Introducing Wargame Design Studios

[rzhev42]

.....lets see, at least we are going to have a new nation in the serie... Italy.

Maybe next month we are going to know what expect in PzB3 hehehe.

Well remember with the commonwealth we are adding Australian, New Zealand, Indian and South African as additional units., and with the Demo we are adding Marines and Japanese.

And what David did not mention, starting with PzB3 we are creating new maps as we did not like using the PzC maps converted (although Normandy is a very nice map that we are currently updating). The Tobruk PzC map converted looked terrible.

That along with completely redoing any OOBs we may have from PzC, we can pretty much do any actions and any front we like. And now with a team we can run multiple projects concurrently.

Mike

[Xaver]

Well, i talk only about PzB3 and when i refer to new a nation i refer to a "full" nation with his own OOB special things, in the end commowealth nations use similar organization to british units even when i know that if i consider soviet guards separate of regular army units do the same is fair for other nations.

New maps from PzB3... this means you can now with new tools port "paper maps"??? this is great and using the Tobruk map as base ummm interesting 

OOB area is allways a problem because you need allways "balance" to have something usable in a game, many times reading about certain action the troops used literally translated to a PzB scen simple cant do a lot VS the other side. 

I am curious about what Pacific action is going to be covered in demo... Marines VS japanese... and with the PzB scale... and of course being a demo... first action in my mind is Guadalcanal (Edson´s ridge) well, lets see.

The good thing is the multiple projects at same time, even the option to work in solo actions to create Salerno43 style titles, not link all release to a solo big action.

Thanks for the info.

[wiggum]

Well, someone has to do it...

Do you consider a business model similar to "Command Ops 2" ?

Basically the "demo" would be the full game but with only a few showcase scenarios.
Then you would sell "scenario packs" or "modules".
Such a modul would then be "Tobruk 1941" or "France 1940", containing campaigns, scenarios, the needed artwork and the OOB's.
This way you can keep the "core" (the demo) always up to date and people will always be able to play their modules with the most up-to-date "core" engine.

Also, i know Tiller probably hates Steam...what about a Steam release ?
More and More Hardcore Wargames can be found on Steam !

-Command: Modern Air / Naval Operations
-Gary Grigsby's War in the East
-Decisive Campaigns: Barbarossa
-Flashpoint Campaigns: Red Storm
-Close Combat
-All the Ageod games like "To End All Wars"

And soon "Command Ops 2":
Steam Greenlight
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/fi...xt=command

The old argument that the developers would loose money seems invalid (if it was ever valid).
Most of these games are even more "hardcore" then PzB, still they sell on Steam well enough that more and more wargame developers consider Steam as a platform !

Also you dont have to fear "tons of bad reviews" by casual players, just look at the reviews for monster games like Gary Grigsby's War in the East !

I think, releasing the free demo (the core game) on Steam to get players interested and then selling DLC's (modules/scenario packs) sounds like a great idea to get much, much more sales !

Steam is the biggest platform by far and even if you will need to share a few $ with Steam, your possible customer base will explode !

But then again, i think Mr. Tiller will sadly never agree to this, he loves his little and well hidden shop in the corner of the internet.

[Strela]

Hi All,

We now have an official web site;

http://www.wargamedesignstudio.com/

Please note that it is in Beta and there may be changes to layout etc.

We will be posting announcements and other information at the site on a (hopefully) regular basis.

David

[Strela]

Well, someone has to do it...

Do you consider a business model similar to "Command Ops 2" ?

Basically the "demo" would be the full game but with only a few showcase scenarios.
Then you would sell "scenario packs" or "modules".
Such a modul would then be "Tobruk 1941" or "France 1940", containing campaigns, scenarios, the needed artwork and the OOB's.
This way you can keep the "core" (the demo) always up to date and people will always be able to play their modules with the most up-to-date "core" engine.

Hi Wiggum,

We're currently working through business models.

In some respects we're doing as you suggest. The Demo is always going to be the first engine that gets new features that are then rolled out across the other games.

The Demo is not going to be static but rather provided with regular DLC's mainly focused on smaller actions or scenarios that players can learn the system or PBEM.

For us the demo is a test bed to try different things and game features. It's also a chance for our scenario designers to do there pet projects and it prepares us for future titles with ready made art and other game assets.

