It’s been a long time since I wrote the last blog entry about Galley Battles, so first of all I would like to apologize for this inconvenience with the people interested on the project. It is not related with any problem to the development, but I have been so busy that I didn’t got time to sit and think about how much of the game has been done and how much still lacks to be done.

Some months ago I started to work on a PhD thesis, winning a grant to work on it during 4 years. This fact has eaten most of my time, because I work on the research group where I do the thesis a lot of hours each day, take some class hours, read some important books for these classes, etc.

Fortunately the topics of my research are related to military history and games, so I’m able to take some knowledge about the research and apply it to the game, in order to make a more interesting experience. Now the mechanics of the game are richer IMHO, and I think that some topics like morale, combat and formation will be treated on a historical (and entertaining!) way.

Talking about morale, I realized that the way this important concept is used on the vast majority of games is quite different of the historical results it had. You must read “the Face of War”, of John Keegan, a classic and revolutionary book of military history if you want to try to understand how a soldier of any era would act on a battlefield. I’ve tried to apply some basic axioms to the way morale is represented on galley battles.

Morale is not a static indicator of the quality of a soldier, because it will change with what he sees (and listens) about the battle that is evolving around him. Moreover, the psichological factors of combat are not individual, because a soldier goes to battle forming inside a group (a line of infantry, a squadron of cavalry or a fleet of galleys), so the standard way of giving each unit a morale that will degrade with losses is not certain (at least in my opinion, of course!). Finally, a soldier is not a suicide on the majority of battles, so any suicidal order (typical in wargames to slow the enemy) shouldn’t be possible, because the unit should break off before the clash (a ram attack, a melee, etc.).
I’m trying to add these kind of thoughts in the game, while not adding complexity to the interface. The result, I expect, will be a game where the player will be able to play since the first time he starts a battle, but where he will try to think before each order is given if it is rational, and if he expects too much of his sailors or they can got the task done.

Anyway, we are finishing the combat and movement engine, and starting to update the code of the editors, PBEM and other tools. I don’t know how much time I will need to finish it (due to the reasons given before), but as you can see we are advancing every week as much as we can, and we expect that the result will be as good as we imagine.
Xavi

With only a six months left to our projected release date for Air Assault Task Force, it seemed like a good time to pause and get everyone caught up on where we are at.  There is some good, some bad, but generally, we are still plugging along on a good glide path to release of AATF.  As things take shape, I can “spill the beans” a bit on some of the features we are packing in the game, as well.

So, let’s dive in…

Bad news doesn’t get better with age…

…So I will put it right up front (it’s not that bad, just a little disappointing to us).  As you probably know, we were shooting for an “Alpha Technology Release” of Air Air Assault Task Force, open to the public, at the end of March.  Well, since it is the beginning of April, it is apparent we are not going to hit that target. 

We had a bit of a delay due to some contract work for a major defense contractor (gotta pay the bills…) which set back our production schedule.  We do have something we could push out the door, but I did not want to do a buggy “half” release.  To be safe, we have pushed this target back to the end of April.

The “Alpha Tech Release” is an “in-progress preview” of the game. It will have roughly the same functionality as Armored Task Force, with all of the new interface changes for Air Assault Task Force.  The idea is to give everyone a look at what we are working on, give our fans an opportunity to provide input, and hopefully, expose any bugs we have not found up to this point.

We plan to make it broadly available to everyone, rather than to a small BETA group. Stay posted at this blog, the Shrapnel Games Intel Forums, our website, and the ATF/BCT forum at StrategyZoneOnline.

Aside from this small setback, we are still on track. Right now I perceive no problems in meeting our projected September 2006 release date. Of course, computer programming is an inexact science, but we are probably 85% complete with the coding on AATF (the scenario builder is a bit behind this) and all of the foreseeable technical challenges have been overcome without compromise.

New website and screenshots!

