What are we working on now?
Good question. We are working on the code, data, maps, scenarios, tools, and extensive documentation for a new game engine we are calling the Cold War engine. This game engine will be focused on providing the framework for any of the games and DLCs we will produce that covers the post WW2 era until the early 1990s.
The first game to use the new game engine will be Southern Storm. This will be Cold War 1980s in Southern Germany and will include the US, USSR, West-German, British, French, East-German, Czechoslovakian, and Canadian forces. Players will fight battles and campaigns over 40 different maps with a wide array of Cold War equipment from the eight nations. That equipment included aircraft, helicopters, tanks, IFVs, APCs, mobile and fixed SAMs, self-propelled and towed artillery and rocket launchers, command vehicle, recon vehicles, many flavors of infantry, and others.
What has changed going from Red Storm to Southern Storm?
First off, On Target Simulations LLC has grown. The addition of more members and contributors to our team, gives us more eyes and experience on the team so we can do more and cover more ground with higher fidelity results.
Next is the game engine redesign. This is a big one. Not only did the team have a growing list of new and improved features we wanted to do, we also had a lot of great input and ideas from our player base that we could reference as we put things together.
Finally, we have been looking at other similar products. We also spend time looking at other games to see what players like or dislike and adjust our design plans accordingly.
What decisions are made when you look at those new and improved features?
We need to be sure the core elements of a wargame are in place. In the case of our Cold War engine, we need to be sure the command and control and resolution of combat are as close to the real thing as we can make it while factoring in the levels of abstraction required to make it work at the scale we are using. This done while always keeping in mind that more may not always be better.
A little taste of the changes in the UI
UI/UX changes are one of the areas we have taken things to the next level. New colors, floating panels, menus with many options, more information in every type of panel and more panels too. Really, too many changes to cover right now in detail, but we will get there in the near future.
Design your own interface layout to fit your style and screen area.
More Intel at your Fingertips with many ways to get to it.
We are hoping to start letting out more information and starting early Beta testing early in the new year!
Stay tuned…
