Original Interview posted with permission from PC Dome
www.pcdome.hu

 

Thank you for accepting our interview request. First of all, please introduce yourself and your role in the development team of HistWar.

My name is Jean-Michel Mathé, 54 years old, and I am an IT engineer with a 30 years’ professional background on real time imagery and Artificial Intelligence systems. Fond of History and Strategy, I have been designing and developing Napoleonic wargames for 13 years. I especially spent the last 3 years working full time on “HistWar: Les Grognards” which is part of the HistWar project.

 

How many people are working on HistWar?

HistWar is actively backed-up by several individuals but I am the only one designing and developing it full time. Among the people involved in the project, 3 persons are closely working with me: Laurent Abadie (graphic designer), Franck Marrot (music designer) and Perrine Mathé (HistWar webmaster). Other “Grognards” help me with the software testing and translation or with the Uniformology… and I must also mention the very useful information provided on weapon mechanisms and unit tactics by a group of French reeanactors called “the 18th Line Regiment”.

 

How did the Combat Mission engine ‘transfer’ for this new strategy game?

HistWar is not at all based on the Combat Mission engine. HistWar is a completely new product with its own AI and graphical engines. The number of units managed by HistWar (around 100 “units” for each side but representing up to several hundred thousand soldiers) needed a dedicated AI that would help the player with his elementary tasks. For example, an infantry unit automatically changes its formation to a square if threatened by a cavalry unit. There is no need for the player to be positioned on this infantry unit and give it a specific order.

 

Exactly what category will the game be? Turn-based, real-time, or similarly to CM a mixture of them?

HistWar is a real time wargame but cannot be considered as a pure RTS. Indeed, it is possible to simulate battles on a real time scale (1 minute in the game means 1 minute in real time) but it is also possible to increase the speed of the time scale (6 seconds in the game then meaning 1 minute in real time). This can be achieved because the player has no need to be everywhere or control everything in the game. The AI engine will simply do the job for him. For example, if the player assigns one flank of his army to the AI and if the situation deteriorates on this flank, the AI will contact the player to report him its difficulties. The player will then be able to react and give new orders unless the messages are intercepted by the enemy….

 

We understand that the player has control possibilities over the troops in three levels. But how much chance will one have to win if he only deals with the top level and leaves the rest of the job to the AI?

This is a difficult question to answer. I would say that it should all depend on how the player’s overall battle plan fits against his opponent’s. Under the best conditions, the player’s plans will be perfectly executed and he could then just enjoy the battle like a spectator. In this case, the player will certainly have to coordinate his deployment lines and possibly order his reserve to attack at the right moment.

On the contrary, under the worst conditions, the player could be obliged to continuously send reinforcements to several hot spots or remove some regiments from one Corps to assign them to another Corps that badly needs them… As you see, a lot of combinations are available.

Let me put it this way. While a Corps will seldom take the initiative all on its own, without player intervention, a Regiment will certainly react to the events in its vicinity without the need for any specific order. This allows the player to concentrate on the overall Strategic picture without having to worry themselves with what every single Regiment is doing at all times. If he wants that level of control though, he can exert it easily enough.

 

I was happy to see that the game will contain a Doctrine Editor. How deep can someone get into editing the rules? Will the player have the possibility to publish his self-made doctrine on the net for others?

The Doctrine Editor helps to define the basic behaviors of units on the battlefield. As mentioned above, one human player would be hard pressed to personally command every available at all times. The Doctrine Editor is here to define how a unit should behave when confronted to specific situations. The Doctrine Editor also helps to define the basic orders for the Chiefs of Corps. At the end, the player can write down his order more easily. Off course, the player may always change the default values defined in the editor.

There are no constraints for the distribution of doctrines so that everybody could share his options with the other players.

To sum up, if a player wants to win a battle, he should respect 3 essential conditions: to have a well organized army, a good doctrine and a good tactical plan.

Will the map editor give the possibility of creating real relief or similarly to CM we will have to give height to an area with squares?