OK.  Now that the bad news is out of the way, here is the good news.  The AATF website is now up.  From there, you can check out the development calendar, a lay-down on the features in the game, and, most importantly, screenshots.

http://www.prosimco.com/aatf.htm

These are very rough screenshots, of some “test” scenarios we have built for coding, but they should give you an idea of the direction we are heading.  To put the pictures in context, there are two different theaters in these screenshots, which will also appear in the final game.  The first screenshots are from the Shah-i-kot valley in Afghanistan.  The second set are from Fort Polk, Louisiana, home of the Joint Readiness Training Center. 

The website’s “Features” tab explains alot about Air Assault Task Force, but I will review, for those who have not read our previous blogs (shame on you!).  Like Armored Task Force, Air Assault Task Force is a “command real time” (e.g. the game runs in real time with the player able to speed up the action with compression or pause the action and continue to give orders) simulation. The scrollable map with multiple zoom levels and “mini-map” will also be familiar to veterans of the ATF Engine, though we believe we have made both quite a bit more user friendly.

The game runs in full screen, and we have included features to allow the player to adjust the resolutions or run the game in windowed mode. A cool feature we have implemented is that we have embedded a full featured web browser in the game.  Rather than the text operations orders of the original Armored Task Force, each scenario will be preceded by animated briefings and historical background information (similar to our latest title, The Star and the Crescent).  Curt Pangracs, one of our crack game designers has really outdone himself with the work I have seen so far.  I think everyone will be really impressed with the final product.

What is new is the new interface.  Rather than using the “select order-select unit” paradigm, we are now using the “select a unit-select order” paradigm that is immediately familiar to any RTS or wargame player. Information for selected units is immediately displayed in an easier-to-read, graphical format. We have a lot of other plans for the interface that we will be sharing as development progresses.

Other improvements in development include modeling of vehicle damage (as opposed to the modal, live-or-dead, model currently used), the use of discrete times of flight for most weapon systems, and a large increase in the amount of battlefield obscuration such as smoke from burning vehicles and dust from helicopters and vehicles.

And remember, we are maintaining backwards compatibility throughout development. That means that, when AATF is done, you can install it over your earlier, ATF Engine games, and give them an instant upgrade to the new interface and features!

The scenarios.

As I hinted at the top, we have progressed far enough in development that I can “spill the beans” on some more of the scenario content in the game (which, at the end of the day, is what the games are all about, right?).

Much like the original Armored Task Force, Air Assault Task Force is an “exploration” of the many facets of its topic: air assault infantry violently siezing objectives.  Unlike Raging Tiger, The

Falklands War, or The Star and the Crescent, Air Assault Task Force does not focus on one geographical location or time period.  Instead, it provides several “campaigns” from different periods of history and technology in air assault operations.

The first routine use of the helicopter as a method of moving infantry into contact with the infantry was Vietnam.  And this is where we start our exploration, with 1-7 CAV’s fight in the Ia Drang Valley.  The most famous recent example of air assault operations was the coalition fight in the Shah-i-kot Valley in Afghanistan.  This three day fight is also included as a campaign (with all its “warts” included). 

We also have a special operations campaign planned, but we are not ready to talk about this one, just yet.

Air assault operations are complex.  That means they must be trained relentlessly.  That is what happens every month at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, Louisiana.  So we have included a couple scenarios that will be instantly familiar to any US light infantryman.  But the US is not the only Army that trains in air assault operations.  We have also included training scenarios from the British Army as well, set in the training area in the Salisbury plains.

That is enough “spoilers” for now.  Stay tuned to this blog and our website.  We will be releasing more info as we can.

What’s next?

We are working on new upgrades for all of our current releases, and should have something out in just a few days.  Please stay tuned to the Shrapnel Games website and Intel Forums for more information on how to get a hold of these upgrades.

As I said before, we also plan to make the Alpha Technology Release of Air Assault Task Force broadly available to everyone, rather than to a small BETA group, at the end of this month.

The next milestone after this will be a BETA test and playable DEMO (early Summer, 2006). If you are interested in BETA testing, please stay tuned to the above websites for the casting call.

Other projects.

