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The Flare Path: MicroProse MemoriesReturn of the king?
Return of the king?
Having imprisoned you in his dungeon in the bowels of Mount Olympus, Emesdos, the Greek god of computer gaming, asks his customary question. You ponder for a few seconds, more out of seemliness than necessity, before responding with an unequivocal “MicroProse!”. If you have to spend Eternity playing the oeuvre of just one developer/publisher, thenobviouslythat oeuvre has to bethe onethat includes greats such as European Air War, Falcon 4.0, B-17 Flying Fortress,MechWarrior, Colonization, and Civ.
Today in FP I talk to David Lagettie, the bold resurrectionist behindthe recently announced MicroProse revival, share - possibly not for the first time - my most precious MicroProse memory, and sample one of the studio’s later sims.
Like many middle-aged strategy gamers/simmers, I experience a Pavlovian response when I see “MICROPROSE” emblazoned on a splash screen or screenshot today. My pulse quickens, my fingers fidget, my mood improves.
He sat in the other, a low-poylgon tailplane and rear-facing Browning M1919 dominating his display, and for a few memorable hours we hurled curses and lead at weaving Zeros, called frantic warnings to each other, and did our utmost to injure the Imperial Japanese Navy.
If the coming crop of MicroProse titles manages to spawn memories half as happy and indelible as this one, then the company’s new owner and CEO, David Lagettie, will have every reason to unfurl the ‘MISSION ACCOMPLISHED’ banner.
RPS: Would you introduce yourself?
David:I’m David Lagettie, and I’ve been building military simulators and training software for 20 years now. I am a key innovator in the serious games field as the original founder of the VBS series of software (based on the gameOperation Flashpoint, prequel to ArmA) and now founder of the leading World Rendering MilSim software,Titan Vanguard.
RPS: Why resurrect MicroProse now?
David:Growing up on a farm in rural Australia, MicroProse had a huge influence on me. Their games were just pure magic which enabled you to escape into a whole other reality with amazing depth and immersion. I’m sure many MicroProse fans share the same feelings and seeing that iconic logo always stirs those memories, like seeing an old friend return.
In fact, MicroProse was really a driving force behind me creating the two biggest MilSim training software systems in the world today, which have trained hundreds of thousands if not millions of men and women in service today. I guess it started for me back in the early 2000s when MicroProse disappeared. I was extremely disappointed, and I remember in the early days of building “serious games” I would often go searching to find information on MicroProse, asking myself, “Why doesn’t someone start building quality simulation games once again under the MicroProse banner?”. So, I decided even back then that I would be that person - to not only get MicroProse back into the right kind of hands, to start actually building and publishing great games again. I can tell you it was a long journey and no small feat to make that dream a reality, but here we are.
RPS: Personnel-wise, is there any of the old MicroProse in the new MicroProse?
David:I am glad to say the biggest personality of all is back in the MicroProse fold, its original co-founder,Wild Bill Stealey. Will Bill is a passionate guy and I can see why MicroProse created so many wonderful fun games under his direction. There are also a few original developers from MicroProse’s past who are now becoming involved.
RPS: Will MicroProse Mk II develop as well as publish?
David:Yes, we have a couple of in-house games in development which we will be announcing in the future.* One in particular is a very ambitious project that will shake things up in its genre significantly, much like MicroProse’s original projects.
- Since we spoke,Mighty Eighth, a sequel to B-17 Flying Fortress: The Mighty 8th, has been announced
RPS: Do the wargames you’ve signed thus far -Second Front,Sea Power, andTask Force Admiral- have anything in common?
RPS: So if a dev came to you with, say, a superb train sim, sci-fi RTS, or military FPS you would consider publishing it?
David:Of course! If it was a great game and excellent quality, fun to play and I felt that MicroProse fans would embrace it, absolutely. Remember, while MicroProse was best known for its military simulations, it also released seminal titles in adjacent similar genres, such as Civilization,Darklands, Pirates! and the greatMaster of Magicand Master of Orion.
RPS: Are new versions of classics like European Air War likely?
David:I would say very likely. They may have updated names and platforms but the MicroProse spirit will be the same.
Watch on YouTube
Watch on YouTube
RPS: How does the Outerra engine fit into your plans?
David:Well, without giving too much away, Titan and the Outerra engine will play a significant role in some future releases. We will be building games that many MicroProse fans would be dreaming of us building and will allow gamers to play in ways they never could before.
RPS: The likes of Slitherine and 1C Game Studios must be reading your press releases with interest. Do you regard them as competitors or comrades-in-arms?
David:MicroProse is here to build and publish entertaining games and we have a friendly relationship with many publishers. The games market today is bigger than ever, and there is plenty of room for great games from quality publishers.
RPS: I’m a teenage World of Tanks/War Thunder player interested in exploring MicroProse’s back catalogue – where would you recommend I start?
David:It’s such a huge catalogue but I’d recommend personal favorites like Falcon 4, M1 Tank Platoon, B17 Flying Fortress: The Mighty Eighth, and European Air War – any of those would be a great start, though keep in mind the learning curve was a bit steeper in those days!
RPS: Thank you for your time.
The time I’ve spent with M1TP2 v1.0 this week has helped me understand why so many reviewers were willing to overlook the disappointing state of the release build. Busy missions, obliging/varied targets, extravagant pyrotechnics, surprising atmosphere*, simple basics and somewhat flattering depictions of the titular MBT conspire to create a sim that’s approachable, ego-kind and action-packed.
- Well-chosen sky bitmaps together with extremely basic lighting allow M1TP2 to capture the oppressive feel of an overcast day in Northern Europe better than most modern 3D games.
Whether you’re playing one of the ten standalone missions or an engagement in one of the five fairly crude* ‘dynamic campaigns’ (North Africa, Iraq/Saudi Arabia, Russian Far East, Moldavia, Poland) , you rarely have to wait longer than five minutes before the hills/dunes in front of you are swarming with scuttling shell candidates.
- Sequences of randomly generated battles fought on the same pre-made theatre-specific map
Assuming your laser range finder is functioning, gunnery is straightforward, and misses rare. The primary challenge in many clashes is keepingfrailer support platoons- your Bradleys, LAVs, Humvees etc - alive. This you achieve or fail to achieve via a powerful wargame-style map display on which nuanced waypoints may be placed and adjusted.
Less positively, myDxWnd-enabled trip back in time has reminded me why, prior to PanzerElite, I spent far more time in virtual cockpits than virtual turrets.
M1TP2’s AI routines have aged particularly badly. Foes seldom pause in hull-down positions, reverse or employ smoke. At times their relentless advances feel more Serious Sam than serious sim.
Enemy helicopters are especially daft. Yes, as advertised they sometimes duck behind trees and ridges, but more often than not Hinds and Alligators loiter in clear view, low to the ground, positively asking for HEAT rounds to the vitals.
Watch on YouTube
Watch on YouTube
