Heroes of Stalingrad. What's Next?
Why did it take so long?
The popularity of Heroes of Stalingrad has spawned numerous
requests for interviews and, without exception, all the interviewers ask this
question. “Why did it take so long?”
It took so long because making a computer game is difficult,
because it is time consuming, because neither Tom nor I make computer games
for our 9 to 5 job. In short, making a computer game is a pain in the ass.
And that pain is at the heart of the second most common
question the interviewers ask. “What’s next?”
The answer is simple. We don’t know. It took seven years to
make Heroes of Stalingrad. During those years, the time spent on Heroes of Stalingrad delayed countless numbers of Lock ‘n
For the argument’s sake, however, let’s assume Tom and I
commit to a sequel. What would you all like to see? Would you like us to stay
on the East Front, maybe focus on the battles around Kursk ? Although that sounds like fun, I can
tell you that Lock ‘n Load doesn't handle huge tank battles well. It’s more of
company-level infantry game with armor support.
Maybe the West Front? That’s certainly an option. I’m an
American homer when it comes to WW2. I’d really enjoy designing something on
the beaches of Normandy or the forests of the Ardennes .
Maybe modern, or pseudo modern, circa 1985? This is one of
my favorite times for conflict simulations, and we could base the game on
Heroes of the Gap within my World at War universe.
Or how about the Pacific? The board game version of Heroes ofthe Pacific is off to the printers this month. It seems like a slam-dunk to
take that art, feed in a year’s worth of pain, and release a computer game
version.
Those are some of my ideas. What do you all think? Sound
off.
Mark H. Walker is the author of World at War: Revelation, a creepy, military action, with a love story, alternate history, World War Three novel thing. It's available from Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing right here. Just $2.99. Give it a try. What the hell?
Comments
Thanks,
Chris
I understand that when making board games, efficiency resides with a certain redundancy in components, but one does have to worry about that on the PC. Anybody remember AGE OF RIFLES? Great game, that had a huge variety of scenarios from 1860-1880-ish. One game you are playing Battle of Shiloh, the next you are holding off the Madhist hordes in the Sudan.
Would it be so hard to have a game with a half dozen scenarios in the Ardennes, a few from Operation Mercury, one from Burma, and hell, throw in a few Legionaries holding Bir Hakeim for good measure. I don't see the reason for a specific continuity (i.e. all Eastern Front, all Pacific, etc.)
I understand that, from a business perspective, Eastern Front and ETO tend to be the meal ticket games, and there could be marketing issues I'm just ignorant about. But clearly Mark has an interest in other conflicts (Heroes of the Faith, Ring o' hills,Nuklear Winter) and they shouldn't have to play second fiddle.
Kudos for great work on this product.
1- Vietnam
2 - Heros of the gap
3 - Pacific