I got a flurry of e-mail after my last blog post because I forgot to mention our upcoming World War II title (sorry, I’m new at this).  I am happy to report that the project is still on track, and slated for release next year.  However, we have made the decision to “re-tool” the project for the Air Assault Task Force Engine.  We just decided that this engine was a better fit for the project and decided to make a clean break from the ATF Engine (don’t worry, we will continue to support the ATF Engine as long as we are still around; hell, we are designing our entire next-generation engine to support it!). 

This title is an Eastern Front, Germany v. Russia, game.  The designer threatened me with the Gulag if I say anything more

We may have another announcement very soon on a new AATF Engine game (modern, “alternate-historical”).  As soon as a deal is inked, we will let everyone know what we have planned.

On a personal note…

I am finally settled in here, at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.  This seems to be a Mecca for wargamers, and there always seems to be a few ATF/BCT fans moving through here. So, if you are going to be here in the next year or so, please drop me a line at my e-mail address and we can link up!

That’s a wrap!

I have said everything I can think of that I am able to say at this point. Please, if you have any questions I did not cover here, do not hesitate to ask by replying to this blog.

And, while you are waiting for Air Assault Task Force, I will just remind you of our other titles, that are out now:

• BCT Commander
• Armored Task Force
• Raging Tiger: The Second Korean War
• The Falklands War: 1982
• The Star and the Crescent

Playable demos are available for all of these games at the Shrapnel Games website.

I appologize, personally, for the slight delay in AATF.  I hope that, when you see the final product, you will feel it was worth the wait.  For now, I will close by saying thanks, again, to all of our fans for their patience, input, and support through the years. This is the best gaming community, period.
Pat Proctor
President, ProSIM Company, Inc.
http://www.prosimco.com

Hello again. Well, with the launch of The Star and the Crescent successfully completed (and no bugs or issues, which is manna from heaven for a game programmer), we are now deep into development of Air Assault Task Force. We have now almost completed our first full quarter of undivided work on AATF, and this felt like a good place to pause and let everyone know how we are progressing. I also wanted to give everyone an idea what to expect in the next few months with this title.

So, let’s dive in…

Where we’re at

The good news is that we are still on track. Right now I perceive no problems in meeting our projected September 2006 release date. Of course, computer programming is an inexact science, but we are probably 80% complete with the coding on AATF (the scenario builder is a bit behind this) and all of the foreseeable technical challenges have been overcome without compromise.

The remaining code is all in the area of user interface. We are really concentrating our effort here, as we have a lot of collected knowledge from the ATF (Armored Task Force) Engine to apply to this effort. We are really concentrating on making things easier to do, while preserving all of the detail in ATF. We want a player new to wargames to be able to sit down, and, in a few minutes, make units do what he wants them to do. He will probably get his butt kicked, but he won’t have to fight the enemy and the interface. Our goal has always been for players to learn from our games, but we want them spending more time learning how to overcome the tactical challenges of the modern battlefield and less time learning the interface. We think we are really achieving this better than ever before with this title.

What is Air Assault Task Force

We have also progressed enough that I can give a little bit more detail on what the game will definitely include. The “command real time” (e.g. the game runs in real time with the player able to speed up the action with compression or pause the action and continue to give orders) survives from the ATF Engine. The scrollable map with multiple zoom levels and “mini-map” also survive from the ATF Engine, though we believe we have made both quite a bit more user friendly.

The game runs in full screen, and we plan to include features to allow the player to adjust the resolutions or run the game in windowed mode, though the latter is still tentative. A cool feature we have implemented is that we have embedded a full featured web browser in the game. This allows budding MODders and scenario builders to create their own animated and HTML operations orders for their scenarios, for use in the game. It even supports Flash and Shockwave programs and movies, for the really industrious. The impact on those who aren’t building scenarios is that, rather than the text operations orders of the original Armored Task Force, each scenario will be preceded by animated briefings and historical background information (similar to our latest title, The Star and the Crescent.

