Interview with Charles Moylan

Charles Moylan is the President of Big Time Software, makers of ACHTUNG SPITFIRE. With us, he talks about his newest game, Combat Mission. Combat Mission is turn-based 3D wargame set during WWII.

Click here for some screenshots of Combat Mission

SGO: What was the effect of the Hasbro acquisition? Was there any warning? Have you resolved the effect on your distribution?

Charles Moylan: The effect was effectively to dissolve our relationship with Avalon Hill, as the company no longer exists. There was no explicit warning, but we picked up on hints and clues so we were prepared when the news came. We've just about wrapped up our new distribution system and plan to announce it in February.

In regards to the game, how will command and control be represented - you say in the FAQ that HQ units need to be near troops. Is this graphically represented, or how?

Everything in Combat Mission is graphically represented in the sense that you're viewing a true 3D battlefield. So you see your leaders and you see your troops as they really are. Click on a leader and a line is drawn connecting, for example, a lieutenant to his platoon elements. The color of the line indicates whether a unit is within command & control.

In your comments about spotting (in the FAQ) you say "if you see an enemy unit with binoculars and a radio - let him have it!" - With the free camera, will you be able to range over the battlefield and look at things anywhere? If yes, isn't this unrealistic? How would you know those troops over there are a field kitchen unit (unless they are carrying their kettles) and not an SS unit? Will you be able to look behind hills and inside buildings? Won't this give you unreasonable amounts of information over what your real-life counterpart would have? If not, how do you control where the player's viewpoint is? How do you account for the use of some sight-enhancing devises (binoculars, etc). Are OP tanks available?

First, enemy units are not automatically visible. They must be "spotted" by your troops before they are shown graphically to the player. So yes you can roam your camera view all over the map but over the enemy lines you won't see any troops - unless your soldiers spot them.

Second, spotted enemy troops are not always identified fully. Sometimes an enemy will be marked as a "generic enemy unit" because it's too far away to identify. Or maybe it's a "tank" but you won't know what kind until your troops get closer. So watch out - it might be just a halftrack or it might be a King Tiger! And the accuracy with which the enemy units are identified depends heavily on the experience level of the units who do the spotting. CM presents to the player only the information your troops would realistically have.

Certain units do a better job of spotting than others. Forward observers are good at it, for example, while buttoned-up armored vehicles generally are not. There are no OP tanks as such.

How do you manage the presence of troops inside buildings? Second levels?

Troops can occupy buildings as you'd expect. And some buildings have two levels. The interface is pretty simple. If you click to move a unit onto a 2-story building, the game simply asks whether you want to move to the first or second floor.

The movies are impressive but have the "billiard table" appearance that was the hallmark of early tanker games like M1 tank platoon. This is understandable given the level of animation going on, but does the combat engine take into account a certain level of ground undulation and cover inherent in natural terrain?

Yes. And those movies purposely showed a map with rather sparse cover because we wanted to show off the tanks themselves. The next set of movies we post will focus more on infantry and terrain.

The FAQ states the "most realistic line of sight possible" - "if you can be seen, you ain't safe!" This seems contradictory? I look at the scene in the FAQ (the Sherman hiding behind a building) and it's clear that at some point, if you are using "actual scale" unit sizes, the tank could be hidden behind the building, but if you balloon it to "medium" size, you can suddenly see it. (?)

We allow the user to set a 'unit magnification' so he can see (and click the mouse on) units that are far away from the camera view. This is simply for playability's sake. When I say 'see' I mean a unit that is already 'spotted' by your troops but, for example, if it's just an infantry squad 800 meters away the soldiers, at realistic scale, would only be three pixels tall. That's too small to use a mouse with, so you can 'magnify' the unit to a size that's easily handled. However, this magnification does NOT affect the game engine or line of sight. It is used ONLY for the user interface.

Do weapons malfunction?

Yes. And run out of ammo (which comes in many different types - AP, HE, HEAT, HVAP/APCR/PZ40, SMOKE).

The FAQ makes a big deal out of armor slope - is this accounted for (negated) when engaging from heights above ground level? Crossing the crest of a hill?

It is almost impossible to negate fully the 55 degree slope of a Panther glacis, but it can be reduced, and is by the CM engine in the situations you mention.

How are ammo type loadouts handled? Is it harder to get APDS for the Germans? Lower quantities?

It's not just harder for the Germans to get tungsten ammo (Pz40); it's nearly impossible. By the time of D-Day the supply of this ammunition had virtually dried up. But CM still includes it. And the Allies have easier access to this type of ammunition.

Vehicle breakdowns?

Vehicles can 'bog down' in bad terrain. Sometimes they can get free and other times become permanently stuck. But we do not have mechanical breakdowns that are not the result of combat damage, simply because in the space of a 20-minute firefight the chance of such an occurrence is pretty small. In other words, poorly-maintained vehicles would be likely to break down on the journey to the battlefield (which is beyond the scope of CM) but once there, unlikely to break down in the space of just a few minutes.

With the massive numbers of vehicles and units in the game, will there be unit editors? How is the unit info stored? Is it possible for users to enter the info for Russians, for example?

No unit editors, but there will be a 'force' editor, so you can, for example, create a specialized platoon or company or battalion from whatever elements you wish.

The Russian Front deserves an entire game of its own and we're already drawing up plans for one to follow Combat Mission.

The game wil need to either a random battlefield generator, or come with a number of canned maps (*hey, maybe all the squad leader boards? cool!) to make editing your own scenarios a likely probability. I know a lot of people who will spend hours designing squads and vehicle OB's, but few will want to spend much time planting trees  and roads.

A random map generator will definitely be included.

We can't legally distribute the Squad Leader boards, but that doesn't prevent an end user from creating them for personal use.

Our thanks goes out to Charles for his time!