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IronManBeta -> (9/1/2002 9:05:06 PM)
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I like game specs the way Napoleon liked constitutions ('short and vague') so as not to hamper my creative urges down the road...
1. The short answer to your question is that this game is a revitalization and modernization of the venerable Simulations Canada designs based on the "Main Battle Tank" series of 1980 - 81. These games were the jewels of the entire SimCan catalog - apart of course from the absolutely fabulous "Storm" series that were the output, cough, cough, of yours truly back then.
2. So what was MBT? The official blurb was:
"1.0 INTRODUCTION: It is 1100 hours on November 11th, 1996. The area is central Germany, roughly the region bounded by the Harz Mountains, the Rhur, Frankfurt, and the junction of the East German, West German, and Czech borders. You are the Soviet, West German, or American commander of a regiment/ brigade or battalion. The hypothesis is that World War Three has just broken out.
MAIN BATTLE TANK: CENTRAL GERMANY (MBTCG) is a fast paced, command orientated game of modem grand tactical combat. Your main maneuver elements will be companies, though some specialist units, particularly reconnaissance, will be platoons. Air strikes, helicopters, off map artillery, and even nuclear attacks, may be on call. Your mission will be to hold or to take a geographic local within the combat area while minimizing casualties to your forces and maximizing damage to the enemy."
Clearly I am not the only fan of Napoleon around here making games.
3. SimCan and Matrix signed a deal last fall. The blurb that Matrix came up with was:
"FLASHPOINT GERMANY - Matrix Games overhauls two classic Simulations Canada NATO vs. Warsaw Pact wargames into a full campaign. Originally a high speed, command-oriented, viewpoint style study of the first clashes of a Third World War in Europe, the system has been transformed into a Windows-compatible wargame with high-resolution graphics, expanded Orders of Battle and the option to play over the Internet and by email. Flashpoint Germany covers fighting across Germany in fourteen included scenarios, but the heart of the simulation is the “build your own” system that allows you to design conflicts between British, U.S., West German and Soviet forces."
4. Thats a little more specific but still not too concrete. I wrote this up when the FPG forum was launched:
"- the game is "grand tactical" (not tactical, not operational or strategic). In practice this means that we are far enough removed from individual vehicles and men that unit facing does not matter. These subunits will either be 'mission ready' or not, there is no tracking of internal state at this level. Weapon ranges still matter though (so it is not fully operational) and logistics just barely matter (so it is not strategic).
- maneuver units are companies and specialist platoons (engineering, supply, recce, etc). Each player will typically command a brigade on the attack or a (reinforced) battalion on the defence.
- the map is a stretch of the German countryside extending about 20 km by 15 km. Position is resolved to within 500m and is handled via a grid rather than a hexmap. This is how the original SimCan did it, and indeed how the military actually does it now.
- the game can last up to 36 hours resolved in 30 minute turns (approximately!) but very few will last that long. In most scenarios the two sides will very cautiously try to feel out where the other side is located and then mount a rush to seize key terrain, get into the rear, or whatever. The unit density is way too low for a continuous line so the action is more reminiscent, say, of the swirling action of North Afrika in 1942 than of the WW2 western front. Given the super lethal nature of modern weapons, this period of close contact can be quite short. Then the players sort out what happened and if enough force remains try again. The game ends automatically when one side or the other drops below 20% of original strength. In the original game this could often happen within two hours of first contact!
- the viewpoint for the game is that of the overall commander. He is assumed to have a competent staff and is _not_ burdened with micromanagement of every little detail. (There are other games out there that do a fine job of that already.) We are trying to simulate the command experience in a way that is accessible to non-professionals and indeed makes for a fun and interesting experience for everyone. Anyone familiar with the old SimCan designs will know what I am talking about.... "
- The game is now set in 1989 although other "flashpoint" years will be added after the first release and as research allows.
- I am keenly interested in the air, helo, electronic warfare, chemical and nuclear attack rules. They will all be there but at the moment are looking pretty simple. My intent is to get them in and working at a base level, and then ramp them based on player feedback. The viewpoint is that of the brigadier general and we will try to portray it in terms that he would see. This is definitely not a simulator where the player has to micromanage every little detail. There are other games out there I believe that offer this already. We want, dare I say it, to create a fast-moving, fun experience that models these things in an elegant and accurate, but not terribly time-consuming way. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!
- Campaign games. Sigh. If I was Superman than I would promise it, but realistically it will just have to wait a bit. There is so much to do and test and tweek just to get the base game out in a reasonable time that I just have to slip certain features to a future version. Someday though, yes. I plan to be working on this game for years yet.... It is a platform for the future and I expect to grow by leeps and bounds as time goes on.
- Renaming units ought to be easy to add. Creating a name for the player within the game also ought to be quick and easy. I'll stick them on the list. Certainly there is nothing more aggravating than seeing the wrong unit designations time after time and not being able to correct them!
Back to the coding, cheers, Rob.
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