by Larry Levandowski

Soldiers at War Scenario Design Notes
for Single Player Games

     Soldiers at War has only been out a month, so I haven't had a chance to play anything other than single-player scenarios and so these design notes do not cover multi-player scenarios.

1. Start with a concept:

    The Soldiers at War scenario designer does not have many dynamic map editing tools (you can't move buildings or copy groups of objects) so you need to have a good idea of what you will build before you start.

    I suggest you start out by coming up with a scenario theme. One fertile ground for getting ideas is of course WWII movies. Soldiers at War reportedly owes its concept to the movie Dirty Dozen. It certainly comes through while playing, and I think you will find your scenarios to be more interesting if you are willing to take "artistic" license with historic WWII squad combat. You can also approach a theme by first deciding what gaming experience you want the player to have. Is it the stress of a desperate fight against an attacking hoard? Maybe the satisfaction of a well planned ambush or the possibly a lesson in fire and maneuver?

    The theme will then help you answer the five "W's" of the scenario. "Who" are the sides and which is the player on? "What" is the situation at the start of the scenario? "When" is the scenario; winter, spring, day or night? "Where" is the scenario; prisoner of war camp, French village, ancient monastery, or open farm country. In this setting what buildings make sense? "Why" are the virtual combatants killing each other? Each side needs to have a mission; even the computer side.

    The computer side "Why" (mission) is worth discussing a bit more because in my opinion it may be more important to the scenario design than the player's mission. This is for two reasons:

    a) Impact to the map design, disposition, and type of enemy troops taking into account any changes to the terrain that the enemy may have made.

    Some examples:

    b) The computer "Why" will also determine the AI you will use and various AI tricks to get the computer forces to seem like they are reacting in an organized fashion (see below).

    Once you have the five "W's" down, I suggest you develop a map of the battle on a piece of paper. Ignore this step at your peril, because once you start building with the Soldiers at War map editor, it is very difficult to make macro changes. Sketch the general location of buildings and major terrain features. Decide if you need to have depressions, fox holes or any other sort of low spot. Note the highest and lowest spot on the map. Since Soldiers at War only has a limited number of levels, this is important information. Decide the level that will be the "ground level"; if you want deep gorges and guys on rooftops, your ground level may be level three or four. Also pay attention to the type of buildings and location in relation to one another. Does the general layout fit your theme?

    When you have your map sketched and theme set, you are ready to start building the map with the editor.

2. Map Editing:

    The first question you must answer when starting a new scenario is map size. After looking at your sketch and theme you should be able to decide on a map size. The Soldiers at War manual suggests maps that are 60% to 40% in size and I agree. About the only time I think a 100% map size might be appropriate is for a long range, "dry gulch" style gunfight.

    Once the map size is selected, you will then need to pick a tile set. I think you will find that there are plenty of tile sets to meet your needs. Unfortunately there is no "browsing" feature, so you will need to take the description on faith.

    The next thing I do is to set the resolution and zoom to a level where I can see as much ground as possible. Too often, you will find yourself working on some small detail, but forgetting how it fits into the "big picture."

    Setting the ground level is the next step. Unless you have a rare map with no depressions (ie. level 1 is ground level), then take the Soldiers at War manuals advice and black out level one. I suggest you build the new ground level before doing anything else, so that you keep your reference. Use the "A" key to go to the level you will make as "ground level." Pick one of the grass tiles, use your mouse and drag, stretch/drop it corner to corner. This creates a plateau that serves as a good reference for the rest of your work. Hit "z" until you go back to level one. You will notice that the map does not follow you. You will need to reset your view to level one from the menu. Pick a black tile (the top tile of the generic "grass" tile group) and drag it with your mouse to cover the entire level 1 map. If you want, you can then use sloped tiles to create a "beveled" edge effect going from level 1 to the ground level on the two forward edges of the map. Then use the menu to go back to the ground level you have created. Since you only used one tile in drag and drop mode to make the ground level, you may want to pick some random grass tiles and put them down to add some randomness to your single tile ground level. You now have a good solid ground level that serves as a plateau for the objects in your map.

    Next, I put down the floor tiles and usually pick a single tile marking the hills and depressions as well. This can be done quickly with "stretch and drop" inorder to set the general locations of these items and their relationship to one another on the map. I think that one key to good map design is not to forget that the buildings on your map would have been built for a purpose; try to make the layout "functional." For example, you may want your church to have a rectory nearby for the clergy to live in. A factory should have a loading dock with an access road to bring in supplies and ship finished goods. Houses should have bathrooms, or at least a good outhouse. Once you are happy with general placement you can start building objects.

    I recommend that you build hills and depressions first. There are really no tricks to these, except be aware that you can place objects (rocks, bushes or trees) on the slopes as well as the tops. Also if you want troops to be able to take advantage of a depression for cover you will need to have at least one flat tile as a floor.

    Next I recommend that you build roads, walkways and any bridges. I do this before starting on the buildings because you may have trouble with getting them exactly where you want. The road tiles usually come in several variations, I suggest you use as many as possible to break up the monotony of having one tile. You might also find mixed edge objects (note that they are objects and not tiles) that help transition from one type of tile to the next. Green transition objects on a road for example give the impression of weeds beginning to overgrow the road.

