A WW1 Game?

[GonvilleBromhead]

The other issue I can see is that one of the most integral things was the idea of all arms co-operation - artillery, infantry, air services, cavalry, tanks. Even at the platoon level, by early 1917 an assault required seamless co-operation between the Lewis section, the rifle section, the bomber section and the rifle bomber section.

That said, I can imagine a decent late war assault (Cambrai, some sections of 3rd Ypres perhaps) could go down pretty well...leaning on the barrage, rushing as it lifts, chucking a couple of bombs into a dugout, pausing to bayonet a Hun officer as he gets out of a funk hole in the firebay, disabling a Maxim from the flank, taking position on the parados and firing a decent amount of .303 into a charlie toc, just as a Male Mk IV burst in behind you firing a few 6lb shells into an unseen enemy, before finally sticking on your SBR as a rattle sounds and making your way further into enemy lines...

EDIT: That said, there are other wars that have received less interest. Where are the 1st Boer War games or the 2nd Opium War? Maybe third Afghanistan or the Anglo-Zanzibar war? Or even the Zulu War (my finest hour)...

 

[Raikas]

I think someone already mentioned the 90s flight sim Red Baron, but it's worth mentioning again - that game was fantastic.

EDIT: That said, there are other wars that have received less interest. Where are the 1st Boer War games or the 2nd Opium War? Maybe third Afghanistan or the Anglo-Zanzibar war? Or even the Zulu War (my finest hour)...

You know, I'd love to see more games set in those eras, but how hard would it be to get the tone right for all that colonial stuff? Tricky ground, I'd think.

 

[Exhuminator]

For the folks who think WW1 focused solely on trench warfare, you might find this documentary to be enlightening:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_1_in_Colour

 

[endnuen]

WW1 consisted of digging trenches, and then rushing forward into the enemy trenches. Would be an awful FPS.
En RTS / TBS could maybe work

You should probably find out more about WW1.

Actually that's pretty accurate.
I studied WW1 for English Literature and it was such a depressing time for most involved that a game about killing people would do horrid injustice to the actual war. Even the americans haven't tried to glorify it, it was that bad.
But if you want something a bit crazier play Black Ops 2's Zombie DLC map Origins. Not very WW1-ish but it's crazy fun, maybe the best map of the game.

A WW1 game would not have to be based on the trenches. Try a game set behind the front lines? Sabotage, etc?

These things were first really introduced in the 2. world war. They barely had airplanes in the 1.

The only way I see it working great is in a grand strategy kind of way. Planning logistics, deciding what direction to dig, what experimental weapons to use. Basically be the guy in charge of these things:
http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/wwi/articles/britishtacticalchanges.aspx

 

[Albino Boo]

DON'T THROW, THOSE BLOODY SPEARS, AT ME!



EDIT: That said, there are other wars that have received less interest. Where are the 1st Boer War games or the 2nd Opium War? Maybe third Afghanistan or the Anglo-Zanzibar war? Or even the Zulu War (my finest hour)...

The late 19th and early 20th century colonial wars are perhaps far more playable and interesting. However there are two problems involved with them. The first being no Americans involved, realistically you can't ignore the worlds biggest games market. The other is the politics of them, all the relentless liberals will come and criticise and then there comes the inevitable backlash. The last thing a developer wants is to get caught in row over racism. That said the 1905 Russo-Japanese war would make a good game.

 

[endnuen]

DON'T THROW, THOSE BLOODY SPEARS, AT ME!



EDIT: That said, there are other wars that have received less interest. Where are the 1st Boer War games or the 2nd Opium War? Maybe third Afghanistan or the Anglo-Zanzibar war? Or even the Zulu War (my finest hour)...

The late 19th and early 20th century colonial wars are perhaps far more playable and interesting. However there are two problems involved with them. The first being no Americans involved, realistically you can't ignore the worlds biggest games market. The other is the politics of them, all the relentless liberals will come and criticise and then there comes the inevitable backlash. The last thing a developer wants is to get caught in row over racism. That said the 1905 Russo-Japanese war would make a good game.

Well, Europa Universalis 4 have slave trading straight up.

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

The weapons would really stink.

...

Maybe lousy weapons could be part of the suspense.

