Engines of War

Computer wargames are one of the oldest and most popular genres of computer games available. The community of wargame players (known as Grognards) are one of the most fervent in all of gaming and include fans of both computer and pen-and-paper wargames. The object of any wargame is to achieve a series of victory conditions which can include eradicating their opponent's forces or capturing key positions on a map. Many games often recreate a specific historical event and these games...
More Description

Computer wargames are one of the oldest and most popular genres of computer games available. The community of wargame players (known as Grognards) are one of the most fervent in all of gaming and include fans of both computer and pen-and-paper wargames. The object of any wargame is to achieve a series of victory conditions which can include eradicating their opponent's forces or capturing key positions on a map. Many games often recreate a specific historical event and these games are used often in history classes around the world where students can explore what might have been if the player decides to do things differently.In Engines of War: Developing Computer Wargames, game programmer John Lundy (WWII Online) and producer Ben Sawyer (SeriousGames.org) take readers through all the intricacies of developing computer wargames. An original, flexible, open-source wargames engine and editor are provided by the authors to give programmers and designers the foundation they need to design and customize their own unique wargames. Developing wargames requires very specialized knowledge and this book really delivers. It features a number of hands-on chapters that cover designer insights, production techniques, programming code, several major map systems, ideas on how to incorporate world factors, strategic determination for AI, and path finding techniques. The book includes advanced topics including programming techniques for creating real-time wargames, and online play, and much more. Also included is a network code subsystem that allows for two player games. The network code will even allow computer versus computer play (local or remote) so that the beginning developer can validate his or her game code by watching the computer play itself.