HighFleet, styled as HighFleet: Deus in Nobis (Latin for "God within us") is an action-adventure strategy video game developed by Konstantin Koshutin and published by MicroProse.
The game involves the player commanding a fleet of metal airships on the dieselpunk post-apocalyptic world of Elaat in an attempt to seize a rebellious region rumored to have access to a nuclear reactor. The working title for the game was "Hammerfight 2" (after Koshutin's previous game), as the game was in development for more than a decade.
HighFleet takes place in a Dune-inspired post-apocalyptic future where humanity has returned to feudal-style governments on a ravaged planet, known contemporarily as Elaat, following an event known as The Catastrophe. The Catastrophe was believed to have occurred thousands of years before the events of the game, when humanity blew up the Moon (called Kharu by historians of the Romani Empire) with nuclear weapons, causing it to shatter and impact the surface, destroying the climate and wiping out all traces of advanced technology and artificial intelligence. Due to The Catastrophe, the predominant form of combat in the world of Elaat is performed with large metal airships powered by methane, with political tides being determined by naval strength.
The events of HighFleet take place 214 years after the founding of the Romani Empire, the most powerful nation in the known world, led by the House of Sayadi. In 207, the Lord-Governor of Khiva, a city in the desert region of Gerat, rebelled and founded the breakaway Republic of Gerat, supported by an alliance of anti-Sayadi Great Houses called the Gathering. Since that time the two polities have waged the Gathering War; the Gerati have advanced to the heart of the empire and only the Imperial Fleet prevents the Romani capital from falling.
The setting of Gerat is based on the Middle East and Central Asia, with the Gathering War and the circumstances around it being heavily inspired by the Soviet-Afghan war. The land of Gerat is split between two major ethnic groups, the Romani and Elaim. The Romani are from the core of the Empire, located to the south of Gerat, and are often at odds with the native Elaim. The conflict between the Imperial and Gerati cultures features prominently throughout the game and has the chance to affect major plot elements.
