Close Combat (video game)

battle plays out between Germany and the United States near a forest, in one of the bocage regions of France Close Combat is a real-time computer wargame that takes place from a top-down graphical perspective, The game's battles play out in bocage environments, open plains, and towns such as Saint-Lô. A soldier under severe stress can become shell shocked and entirely unable to fight, or enter a berserk rage. Units will often disobey poor or dangerous orders, such as exiting cover without proper defense measures. The game's artificial intelligence (AI) system allows even an unattended squad to continue fighting and using tactics. Close Combat allows players to fight 39 small-scale confrontations or engage in a long-form campaign, which extends from the Normandy landings to the Battle of Saint-Lô. The 29th Infantry Division wins the campaign by claiming Saint-Lô in under 43 days, while the German side focuses on delaying the United States. Players are given pre-selected forces at the start of each mission, and are scored based on the number of enemy units destroyed and objectives captured at the end. In addition to single-player battles against a computer opponent, the game contains multiplayer support for up to two players. ==Development==

Origins Close Combat began production at Atomic Games in 1992, while the company was working on the V for Victory series under publisher Three-Sixty Pacific. It was originally called Project X and focused on real-time infantry tactics in a World War II setting. Atomic was signed to Avalon Hills computer game division in 1993 by producer Jim Rose. Initially, Avalon offered the team a chance to create a one-to-one adaptation of the company's Squad Leader board wargame. After being shown Project X, Avalon Hill chose to adopt and rebrand the game as Beyond Squad Leader, and the Atomic team started developing this project and the World at War series for their new publisher. This partnership was a key piece of Avalon Hill's effort, led by Rose, to revive its computer game branch in the face of flagging board game sales. Public anticipation for Beyond Squad Leader was high. William R. Trotter of PC Gamer US declared it "perhaps the most eagerly awaited PC wargame ever", thanks in part to the board titles' "fanatical" fanbase. Breaking from its source material, the adaptation focused on simulating the psychology of small groups of soldiers via real-time gameplay. The soldiers' AI dictated much of their behavior beyond the player's control. With Avalon Hill Beyond Squad Leader underwent a long and troubled development cycle, but Computer Gaming World reported a rumor in July 1994 that the project had been postponed to early 1995. By April that year, PC Gamer US estimated that Beyond Squad Leader was 65% complete and on track for a summer launch. Two complementary algorithms, tactical (TAI) and strategic (SAI), power the game's AI system. While TAI controls psychological modeling and low-level action, SAI "is constantly analyzing the battlefield for enemy troops and keeping tabs on the big picture", Zabalaoui said. He felt that the game's limited budget and support intensified after Monarch launched the costly magazine ''Girls' Life'', and he left for TalonSoft as a result. Rose said at the time, "If they'd given me the power and money to do what needed doing, Beyond Squad Leader would be out by now." Avalon Hill Director of Software Development Bill Levay replied that, while the company's decisions "certainly are conservative", the board and computer game divisions were profitable and their overall situation was "really pretty good". and D-Day: America Invades was the two companies' last game together. According to Emrich, Zabalaoui remarked that this event was "purely a business decision" and that there was no ill will between the companies. Atomic was the first developer contracted in Microsoft's wider push into strategy games, which later included Ensemble Studios. According to Zabalaoui, the project's real-time nature and psychological modeling had attracted the publisher, which at the time was seeking "developers with a good track record who could help get them established." Atomic Games was nearly bankrupt, and the deal saved the company. Beyond Squad Leader was ultimately renamed Close Combat, After more than three years of development, Close Combat was completed in June 1996. It was originally set for release on July 23, with an expected price point of $40, but certain stores made it available at that price by July 7. ==Reception==

