Fog of War: Difference between revisions
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A feature of many [[Strategy Game|strategy games]] that keeps the player from seeing everything that happens on the game map by limiting his knowledge of "enemy" units and movements to those areas where he has (or has recently had) units of his own. Some games enhance the effect by having a "partial" fog over areas that the player's explored at least once, but without any units in range at the time to observe.
While this is a realistic limitation, many players find it irritating and restrictive, often because the AI driving the other side [[The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard|is usually not likewise handicapped]]. Turning off the
This exists in [[Real Life]], in the sense that you need to have someone or some sensor observing the enemy in order to actually know their whereabouts. However, generally when someone talks about the
A [[Sub-Trope]] of [[Weather of War]], see also [[Defog of War]] on items that help lessen this.
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* Anime illustration: In an episode of ''[[Suzumiya Haruhi|The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya]]'', the SOS-dan was challenged to a computer game with this limitation. Yuki quickly figures out that the opposing side has cheated by removing the Fog Of War on their side, hacks the system, and levels the playing field.
* The turn-based ''[[Civilization]]'' games (including kissing cousin ''[[Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri]]'') use a Fog of War; one of the diplomatic options available is trading your explored map knowledge with other cultures.
** One particularly realistic aspect of ''Civilization IV'''s
*** That's not in the earlier games because ''no'' units were removed from enemy territory upon declaration of war. The rule was introduced in [[Civ IV]] in order to nerf abusive forms of surprise attack (eg. deploying an army next to the to-be-enemy's capital, declaring war, and immediately capturing the city before reinforcements have even a theoretical chance to arrive).
*** Then again, the description for subs states rather explicitly that they can explorer rival territory and are hidden from most units. What else would you expect?
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* Original [[Dawn of War]] made heavy use of the this, even detailing it by this name in the tutorial.
* [[Dark Reign]] was one of the first games to use complex fog of war, making it possible to set ambushes by hiding below cliffs, in depressions in the ground, behind hills, etc.
* Certain levels in the strategy-card game ''[[Metal Gear Acid]]'' and its sequel were in 'Search Mode', which allowed you to see terrain and items but not
* PC example: ''[[DEFCON]]: Everybody Dies'' only allows you to see enemy units that enter within range of your and your allies' radar. You cannot tell where the enemy's defensive units are unless you send some offensive units within radar
* The [[Advance Wars]] games featured Fog of War, but only on certain maps or settings. This fog actually affects AI, since it will ignore units that are hidden in forests or reefs by the fog. Recon units have extra vision radius, infantry and mechs get an extra square if [[I Have the High Ground|they're on mountains]], and in ''Dual Strike'', Sonja gives all her units extra vision.
** The games also have (optional) weather conditions. Rain usually limits the vision further and even adds temporary
** In a slight twist, the characters talk about it like a physical object and think it's perfectly natural for you to see the entire map one battle and have fog of war the next.
** Completely [[Justified Trope|justified]] in ''Days of Ruin'', where it is present as dust kicked up from the meteoric impact which destroyed most of civilization.
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* The PC game ''People's General'' includes a sort of fog of war, where you can see the whole map, but no units except those within sight of your own. Depending on how well you can see them, you will either fully identify a unit, or simply see that there is an enemy unit there but not what type. Since running into an unseen unit leads to devastating ambushes, and since Recon units can help conceal other units, making sure you know where the enemy is is a major part of your strategy.
** This is also the case in the ''[[Panzer General]]'' games, which are part of the same franchise.
* ''[[Harpoon]]'', has realistic
* The definitive feature of the Japan only Game Boy Color game ''Kakurenbo Battle Monster Tactics'', which is expected when you realize that the term "kakurenbo" means "hide and seek." Only the first battle DOESN'T use fog.
* Its inclusion in Force Commander, a ''[[Star Wars]]'' RTS, was a big sticking
** Cloudy weather.
* ''Outpost 2'', which was more of a city-builder with RTS elements and predates a lot of the early examples, didn't have it at all. The player's view was real-time from space, so any activity at the enemy base was totally in-view. The only things that were hidden were enemy units moving at night with their lights off; they were visible, but they wouldn't show up on the [[Mini Map]].
* ''[[Para World]]'' quite literally has a
* in the RTS [[Total Annihilation]], most of the fixed base defenses and artillery units can't even see as far as they can fire, so in order for them to operate effectively, you have to set out patrols of scout units around the perimeter to keep the Fog cleared. Fortunately, the game's excellent command interface makes this a piece of cake, no matter how large or convoluted the perimeter.
** Also, in the spiritual successor Supreme Commander, this can be taken to
*** Both games had Fog of War, where there was no vision from units, but only Total Annihilation had the unexplored shroud.