What is new is the interface. Rather than using the “select order-select unit” paradigm, we are now using the “select a unit-select order” paradigm that is immediately familiar to any RTS or wargame player. Information for selected units is immediately displayed in an easier-to-read, graphical format. We have a lot of other plans for the interface that we will be sharing as development progresses.

Other improvements in development include modeling of vehicle damage (as opposed to the modal, live-or-dead, model currently used), the use of discrete times of flight for most weapon systems, and a large increase in the amount of battlefield obscuration such as smoke from burning vehicles and dust from helicopters and vehicles.

And remember, we are maintaining backwards compatibility throughout development. That means that, when AATF is done, you can install it over your earlier, ATF Engine games, and give them an instant upgrade to the new interface and features!

The scenarios

We are not ready to spoil the surprise on the specific scenario locations and details, but I did want to share our overall concept, and what you can expect from the game. Rather than the armor focus of the ATF Engine games (with the notable exception of The Falklands War 1982), Air Assault Task Force focuses on light fighters.

As the name suggests, the focus of the game is on air assault infantry. This centers around light infantry battalions, transported to the battlefield by transport helicopter, and supported by attack aviation (helicopters as well). It is much more complicated than it sounds, though. In addition to figuring out what order to send your soldiers into the fight (you usually have more soldiers than helicopters), you also have to protect the “serials” (one turn of your aircraft) on the way to the LZ (landing zone). This means suppression of enemy air defense (SEAD) and supporting efforts to secure areas in route to the objective. It also means detailed reconnaissance.

Soldiers aren’t the only thing that have to be air-lifted into the fight. Artillery, gun trucks (armored HMMWVs with machine guns or TOW missile launchers), and logistical support also has to be slung (carried under helicopters) to the LZ. Once on the ground this stuff has to be protected from ground assault on the non-linear battlefield.

In many ways, it is even more complicated than armored operations. Things that can be accomplished with brute force in armored operations must often be accomplished with finesse, deception, and precise planning. I think we are succeeding in bringing all of this complexity to players with Air Assault Task Force.

What’s next

Right now we are hard at work on the fundamentals of the interface. Early in Spring of 2006, we plan on releasing an “Alpha Tech Release”. This is an “in-progress preview” of the game. It will have roughly the same functionality of Armored Task Force, with all of the new interface changes for Air Assault Task Force. The idea is to give everyone a look at what we are working on, give our fans an opportunity to provide input, and hopefully, expose any bugs we have not found up to that point.

We plan to make it broadly available to everyone, rather than to a small BETA group. Stay posted at this blog, the Shrapnel Games Intel Forums , our website, and the ATF/BCT forum at StrategyZoneOnline.

The next milestone after this will be a BETA test and playable DEMO (early Summer, 2006). If you are interested in BETA testing, please stay tuned to the above websites for the casting call.

On a personal note…

I am in the midst of a permanent change of station to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas (why do they call it permanent; I never get to stay anyplace more than a few years???) This seems to be a Mecca for wargamers, and there always seems to be a few ATF/BCT fans moving through there. So, if you are going to be there in the next year or so, please drop me a line at my e-mail address and we can link up!

That’s a wrap!

That is about all I can say on the current state of development. As always, if you have specific questions, please feel free to respond to this blog entry, and I will do my best to answer. And, while you are waiting for Air Assault Task Force, I will just remind you of our other titles, that are out now:

BCT Commander
Armored Task Force
Raging Tiger: The Second Korean War
The Falklands War: 1982
The Star and the Crescent

Playable demos are available for all of these games at the Shrapnel Games website.

Thanks, again, to all of our fans for their patience, input, and support through the years. I know I say this all the time, but you guys really are the reason I still make wargames.

Pat Proctor
President, ProSIM Company
http://www.prosimco.com

Major changes are being done to Galley Battles in order to fix some problems and get a better realism and playability to the game. Basically hexes will disappear, and ships will be able to move where they want and with the orientation desired for them, without having constraints due to hexes facing.

