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Wargame (video games)
Encyclopedia
Wargames are a subgenre of strategy video game
s that emphasize strategic or tactical warfare on a map, as well as historical (or near-historical) accuracy.
The genre of wargame video games is derived from earlier forms of wargames. The games thematically represent the wargame hobby, although they tend to be less realistic in order to increase accessibility for more casual players.
The amount of realism varies between games as game designers balance an accurate simulation with playability.
The computer gaming industry generally evolved with minimal reference to board games, so the term "wargame" is not traditionally used in the context of computer games. However, the wargaming community saw the possibilities of computer gaming early and made attempts to break into the market, notably Avalon Hill
's Microcomputer Games line, which lasted from 1980 to 1987 and covered a variety of topics (including simple adaptations of some of their wargames), and Koei's Nobunaga's Ambition
and Romance of the Three Kingdoms
, which have continued from 1983 to the present day and are based on East Asian history
.
Strategic Simulations, Inc.
(SSI) and Strategic Studies Group
(SSG) were computer game companies that continued the genre by specializing in games that borrowed from board and miniature wargames. The companies enjoyed a certain popularity throughout much of the 1980s and into the 1990s. TalonSoft
started in 1995 with a similar focus, until purchased and later closed down by Take-Two Interactive
in 2002.
The popular direction of the current market is towards real-time strategy
games exemplified by StarCraft
and others. These games are strategic
in the gaming sense, but tactical
in the military sense. These are generally high-action games that include a number of conveniences that enhance gameplay, but ignore reality.
Units are usually scaled to be disproportionately large compared to the landscape, in order to promote effective gameplay. These games usually use a much faster time line than reality, and thus wargames often do not model night time or sleep periods.
Tabletop wargames
are usually categorized according to the scale of the confrontation (e.g., grand strategy wargame
, strategic wargame, operational wargame, tactical wargame
or man-to-man wargame). The qualifiers "real-time" and "turn-based" are not taken into account as all tabletop wargames are, by necessity, turn-based. However, sometimes video wargames are also described according to the scale of conflict.
While it has been argued that computer wargame video games lack the realism of traditional games, they may include features that are impractical for tangible games. One such approach is using fog of war
, whereby players are unable to see the landscape beyond the simulating viewing distance of their units. This is made practical in digital games by the fundamental difference of competing against artificial intelligence
or remote competitors with their own view of the playing field.
Strategy video game
Strategy video games is a video game genre that emphasizes skillful thinking and planning to achieve victory. They emphasize strategic, tactical, and sometimes logistical challenges. Many games also offer economic challenges and exploration...
s that emphasize strategic or tactical warfare on a map, as well as historical (or near-historical) accuracy.
History
The amount of realism varies between games as game designers balance an accurate simulation with playability.
The computer gaming industry generally evolved with minimal reference to board games, so the term "wargame" is not traditionally used in the context of computer games. However, the wargaming community saw the possibilities of computer gaming early and made attempts to break into the market, notably Avalon Hill
Avalon Hill
Avalon Hill was a game company that specialized in wargames and strategic board games. Its logo contained its initials "AH", and it was often referred to by this abbreviation. It also published the occasional miniature wargaming rules, role-playing game, and had a popular line of sports simulations...
's Microcomputer Games line, which lasted from 1980 to 1987 and covered a variety of topics (including simple adaptations of some of their wargames), and Koei's Nobunaga's Ambition
Nobunaga's Ambition
is a series of turn-based grand strategy role-playing simulation video games, first released in 1983 by the Japanese video game developer Koei.Games in the franchise have been released on a variety of gaming platforms, including the Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo Game Boy, Sega Mega Drive,...
and Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Romance of the Three Kingdoms (video game series)
, or Sangokushi in Japanese, is a series of turn-based tactical role-playing simulation grand strategy wargames produced by Koei. Originating from Japan in 1985, eleven installments of the game have been published in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China and North America to date.-Overview:The games are...
, which have continued from 1983 to the present day and are based on East Asian history
History of East Asia
-Prehistory:In East Asia, the Neolithic period may have begun as early as 7500 BC. The earliest evidence suggests the existence of the Pengtoushan culture in northern Hunan province from about 7500 BC to 6100 BC and of the Peiligang culture in Henan province around from about 7000 BC to 5000...
