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