And these improvements are due to Newton! I want to explain why we have decided to trash the movement system on an hexed-based pattern and the benefits of this decision.

Basically we were aware from the beginning of the project of the potential lacks of the hexed system. It is fine for boardgames, because a “point per point” system is quite complicated to design without adding too much complexity. Moreover players already knows them and I think this is the main reason that computer games often uses hexes. BUT computers have the ability to do all the calculations needed for a “continuous” system without terrain limitations, and definitely this system is far more realistic than hexes, just because reality is not made by hexes.

Anyway, we decided for an hexed system because it seemed easier to design (to create battle formations, stablish attacks, etc.) and the map editor would be complicated on a system without hexes.

When we started programming the AI, we realized that the hexes were a problem, because some formations and movements were almost impossible (like the hedgehog formation called kyklos). Anyway the alternatives were more complicated so we decided to continue with them

But some days ago things changed radically. I found an article about a special technique called “Steering Behavior” that, following simple newtonian rules (forces, inertia, coordinates sytems), lets you implement formation movements and topics like pursuit of enemy, avoidance of threats, etc. on an elegant manner.
In case you are interested on the technical concept, the paper can be found here:
http://www.red3d.com/cwr/steer/
and was designed by Craig Reynolds (great job mr. Reynolds! ).

Talking with Ruben (the responsible for the artwork of the game) about the possibilities, he said that it was wonderful for him, because squared tiles are easier to design than hexed tiles (mainly due to the number of combinations of the tiles in the editor), so finally we have decided to trash the hexed system and go for a continuous movement system, with squared tiles for the terrain.

Moreover the order system is being changed. Past implementations just let you turn 1 facing per turn, and this is nor realistic neither fun. So we have decided for an order system where you specify the location and orientation of the ships you are moving. This is possible due to this major change on the movement system (we tried with hexes and it was quite impossible to do on a reasonable way, I assure you!).

So, as you can see, we are working hard to create a good game, and we are confident that these major changes will improve on a radical way the realism and, specially, the playability of the game.

We will post some shots of the game when these changes get finished, and I’m sure you will notice the improvements!

Since this is the first post in shrapnel game’s blog I think I should introduce myself. My name is Xavier Rubio, and I’m the developer behind Galley Battles: from Salamis to Actium. If you check the homepage of the game (www.galleybattles.com) you could see that I started a developer’s journal some time before signing up with Shrapnel’s, so this post is a continuation of that blog.
My intention was to write a monthly story in which I will pretend to tell at which point is the development, new features added to the game and my future calendar about Galley Battles. Of course, if some people is interested on discuss some topics of the game mechanics, or just talk about history, I can write a post about these concepts. Some comments made by me will be quite technical, and I will be glad if these ones are helpful for developers interested on the creation of a game (in fact this was the original intention of the Galley Battle’s blog).

Finally I’m not a native English speaker, I’m from the city of Barcelona, in Catalonia (Spain) so unfortunately I’ll make some mistakes for sure (sorry!).

Talking about the development there are lots of news since last update on the other journal: most important is that I’ve changed my job and I’m working part time, so the time I’m able to spend on Galley Battles is quite higher.
Development with these conditions is being faster and better, I think.
I was able to deploy a more complete development suite on my computer, using cppunit (a great utility to test the code of the game and avoid possible bugs), subversion (a tool to maintain different versions and changes of files), mantis (a bug tracker), and a TODO manager (all of them are free software).
I wanted to install these development tools before, but I didn’t have time…I think that they will be useful, specially in future phases like beta testing.

Returning to Galley Battles, I’ve finished the scenario selection menu. Ruben has done (as always!) a wonderful job with the artwork (screen shots next week!). The game is capable of loading every scenario created (included the ones designed by players), and the battles will be selected in a ‘Mare Nostrum’ map. Ships of every side are shown, and the player will be able to see its parameters (speed, sailor quality, etc).

The other working point was the replay mechanism of the game. This phase is the one where the orders given by the players are executed, and they can see the result, zooming where necessary, moving backward and forward, etc (the commonly called ‘WE-GO’ system).

