Carrier Force

{{Infobox video game

|title = Carrier Force

|image = Carrier Force 1983 game box.png

|developer = Gary Grigsby

|publisher = Strategic Simulations

|released = 1983

|genre = Computer wargame

|modes = Single-player

|platforms = Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64

}}

Carrier Force is a 1983 computer wargame published by Strategic Simulations for the Apple II, Atari 8-bit computers,{{cite web |title=Carrier Force |url=http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-400-800-xl-xe-carrier-force_903.html |website=Atari Mania}} and Commodore 64.

Carrier Force was Grigsby's fourth game. While he had started developing games part-time while working for the United States Department of Defense, he left to become a full-time game developer halfway through his third title, North Atlantic '86.

Gameplay

Carrier Force is a computer wargame that simulates aircraft carrier warfare.

Development

Carrier Force was the fourth game by designer Gary Grigsby. It was released in 1983,{{cite journal | author=Dille, Ed | title=War in the Pacific | journal=Electronic Games | volume=1 | issue=3 | date=December 1992 | pages=54–56, 58 }} the same year he debuted North Atlantic '86.{{cite magazine | author=Emrich, Alan | title=The Pioneering Spirit of a Wargame Guru | date=September 1995 | issue=134 | magazine=Computer Gaming World | pages=201, 202, 204 }}

Reception

{{Video game reviews

| rev1 = Computer Play

| rev1Score = 6.68/10{{cite journal | author=Miller, J. L. | title=The Wargamer's Desk Reference | date=January 1989 | journal=Computer Play | pages=34, 36, 37, 39, 40, 42 }}

| rev2 = Current Notes

| rev2Score = {{rating|3.5|5}}{{cite journal | author=Brooks, M. Evan | title=Battle Bytes: An Overview of Wargames | date=November 1985 | volume=5 | number=9 | journal=Current Notes | pages=14–16 }}

}}

Tom Cheche reviewed the game for Computer Gaming World, and stated that "CF has been exhaustively researched, and beautifully produced. In many ways it is the kind of game that we had in mind several years ago when we were daydreaming about where the wargaming hobby was headed now that the computer had arrived."{{cite magazine |last=Cheche |first=Tom |title=Carrier Force: The Fog of War at its Foggiest |magazine=Computer Gaming World |date=April 1984 |volume=1 |issue=15 |pages=22, 47}}

In a 1985 survey of computer wargames for Current Notes, M. Evan Brooks called Carrier Force "worth the effort for anyone desirous of learning about the period", but considered it "extremely slow in execution" and saw it as having historical errors. In his similar 1989 survey, J. L. Miller of Computer Play found that the game was "hampered by very slow execution" and offered it a middling score.

Reviews

Casus Belli #23 (Dec 1984){{Cite web|url=https://www.rpggeek.com/rpgissuearticle/165444/ludotique|title = Ludotique | Article | RPGGeek}}
Fire & Movement #76{{cite web | url=https://spotlightongames.com/list/reviews.html | title=Index to Game Reviews in Magazines }}

Legacy

Grigsby decided to build on Carrier Force in his later game Carrier Strike. He told Electronic Games, "I liked the subject matter and, given the evolution in computer capability and my programming skills, I wanted to refine it."