.
Strategic Simulations, Inc.
Strategic Simulations, Inc.
Strategic Simulations, Inc. was a video game developer and publisher with over 100 titles to its credit since its founding in 1979. It was especially noted for its numerous wargames, its official computer game adaptations of Dungeons & Dragons, and for the groundbreaking Panzer General...
(SSI) and Strategic Studies Group
Strategic Studies Group
Strategic Studies Group, commonly known as SSG, is an Australian software development company that makes primarily strategy wargames.The company was founded by strategy game enthusiasts Ian Trout and Roger Keating. Ian was proprietor of a military books store and Roger had had several of his games...
(SSG) were computer game companies that continued the genre by specializing in games that borrowed from board and miniature wargames. The companies enjoyed a certain popularity throughout much of the 1980s and into the 1990s. TalonSoft
TalonSoft
TalonSoft was a Baltimore, Maryland-based computer game developer founded in 1995 by Jim Rose and John Davidson. The company specialized in wargames; many of its releases were acclaimed within the wargaming community....
started in 1995 with a similar focus, until purchased and later closed down by Take-Two Interactive
Take-Two Interactive
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is a major American publisher, developer, and distributor of video games and video game peripherals. Take-Two wholly owns 2K Games and Rockstar Games. The company's headquarters are in New York City, with international headquarters in Windsor, United Kingdom...
in 2002.
The popular direction of the current market is towards real-time strategy
Real-time strategy
Real-time strategy is a sub-genre of strategy video game which does not progress incrementally in turns. Brett Sperry is credited with coining the term to market Dune II....
games exemplified by StarCraft
StarCraft
StarCraft is a military science fiction real-time strategy video game developed by Blizzard Entertainment. The first game of the StarCraft series was released for Microsoft Windows on 31 March 1998. With more than 11 million copies sold worldwide as of February 2009, it is one of the best-selling...
and others. These games are strategic
Strategy game
A strategy game or strategic game is a game in which the players' uncoerced, and often autonomous decision-making skills have a high significance in determining the outcome...
in the gaming sense, but tactical
Tactical wargame
Tactical wargames are a type of wargame that models military conflict at a tactical level, i.e. units range from individual vehicles and squads to platoons or companies. These units are rated based on types and ranges of individual weaponry...
in the military sense. These are generally high-action games that include a number of conveniences that enhance gameplay, but ignore reality.
Game design
The primary gameplay mode in a wargame is usually tactical: fighting battles. Wargames sometimes have a strategic mode where players may plan their battle or choose an area to conquer, but players typically spend much less time in this mode and more time actually fighting. Because it is difficult to provide an intelligent way to delegate tasks to a subordinate, war games typically keep the number of units down to hundreds rather than hundreds of thousands.Units are usually scaled to be disproportionately large compared to the landscape, in order to promote effective gameplay. These games usually use a much faster time line than reality, and thus wargames often do not model night time or sleep periods.
Comparison with traditional wargames
Many contemporary computer strategy games can be considered wargames, in the sense that they are a simulation of warfare on some level. The mechanics and language have little in common with board and miniature games, but the general subject matter is popular and provides a thematic link.Tabletop wargames
Wargaming
A wargame is a strategy game that deals with military operations of various types, real or fictional. Wargaming is the hobby dedicated to the play of such games, which can also be called conflict simulations, or consims for short. When used professionally to study warfare, it is generally known as...
are usually categorized according to the scale of the confrontation (e.g., grand strategy wargame
Grand strategy wargame
A grand strategy wargame is a wargame that places focus on grand strategy: military strategy at the level of movement and use of an entire nation state or empire's resources.-Scope of games:...
, strategic wargame, operational wargame, tactical wargame
Tactical wargame
Tactical wargames are a type of wargame that models military conflict at a tactical level, i.e. units range from individual vehicles and squads to platoons or companies. These units are rated based on types and ranges of individual weaponry...
or man-to-man wargame). The qualifiers "real-time" and "turn-based" are not taken into account as all tabletop wargames are, by necessity, turn-based. However, sometimes video wargames are also described according to the scale of conflict.
