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WWII - The Strategy Game is a result of my frustration with existing war games. Everything begun in 1984 when I made WWII v. 1.0, which was a very simple and small war game of the Europe in the World War II. My idea primarly was to save money by making a game of my own instead of buying one.
As I was getting more interested in war games I tried to find one I could buy but that is when I really got frustrated. All the war games were made of small scenarios advancing from predetermined setting following guidelines of the real war. Even, when playing German side, if you crushed the enemy totally in the eastern front, the next scenario started from the point of you facing Allies in Normandy and lots of heavily equipped Soviets lurking behind your back. Therefore I decided to make a game where the war advanced simultaneously in all locations and only the initial setting depended on the actual troop strengths and positions of September 1939. I made a large map of Europe and another one of the Pacific theatre. The rules were rather complicated and a calculator was needed to calculate the losses in battles. Thus was the WWII v. 2.0 created. We never actually finished the beta test game because the equations that controlled by now most everything in the game grew into monsters that even my good old Commodore 64 computer had hard time in dealing with.
Eventually we graduated from the Senior Secondary School and were spread out into various universities around Finland. I decided to do my military service (compulsory to all Finnish males) then but when I started my studies in the University of Turku in autumn 1990 I returned to designing games. I made a fully functioning pocket version of the German invasion to Crete in WWII, and we tested it during some of the most boring lectures trying to throw our dice not too loud for the lecturer to notice. I also purchased my first real computer, a 386 PC, which made it possible to return back to the enormous task of simulating a complete world war in a game.
WWII v. 3.0 had a gigantic map totalling over three square metres and including every part of the world. The idea was by now to create a strategic game instead of the usual tactical games (such as Panzer General or Steel Panthers from SSI). The overall strength of a nation was to come directly from its possessions and therefore be totally independent from whatever happened during the actual war. Also many new parts were added to the game (now players could make decisions over the industry - what to produce, how much, and where; they could decide supply routes for themselves; etc.). But the game was never to be. It required so heavy calculations that I had not the needed knowledge of programming.
The work was paused for a very long time because of my studies and in order to learn more programming skills. Finally I had my thesis done and learned to programme fluently with Fortran90 and to some extent with Java. The major difference between versions 3.0 and 3.2 is that now the entire game, maps and all, are handled by the computer. The version 4.0 is most likely the only possible way to play the game, which can not be finished in one go - no matter how you plan to play it. Version 4.0 is exactly the same as version 3.2 but played over the Internet in a way described further below. I can hopefully soon resume work with the game. In the following I give various phases ahead and shall update the list as they get done.
phase 1: The main programme should be ready for simple testing.
phase 2: Battle subroutines should be ready for testing.
phase 3: Production subroutines should be ready for testing.
phase 4: Supply subroutines should be ready for testing.
phase 5: Population maintenance subroutines should be ready for testing.
phase 6: Reconnaissance and underground operation subroutines should be ready for testing.
phase 7: Mining, agriculture and research subroutines should be ready for testing.
phase 8: Map 3D modelling subroutines should be ready for testing.
phase 9: Troop movement subroutines should be ready for testing.
phase 10: Land acquisition subroutines should be ready for testing.
phase 11: Graphical subroutines should be ready for testing.
phase 12: The game should be ready for testing.
Now, if you feel you can participate in any of this work in any way, please
let me know and the timing may be modified for an earlier completion of the game.
The vastness of the game - i.e. of the game engine, of the game options, and of the game area (the whole world) - means it requires special solutions. My solutions are that the game itself is run in one place, with the main programme, and the players get to do their bit at home with their own computers with another programme (version 4.0; if players want to get together every now and then to play the game, version 3.2 can be used - it is exactly the same, but each player gives his commands in turns at the computer). There are not going to be any computer players, although countries played by no human player will defend themselves automatically if invaded. Should I find time and means of developing proper A.I., real computers players may be introduced in some later version of the game.
All this refers directly to the Internet version (4.0) of the game. In it a player may choose how often he receives a report from his headquarters. It may be daily or every n:th day (n can be anything, but the war may be lost if it is too large). As in real war, if the leader fails to make his move, the troops will continue with their old orders until they get new ones (or the old ones become obsolete). As soon as the player sends in his orders, they are fed into the main programme that takes them into consideration when going through the player's troops and production.
Going through every unit (division or army group) individually and updating its orders, supply, and various other things daily would not be sensible, nor realistic. Therefore once an army group has been ordered to capture an enemy city (or to do any other specific action), it is not necessary to give more orders to that unit before they report having a full control of the city or the player's headquarter informs him that the army group has been demolished or seriously crippled. Petty little things as normal supply and holding positions are not to be brought to the highest level of command.
The highest level of command may, if it so desires, meddle with issues of production and research. These have certain points of emphasis and standard starting values, but they can be changed as often as the player deems necessary. Again, the supreme leader is not shown technical drawings and described the workings of new weaponry, but he is given an overall estimate of how things are progressing on various fields of research. The production figures are of course available but not necessary to be viewed every day.
The player is presented with a map of the world, and the location of his troops on it. He may get information of each of the units, but the most important news are pointed out to him on a report from his headquarters. He may get all the production and research info he desires, but again the most important news are separately given to him. The knowledge available of the enemy units varies upon the contact with them and the reconnaissance activity.
One important feature, sometimes the most important, is diplomacy. A player may send messages to his enemies, to his allies, and to the countries neutral to him. Foreign news (usually biased) and spies give info on which to act in the fronts of diplomacy and military actions.
The game is most entertaining played by several, even tens, of human players at the same time. At least the most important countries deserve to have a real commander in charge. If so wished, a large country may have a divided leadership. E.g. the U.S.A. may have one military leader for European theatre, one for the Pacific theatre, and one domestic one in charge of the production and co-ordination between the two theatres.
I will be updating the paragraphs above and writing more information
on the game and its details as the game begins to take shape. Stay tuned.