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Development

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Close Combat began development at Atomic Games as Beyond Squad Leader, an adaptation of Avalon Hill's Squad Leader board wargame.[1] After breaking with its previous publisher Three-Sixty Pacific over business differences, Atomic had been signed to Avalon Hill's computer game division in 1993 by Jim Rose.[2][3] The Atomic team started developing Beyond Squad Leader and the World at War series for their new publisher.[3][4][5] A computer version of Squad Leader had been considered at Avalon Hill for several years, as the game and its sequel Advanced Squad Leader were commercial successes in board form, with sales over 1 million copies by 1997. However, the series' complexity had made this idea "too daunting" in the past, according to Computer Gaming World's Terry Coleman.[6] Avalon Hill's contract with Atomic to create Beyond Squad Leader and other titles was a key part of the company's effort, led by Rose, to revive its computer game branch in the face of flagging board game sales.[7] Beyond Squad Leader was initially announced for a September 1994 release,[8] but Computer Gaming World reported a rumor in July 1994 that the game had been postponed to early 1995.[9]

Beyond Squad Leader was not a literal adaptation of the Squad Leader board game,[10][11] and had been in production under the name Project X when Atomic was still working with Three-Sixty Pacific. Avalon Hill initially offered the team a chance to create a one-to-one Computer Squad Leader; however, after being shown Project X, the publisher chose to adopt and rebrand the game.[12] Breaking from the board game's framework, the adaptation focused on simulating the psychology of small groups of soldiers via real-time gameplay. The soldiers' AI dictated much of their behavior beyond the player's control.[3][11] Atomic's president, Keith Zabalaoui, explained at the time that he hoped to capture the experience of real-world military commanders, who "cannot tell what [their] men are going to do in any given situation until it happens". To emphasize this core element, the team automated Advanced Squad Leader's detailed calculations and "focus[ed] on what the game is really all about, which is tactics, and on the play of the game rather than looking up rules", according to Zabalaoui. He expected the game's deviations from the Squad Leader series to prove controversial.[3] Zabalaoui later explained that the inspiration for the project, as a real-time wargame, came from seeing Dune II in the early 1990s.[13]

Atomic and Avalon Hill experienced creative friction during the development of Beyond Squad Leader and the World at War games.[1][14][4] Computer Gaming World columnist Alan Emrich wrote in 1995, "To say there was no love lost between [...] Jim Rose and Atomic's Keith Zabalaoui would be a gracious understatement."[4] By June 1995, Rose had left Avalon Hill to found TalonSoft, and Beyond Squad Leader had entered alpha testing.[15] Speaking with PC Gamer US's wargame columnist William R. Trotter in late 1995, Rose complained that Avalon Hill's parent company, Monarch Office Services, had been disinterested and "conservative" in allocating funds and distribution to the computer game division.[14] He felt that this limited budget and support intensified after Monarch launched the costly magazine Girls' Life, and he left for TalonSoft as a result. Rose argued at the time, "If they'd given me the power and money to do what needed doing, Beyond Squad Leader would be out by now." Avalon Hill Director of Software Development Bill Levay replied that, while the company's decisions "certainly are conservative", the board and computer game divisions were profitable and their overall situation was "really pretty good".[14][4]

Atomic Games sought to recreate the combat stress reactions of real soldiers, and hired a specialist in post-traumatic stress disorder among military veterans to increase Close Combat's accuracy.

Atomic Games split with Avalon Hill during this period,[14] and D-Day: America Invades was the two companies' last game together. According to Emrich, Zabalaoui remarked that this event was "purely a business decision" and that there was no ill will between the companies.[4] While the Beyond Squad Leader title remained Avalon Hill's property,[14] Atomic owned all other aspects of the project, and chose to continue development under a new title.[4] At the time, Zabalaoui told Trotter that a large company had recently approached Atomic. He further remarked, "I can't say at this point what the game will be called, although I personally like Close Combat".[14] By December 1995, the game's publisher was announced as Microsoft;[16] Atomic was the first developer contracted in Microsoft's wider push into strategy games, which later included Ensemble Studios.[17] According to Zabalaoui, the project's real-time nature and psychological modeling had attracted the publisher, which at the time was seeking "developers with a good track record who could help get them established." Atomic Games was nearly bankrupt at the time, and the deal saved the company. Beyond Squad Leader was ultimately renamed Close Combat.[12]