Close Combat was commercially successful. Next Generation reported that it was among Microsoft's "most successful titles" as of March 1997. The game achieved global sales of roughly 200,000 copies by early 1999 and attracted a younger demographic than Atomic's past games. Zabalaoui said that the team was "very pleased" with its commercial performance, and that it had outsold their earlier efforts by around ten to one. However, he noted that it was "frustrating to see Close Combat sell only 200,000 units when other RTS titles sell 5 times that or more." The reviewer for Computer Games Strategy Plus, Steve Wartofsky, hailed Close Combat as an intuitive combat simulation akin to SimCity 2000. He praised its graphics and streamlined quality and called its in-game documentation "wonderful". In Computer Gaming World, Patrick C. Miller wrote that the game "looks, sounds and plays like nothing else", and considered it a flawed success. Its originality and tactical realism received high marks, but he heavily criticized its limited documentation, in contrast to Wartofsky's view. This issue was compounded by its unresponsive controls and slow scrolling. It was also nominated in this category by Computer Game Entertainment, but lost the prize to Tigers on the Prowl 2. PC Gamer soon named Close Combat the 46th-best computer game ever released, and hailed it as "a radical leap forward for wargames, one of the most predictable and staid of PC game genres." ==Legacy==

Early sequels Close Combat was the first game in the long-running Close Combat series, which contained 17 entries and sold above 5 million units by 2018. Its direct sequel, Close Combat: A Bridge Too Far, followed in October 1997. Developed by Atomic Games and published again by Microsoft, the game was a commercial success, with sales equal to those of its predecessor. Microsoft opted to discontinue the Close Combat franchise. While all three games had been profitable, Marc Dultz of CNET Gamecenter reported "indications that the company is now only interested in publishing games that have the potential of selling 250,000 units or more." Up to that point, the company had published the Close Combat games on a "title to title" basis, according to Keith Zabalaoui. Later that year, Zabalaoui said that Microsoft had been "a terrific publisher", and that Atomic had "parted company [with them] as friends who may some day work together again." 's purchase and divestment of The Learning Company, Atomic Games' publisher, caused significant financial trouble at the company. Atomic began work on a fifth Close Combat game with SSI in early 2000. However, Mindscape had since been sold to Mattel when that company bought The Learning Company, Mindscape's parent, for $3.5 billion in 1999. a financially unstable company. Computer Games Magazines Robert Mayer noted in September 2000 that "the future of this game series is up in the air—Mattel Interactive is perennially on the trading block, and Atomic ... has lost some key staff members in recent months". Late in September, Mattel sold The Learning Company at a bargain price to The Gores Group. A spokesman for the new managers announced that they expected to make it "profitable within six months." Two months later, Atomic was forced to lay off all employees beyond Zabalaoui and two other senior members after The Gores Group canceled the team's in-development ''Hammer's Slammers'' game. Trey Walker of GameSpot reported at the time, "According to Zabalaoui, Gores exercised its right to cancel the project for 'any reason or no reason at all.' " Later history In 2002, two members of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) began an effort to modify Close Combat for use as a USMC training tool. They subsequently requested that Atomic create an official version for the Marines. The developer started working on USMC training simulations, and ultimately produced Close Combat: Marines for the division's training program in 2003. Douglass C. Perry of IGN noted that it was the USMC's first-ever game project. Announced in April 2004, alongside the strategy title Close Combat: Red Phoenix, First to Fight was described by Peter Tamte of Destineer as an effort to "combine Destineer's first-person technology with Atomic's military expertise". Destineer ultimately purchased Atomic Games in May 2005, with the stated goal of reviving the Close Combat strategy franchise. The first five entries in the series had sold above 1.2 million units by that time. In 2006, Destineer licensed the Close Combat intellectual property to Matrix Games; the two companies announced plans to remake and update Atomic's early entries in the series. Partnering with CSO Simtek, Matrix began the creation of Close Combat: Cross of Iron, an expanded remake of Close Combat III. The companies decided not to update the first Close Combat, a choice dictated by "the age of the code, and the fact that the series and game engine changed dramatically after the first iteration", according to Simtek's Shaun Wallace. Matrix proceeded to publish Cross of Iron in 2007. It was followed by Modern Tactics (2007), Wacht am Rhein (2008), The Longest Day (2009) and Last Stand Arnhem (2010). These titles remade Marines, Battle of the Bulge, Invasion Normandy and A Bridge Too Far, respectively. Two years later, the companies created Gateway to Caen, the only Close Combat to be released on the Steam platform by that point. Another new title in the series, The Bloody First, was slated for 2018. Atomic's first five Close Combat entries, including the original Close Combat, were re-released on GOG.com early that year. ==References==