By now I’m working on this last point, and Ruben is finishing the 2d views of every ship involved in the game (more than 20 different types, including triremes, ships with Corvus, transports, etc.). I’m quite confident that, by the end of the year, the game will be quite playable…in fact the main topics not implemented by now are the PBEM/Save system, and the AI.
Moreover, some other tweaks, like the addition of fire power to ships still have to be implemented.

I’ve left the AI by now because I plan to spend quite a long time on it, in order to create a challenging computer opponent.

I expect to create some demo scenarios like the one from the September update, in order to show how the game will be played, so any suggestions will be quite welcomed!

We are reaching the end of the ATF Engine project, and this felt like a good time to publish an update on the goings-on at ProSIM Company. It is an ending, as we have completed work on the final revision of the ATF Engine (for The Star and the Crescent, see below), but it is also a beginning because it completely “empties our plate” so that we can work full-force on Air Assault Task Force.

Don’t worry, though. We are not leaving the ATF Engine in the dust. We have committed to making Air Assault Task Force completely compatible with the ATF Engine. So, when you get the new game, you can install it over any or all of the ATF Engine games and instantly upgrade them to the new engine! Plus, all of the great user content that has been developed over the years will work in Air Assault Task Force as well!

Those who have been following the ATF Engine project might be surprised to hear us say it is coming to a close. There were two titles announced that are not nearing release (The War in Afghanistan and Thunder and Lightning: The Battles of Operation Desert Storm). I will address both of those projects here, as well, hopefully putting speculation on the topic to rest.

Enough looking back, though. Let’s start with some news:

The Star and the Crescent

If you have been watching the Shrapnel Games Home Page, you have probably heard that The Star and the Crescent is nearing release. We are rapping up the final week of BETA testing now, and hope to “Go Gold” by 2 SEP 05. That means the games should be shipping to customers by the end of September!

To recap, for those who have not been following the release, the game is a study of Arab-Israeli wars from 1956 to near-future scenarios in 2009. The game’s true focus, however, is the 1973 Yom Kippur War. The game uses a heavily modified version of the ATF Engine (built on and compatible with the version used for The Falklands War: 1982) to put the player in command of battalion-sized elements in some of the most hair-raising combat of the past 50 years. It is much more armor-centric than any of our previous titles, and the brief, no-nonsense orders reflect the “seat of the pants” situations that characterized these wars.

To find out more about the game, go here:

The Star and the Crescent Product Page

You can also get information at the ProSIM Company page:

The Star and the Crescent Home Page

To try out a free demo, go here:

The Star and the Crescent DEMO

Right now, Shrapnel Games is offering $5 off of the regular price for pre-orders. To pre-order, go here:

Pre-Order The Star and the Crescent

The War in Afghanistan

As eluded to above, this game is not going to make it into the ATF Engine project. The development team has had a number of real world setbacks that make it impossible at this time.

However, the project is not dead. It is simply changing forms. First, portions of the original concept for this game will be featured in Air Assault Task Force (read below). Second, the core development team is still working as work is possible and hope to revive this title for the AATF Engine once the game is engine-ized (I may have invented a word here).

So this project is not dead, just on hold.

Thunder and Lightning: The Battles of Operation Desert Storm

I can now officially announce this this project is canceled. While some of the material from this project might appear in other titles, the game as it was originally conceived, will not be completed.

Things ended amicably. We wish the team and the project lead, Del Shand, all of the best. We regret that we will not be able to complete this project. It was a great concept. Perhaps, someday…

Out with the old, in with the new… or, “The Unamed Title”

In our last post, ProSIM Company Update, 21MAY05 we eluded to a “next ATF Engine” title. We still are not ready to make any announcements, but we can tell you that this title will most-likely be for the AATF Engine once the game is engine-ized. This decision was made because we have decided to allocate all of our resources to Air Assault Task Force.

Oh, yeah. And I can also tell you the game is going to be an Eastern Front WWII title.

