempestRTS] (23 March 2023). "The energy here at #PAXEast is electric." *Twitter*. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
19. ↑ THQ Nordic (11 August 2023). "Tempest Rising - Playable Preview OUT NOW". *Tempest Rising Steam News*. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
20. ↑ 3D Realms (28 August 2023). "The Tempest Rising Demo is now Available!". *Tempest Rising Steam News*. Retrieved 28 August 2023.

## External links

* Official site
* *Tempest Rising* on Steam
* *Tempest Rising* on PCGamingWiki
* *Tempest Rising* on Twitter
* *Tempest Rising* Discord