Adam Bryant Interview

My Union regiment is marching down a sunlit path that meanders along a pleasant portion of the Virginia countryside. It is a hot day---as attested to by the many cicadas that serenade my troops as they dutifully march in column formation towards the distant sound of booming cannons. I know that battle is near, but I do not realize just how close it is as, without warning, Rebel troops start appearing in a patch of woods to my left! I spring into action, deploy my regiment into combat formation and wheel them about to face this unexpected flank attack. The enemy unleashes his first volley of musketry and some of my men fall to the ground. The rest of my “boys in blue” respond with anger, firing back at the enemy who are expertly using the trees for cover. It’s a heck of a way to start a battle….

The following was a fairly typical account of a session with MadMinute Games’ Take Command: 2nd Manassas. It is no exaggeration to say that the Take Command series (covering both 1st and 2nd Manassas) has proven to be one of the most innovative wargames ever to simulate combat during the American Civil War. To play these games is to actually place oneself in the shoes of a Union or Confederate commander and experience the unique challenges that faced those who strove and fought on bloody Virginia battlefields. It is literally the next best thing to building a time machine and watching American history unfold with your own eyes.

Surprisingly, these Civil War masterpieces were not produced by a behemoth game producer but by two guys who had set out to prove that, contrary to popular wisdom, wargaming was not dead but just needed some modernization. With this in mind, Adam Bryant and Norb Timpko created MadMinute Games, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Xtreme-Gamer.com recently had an opportunity to speak with Adam Bryant of MadMinute Games about their line of American Civil War titles.

XG: Can you tell us a little bit about how Mad Minute Games got started?

Adam: Norb & I met at a PC game company and I convinced him that there was a niche in wargames that we could fill. We started MadMinute Games in 2001 while still working full-time at the other game company. I love 19th & 18th Century combat (ACW, Napeonics, Revolutionary War, etc) and knew that there was a lot of opportunity for new approaches in that genre. No game company had captured the feel of those conflicts and I wanted MadMinute to be the first!

I am a wargamer…Norb is not! He plays RPG/Fantasy games. Instead of that being an obstacle it ended up being a strength because we blended aspects of both styles of gameplay to come up with a new style. An RTTS = Real-Time Tactical simulation.

It took us 4 years working nights/weekends/vacations to build this engine from the ground up before we came out with our first title Take Command: The Battle of Bull Run 1861. MadeMinute Games has no office. We're a virtual company and work over the Internet, which is an unbelievable communication obstacle when developing games.

XG: What do you think your games offer players that the mainstream RTS titles don't?

Adam: GAMEPLAY and FEEL! Nearly all the games out now have jaw-dropping graphics and SFX…but have limited gameplay. We don't have the resources other game companies do (huge art teams, many coders, etc). I think companies treat games like movies and forget that you're supposed to play them! To MMG, gameplay trumps all. Our art has its limitations and we always try and improve it, but what we lack the player can fill in with their imagination.

However, we have captured the feel of this type of warfare and can put the player in the mind of the generals who fought there. That is no small feat! And we do that with gameplay…not killer graphics!

XG: Why American Civil War?

Adam: As a wargamer, I like the strategy & tactics of gaming18th & 19th century warfare…they move at a slower pace and allow for a more even fight, in my opinion. Weapons from WWI onward are just too efficient at killing and limit the scope of gameplay. Also, personally, I've always been fascinated with the American Civil War. There's something incredibly American to it. It's like a family fight where in the end everyone shakes hands and makes up (after killing each other for years!). I mean Brother vs Brother doesn't get any more dramatic than that!

XG: Was there something you hoped to accomplish in the broader sense of ACW History, as a whole, by making such a detailed game?

Adam: Detailed game? If you're going to do something…why not do it right? We make games and playing games is all about making meaningful decisions. To MMG, a meaningful gameplay decision is one that has its basis in reality. Life & history are far more cooler than any fictional story...because it's real! People did these things! When someone is playing a historical scenario where he is against overwhelming odds but must hold his ground at all costs, a player can feel, for a moment, what his historical counterpart actually felt and marvel that real men did these things!

It's out of honor and reverence to the men that fought & died that the MMG team strives to model warfare correctly and incorporate real decision making into our games.

XG: With the recent success of Take Command: 2nd Manasas, do you think that you will be able to make games full time?

Adam: Wargame Sims are still very niche and it's hard to get noticed when there's so many other games with huge advertising budgets…we kind get lost in the crowd. So, Norb & I always hope and pray for enough revenue to do this fulltime but, unfortunately, we're probably not going to be able to do that just yet. So, that means a slow development cycle for the fans that love the Take Command Series.

XG: Are there any plans to re-release Take Command: The Battle of Bull Run 1861? It seems the game is no longer supported by the History Channel and it is difficult to find in stores.

Adam: Absolutely! We are pondering releasing a product that would have some of those scenarios as bonuses to the main content.

XG: Now that 1st and 2nd Manasas have been covered, what are your plans for your next game?

Adam: Norb & I are going to go deep into our basements and work on implementing the coolest aspects of the Take Command Series….the Campaign & RPG components. I can't say much cuz we're still in the planning phase, but consider it like an Army Building/Managing game where a player can be anyone in an Army and play through a series of battles that are generated by a player moving his army on a campaign map of the Western Theater. It's going to be a huge leap in the gameplay and add new features that will blow away people. But, doing it part-time is a severe limitation so our fans and Norb & I have to be patient.

XG: The Take Command games are known for their modability. Do you consider this an important feature in wargames and do you think that this flexibility increases their lifespan?

Adam: It absolutely increases their lifespan, no doubt! But also, the people who generally play our games are well informed about history and may not agree with some design decisions we made and would like things to behave differently…as they believe it should be. Giving them the ability to make it their way is akin to Burger King's philosophy… Have it your way!

XG: Many gamers note the lack of a multiplayer mode in your titles. Was the decision to make the games single player only due to technical limitations or were there other considerations?

Adam: Time limitations! We chose SP because most people play SP and so we might as well start there first. If we started with MP only first, your question would be why didn't we include SP in our games! Again, we're only 2 guys and a handful of super volunteers working part-time. Our ability to develop all phases of a game is severely limited.

XG: What advice can you offer 'would be' game developers who may be considering trying to make a garage game?

Adam: You better want it…and want it bad! This project has been the hardest thing Norb & I have ever done in our professional lives! The amount of patience and determination needed just to get this far is more than he and I ever thought we had. It's exhausting, emotionally and physically, and it takes a brutal toll on our wives & kids! If we didn't have the coolest, most supportive and understanding wives we'd be toast. Don't do it for money or fame or any reason other than you love it and are challenged by the adventure of the journey.