Well... sorta. Some of the weapons used by American infantrymen in WWI were also used in WWII. Like the Colt M1911, the Springfield M1903, and even the M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) in limited numbers. So there's actually a bit of overlap, and not just for the Americans.

Unless you're talking about the abysmal French M1918 Chauchat light machine gun chambered in .30-06 that regularly failed to fire after just a few rounds due to improper barrel measurements, overheating issues, and one of the worst-designed magazines ever if you're looking to prevent jams.

 

[Albino Boo]

Well, Europa Universalis 4 have slave trading straight up.

Paradox isn't Activision, Valve or EA. They are small Swedish company with annual revenues of around $15 million. The games they make are not that mainstream.

 

[jklinders]

Ground combat in WWI was a miserable wet boring time of digging trenches punctuated by defying death by charging a bunch of other trenches held by guys on the other side. The battle lines remained static most of the war and only shifted in the latter stages.

Give me a good flight sim with those suicide crates they called planes and maybe I'll bite, but there is not a whole lot of meat in there for a ground based game of of any type there for me.

Really it was not so much a war as it was institutionalized slaughter.

 

[gorfias]

The weapons would really stink.

...

Maybe lousy weapons could be part of the suspense.

Well... sorta. Some of the weapons used by American infantrymen in WWI were also used in WWII. Like the Colt M1911, the Springfield M1903, and even the M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) in limited numbers. So there's actually a bit of overlap, and not just for the Americans.

Unless you're talking about the abysmal French M1918 Chauchat light machine gun chambered in .30-06 that regularly failed to fire after just a few rounds due to improper barrel measurements, overheating issues, and one of the worst-designed magazines ever if you're looking to prevent jams.

Good points. the M1 rifle, both in WW2 and Korea? There is some crossover.

But even WW2 seems old hat these days, hence all the modern warfare games (which, so far, have been great).

 

[endnuen]

Well, Europa Universalis 4 have slave trading straight up.

Paradox isn't Activision, Valve or EA. They are small Swedish company with annual revenues of around $15 million. The games they make are not that mainstream.

But realistically you can "ignore" the worlds biggest market.

 

[Albino Boo]

Well, Europa Universalis 4 have slave trading straight up.

Paradox isn't Activision, Valve or EA. They are small Swedish company with annual revenues of around $15 million. The games they make are not that mainstream.

But realistically you can "ignore" the worlds biggest market.

I don't want to derail the topic but you need to think about this for second. Two games with the same budget and one appeals the Amercian market and the other doesn't, which one is the more commercially viable? Wild stab in the dark here but I guess that the game that appeals the largest and richest consumers on the planet might be the one.

 

[Th37thTrump3t]

There's a reason there really isn't a game about WWI. A big chunk of the war was spent in trenches, occasionally peeking out and getting instantly shot and then either A: dying, or B: slinking back into the trench. There really isn't much you can make a game of.

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

the M1 rifle, both in WW2 and Korea?

Longer than that, actually. It was still being used in limited numbers up until 1965, when replacement by the M-14 had been completed. Even after it was replaced though, its sniper variants like the M1-D still saw combat, and it wasn't uncommon to find M1 Garands in National Guard, Army Reserve, and Navy armories into the mid 1970's.

One of my uncles collects older firearms, and the M1 Garand is a personal favorite of his. He actually has one that was sent to Europe as part of the Lend-Lease program before the United States officially entered WWII. It sat in a locker the entire war and was never once fired. To this day, it still hasn't been fired since it's somewhat of a collector's item now. It's fairly rare to find an M1 Garand produced during WWII that still has all of its original parts, since it was common practice to have whole units strip down all of their rifles and have each of the components separated from the rest of the rifle to be cleaned together.

 

[Albino Boo]

the M1 rifle, both in WW2 and Korea?

Longer than that, actually. It was still being used in limited numbers up until 1965, when replacement by the M-14 had been completed. Even after it was replaced though, its sniper variants like the M1-D still saw combat, and it wasn't uncommon to find M1 Garands in National Guard, Army Reserve, and Navy armories into the mid 1970's.