In the Map Editor, creating relief is very easy. You just need to select a spot on the map and then adjust the radius and the height with your mouse cursor in order to model a relief. Until now, all users of the Map Editor where plainly satisfied by this tool. In addition, 2 random map generator modes are available for players who do not wish to build a map from scratch.

 

On one of the screenshots we could see Hungarian hussars with contemporary Hungarian flag. Could you tell us something about how much will these units differ from other cavalry units in the game – will they have any advantage or disadvantage?

Each type of unit has its own characteristics, bad or good. Hussars go fast and can be ordered to scout the map and spot the enemy. They will also be very useful for attacking infantry units that meet difficulties or cannot form a square on time. But on the other hand, hussars will have to be very cautious in front of line or heavy cavalry units which are far more powerful. For example, if hussars are tired after several rushes, they could be easily routed by a dragoons’ charge.

Sound effects are really important in creating a game’s atmosphere. What can we expect in HistWar?

You’re right. Sound effects are essential to facilitate the immersion of players in a game. That’s why the HistWar project involves the participation of a music designer. This helps to maintain the historicity of music and sound. We have also asked a group of musical reenactors, ‘Les Tambours du Sacre’, to play drums and we have recorded them. After a 3D treatment, officers’ orders in the game come together with their drum transcription. As a consequence, a player running the game in the Commander in Chief mode, and thus with his visibility partly limited, will have to listen to the drums played around him so as to understand what is happening on the battlefield.

 

Will HistWar be ‘moddable’? Can enthusiastic amateurs change the textures, or maybe even the 3D models or the sound effects?

HistWar will certainly be moddable (textures, sound effects) but not the individual 3D models.

 

What will be the minimum system requirements? What kind of machine will we need to play even the biggest battles at a good framerate?

Right now, it is still difficult to answer precisely to this question and to define the exact minimal configuration. A PC with 256 Mb of dedicated RAM, a 3GHz processor and a 9800 ATI card (or equivalent) could be enough to play HistWar in decent conditions.
For less powerful computers, there is an option that allows playing the game under a 3D symbolic view thus avoiding loading the 3D models. In such a mode, the immersion will not be total but players could still play together and that’s essential.

 

Napoleonic wars is one of the favorites of game developers, there were 2-3 games from that period in the past months. What will HistWar offer over its competitors?

HistWar has been developed with the main purpose of putting players directly in the heart of the battle. HistWar is a 3D real time wargame thus with a strong historical background. As Napoleon used to say, “It is always possible to regain lost ground but it’s never possible with lost time”.

HistWar can be played in solo-mode, in multiplayer mode and in PBEM mode. In the MP mode, each player has the responsibility of part of an army. The communications between players belonging to the same side are run through the hierarchical channel. Therefore, such exchanges cannot be instantaneous.

In addition, HistWar comes with 3 tools allowing players building their own armies (Order of Battle Editor), their own tactical doctrines (Doctrine Editor) and their own battlefields (3D Map Editor).

With more than 100 units available for each side and graphically represented by 25 000 3D models, with more than 550 historical uniforms respecting regimental colors, HistWar really helps players to relive the Napoleonic era battles.

I think that “HistWar: Les Grognards” introduces a new generation of wargame combining historicity, gameplay and immersive action.

 

What are your plans after finishing Les Grognards? Do you plan any sequel for it? I could imagine more theatres of war with the same HistWar engine.

As soon as “HistWar: Les Grognards” is released, the HistWar project will follow 2 directions. The first evolution will be to adapt the engine so as to be able to integrate the British army doctrines and other countries not included in this first version.

At the same time, we will start working on a new project, codename is “HistWar: 18xx”, whose objective is to deliver a wargame at the operational level where players will be able to manage an entire campaign. “HistWar: 18xx” will include the creation of armies, the building of an operational plan, the management of depots and hospitals…

It will also be necessary to scout the country where operations are conducted, to analyze the information given by spies or embassies… in brief, “HistWar: 18xx” will deal with the operational level right above the current version.

And finally, I have few other ideas for future developments but it is too early to reveal them now.

 

Thank you for the replies, and we wish all the best for your project!

Many thanks to you for all your questions that help me to describe the concepts and features included in “HistWar: Les Grognards”.