Muzzy Lane's WWI Strategy Game Making History: The Great War to Launch at National World War I Museum
Newburyport, MA,-- Developer Muzzy Lane Software today announced the official release of the next game in its Making History series. Making History: The Great War will launch on January 29th, 2015 and be featured at a premiere launch event at the National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial in Kansas City on Saturday, January 31st. At the event, attendees will get to play the game and attend a presentation by Muzzy Lane developers.
The Great War places you in the role of national leader with the power to choose your own path and change the course of history. The turn based historical strategy title challenges players to prevail while maintaining control of their empire amidst global instability, rising nationalism and expanding war.
"The history of World War I on its own presents an incredibly interesting theme for a game like Making History," says Making History designer Ralph Gerth, " It's so much more diverse than trenches, gas attacks and the Western Front. These were vast empires engaged in a global struggle with historic consequences that persist today. " Gerth says the National World War I Museum is the ideal place for a launch event. "A key goal of the museum is to make the experiences of the World War I era meaningful and relevant for present and future generations. With Making History: The Great War, players can be part of creating a new historical trajectory and world that might have been."
Making History: The Great War has attracted the attention of educators including economic historian Niall Ferguson. "Students in my Strategy and Crisis spring seminar at Harvard will play Making History: The Great War," Ferguson says. "Making History is much more than just a wargame. It models the crucial economic and demographic factors as well as the process of strategic decision-making. Playing the game will give my students a much better idea of the choices Europe's leaders faced as World War I unfolded."
"We are thrilled to launch Making History: The Great War at the museum," said National World War I Museum President & CEO Dr. Matthew Naylor. "Muzzy Lane Software's track record of creating compelling, engaging and educational games played by individuals across the world speaks for itself. The timing for the launch of this game coincides with the Centennial of World War I and the Museum's efforts to provide programs that help people derive lessons and meaning from the Great War and its enduring impact on the world."
Muzzy Lane has established itself as one of the premier companies in game-based learning with recent titles like Practice Spanish: School Year Abroad and Practice Medical Office, both developed in partnership with McGraw-Hill Education. Another title, The Underground Railroad, developed with National Geographic, recently earned an I/ITSEC Student's Choice Award at the Serious Games Showcase and Challenge.
Making History: The Great War is currently available at a variety of digital stores, including Steam, Gamer's Gate, and the company's Making History website, and is playable on Windows, Mac OSX and Linux. The game will remain at the discounted price of $29.99 until launch, at which point it will be available at a cost of $39.99. For more information, visit http://making-history.com. or contact Product Manager Chris Parsons at chris@muzzylane.com. Details for the January 31st event at the National World War I Museum will be announced soon and will be available at the Museum's website https://theworldwar.org.
About Muzzy Lane Software
Muzzy Lane Software, Inc. is a pioneer in game-based learning. The company designs, develops, and deploys games for education, corporate training, and healthcare as well as for the commercial market. The company's cloud-based games service provides content distribution, LMS integration for single-sign-on and assessment, and hosting for multiplayer games. In addition to its own self-published series, Making History (http://making-history.com), Muzzy Lane has developed serious game projects with The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, National Geographic, Cengage Learning, The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), McGraw-Hill Education, The Robert Woods Johnson Foundation, Middlebury Interactive Languages, Pearson Education, and The Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. For more information, please visit http://muzzylane.com .
About the National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial
The National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial is the only American museum solely dedicated to examining the personal experiences of a war whose impact still echoes in the world today. The National World War I Museum holds the most diverse collection of World War I objects and documents in the world and is the second-oldest public museum dedicated to preserving the objects, history and experiences of the war. The Museum takes visitors of all ages on an epic journey through a transformative period and shares deeply personal stories of courage, honor, patriotism and sacrifice. Designated by Congress as America's official World War I Museum and located in downtown Kansas City, Mo., the National World War I Museum inspires thought, dialogue and learning to make the experiences of the Great War era meaningful and relevant for present and future generations. To learn more, visit theworldwar.org.
Copyright © 2014-2015 Muzzy Lane Software. All rights reserved. Muzzy Lane and Making History are registered trademarks of Muzzy Lane Software. All other product and/or company names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective holders.
Cool!
Too bad there not a national WWI memorial in Washington DC. :-\
There actually is a WWI Memorial on the Mall, but its called the District of Columbia War Memorial (http://www.ask.com/wiki/District_of_Columbia_War_Memorial?o=2801&qsrc=999&ad=doubleDown&an=apn&ap=ask.com). There was some talk a few years back about making it a national memorial, but (from what I remember) the local DC politicians threw a small tantrum... It'd be interesting to know how/why a local memorial was allowed on the National Mall in the first place.
p.s. http://wwimemorial.org/
Have folks been playing the early access version? i skipped making history 1 and 2, but am slightly intrigued by this one.
Quote from: sandman2575 on January 08, 2015, 03:39:54 PM
Have folks been playing the early access version? i skipped making history 1 and 2, but am slightly intrigued by this one.
lots of chatter
here http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=11700.0
and
here http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=10264.0
Thanks :)
Wait, did the devs also adapt the Underground Railroad boardgame somewhere??! Or is the article saying they dev'd the boardgame? ???
Quote from: steve58 on January 08, 2015, 09:04:32 AM
There actually is a WWI Memorial on the Mall, but its called the District of Columbia War Memorial (http://www.ask.com/wiki/District_of_Columbia_War_Memorial?o=2801&qsrc=999&ad=doubleDown&an=apn&ap=ask.com). There was some talk a few years back about making it a national memorial, but (from what I remember) the local DC politicians threw a small tantrum... It'd be interesting to know how/why a local memorial was allowed on the National Mall in the first place.
p.s. http://wwimemorial.org/
Yeah, I pass by that 'Charlie Brown Christmas Tree' of a memorial frequently. I think there's still talk on building a national one but it hasn't gone anywhere. I need to research how the local one ended up there.