While it has been argued that computer wargame video games lack the realism of traditional games, they may include features that are impractical for tangible games. One such approach is using fog of war
Fog of war
The fog of war is a term used to describe the uncertainty in situation awareness experienced by participants in military operations. The term seeks to capture the uncertainty regarding own capability, adversary capability, and adversary intent during an engagement, operation, or campaign...
, whereby players are unable to see the landscape beyond the simulating viewing distance of their units. This is made practical in digital games by the fundamental difference of competing against artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
or remote competitors with their own view of the playing field.
Notable computer wargames
- Panzer GeneralPanzer GeneralPanzer General is a computer wargame published by Strategic Simulations in 1994 and set in World War II.- Overview:Panzer General is turn-based game, set on operational level hex maps. One plays lone scenarios from either Axis or Allied side and against a computer or human opponent...
- (Strategic Simulations, Inc.Strategic Simulations, Inc.Strategic Simulations, Inc. was a video game developer and publisher with over 100 titles to its credit since its founding in 1979. It was especially noted for its numerous wargames, its official computer game adaptations of Dungeons & Dragons, and for the groundbreaking Panzer General...
, 19941994 in video gaming-Events:*Nintendo calls this year "1994: The Year of the Cartridge".*Nintendo Australia Pty. Ltd, the Australian subsidiary of Nintendo Co., Ltd is established and opened by Hiroshi Yamauchi and effectively ends Mattel Australia's distribution of Nintendo's products throughout Australia.*"Project...
) - recognizably a traditional wargame next to Close Combat. It spawned several sequels, some of which explored different subject matter. - Steel PanthersSteel PanthersSteel Panthers is a series of computer wargames, developed and published by several different companies, with various games covering battles from 1930 to 2020. The first game was released in 1995, and the most recent was released in 2006 and is still updated regularly. Players control individual...
- (Strategic Simulations, Inc., 19951995 in video gaming-Events:*May 11 – Introduction of trade magazine GameWeek *May 11-16 — The 1st annual Electronic Entertainment Expo is held in Los Angeles, California...
) - a tactical wargame on the same scale as Squad LeaderSquad Leaderthumb|Squad Leader game package.Squad Leader is a tactical level board wargame originally published by Avalon Hill in 1977. It was designed by Hall of Fame game designer John Hill and focuses on infantry combat in Europe during World War II...
, which led to two sequels, and then a series of titles by Camo Workshop/Shrapnel Games and Matrix Games, for free release. - Close Combat - (MicrosoftMicrosoftMicrosoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
, 19961996 in video gaming-Notable releases:*January 29 — Duke Nukem 3D, successor to the simple side-scrolling originals, and a genre-redefining title for first person shooters....
) - not the first wargame to break out from hexes, and still presented in a 2-dimensional format, Close Combat addressed factors such as individual morale and reluctance to carry out orders. The original title led to five successful sequels for the general public, as well as being developed into a training tool for military use only. Close Combat stemmed from an early attempt to translate the Squad LeaderSquad Leaderthumb|Squad Leader game package.Squad Leader is a tactical level board wargame originally published by Avalon Hill in 1977. It was designed by Hall of Fame game designer John Hill and focuses on infantry combat in Europe during World War II...
boardgame to the computer. - Combat Mission - (Big Time Software, 20002000 in video gaming-Events:* May 11–13 — 6th annual Electronic Entertainment Expo ; the 3rd annual Game Critics Awards for the Best of E³* June 26 — International Game Developers Association renamed from Computer Game Developers Association...
) - not the first 3D tactical wargame (titles such as Muzzle VelocityMuzzle Velocity (computer game)Muzzle Velocity was a computer tactical wargame released by Digi4fun in 1997. The program was a unique hybrid of standard two-dimension map-based tactical gaming, and first person action. It is set in World War II...
preceded it), but a groundbreaking game series featuring simultaneous order resolution, complete orders of battle for numerous nationalities, with three titles based on the original game engine. As of 2006, a campaign layer is in testing as well as a revised game engine to be released before 2007. CMs genesis was also as a failed attempt by Avalon Hill to translate Squad LeaderSquad Leaderthumb|Squad Leader game package.Squad Leader is a tactical level board wargame originally published by Avalon Hill in 1977. It was designed by Hall of Fame game designer John Hill and focuses on infantry combat in Europe during World War II...
to the computer.