One of my uncles collects older firearms, and the M1 Garand is a personal favorite of his. He actually has one that was sent to Europe as part of the Lend-Lease program before the United States officially entered WWII. It sat in a locker the entire war and was never once fired. To this day, it still hasn't been fired since it's somewhat of a collector's item now. It's fairly rare to find an M1 Garand produced during WWII that still has all of its original parts, since it was common practice to have whole units strip down all of their rifles and have each of the components separated from the rest of the rifle to be cleaned together.

As a matter of interest do you know who the rifle was sent to? I know the British and the Soviets didn't use it. I can only guess at someone like the Free French or Free Poles.

 

[Dogstile]

WW1 consisted of digging trenches, and then rushing forward into the enemy trenches. Would be an awful FPS.
En RTS / TBS could maybe work

You should probably find out more about WW1.

Actually that's pretty accurate.
I studied WW1 for English Literature and it was such a depressing time for most involved that a game about killing people would do horrid injustice to the actual war. Even the americans haven't tried to glorify it, it was that bad.
But if you want something a bit crazier play Black Ops 2's Zombie DLC map Origins. Not very WW1-ish but it's crazy fun, maybe the best map of the game.

A WW1 game would not have to be based on the trenches. Try a game set behind the front lines? Sabotage, etc?

These things were first really introduced in the 2. world war. They barely had airplanes in the 1.

The only way I see it working great is in a grand strategy kind of way. Planning logistics, deciding what direction to dig, what experimental weapons to use. Basically be the guy in charge of these things:
http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/wwi/articles/britishtacticalchanges.aspx

Every big war has sabotage, even within the ranks. Hell, make a game about navigating no mans land to find people and bring them back. Basically a better version of WW1 medic.

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

As a matter of interest do you know who the rifle was sent to? I know the British and the Soviets didn't use it. I can only guess at someone like the Free French or Free Poles.

I don't know exactly where the rifle was intended to be deployed, but it actually was a British soldier who found it. My best guess is that it probably was meant to be used by the French, but I'd have to ask my uncle to be sure.

He absolutely loves it, though. It's pretty much the pride and joy of his collection.

 

[stroopwafel]

I think a game about WW1 could definitely work. Maybe not in the generic COD/Battlefield style but those games are boring anyway. I mean, you could play as one of the many unfortunate souls drafted into the meat grinder of the trenches while, instead of marching forward to your death, trying to escape that hell in an action/survival-horror kind of game. Picture corpses raining down on you from above while desperately searching the dead bodies for a gas mask b/c the setting is being filled with green fog. Then when everyone is dead in the trenches it means the conclusion of the intro level and you enter a nearby town after evading sentries in the forest that were busy mopping up any remaining survivors. The game continues as you plan revenge on the officers responsible.

Yeah, it's not historically accurate but as a setting it could have all the dread and isolation you'd wish for. Espescially in like an open-world game set in Belgium as events and circumstances rapidly deteriorate. Just getting from point A to B will be nerve wrecking.

 

[gorfias]

It [M1] was still being used in limited numbers up until 1965

Great story about your Uncle, thanks!

Does look to have excellent game possibilities in a WWI game. Likely used in a WW2 game but there it was likely typical. I wonder if it was thought to be a crazy powerful invention in WW1.


I guess I need to look at, what was the oldest rifle used in WW1. Were people using anything similar to a Civil War single shot at a time sorta thing.

Very limited compared to today's great side arms:


Yikes. This thing needs to be cocked between shots:

 

[Albino Boo]

I guess I need to look at, what was the oldest rifle used in WW1. Were people using anything similar to a Civil War single shot at a time sorta thing.

Yikes. This thing needs to be cocked between shots:

Magazine feed bolt action rifles was the mainstay of most nations infantry weapons between the 1870s-1945. The weapon was perfect for the kind of long range fighting from that era. You be surprised of how much fire power was deliverable was from these kind of rifles. The pre WW1 British army had a technique know as a mad minute, used to describe scoring a minimum of 15 hits onto a 12" round target at 300 yards within one minute using a bolt-action rifle. The average score was around 25 and the record was 38. In skilled hands these weapons were very dangerous, the problem arise from that it takes a lot of time and training to get that good. You can get the same results much quicker with semi-autos and assault rifles.