Quote from: bbmike on January 08, 2015, 04:21:27 PMI think there's still talk on building a national one but it hasn't gone anywhere. I need to research how the local one ended up there.
they're running out of space to cram one in on the mall anywhere...
Quote from: bayonetbrant on January 08, 2015, 04:24:57 PM
Quote from: bbmike on January 08, 2015, 04:21:27 PMI think there's still talk on building a national one but it hasn't gone anywhere. I need to research how the local one ended up there.
they're running out of space to cram one in on the mall anywhere...
A quick internet search shows you are correct (http://blogs.rollcall.com/hill-blotter/national-wwi-memorial-to-come-to-pershing-park/?dcz=)! Eleanor Holmes Nutjob won't let them change the local one to a national one which makes the most sense.
KC is reasonably close to where I live so if the unpredictable January weather in the plains holds out I plan on going. BTW, if you ever get a chance to the WW1 Museum in KC you should. It's an outstanding museum.
While in KC, make time to go over to the Truman Library / Museum. I've been to a handful of the presidential libraries/museums, and his is hands-down the best. Went in with low expectations and the museum there blew them all away.
Quote from: sandman2575 on January 08, 2015, 03:39:54 PM
Have folks been playing the early access version? i skipped making history 1 and 2, but am slightly intrigued by this one.
The game is getting better and better with each release. The latest version resolved a lot of complaints I had with trade, so I was a happy camper. Funny, but I'm enjoying playing the 1912 campaign as South Africa, and so my game experience is probably going to be much different than someone who chooses to play a great power. For me, it's more of an infrastructure building and international trading game. Still, I may be able to get myself into some fighting in Africa once the war starts.
Quote from: bayonetbrant on January 15, 2015, 03:23:43 PM
While in KC, make time to go over to the Truman Library / Museum. I've been to a handful of the presidential libraries/museums, and his is hands-down the best. Went in with low expectations and the museum there blew them all away.
I did some research a while back at the Truman Library. It's a really nice. Unfortunately my trip to KC is just for the day so I'll have to re-visit the Truman Library another time. Of course I could spend several days the WW1 museum alone. 8)
Just a reminder for those interested the game set to release tomorrow (assume still on schedule), which means it goes to full price.
I think we're still on track to release today. One small glitch with the tutorial (which we will give away free like the demo). If you have a registered game, the tutorial was letting players choose any nation, which doesn't work since the tutorial is specifically designed to use Austria Hungary! Fixing it right now, then I think the release version will go live!
Let me take this time to offer a special thanks to the Groghead community for jumping in and being part of early access and giving us feedback on the game.
Chris--
Good luck with the launch Chris!
Congrats on the launch!
http://making-history.com/
Made it down the launch at the WWI Museum (I could spend a week in that place 8) ) Very informative presentation by the people from Muzzy Lane. Explained a lot of the "why" and "how" behind the game and were very gracious fielding questions from the audience. Had a lot of computers set up so people could try out the game.
I really didn't know much about the game before I went there but I very impressed with what Muzzy Lane has done with simulating the economic and diplomatic aspects of simulating WWI. The game is very deep and there's a lot to keep an eye on while playing. Bought a copy while I was there.
They did mention that a Cold War version of Making History is in the works so I think that's something definitely to look forward to.
I remember seeing something about a Cold War version in a long ago email, but I thought the email also said that ML was going to have another go at WWII first. Wonder if they've reconsidered and are going to push out a Cold War version first?? O0
Quote from: steve58 on February 01, 2015, 02:24:31 PM
I remember seeing something about a Cold War version in a long ago email, but I thought the email also said that ML was going to have another go at WWII first. Wonder if they've reconsidered and are going to push out a Cold War version first?? O0
Don't recall any mention of re-doing WW2 but a Cold War version was definitely talked about. No timeline given.
Quote from: Al on February 01, 2015, 02:27:59 PM
Quote from: steve58 on February 01, 2015, 02:24:31 PM
I remember seeing something about a Cold War version in a long ago email, but I thought the email also said that ML was going to have another go at WWII first. Wonder if they've reconsidered and are going to push out a Cold War version first?? O0
Don't recall any mention of re-doing WW2 but a Cold War version was definitely talked about. No timeline given.
Thanks for coming to the event, Al! Glad you enjoyed our presentation. Did I get a chance to speak with you?
We are planning to revisit WWII, as well as the Cold War. We also have plans in the short term for some kind of expansion and/or DLC for TGW.
Chris--
Making History Cold War? Oh hell yes. :)
^^ Hell to the +1x!
Quote from: MuzzyDev on February 05, 2015, 11:40:13 AM
Quote from: Al on February 01, 2015, 02:27:59 PM
Quote from: steve58 on February 01, 2015, 02:24:31 PM
I remember seeing something about a Cold War version in a long ago email, but I thought the email also said that ML was going to have another go at WWII first. Wonder if they've reconsidered and are going to push out a Cold War version first?? O0
Don't recall any mention of re-doing WW2 but a Cold War version was definitely talked about. No timeline given.
Thanks for coming to the event, Al! Glad you enjoyed our presentation. Did I get a chance to speak with you?
We are planning to revisit WWII, as well as the Cold War. We also have plans in the short term for some kind of expansion and/or DLC for TGW.
Chris--
I attended your first session. I'm the one who asked if Muzzy Lane could include in the game manual a bibliography of the sources you used. I thought it was an impressive list. Some books I wasn't too familiar with. Unfortunately I couldn't stick around too long to play The Great War more. If you recall the weather that day wasn't too great and I had a long trip back home. Thanks again for a fine presentation.
Love that artwork!