| In the last six months, the demise of sims has been | | | | learning Jane's 688(I) for some multiplay. He took one |
| pronounced in abundance. Print mags and sim | | | | look at the hefty manual and waved it off. He |
| webzines have been telling you sims are being | | | | assumed he would need to learn all the material to |
| cancelled left and right Jane's A-10: Cancelled. | | | | play competitive. The blessing and the curse of a good |
| Wolfpack II: Cancelled. Silent Steel II: MIA. M1Tank | | | | sim is its complexity. You want to command a battle |
| Platoon 3: Cancelled. Fighting Steel Deluxe: Cancelled. | | | | fleet or do TMA on a Los Angeles class submarine? |
| Jane's Attack Squadron: MIA. Thunder Over Europe: | | | | You need to learn skills and study. And this restricts |
| MIA. The list goes on. | | | | the popularity of the sim. Mass market games |
| We all know that this is a down cycle for sims and we | | | | generally do not carry the steep learning curve a sim |
| believe there is hope that in a couple of years, things | | | | does. So while we hard core sim players are delighting |
| will turn around and sims will be hot stuff again. Hey, I | | | | in the minutia of seven different stations and all their |
| remember in 1973 when the EPA and OPEC throttled | | | | controls, casual gamers are passing up the sim at a 20 |
| the life out of the muscle car scene. I had a 1970 | | | | to 1 ratio. Sims truly are a niche market. |
| Cobra Torino that had 450 hp and ran the quarter in | | | | Niche market games have limited budgets. This mean |
| the high 13s. In less than three years every car out of | | | | a small number of programmers and artists must |
| Detroit was a smog controlled, gas economizing slug. | | | | concentrate on the basics. Don't expect to see |
| They even started making them as ugly as they were | | | | everything you want and imagine in a sim. Oh yeah, I'm |
| slow! It was heartbreaking. | | | | with you--I wish a subsim could have full motion crews |
| But over time, things change. Now you can get a high | | | | and other fun stuff. But as one producer told me, "We |
| performance machine that handles and has luxuries | | | | don't have the money to design and integrate these |
| like front/rear AC. My '99 Riviera has a supercharged | | | | features into the product. I wish we could, too." |
| V-6 that would make my old Torino proud. | | | | We should be finding out the status of Silent Hunter II |
| So, keep the faith. Things will improve, even if no one | | | | soon. Either Mattel Interactive is going to sign someone |
| knows when. Silent Hunter II and Destroyer Command | | | | to complete it or it will be canned. I went through the |
| are showing signs of life. Harpoon 4 is still under | | | | "we are planning to do this" stage with the fabled |
| development. There are stirrings from the Sonalysts | | | | Jane's Ice Pack add-on for 688(I), Crusader Studios' |
| camp. | | | | Akula: Red Hunter, Silent Steel 2, and the |
| When a new subsim does hit the shore, try to | | | | interoperability between Jane's Fleet Command and |
| remember, the developers and game producers are | | | | 688(I). I'm not passing judgment here, just stating that |
| our friends. They make the kind of games we like | | | | when the momentum dies, so does the objective. For |
| because they like them too. Why would they labor | | | | whatever reasons, the product champions behind |
| over armor thickness tables, ship model physics, and | | | | those sims were unable to secure the financing to |
| torpedo trajectories for a niche market? I know a few | | | | start work. To get a better feel for the whole process, |
| developers and they all love the genre. | | | | read my friend John Sponauer's analysis of the life and |
| Try to keep your criticism balanced. Should you blast a | | | | death of a sim, M1 Tank Platoon 2, from its early |
| sim you had trouble with or didn't enjoy with all the | | | | development as an upgrade all the way through its last |
| invective and animosity you would normally reserve | | | | couple of weeks. |
| for someone who stole your car or used your | | | | Despite my previous experiences with other sim |
| toothbrush? I was told by one producer that high-level | | | | companies, I am optimistic that Carl Norman and Rick |
| executives frequently ask him about hard-core | | | | Martinez mean what they say and SSI will continue to |
| negative postings on newsgroups and forums. The | | | | raise the banner of the Digital Combat Series while the |
| industry sees us as demanding, unappreciative, and | | | | Jane's, NovaLogics, and Microproses around them fall |
| impossible to satisfy. It's much easier and more | | | | like unfortunate tin soldiers. This is not to say SH2 is a |
| lucrative to crank out Deer Hunter and Barbie games | | | | done deal--that moment will come when you hold the |
| and their users rarely flame the game company to a | | | | box in your hand. We look to the next rumored subsim |
| crisp. | | | | as our best hope for advanced underwater warfare. |
| I work with a CPA accountant who likes computer | | | | All we can do is stay positive, supportive, and if it's |
| games and is pretty good at them. He can play a | | | | decent, buy four copies when it comes out. |
| mean Age of Empires warrior. I tried to interest him in | | | | |