Stay tuned to this blog, the ATF forum at Shrapnel Games:

Shrapnel Forum

and the ATF/BCT forum at StrategyZoneOnline:

StrategyZoneOnline

for more updates on this project, as we have them.

Air Assault Task Force

I have a bunch of announcements on this front. Buckle your seatbelts…

First, we have assembled the development team. And it is a cast of all stars. Here they are, along with their past work for ProSIM, in no particular order:

.

Oh, yeah. And, of course, I am on the team, too.

Next, we have completed what we perceive to be all of the major technological hurdles in the title. This means that we are now well into building the wargaming engine that will define military simulations for the 21st century. Of course, game programming is not an exact science, and new, unforeseen hurdles will emerge, I can report that we are well ahead of schedule in every area. Unlike games developed by mass-market development houses, that doesn’t mean we get to reap profits faster. That means we get to add more gaming goodness prior to release!

I also have some more announcements to make on scenario content. We have hammered out a design document and we are ready to talk, a little bit, about what the game will look like. We are looking at doing a loose thematic title. By this, we mean that, rather than focus on one era or area of the world, we are going to do a number of campaigns set in different regions and time periods, as we did with Armored Task Force and BCT Commander before it.

Here are the tentative topics for the campaigns in Air Assault Task Force.

.

We are being intentionally vague at this point. Please stay tuned to this blog and the links above for more info as it becomes available.

I’m done gabbing…

So for now, I will leave you with our latest crack at release dates (which, as always, carries a cautionary note on the unpredictability of software development). Thanks to all of our great fans for their support, suggestions, commitment, and energy over the years. You guys really are what keeps us going!

The Falklands War: 1982 OUT NOW
The Star and the Crescent September 2005
Air Assault Task Force September 2006

PS: We’re pretty new at this whole Blog thing, so if I am not addressing any burning questions you have, please let me know, and I will do my best to cover them in my next installment.

Hello all!

In another deposit on my pledge to keep our fans abreast of the latest developments at ProSIM, I thought I would take a few moments to update everyone on our latest progress and what lies ahead.

Remember, as you read, that we are not “throwing the baby out with the bath water”. We are making a firm commitment to maintain back wards compatibility. It is taking a little extra time, but it means that when you buy the latest ATF Engine game, if you install it over previous ATF Engine games, those versions will immediately get an “upgrade” enjoying all of the features of the newest version of the engine.

It also means that all of you budding scenario builders will not see your work go to waste when a new version is released. You can load it up in the latest version of the ATF Engine and it will run perfectly, and be ready to receive the latest tools the new engine has to offer.

And this includes Air Assault Task Force. All of the ATF Engine scenarios will run in this engine, too!

Well, might as well dive in.

The Falklands War: 1982

If you’ve been keeping your ear to the ground, you have probably been hearing quite a bit of rumbling. Another ATF Engine release is just about to hit the street, and there are a lot of developments.

First, a playable demo has been released. You can download it here:

TFW Demo

This playable demo includes two scenarios: a tutorial that covers a SAS raid on Pebble Island, and a regular scenario detailing a British attack on Argentinean defensive positions. It highlights a few, but not all of the new features in this revolution of the ATF Engine.

If the demo whets your appetite, you can purchase the game in pre-orders right now. You’ll get $5.00 off of the regular price and free shipping! You can place your order here:

Buy TFW

A lot of the changes in the ATF Engine will be immediately obvious. Some of the “under the hood” changes include an overhauled graphics engine that eliminates the irritating “DirectDraw disable” problems many modern video cards had with the engine. We have also upgraded the friendly and enemy AI to reflect dismounted tactics, added vastly improved weather effects, and introduced disparate training levels that allow scenario designers (including those that designed TFW) to configure training levels in many different areas throughout a faction (to facilitate coalition warfare).

NOTE: Keep an eye out for updates to ATF and Raging Tiger that also incorporate this video engine improvements, eliminating the “DirectDraw disable” problem for good!

