WarCraft 2000: Nuclear Epidemic

WarCraft 2000: Nuclear Epidemic is an unofficial, unlicensed sequel to Warcraft II created by Ukrainian game studio.

The game was released for free and in an unfinished state, at the beginning of 1999 after nine months of development.

In 1998 the GSC Game World studio tried to introduce itself to the Western video gaming market by making its first real-time strategy game. For that, the developers decided to make their own sequel to Warcraft II, using their own engine but still reusing existing spritework.

The improvements were as such:

• Windows executable (unlike the original game, which was a MS-DOS executable)
• Higher resolutions (more than the base 640x480)
• Bigger maps
• Larger unit limit - up to 8000 units per player
• More than 9 units can be selected at once

With WarCraft 2000: Nuclear Epidemic GSC Game World tried to get a contract for the development of Warcraft III, sending a copy of their work to Blizzard Entertainment. Blizzard rejected their offer. The GSC Game World developers were also planning to make an asset pack called DoomCraft to use units in the engine.

Nuclear Epidemic distinguished itself from other strategy games of the time with its increased unit size limits. This led to its engine being reused for the commercial game . GSC Game World later gained international renown for the first-person shooter series.

The Second War never ended. In fact, it turned nuclear when mysterious aliens arrived to Azeroth and distributed modern technology such as ICBMs, flying saucers and missile defense towers, all in the name of making the natives destroy each others more efficiently.