Chris Crawford on Game Design

Chapter 26. Patton Strikes Back

It was my interest in wargames that brought me into the computer games universe. My first two wargames, Tanktics and Legionnaire, were groundbreaking in their time, but improved computer hardware had long since left them behind. Patton Versus Rommel was a good design, but again, the march of technology made it look pathetic. In the summer of 1990, after completing Balance of the Planet, I was ready to try my hand at something new. I very much wanted to tackle the problem of interactive storytelling, but I knew that would be a financially risky effort. It was safer to do something tried and true, and I sensed a market opportunity in the wargames field.

Wargames had continued to develop during the 1980s, but they ...