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"The difference between fiction and reality?
Fiction has to make sense."
- Tom Clancy

An Interactive Techno Thriller

On Sale and Shipping on August 18th!

Screen Shots

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Designer's Journal

August 20, 2004

The Future is Here

Yesterday, I unveiled Endgame at the GenCon Gaming Convention in Indianaoplis.

Yesterday, major news outlets all over the world carried Iran's threat against the US and Israel warning off both countries from attempting a military strike against their nuclear facility in the Iranian city of Bushehr.

Here's the kicker -- Amazingly, one of Endgame's four missions centers on the Bushehr nuclear reactor. Specifically, USS Las Vegas is ordered to Bushehr to destroy that very facility!

I first encoded the Bushehr mission in late spring to early summer. I cannot claim ownership to any psychic powers. Actually, Iran's nuclear ambitions have been no secret. Extend that fact to encompass the fact that they do indeed have a nuclear facility at Bushehr and you end up with an incredible fictional story. And that's where Endgame comes in.

When I first envisioned the mission to Bushehr in the game, it seemed very plausible for such a Naval operation to be undertaken.

What is truly amazing is that on the PRECISE day Endgame goes on sale, Iran actually issues global statements warning off the exact same sort of attack Endgame portrays in the fictional story!

Of the screen shots above, examine the one in the second row on the right. In that screen shot, the player targets the nuclear reactor. In the last screen shot, a Standard Missile (SM2 to be precise) is fired at the reactor, destroying the Bushehr facility completely. Spooky, isn't it?

I must humbly ask that no one email me requests for lottery numbers, hot stock tips or the like.

Speaking of going on sale --- as soon as the Malinche office returns to normal on Monday, August 23rd after the GenCon game show, Endgame will be available for sale online. Tune in Monday morning and place your order! Endgame will be shipping worldwide on Monday.

August 16, 2004

For the first time in Malinche history we have a Release Candidate 8.

The challenges of being in command of a modern billion dollar war ship are present to the programmer as much as the player. As Captain, you can make a number of different choices many of which impact the future of your ship and crew as you tackle mission after mission across the world. As programmer, I have to account for each and every possibility and encode Endgame to respond accordingly.

I never would have dreamed the intricacies of Endgame would prove so challenging. As recently as 6:00PM Eastern Standard Time tonight bugs were being terminated as I strive to have a finished product for GenCon just three days from now.

What's more amazing is that Endgame is just 148 rooms in size making it the smallest commercial product I've ever written in terms of the gaming area and yet it's the largest game I've ever written as well.

Endgame is a larger game overall than First Light and Greystone despite its smaller game area. The multi-dimensional plot, the array of weapons and the number of characters in the story present endless possibilities The challenges represented by all these elements confront you at every move and can put your ship and crew at risk, change the world and very possibly both.

What can you expect as the commanding officer of USS Las Vegas? Here's just a glimpse:

A saboteur may show himself if events go a certain way. On the other hand, he may never decide to cause harm at all. Your command decisions determine his choices.
In one country, you can choose to decimate a single target or launch different strikes on different targets in that country. One choice cripples your enemy but is outside the scope of your orders while the other choice merely hurts the enemy leaving your ship open to attack. Decisions between these shades of gray can bring about a whole other outcome.
The arsenal at your command is state of the art. The right weapon must be chosen for the target at hand. You can overdo it and trigger world war or fall short and put your ship and crew in mortal danger.
A decision to attack a hostile target earlier in the game may make it impossible to finish the last and most important leg of your mission. A superior strategist will make the right decision the first time. Are YOU that tactician?
Orders received at a crucial moment can be ignored without penalty or followed with glory. When the action aboard USS Las Vegas goes over the top, will you go for the glory and risk it all or play it safe?

Endgame will be available for immediate purchase at GenCon this weekend. See us at Booth #1434 in Indianapolis.

For Internet orders, you can pre-order on August 18th. All Internet orders will start shipping on August 23rd. The delay is only because all staff will be too occupied in Indianapolis to ship orders received in New Jersey!

August 11. 2004

Flashbacks of Greystone came over me as I completed a ten hour marathon programming session yesterday. A number of exciting, fresh ideas came to mind and I just had to implement them in Endgame. Doing so add new dynamics to an already intricate game. Large sections of new code entered a game that I thought was finished last Friday! Play testers are getting a larger, expanded game to test today. The "nagging" feeling is gone so I think we're in the home stretch. Nothing to do now but handle the next batch of bug reports that come in, post the picture of the game packaging and put the game on sale!

The biggest challenge in developing Endgame has been the intricacy of programming such a technologically advanced vessel. As a programmer, I had to account for the all different weapon systems aboard and characterize their behavior in a realistic manner under every given situation.

For example, as Captain of a modern cruiser, you have Anti-Submarine Rockets (ASROC), MK 46 torpedoes (the same ones a submarine carries), medium range Standard Missiles, Nuclear and Conventional Tomahawks, Phalanx Gatling guns and, well, you get the idea.

Throughout coding I had to ask myself questions such "What should happen in the story if the player tries to fire an ASROC at a surface vessel? What if they try to fire a 5 inch gun (with a 13 mile range) at a target 65 miles away?" This logic didn't only extend to weapons that couldn't or shouldn't be used but also weapons that COULD be. In one location, for example, any of four different weapon systems can be employed. Each weapon used had to be programmed to react properly and as expected for a weapon of its kind. And what if you used the wrong weapon on a target? What if destroying a target proved to be the wrong answer altogether? Here's another twist - when do you deploy the SEAL team? Do you ever have to? Should you? If so, when?

A number of testers are coming to terms with a Howard Sherman title without obvious puzzles. The puzzles are there to be sure, but they're not in the same family of puzzle as can be discovered in Greystone or First Light. Endgame presents puzzles of strategy and logic. THINK like a captain in a combat situation. You'll confront some tough ones that can be tackled in a number of different ways with varying degrees of success.

All the logic aside, there are a number of permutations to the story such that a player can finish Endgame successfully in any number of ways and be treated to fresh branches of story progression each time.

August 4, 2004

I've spent an extensive amount of time studying cruisers and their armaments and feel very confident in launching Endgame on August 18th. Release Candidate 1 ships to testers tomorrow and, without a doubt, a lot of them will be scratching their heads with the four different missions, all the advanced technology and the many variables that can enter an equation you thought you had figured out.

As Captain of the USS Las Vegas (CG75) you leave nothing to chance. Your ship, a Ticonderoga-class cruiser, is equipped and armed with the latest technology imaginable. Master your ship's AEGIS combat system, familiarize yourself with MK-46 torpedoes, the two Phalanx Close-In Weapon System, nuclear and conventional Tomahawk cruise missiles, Anti-Submarine Rockets and other technological wonders.

Command decisions will confront you at every turn. Should you sink a suspected al qaeda vessel speeding towards a potential target? Or run interdiction and deploy SEAL Team 3 to board the craft and let them handle it? As is the case with real life, your command decisions can have world-changing consequences that can either win the day or sink your ship at every turn.