In the current market, when someone mentions the words ‘war game’ it’s only natural to think of big-name epic titles like Call of Duty and Battlefield where you can engage in realistic combat and partake in rewarding co-op modes. But what if there was a war simulator that had all that along with the drama and grittiness of real-war situations? And what if some of the profits also went to helping veterans?
Matthew Armstrong of Down Range Games, an Army combat veteran in his own right, has done this with new Kickstarter campaign COIN Impact: Operation Thunderhead. His concept was to create a fun and challenging game and dedicate a percentage of company revenues to reputable non-profits that support wounded veterans. This is a title not focused on violent conflicts, but instead on chance events and cooperative team-play.
Alongside the answers to our questions below, Matthew was kind enough to provide us with an exclusive image from the introduction sequence. He told us: “The art direction is similar to [this], but depends on the mood of the game component / subject matter. This early stuff is pretty grim, so I asked Chris [Reach] to focus on broad strokes and raw, emotional images. The shot is POV and puts you in the house with the prisoners. Later, we use different color sets for different locations.” A big thank you to Matthew for taking the time out of his schedule for us.
Can you tell us about your background and what made you decide to start making COIN Impact: Operation Thunderhead?
“I’m a US Army combat veteran who served with the 4th Brigade, 4th Infantry Division in Baghdad in 2006. I trained the Iraqi Army and was in charge of a Personal Security Detachment platoon, and saw an overview of the war that most people weren’t privy to. When I left active duty, I stayed with the Army as a Captain in the Texas National Guard while I went back to school for an MBA at Texas Christian University (TCU).
“While I was attending TCU, I was exposed to the concept of a shared value business model. I had seen other companies conduct special campaigns to help causes, and many more approach charitable giving as a compulsory thing that they have to do to give back to the community. Not a part of their actual business model. I decided that my own military community had a real and growing need: the amount of disabled veterans is growing, and the systems put in place to help them are bogged down. I felt that the creation of a game, something that everyone enjoys doing socially or casually anyways, could be a platform for real good if charity was built right into the business model. That’s why I decided to pledge twenty percent of revenue up front to worthy disabled veterans charities.”
There’s a twist to this title: twenty percent of the revenue will go to charities benefiting war veterans. Can you tell us a little about these worthy organisations and what such donations would mean to them?
“These charities will already be established and running on their own. We will target smaller, more agile groups who are making big impacts on the people they help. They will be able to funnel almost 100% of our donation to help real people with real needs, and we will bring those stories back to the game community to show them just who they helped that week or month, even with their small contribution. I think that someone who just bought a new weapon or a boost will think about making another purchase if they know they helped SGT Smith from Wherever be able to visit his family or build a wheelchair ramp.
“I also look forward to finding a few UK / Australia / etc based charities for our allies, dependent on who is playing the game. I worked on a base with other nations, and know their sacrifices as well.”
The following has been divulged about the title: ‘Imagine yourself held captive in a foul, hot room halfway around the world. You were the member of a small team, until you found yourself captured by a vicious enemy that hates you and everything you stand for, especially your need for technology.’ Are you able to reveal any further details about the plot?
“The plot of the game is a little lose right now, but being developed. I hope to have the game audience help in some aspects, but would like to keep those ideas secret for now. Still, when you start out the game, you have been taken prisoner by a small group of extremists and hidden away out in the desert. I’ve included an image from that sequence which I believe is exclusive to 1001-Up. In this picture, you see the first thing your character sees after removing their blindfold… several other soldiers who were also captured and in bad shape. One has died, but you set about to free the others and plan your escape.
“As you make it outside and establish a base, you start to explore other small areas and cities, cleaning them out by killing enemies and helping locals. You gain coins, equipment and unlock new team members, skills and abilities as you travel. Eventually you discover bosses to fight and really start to play with your online friends and the game community as a whole. I think the players will really like my take on cooperative play, especially when it comes to global events and the unlocking of new content.”
Thank you to Matthew for providing us with this exclusive image from the introduction sequence.