* In ''[[Fallout]] 2'', your character can moan about the
* The [[Command & Conquer]] games (And their [[Dune II|Dune-based predecessors]]) include a common building, the ''Outpost'' (or "Command Center") which allows one to see the radar screen, which views everything not in the (unexplored) shroud. [[You Require More Vespene Gas|Power requirements]] must be met to keep the outpost working. But this means the fog of war is lifted in all explored areas of the battlefield.
** In C&C ''Generals'', the radar screen only sees enemies in the line of sight of units on the field. It's built into the USA and China command centers and still requires power. The GLA have a special vehicle (and don't contend with power at all).
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* ''[[Disgaea]]'''s multiplayer mode has this as an option. No one's quite certain why.
** Because at higher levels, attacks tend to become [[One-Hit Kill|One Hit Kills]]. Without a fog, players would likely just hang around just outside the enemy's range until the opponent makes a mistake or they start throwing each other around.
* Even ''[[Dwarf Fortress]]'' has a
* [[Justified Trope|Justified]] in ''Star Wars: [[Empire At War]]'' with infantry sight ranges and vehicle sensor (or whatever) ranges. One particularly annoying bug in the expansion ''Forces of Corruption'', at least with the Zann Consortium, is the Fog of War lifting for no explained reason what-so-ever, allowing a player with their faction's space special weapon (Ion Cannon, Hypervelocity Cannon, and Plasma Cannon for Rebellion, Empire, and Consortium, respectively) to blow up enemy ships LONG BEFORE THOSE SHIPS WOULD BE WITHIN SIGHT RANGE.
** It's not a bug, there's a building(satellite in space) that you can capture that reveals the whole map. They're one of the first things players go for aside from resource nodes.
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** Thus the reason for having diplomats. Trading maps helps to keep you up on who has conquered who. Also keeping track of whose at war helps.
** The game also has ''literal'' fog of war, because if your battle takes place in rain or early in the morning, there can be fog that makes it difficult to see your enemy.
* ''[[Jagged Alliance]] 2'' has a partial
* Most turn-based tactical/squad games require your soldiers to be looking in the correct direction to spot enemies. So any piece of the battlefield that is NOT being watched, regardless of how close to your soldiers it really is, is considered to be "fogged".
* ''[[Commandos]]'' plays the trope in
* The most recently-added Veteran Reward in ''[[City of Heroes]]'' is a power that allows one to completely remove the Fog of War from any map. However, it has the drawbacks of taking a moment or two for the map to load in instanced missions, and the fact that the fog of war can acually be beneficial in telling which parts of a map have been explored and which haven't.
* Strangely enough, the manga [[One Piece]] has recently begun a war in which mist is constantly seen sneaking on to the screen from no one knows where.
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* Done partially in ''[[Ogre Battle]]'', where you can't see enemies unless they're close to you. How close depends on the angle.
* ''[[X-COM]]'' reveals the terrain as it's explored, but doesn't show which parts are not visible at the moment, while aliens are only visible if they're within your troops' line of sight. After you've explored the entire map, it becomes frustrating trying to find that last alien when you're not even sure where to look.
* Played straight in the 1992 film of ''[[The Last of the Mohicans|Last of the Mohicans]]''. Musket fire apparently creates clouds of smoke thick enough to blanket the adjoining lake, and the heroes literally escape through the resulting
* Bizarrely averted in the ''[[The Lord of the Rings (film)|Lord of the Rings]]: the Return of the King'', where the lack of dust on the battlefield makes the CGI armies look
* In real life, large crowds create huge clouds of dust, especially with horses or vehicles, unless the field is
** In addition to dust and fog obscuring vision it is still very difficult to get an accurate assessment of a battlefield even with satellites, radios and observational aircraft due to the inherent chaos of the situation.
* In ''[[Plants vs. Zombies]]'', you have to deal with it throughout all of World 4, with the fog getting worse with each level. In 4-10, they go all-out and just replace the fog with a [[Blackout Basement]] level.
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* You can only see what your units see in [[Grim Grimoire]], though you eventually gain a spell called Clairvoyance that allows you to (temporarily) lift the fog of war.
* In the various ''[[Space Empires]]'' games, viewing a star system's map only lets you see stars and planets and other stellar bodies. You can't see enemy or neutral units or colonies unless you have a unit or ship of your own in the system.
* In [[Gadget Trial]], all missions have
* The naval warfare simulator "PT-boats: Knights of the sea" has this on two levels, first there's the range at which ships can detect (and usually engage) enemy units, as shown in the map screen, but in addition there's also literal fog limitting visual contact in the first and third person views available.
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