Date:     Fri, 18 Jun 1993 18:31:58 PDT
From:     Mike Markowitz <MMARKOWI@PEPVAX.BITNET>
Subject:  COMP CAW Const. Kit review

Carriers at War Construction Kit designed by: Roger Keating, Ian Trout,
Gregor Whiley and Nick Stathopoulos published by: Strategic Studies Group
(1993) for: MS-DOS (640 K + 2 MB expanded or extended RAM, 80386 or higher
CPU, mouse; supports AdLib and Sound Blaster compatible audio, requires
original Carriers at War game) list price: US$ 60.

     When Carriers at War was released last year, SSG promised there would
be a scenario editor someday.   That day has arrived, and the result is a
post-graduate level course for non-programmers in the mechanics of
designing and implementing an historical simulation.
     Carriers at War was a strategic simulation of six great naval battles
of World War II in the Pacific.  Performance characteristics of individual
ships and aircraft are modeled in great detail; indeed the game mechanics
keep track of individual bombs and torpedoes.  But the focus of the game is
on decision making at the fleet and task force level -- you are Admiral
Nimitz or Yamamoto, nervously pacing the bridge or standing over the
plotting board as garbled and incomplete reports filter in from all points
of the compass.
     The Construction Kit package includes three elements -- an installer
that updates and patches the original version of the program, three new
battles (Wake, Tarawa and Guadalacanal)  and finally the WarRoom,  an
elaborate development environment for creating and editing new scenarios
and variants.  The software is installed from three high density disks. The
original game plus the Construction Kit require about 7 MB of hard disk
space.
     The game has a straightforward mouse-based, menu-driven user
interface, and detailed color graphics of ships and aircraft. As ships take
hits, the fires and explosions are animated. But the best part of the game
system is the "artificial intelligence" that lets you play against the
computer.  The computer opponent follows definite plans, and reacts to your
fleet movements and airstrikes.   The WarRoom routines offer a fascinating
glimpse into the workings of a program that makes "intelligent" decisions.
The system is based on the metaphor of a deck of cards.  Each side,  each
land base and each naval task force has a set of cards that define its
objectives and how it will respond to events in the game. This comes close
to the Holy Grail of  programming for non-programmers. By adding or
changing the statements on the cards, you can design alternate strategies
for the program to execute.
     The 336-page manual includes a detailed tutorial that walks you
through the creation of the Wake Island scenario step by step. Appendices
provide tabulated data on almost every type of Japanese and American ship
and aircraft that took part in the Pacific War.
     Some players may be disappointed by the rather abstract and schematic
way the game system resolves surface combat, when opposing fleets actually
come within sight of each other.  But this is a strategic game, not a
simulation of ship vs. ship tactics.
     Another title in the continuing saga of Carriers at War has been
announced for release by Fall of 1993: Japan Sweeps South covering
historical and hypothetical fleet operations in Southeast Asia and the
Indian Ocean during the period 1936 - 1946.

graphics and animation: 9
sound:                  8
user interface:         7
overall value:          8