    Now you are finally ready for the buildings. Firstly, decide if they will have raised floors with a crawl space or a basement. Then put in the appropriate feature. The Soldiers at War manual suggests that you have three ways into each building, I would agree with at least two entrances. Be aware that for the stairs object the wall behind it must be a wedge shape and not the full wall. Also note that there are two types of window tiles, looking out the window and looking in.

    You will quickly realize that a single floor has two levels of tile. For the most part you will need to build one layer on top of the other. However, when you place doors and windows they are put down by the computer as a set of two objects; top and bottom. If you find that the computer will not let you place a door or window, check the level above to see if a wall is already there and blocking the placement.

    As far as building interiors are concerned note that the characters can not move through many of the objects and the AI will get stuck. Make certain there is a clear path for them, unless you want them to be trapped.

    As I noted previously there are limited macro editing features. One is delete which is a little tricky to use. To delete anything you need to tell the computer what you are trying to delete. In a single cell you could have a wall object on the left and right, a center object, a character and a tile. To delete one of these you right click your mouse and use the delete menu to pick what you want to delete. You can drag/stretch delete objects, but this requires a little bit of hand-eye coordination. As far as I can find there are no copy or move functions. Hopefully, if you have done a little planning before-hand you will not have to demolish a building just to make way for that road you just decided to place.

3. On Map Enemy Characters:

    The next step is to place the on map enemy characters who start the scenario already placed. The AI options for the enemy are limited so you need to have an idea of how you want the scenario to flow for the player; also keep in mind the mission of the enemy.

    Placing characters is done simply by selecting the appropriate type from the menu. You can not edit their names or stats, but you can give them a rank that determines their overall capability. The higher the rank the better they are. You can also edit the characters initial inventory.

    You should deploy the charecters with an eye toward showing the human player what you want him/her to see. If the enemy mission is a dug-in defense, put stationary characters in foxholes. If you have a prison camp, put characters with "guard" AI at key points.

    The characters' AI is also very important. Overall, I am not real happy with the AI choices but with some thought on where and how to use them you can create a fun experience for the player. The following are a few AI issues that I have noticed:

    Regarding enemy equipment, I suggest you keep the number of SMGs, LMGs and bazooka's/panzerfausts to a minimum. They are very deadly and tend to make scenarios very short. A few of these weapons can certainly add an amount of "spice" to gameplay and keep the player on his toes.

    For initial placement you can not have the characters start the scenario in a kneeling or prone position. You can turn them using your keypad numbers to indicate facing. It should also be noted that you can set up alternate start locations for on-board characters (right click on the character and select "Other Start Location"). This feature greatly enhances the replayability of your scenario.

4. Reinforcements and Game Flow:

    The AI choices for on map enemy characters will not convey to the player that he is up against a coordinated enemy. For this type of effect you will need to use reinforcement tokens linked to information tokens (or events). Since reinforcements can be linked to specific conditions, or information tokens, you can give the impression of a coordinated enemy response to the actions of the player.

    For example if you want a house to seem empty until the player moves close and is then ambushed put a reinforcement token in the house linked to an information token at the front door. This is done by selecting "condition" and the appropriate information token number on the reinforcement tokens' parameters.

    For replay value you can also play with the probability associated with a reinforcement token. A player may find it quite challenging to see a building that was empty on his previous play of the scenario now filled with enemy reinforcements.

    Unfortunately you are not allowed to edit the off map characters inventories. Your AI choices are also limited to "seekers" and "wanderers." You can select rank and the type of troops. I suggest that you stay away from German grenadiers because they usually come with panzerfausts. Also note that if you want to have an officer with three infantry you will need two reinforcement tokens; one for the "officer" and one for the three "infantry."

5. Placing the Player's Characters:

    There isn't much to say about placing the player's characters. Like computer controlled troops you can also use alternate start locations for replay value. After setting the facing by using the keypad you can edit their inventories. Keep in mind the theme of your scenario. Troops who have been out of supply are unlikely to have many rounds of ammunition and may even be using enemy weapons. Unless you want to shock the player at the start of a scenario by having his lead guy get blasted by a machine gun make sure that the start locations of the player's characters have some level of cover and concealment.

6. Finishing Touches:

    Now to finish the scenario. Determine what the victory requirements are and set these conditions appropriately at the menu level. Remember that you can link events with victory criteria, such as eliminate target, get target, etc. It is also a good idea to set an information token on the map with text that reminds the player of his/her objectives.

    You also need to write the scenario description including a few hints giving the player some direction.

    Finally, test, test and then test. I have test-played scenarios as many as ten times. Remember that the player's experience is what is important. Keep in mind your theme and ask yourself if the player will get the desired experience while playing. If not then play around with reinforcements, initial deployments etc.

    Remember that players like to win, but they don't want to be spoon fed with the victory. A good scenario cuts it close and draws a bead of sweat or two. Nobody likes scenarios that are too easy or too hard.

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