Fire Zone ("FZ") is a tabletop roleplaying and tactical game about the experience of the footsoldier in the 20th century. Strictly speaking it is a game manual that has been under development for a number of years now. It has also been an immense learning experience - about military game design, realistic and representational game design, and game development in general.

Three iterations of the Fire Zone manual have been produced, including a full graphic mock-up of the final publishable version (with a commissioned painting for cover, and professional layout). These books weigh in at 200+ pages (the mock-up is about 275 pages). The project was begun in 1995, was worked on full-time for two years, and part time for the remainder. There was a two-year hiatus taken as well. Currently the project is approximately 75% done.

The objective of Fire Zone is to provide a game system that conveys the full spectrum of the modern soldier's experience - from the turn of the century all the way to now. It does devote rules to core combat aspects, of course - such as squad-level command-control; the effects of small arms and other fire against small unit targets; rules for movement, cover, stealth, vehicles, et cetera. However, it goes beyond these objectives in a number of ways.

For one thing, almost all of the rules in the game are based on real-world and historical assessments. They are not based on other games, but have been painstakingly built through direct research into historical accounts as much as possible. (Contrast this with many other wargames, which are derivative in nature.) Furthermore, the game devotes considerable attention to the "peripheral" experiences of soldiering as well - the non-combat elements. Rules and supplemental information cover such aspects as: combat psychology and battleshock; general military life and the politics of "army" command and bureaucracy; conventional versus unconventional operations; the integration of small infantry units into the full spectrum of frontline operations; detailed air support rules (covering the full range of "air" - from Sopwith Camels to stealth fighters); unusual munitions such as flame weapons, mines, explosively-formed projectiles, and so on; communications and surveillance; a full range of "tech levels" to categorize equipment and weapons from 1900 right up until now.

All of this makes Fire Zone sound like a training or reference manual. (Actually, that is exactly what some commentators have called it - including the former head of the journalism department at University of Salt Lake.) However, the objective of making the game workable and usable is very much on the radar of the game's designer. I am making it fun. (A lot of traditional wargame designers have poor understanding of ergonomics.)

In essence, Fire Zone is a "monster" game project. The first few years were basically devoted to "unpacking" the game's immense subject - including reading an incredible amount - which is why early iterations were unusually bulky and complex. But the later design period (including hiatus) has now been devoted to taking what has been learned and honing the architecture down. The latest rules are now much leaner while still basically yielding the same level of representation. They do more with less. This is important when you want to design something that is fun and engrossing - a game not just well researched but also playable and replayable. The final game will be considerable shorter and more streamlined than earlier iterations.

The experience of developing Fire Zone has been incalculable in allowing me to build the muscles of dedicated, serious game design. This work and these achievements include:

• Intensive research into the game's subject (drawing on the author's own military experience, reading many books, and also reading obscure sources), with a resulting high level of military expertise;

• The design and redesign of countless iterations of game mechanics (based on real-world research, not game derivations and design "artifacts");

• Insight into the underlying "black-box" mechanics of wargames in general - including computer wargames;

• Analyzing the treatment of other tactical-operational combat - and soldier-experience - in other wargames;

• The writing of approximately one thousand of pages of rules in total;

• Building an entire game world from scratch (Fire Zone possesses a fictional game world, though it can still be used for realistic historical wargaming, such as WW2);

• The honing of writing, editing and graphic design skills;

• Research into the workings of the game business;

• Development of business skills (the author was awarded support through the Toronto Business Development Centre to pursue the project);

• Experience in how to target and prioritize game development objectives (other games mentioned in the XFunc portfolio were completed on time and budget in great part due to experience acquired through undertaking Fire Zone);

• The honing of general research, writing, and graphic design skills.

Fire Zone is a huge game, but it has also been an incalculable learning experience. Once completed we will also direct it into the form of a computer game franchise. It has illuminated the entire subject of wargames for us, and has allowed us to develop unexpected new concepts in this field.

Finally, we have had great fun playtesting many sessions of Fire Zone. This project has simply been an exercise in how to make a game both engrossingly realistic and incredibly fun.

(To visit the archived, original Fire Zone website, please click here...)