We plan to have the game to Shrapnel Games in just a week or two. We are just tyeing up a few loose ends in post-production. This means deliveries should start before the end of June!

The Star and the Crescent: Arab-Israeli Wars, 1956-2009

Curt Pangracs and PanClan Games are hard at work on this project. The early builds look GREAT. The scenarios are also a big departure from previous ATF Engine releases. Curt has really captured the sense of “skin of the teeth” defense that was the early hours of the October War in 1972. He has also taken me to school on several engagements earlier in the history of modern Israel.

Highlights of this release are the introduction of radars of all descriptions, including air defense and airborne radars and counter-battery radars, a really stunning visual style never seen in an ATF Engine release before, and the use of digitized, military contour maps that are period specific and 100% authentic. There are also a ton of other engine tweaks, facilitating the unique ferocity of these wars, including the presence of distinct, discrete buildings and structures, and tools that allow the player to better target close air support.

I don’t want to spoil the surprise, or steal Curt’s thunder, so I will save the rest for my next entry.

War in Afghanistan

Well, the upside of enlisting active duty military officers from the world’s best armies to lead development teams is that our products are the most current, most accurate available in the modern wargaming market. But there is a downside…

The team lead for this project has postponed work on this project due to his military responsibilities in the increased operational tempo of the global war on terror. The project is still alive. He is sneaking in work where he can, and is committed to completing the project.

Right now, we are exploring options for “redesigning” this project, so that we can get the best game possible out on the street. We will have more on this when we settle on a solution.

Thunder & Lightning: The Battles of Operation Desert Storm

This project is currently on hold. Expect to hear some news about this release soon.

Next ATF Engine Project

We are not ready to make an announcement, but we can tell you that we are assembling a new team, and are exploring some possibilities for a WWII game built on the foundation of the ATF Engine.

Stay tuned to this blog, the ATF forum at Shrapnel Games:

Shrapnel Forum

and the ATF/BCT forum at StrategyZoneOnline:

StrategyZoneOnline

for more updates on this project, as we have them.

Air Assault Task Force

We have made a LOT of progress on our newest wargaming engine since our last post here at the blog. Several technical hurdles, that we thought would be mountains, have turned out to be mole hills!

Here is where we are at now.

We are currently building the user interface. The game runs full-screen by default, or windowed by option. It is player configurable, to allow you to “tweak” it to take best advantage of your video card, if you like. It replaces the “select an order-select the unit” paradigm with an interface that is more recognizable to novice and advanced wargamers (selecting a unit and then adjusting its paths and settings).

The idea is an interface that is more intuitive, and reveals its depth as the player explorers, rather than putting all of the complexity up front. As the player gains confidence with the game, and wants to use more advanced features, he “overrides” the default settings and artificial intelligence of the companies, platoons, and vehicles that he controls by customizing their behavior. Or, if the player prefers, he can stay “out of the weeds” and make only the high-level decisions. It is very much a fulfillment of the original concept that was Armored Task Force.

I can also tell you a little more about the concept for the scenario content, as well. We are looking at three full campaigns, and one “mini” campaign (which will also be the tutorial and demo). This is much as it is with Armored Task Force. The idea is to give the player a wide array of scenarios, spanning many different terrain types, vehicle databases, and periods of time.

Tentatively, we have “locked-in” if you can do so, this early, several of the topics for the campaigns. We are pretty sure that our demo/tutorial will be set at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, Louisiana, the world’s best light infantry training center. We also anticipate building a campaign in Vietnam, though we are not ready to announce a location or battle yet.

As for the rest, I can just tell you we have a lot of good ideas, and will release more as we can.

That’s a wrap…

So for now, I will leave you with our latest crack at release dates (which, as always, carries a cautionary note on the unpredictability of software development). Thanks to all of our great fans for their support, suggestions, commitment, and energy over the years. You guys really are what keeps us going!

PS: We’re pretty new at this whole Blog thing, so if I am not addressing any burning questions you have, please let me know, and I will do my best to cover them in my next installment.