Bob McDob
Better Health Through Less Flavor
Vision isn't the only mid-'90s engine still going strong today. SimHQ recently ran an article about fan updates to European Air War, the successor to 1942: Pacific Air War, released by Microprose in 1998.
Pretty impressive graphics for 256 colors. The article has some other neat stories, including this one about game development; specifically, showing off to the boss.
I never got into EAW when it first came out, opting for the much-flashier WWII Fighters, but this might make me have to give the game a second look.
Pretty impressive graphics for 256 colors. The article has some other neat stories, including this one about game development; specifically, showing off to the boss.
EAW was "way over budget", ready to be axed if it didn't show immediate results, with huge gaping holes in the game. "Brand" mentioned a few. If you fired your guns, your wings fell off. Planes now and then flew backward. You couldn't take off or land. The AI (Artificial Intelligence) aircraft shot down their own teammates for no discernible reason. "Brand" didn't use the name, but the new lead programmer hired to fix things up fast — or else — was one Ted Kawahito, known as "TK" and currently the sparkplug behind Strike Fighters Project 1 with a community here at SimHQ.
What do you think "TK" worked on first? Did he attack the horrible holes in the game? No. "He built a new camera object. One that would jump immediately to wherever "cool" things were happening. Sometimes, the cool camera would focus on a plane executing an impressive evasive action to shake the enemy. Sometimes, the camera would follow a bomb from the bay of a B-17, down to the ground in a cool tracking shot where you watched the Earth come rushing up at the camera. Sometimes, the cool cam would focus on a firefight, or on a plane that just got shot down, and was now a fireball, barreling toward the ground at terrific speed."
"Brand" said he wanted to scream, "That doesn't help us! We've got real issues, and you're screwing around with the camera!"
At one of the next meetings with studio execs sharpening their questions and their money axes, Kawahito turned to the CoolCam. "One of the execs threw out a tough question, designed to show how far over budget we were. "Tom" put down the joystick, and hit the "cool cam" button. Then he turned around to answer the question. While he was answering the question, every eye in the room was on the screen as one amazing scene showed after another. I looked at the execs, and I swear, some of them were gaping. No one was listening to Tom as he answered the question, and when he finished, he picked up the joystick, and jumped back into the game."
The money problem eased up. More programmers were hired. Meetings with execs "dwindled to nothing". Finally, " ... we shipped a hell of a game." The CoolCam did it. "I swear, that camera saved the project," "Brand" said.
I never got into EAW when it first came out, opting for the much-flashier WWII Fighters, but this might make me have to give the game a second look.