Eastern Front 1941

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Eastern Front (1941)
Studio Chris Crawford
Publisher APX (1981), Atari (1982)
Erstveröffent-
lichung		 1981/82
platform Atari 800
genre Computer strategy game
Game mode Single player
control Keyboard , joystick
medium Floppy disk , compact cassette , plug-in module
language English

Eastern Front (1941) is a computer strategy game that was programmed by Chris Crawford in 1981 . The game was released for Atari 800 and was distributed through Atari Program Exchange (APX). It deals with the German-Soviet War in World War II and is considered the first major computer war game compared to board game conflict simulations. James F Dunnigan Crawford received, among other things, the Origins Award ( Charles S. Roberts Award) and an award from Creative Computing magazine for the design. Eastern Front was the most successful APX game in 1983 and was published again in an expanded version by Atari in 1982 . Crawford made different statements about the sales figures. In 1992, he put sales at around 50,000 units and royalties around $ 90,000. In 2003, he spoke of $ 40,000 in royalties.

development

Crawford began developing the Eastern Front in December 1980 . He tried to implement the idea of ​​a complex war game in mid-1979 with “Ourrah Pobieda”, but according to his own statements, the program was unplayable and was therefore not completed. In September 1980 Crawford saw a demonstration of Atari 800 hardware scrolling . Impressed by the possibilities of a smooth scrolling, he programmed a map of Eastern Europe with the help of the demo, which served as the core of the game. By the end of March 1981, the developer finished the routines for input, map manipulation, combat calculations and the display and execution of unit movements. By mid-May, Crawford wrote the program's artificial intelligence (AI). Once again, the programmer came to the conclusion that the game was unplayable. Crawford mentioned the high number of units, which left little room for tactics, the long playing time and the poor AI as problems. To solve the problem, he reduced the initial season from four years to the first year of the war by mid-June, and the number of units could be reduced through the introduction of so-called control zones. Control zones are a game element from board games. By blocking adjacent fields, a continuous front line can be displayed with fewer units. With this element, the main point of criticism of the AI ​​could be eliminated: Small gaps in the front line were less serious. The playability was tested by outsiders until mid-August; Crawford used the results of these tests to fix bugs and introduce other minor changes. The game was presented to the public at the Origins International Game Expo at the beginning of July . At the beginning of September 1981 it was published by APX.

Game description

The game tries to represent the period from June 22, 1941 to March 29, 1942 on the European Eastern Front during World War II. During 41 turns , the player takes on the role of the Wehrmacht and tries to achieve the highest possible number of points. A maximum of 255 points are possible by advancing the individual German corps as far as possible , decimating Russian units and occupying the cities of Leningrad , Moscow , Stalingrad and Sevastopol . It is displayed on a two-dimensional, scrollable map of Eastern Europe. The player gives movement orders to any number of units per turn; if German corps meet Russian corps during the platoon evaluation, the computer calculates combat operations.

Historical context

Using the game mechanics, Crawford tried to create a rough simulation of the historical events: At the beginning, the German Wehrmacht was superior to the Red Army . Due to higher manpower, absolute and relative morality, it is possible for the player to advance quickly into Russian territory, similar to the Blitzkrieg tactics of the German Empire with kettle battles . In the autumn shown, this advance practically comes to a standstill due to the mud. In winter, the player is again able to advance faster, but the game mimics the arrival of the Russian armies from Siberia with numerous and stronger Soviet units. Due to additional simulated supply problems, the player is on the defensive by the end of the game at the latest.

Playing technique

The combat system is influenced by the terrain of the game map and the direction of the attacks; For example, a forest generates a defensive bonus, attacks in the flank or back of units generate a defensive penalty. In addition to the strength of the corps, the readiness to fight is also shown. Combat actions reduce this and thus cause the units to withdraw .

The AI ​​calculates during the player's turns. The longer the player needs to enter his moves, the more computing time the computer program receives. One after the other, the AI ​​calculates simple moves of the individual computer units. These are refined in the course of the move until each unit performs an optimal movement.

Another point is the supply of the units. These receive replenishment as long as no enemy units block the way to the edge of the field on the corresponding side. Autumn and winter also have negative effects on supplies. Corps without supplies lose half of their combat readiness per turn, which makes enclosures even more effective. If the unit is later under supplies again, the combat readiness can recover; Manpower lost through fighting is only slowly being replenished in the Russian corps.

Republication

In an interview, Crawford reported that Eastern Front was released under the APX label because Atari believed that a war game could not be successfully marketed. However, since the game was selling very well, Crawford programmed an expanded version in 1982, which was marketed by Atari. The new version contained, among other things, different levels of difficulty, new units and an improved AI.

criticism

Stanley Greenlaw called the US magazine Computer Gaming World Eastern Front the most impressive computer conflict simulation to date. ("To this date, the most impressive computer wargame on the market.") Atari may have described the graphics capabilities of the Atari 800 in the advertising, Crawford is said to have shown them in practice for the first time. ("Atari has been telling us how advanced the graphics on their personal computer are. Chris has SHOWN us.") Atari owners owe it to themselves to buy the game; Prospective buyers of a personal computer should take a look at the game before making a purchase decision . ("If you own an Atari personal computer you owe it to yourself to have this game [...] take a look at this game [...], it will make you look twice at the Atari system.")

In the magazine COMPUTE! Edward P. McMahon described Eastern Front as the paradigm of a computer war game. The "excellent simulation" has many properties of corresponding board games.

Arthur Leyenberger, editor of ST-Log magazine, described the game in 1988 as a "tour de force".

swell

  1. ↑ James F Dunnigan: The Complete Wargames Handbook. Quill, 1997, archived from the original on June 22, 2014 ; accessed on March 9, 2016 (English).
  2. ↑ ANTIC Vol. 2 , No. 3, Robert DeWitt: "On top of the heap"
  3. ↑ Chris Crawford in The Journal of Computer Game Design Volume 5 (1991-1992) [1]
  4. ↑ Chris Crawford on Game Design, New Riders Publishing, 2003.
  5. ↑ James Hague: Chris Crawford . In: Halcyon Days: Interviews with Classic Computer and Video Game Programmers . 2002. Retrieved February 25, 2017.
  6. ^ Stanley Greenlaw: Computer Gaming World 001/1981. 1981, archived from the original on March 13, 2014 ; accessed on March 9, 2016 (English).
  7. ↑ Edward P. McMahon in COMPUTE! Issue 21 2/1982: [2]
  8. ↑ Arthur Leyenberger in ST-Log issue 25 11/1988 [3]

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