Is the gameplay turn-based or statistics driven? Can we expect to earn experience points to level up our character(s) and compare ourselves against friends and foes?
“The play is stats driven, and constrained by resources, to include energy and stamina like most similar games. As you earn experience, the sky is the limit for leveling up and adding to your power, and you will be able to engage in some degree of PVP which is still being figured out. We think that the players will especially like the Kickstarter rewards we have planned, as they will likely be better than even some of the later release premium items, and offer a level of prestige that the rest of the game audience will be envious about.”
Will combat primarily be player-versus-player or player versus environment, and can we expect multiplayer co-op in future?
“The majority of the game will be the normal PVE grind that you are used to, but with a lot more chance encounters and items available from small enemies. There will not be a ‘quest bar’ in this game, and no mindless clicking to use resources. Multiplayer is built into almost every aspect of what we are trying to accomplish: giving your player a boost based on the power of your top five teammates (your squad), using their specialized skills to conduct tasks like added damage or energy refills, and taking down large bosses.”
On your Kickstarter page, you mention that ‘this is the sort of casual game I always wanted to play on my phone or online’. What elements do you feel were missing from previous similar casual titles and how does COIN Impact innovate in these areas?
“The first thing is obviously the focus on charity. I think if we all thought about the amount we have spent incrementally in games and gave twenty percent of that to a worthy cause we would feel pretty good. Secondly though is the game mechanics and hooks that I think make this so fun to play. Even normal items can have a range of stats, so finding that best one will be quite the challenge. Finally (and in the future), we will begin to add small side games into the existing one so that you can play on the go and still be earning coins, items, etc in the game.”
We recently interviewed an indie developer who said that it isn’t women who are being exploited in video games, but ‘American soldiers, in franchises like Call of Duty and Battlefield‘ as ‘publishers are making billions off of real-life soldiers who die in pointless wars every day’. Do you have any thoughts on this subject?
“I feel like the subject of war is ever-present in games and popular culture (literature, movies, etc) and it is unfair to heap the blame on the bigger game companies for using it as inspiration. One thing that someone told me about my project recently is that this project has the real possibility of connecting a game audience that may be Call of Duty superstars to the real life heroes they are emulating in their games. Far too often, people (especially kids) glorify combat and think they might grow up to be soldiers, but they don’t know the real human cost.
“In some ways, this may be sobering. I think it is far worse to ignore the wounded just because they aren’t convenient.”
What challenges have you faced going down the Kickstarter route and were you prepared for these when starting out?
“Kickstarter was a little difficult because they don’t want you to talk about future revenue or pledges like the one I have made. I had to reformat my pitch to fit their mold, but wanted to use them because of the perception of a built-in user-base. I also really liked their rewards structure. Looking back on it, and seeing a struggling project, it is easy to say that I might have rather gone an Indiegogo route where you can keep all the pledged money, but really I was trying to protect the people who pledged as well. I can’t imagine trying to make one or two t-shirts, or a few coins, and still making any money.
“This project overall has been a huge learning experience, and I look forward to taking those lessons and making a much better product when we are all done.”
Is there any advice you’d give to someone who’s thinking of making an online game?
“Right now the market is so saturated, that you really need to find a niche. I would get back to me a few months after I launch, and either laugh at my foolishness or get some more detailed lessons. I’m new to this too.”
Can you tell us which component of COIN Impact you’re currently working on? How are you feeling about its release?
“Right now we are working on the intro, of all things. The intro contains a lot of elements that are common throughout the game, such as item gains, combat, and travel, so we are ready to polish that off pretty quickly. After that, we will be finishing up the bosses, which again involve (slightly tweaked) combat mechanics.”
Thank you once again to Matthew for answering our questions. Although not much has been revealed about the game so far, we’re really intrigued by the concept of our money going to worthy charities to help war veterans and as such we’ve become backers ourselves. If you’d like to show your support for COIN Impact: Operation Thunderhead, visit the Kickstarter page before 12 January 2014 to make your pledge.
