Autumn Fog 2.1.0 (previously known as WarZone) is a 2D freeware Action/Wargame that simulates combat between the Axis and Allied powers of the Second World War. The official description of the game reads as such: "The player is placed in control of a single soldier, fighting alongside his allies in a struggle for control of the 2D side-view battlefield. The player can choose from several "classes" to play as, each with different weapons, including grenades, smoke grenades and mortar units. When the player is killed he/she will gain control of the next allied soldier to paradrop into the field. By tagging any of the flags distributed evenly across the map, a soldier gains a "control point" for his team - this is where the next wave of soldiers will respawn. In doing so, a team can push the frontline forward and eventually win the game when every control point belongs to it. To fight effectively, the player must use the terrain to his/her advantage and learn to use the weapons available to the greatest extent. The player who runs forward guns blazing will die instantly. Success depends on the good use weapons, fighting with your team mates and knowing when to storm forward or when to wait prone for your enemies to attack." A screenshot available on the Autumn Fog homepage: Autumn Fog has undergone a long development period and I am therefore very pleased to finally announce the first public release. Overall, I am quite satisfied with the resulting product – credit should be paid to Keith Burgun, responsible for the in-game music and David Platt, who produced a quality set of sound effects to be included in the game. Features: - Original gameplay evolving around the struggle for territory and advancement of a frontline - Four eye-pleasing graphical environments – jungle, snow, wasteland and beach - Nine battlefields to fight for - Sound effects that naturally sound great and flow with the game - A soundtrack that captures the mood of war and the option to play custom music in game - Four classes to play as, each with different attributes and secondary weapons - Weapons including rifles, machineguns, mortars and smoke grenades - Battlefield editor Please visit the Autumn Fog webpages at www.autumnfog.vze.com or download the self-extracting installer directly from here ( 7.38 mb file ). Thanks to everyone involved in the development of this project… Jackson Allan [edited by - jack_1313 on May 13, 2004 6:17:13 AM]

Very cool! I really like the smoke effects. If you designed a story mode (just a few levels linked by plot) that would be a very nice touch.

quote:Original post by EQRainer
It''s almost exactly like Soldat, with less features (granted this is in Beta). I don''t like Soldat.. I don''t see why I would like this. :x

I think that if you don''t have constructive criticism, then you shouldn''t bother posting.

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quote:Original post by EQRainer
It''s almost exactly like Soldat, with less features (granted this is in Beta). I don''t like Soldat.. I don''t see why I would like this. :x

Actually I had always considered this project to be very different from Soldat. Soldat, to me, is a arcade death match game whereas Autumn Fog is designed to be a realistic simulation - a screenshot may look similar but the gameplay style is quite different. Anyhow, you are of course entitled to you opinion .
Is this a Beta? No - this is the first public release. However, that said, who is to say that I will not expand the project in future?
A story mode... something that may make an appearance in a future version. Predictably, the story would start at the invasion of Normandy and play through to the fall of Berlin - but would it be all that different from the skirmish mode?
Another possiblity is a ''tank'' mode, in which a armoured vehicle exists in the centre of the battlefield that can be manned by multiple soldiers. The gameplay then evolves as per usual - the team to push the tank to the opposite side of the battlefield is victorious.
Anyhow, let’s concentrate on what currently exists in the game...

On a side note, someone is bound to wonder about the name... Autumn Fog? Operation Autumn Fog is the German codename regarding the Ardennes Offensive, also known as the Battle of the Bulge. One may notice that the Ardennes is a playable ingame battlefield.

Jackson Allan

A linear-story-mode would simply draw me more into the scenerio. I tend to like story based action games like MGS or Max Payne, rather than just strate shooting games. So my opinion is somewhat biased .

Hey, thanks for the reply . I just got your email and I''ve added you as a contact to my MSN list - although I am Australian, so I am not quite sure how our times will match (around about now is generally when I''m connected to the internet).

Regarding some of your suggestions:

The support flare falling through the bridge - this problem initially effected soldiers - they would simply drop through the bridge at random moments. However, that fixed, I had not considered the same problem effecting the support grenades (somehow escaped the beta tests)... will fix in the next release.

A kill screen? Uh... you mean like a message console that indicates who has killed who? I had considered including this but had then decided, given that each time you drop into the battlefield you are supposedly a new soldier, it might subtract from the atmosphere if it were implied that each troop is simply a player who always respawns after a time delay (once a soldier dies they are dead forever). Making sense... probably not .
That said, if this game ever goes multiplayer a kill console is an absolute must.

The keys gave problems? Can''t even guess what that could be...

Getting killed just after a batch of reinforcements are dropped really sucks... I know. But the respawn time is the product of lots of toying and testing. If the respawn time is shorter then it becomes near impossible to take a flag - as soon as you and your team mates overcome enemy troops another wave drops, preventing you from ever getting anywhere unless you are really fast. So, unless I can foresee another solution, the respawn time will remain the same - just hope for the best when you bite a bullet.

The mortar is tough at first, but can be very effective when you''ve got some team mates to hold the line while you bombard the enemy positions. Perhaps I should, however, allow the Artillery troops a formable secondary weapon to help out when they are all alone?

A run key? Afraid not, as what would ever be the point in walking (higher accuracy?)? What you are noticing is the speed difference between classes - Recon troops are very fast, Assault men move at an average speed and Support soldiers are slow. But Support soldiers are slow for good reason, which brings me to my next point...

You can fire automatic! Support soldiers carry automatic weapons. Just hold the fire button down - it''s that simple. Support troops move the slowest but carry the best weapon of the lot - fast fire rate, automatic (but low accuracy). Recon soldiers are quick, accurate, fire fast bullets but suffer from a low fire rate. And, as you''d expect, Assault soldiers linger somewhere in between.

Anyhow, thanks for playing . I''ll stay in touch.

Jackson Allan