As far as Steam I can't answer for John. That said I don't think he has a closed mind - he just needs to balance the cost of distribution (Steam's margin) and the return he gets. I believe he left HPS to self publish to recover some of the distribution cost.

david

[Xaver]

Nice, even when is a beta web offer a loooot info, direct info like the marine-japanese for demo and french units AND indirect info... i notice the Maleme airfield in the web background hehehe.

PzB3... looks like could be the early Rommel period (Pre Gazala), when Afrika korps arrive to North Africa... Marsa al Burayqah was combat area in the first axis counterattack in desert (Pre Tobruk siege) but at same time was combat area when Rommel counterattack after Crusader... interesting i see french troops in image this made me think more in pre Tobruk siege because i have in mind a scen from PzC Tobruk called "enter Rommel" or something similar with french units in the sea area.

The Demo Pacific area... could be Tenaru battle??? because i see company HQs and this is an action that for scale...

Waiting more info and glad read about DLC... with correct price could help a lot to have a title with a big number of diferent actions.

[wiggum]

As far as Steam I can't answer for John. That said I don't think he has a closed mind - he just needs to balance the cost of distribution (Steam's margin) and the return he gets. I believe he left HPS to self publish to recover some of the distribution cost.

david

Maybe he should get in touch with Steam ?

Honestly, i doubt "Steam's margin" is that high, especially when you consider that your potential customer base will increase by the millions !
There are many many small and smallest indie developers (including wargame developers) that release games on Steam instead of self-publishing for a reason.

Maybe get in touch with Sean O'Connor the developer of Firefight.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/500190/
He should be able to tell you why he switched from self publishing "in the corner of the internet" to the biggest gaming platform in history (and currently also the biggest platform for pc wargames !) and if it was a successful move.

Just do a Steam Greenlight like Command Ops 2 !
http://steamcommunity.com/workshop/about...ection=faq
Only a few days and already enough people who clicked "I would buy it" that its now officially "Greenlight" and Steam will contact the devs to work towards a Steam release !
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/fi...xt=command

[Xaver]

Ummm i see now http://kriegsimulation.blogspot.com.es/ and for demo talk about

Battles in the Eastern Front is in the Ukraine not long after Kursk (August ’43)
Battles in the Western Front is during France 1940,
Battles from Operation Sonnenblume
Battles from the Pacific, Guadalcanal.

Looks like i am not very far from scens but i fail to hit PzB3 battle hehehe.

Steam... ufff is hard say if is a good or bad movement, could increase sells??? maybe potential customer base is a looooot bigger but i feel that to hit Steam you need a lot more "attractive" game even wargames that are more simple compared with PzB in 2D offer a more visual experience with few clicks... maybe the system used in PzB of "fire-assault" is not very dinamic for new players.

Anyway i dont have problems with actual system even when i am not a big fan of DRM systems... a crash in PC and you need move to solve problem (for example i am now close to 2 weeks with no graphic card... 1 week to find WTF crash and 1 week waiting the sustitute but imagine a HD crash...).

Oooo something i want comment about DLCs... for me they need be instaled over the SAME title AND offer what ifs to increase the attractive of DLC.

For me something you can explore is offer in web a list of actions capable of be offered in DLCs and made people talk about the scens, what could be added to increase the attractive of DLC... etc etc.

[wiggum]

Steam... ufff is hard say if is a good or bad movement, could increase sells??? maybe potential customer base is a looooot bigger but i feel that to hit Steam you need a lot more "attractive" game even wargames that are more simple compared with PzB in 2D offer a more visual experience with few clicks... maybe the system used in PzB of "fire-assault" is not very dinamic for new players.

Thats not true.
There are other hex&counter wargames that offer much less action then PzB who do very well on Steam like "Gary Grigsby's War in the East" or "Decisive Campaigns: Barbarossa".
Both are also much more complex and harder to play then PzB.

"Command: Modern Air / Naval Operations" is as dry as a wargame can possible be and its on Steam for almost $80 and sells well !

Also you should not forget the "retro hype".
I tell you PzB would be a hit on Steam !

[BigDuke66]

Wait wait, we must clearly differ between convenient mainstream games and real hardcore grognard stuff. The former may do well on Steam but if the later does so... I'm not sure.
"Gary Grigsby's War in the East" & "Decisive Campaigns: Barbarossa" try to make playing a difficult topic an easy way, too easy for me and too easy for a real Grognard, so it's no surprise that they do well on steam.

Overall I'm worried that the customer base changes so much to wannabe strategist that each new game gets shallower than the one before just to please this new customer base.
If steam is really considered, think more than twice about it.