Frozen Kangaroo: Quick Summary

In the coming months - as I will be busy - actual programming of Frozen Kangaroo will remain slow and mainly prototypes. I will be spending the time refining the finer points of the design - such as how you win, a hazy issue at the moment and something which I have glossed over. I want to be able to use this blog as a place where I can place my thoughts, in the hope that someone, somewhere, when they play the game, and understands why I made such a decision.

However, to do this, I must explain, to a point, what this game is about so that my posts make some sense.

OK, let's start with the basics. Frozen Kangaroo is the code name for the Real Time Strategy game I am making for the PC. It is set in the near future, allowing me to include cool futuristic units and technologies. However, as history repeats itself, it will be an alternative history (what could have happened) of the Cold War(1945-1990). You will take control of either America or the USSR in a modified map of the northern hemisphere.

Although technically you will only be controlling either America or USSR, with them you can manipulate without restriction (nearly) all of their allies. This allows the game to represent a Cold War through the use of Proxy nations. This was seen in the real Cold War in Vietnam. Although it was technically America vs. the Vietcong, Russia were supplying weapons and support to the Vietcong.

The game's pace will take it's lead from Sin's of a Solar Empire. Although everything will be happening in real time (to create a sense of pressure that must surely have been felt in the more tense times during the Cold War), it will be slow enough that it is not like modern RTS's such as Dawn of War where the quickest clicker will win. Also borrowing from Sins (although entirely accidentally, I had not played the game until long after I started designing the game) you will be able to zoom in to the individual provinces which the map is divided in to and out to see the whole world.

One of the key features of the game is to really invoke a feeling of immersion. Surely, all games do this? Well yes, to a degree, but, what I mean is you will be able see your deployable missiles moving about in real time, passing from province to province. You can use trucks to transport your men around. I am also toying with the idea of some resources that need to be transported to the front line, maybe even munitions, but this will depend of how complicated the game becomes.

That really is just a brief (ed: disjointed and confusing) summary and there are loads of mechanics that I will need to explain. However, I hope that offers a taster of what FK is. Stay tuned for more updates.