To develop the soldiers' psychological model in Close Combat, Atomic worked with Dr. Steven Silver, a specialist in post-traumatic stress disorder among military veterans. He had first approached Atomic with his research into state-trait anxiety during the game's initial Project X stage. Collaborating with Silver, the team gave each soldier an individual anxiety index based on tiredness, preparedness, combat experience, past successes and other things. According to T. Liam McDonald of boot, these factors were reduced to numbers and incorporated into "probability tables" that determine soldiers' actions, and that change in response to events during play. Alongside the soldiers' individual psychological models, Atomic designed a model for squads' overall anxiety; programmer John Anderson explained that "the influence of [the] team and how that team reacts as a unit makes a huge difference as to whether an individual soldier will actually obey [an] order."[18] Two complementary algorithms, tactical (TAI) and strategic (SAI), power the game's AI system. While TAI controls psychological modeling and low-level action, SAI "is constantly analyzing the battlefield for enemy troops and keeping tabs on the big picture", Zabalaoui said.[19] Close Combat features 2,000 source lines of code that relate to psychological modeling,[18] and more CPU time was allocated to its AI simulation than to its visuals.[19]

Atomic adopted a relatively loose team structure for Close Combat: Zabalaoui provided the general plan and oversight, while others designed many sections in large part by themselves. Zabalaoui found that this type of delegated work deepened the game and made development more enjoyable. An overriding goal across the team was to attract both mainstream strategy game players and hardcore wargamers. According to Zabalaoui, Atomic tried to combine detailed simulation for hardcore players with accessible audiovisuals and a streamlined interface, the latter designed mostly by Atomic's Steve Marriotti. Historical research for the project continued through the planning stage and into production. After more than three years of development,[19] Close Combat was released in June 1996.[8]

  1. ^ a b Coleman, Terry (January 1999). "Close Combat III; Atomic for Power, Turbines for Speed". Computer Gaming World. No. 174. pp. 82, 83, 86.
  2. ^ Emrich, Alan (November 1993). "How Goes the Battle?". Computer Gaming World. No. 112. p. 164.
  3. ^ a b c d Hawthorne, Don (1993). "Silicon Simulations". The General. 29 (1): 54, 55.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Emrich, Alan (November 1995). "Turning the Telescope Around; G-2". Computer Gaming World. No. 136. pp. 253, 254, 256.
  5. ^ Emrich, Alan (August 1994). "When in Illuria, Do as the Warlords Do; G-2". Computer Gaming World. No. 121. pp. 101, 102.
  6. ^ Coleman, Terry (June 1997). "Silicon Leader". Computer Gaming World. No. 155. pp. 191–193.
  7. ^ Greenwood, Don (1994). "The Avalon Hill Philosophy Part 161: A Tale of Two Companies". The General. 29 (2): 3.
  8. ^ a b Poole, Stephen (1996). "Vaporware Hall of Shame". GameSpot. Archived from the original on February 5, 1997.
  9. ^ Santos, Ernie Ryne (July 1994). "Cub Reporters?". The Rumor Bag. Computer Gaming World. No. 120. p. 166.
  10. ^ Emrich, Alan (November 1994). "Oh Genre, My Genre!; G-2". Computer Gaming World. No. 124. pp. 203, 204.
  11. ^ a b Emrich, Alan (December 1994). "Windows of Opportunity; G-2". Computer Gaming World. No. 125. pp. 293, 294, 296.
  12. ^ a b Zabalaoui, Keith (December 4, 1998). "Designer Diaries: Close Combat III". GameSpot. Archived from the original on April 28, 1999.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference igninterview was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ a b c d e f Trotter, William R. (December 1995). "The Desktop General; Avalon Hill: On the Ropes or On a Roll?". PC Gamer US. 2 (12): 303, 304.
  15. ^ Emrich, Alan (June 1995). "Dealing with the Fog of War; G-2". Computer Gaming World. No. 131. pp. 153, 154.
  16. ^ Staff (December 1995). "Holiday Hot 100; Coming Down the Warpath". Computer Gaming World. No. 137. p. 150.
  17. ^ Coleman, Terry (October 1997). "Does Microsoft Know Games?". Computer Gaming World. No. 159. pp. 307, 309, 311, 313.
  18. ^ a b McDonald, T. Liam (November 1996). "Psyche of the Dogface". boot (3): 31, 104.
  19. ^ a b c Udell, Scott (July 18, 1996). "An interview with Keith Zabalaoui, President of Atomic Games". Computer Games Strategy Plus. Archived from the original on January 1, 1997.
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