SSI is in the final phases of completing the design documentation. Preliminary development work on the 3-D engine and the interface have produced enhanced visuals of the ships and aircraft that will be in the game. Harpoon 4 will let the user actually view events as they unfold during combat. "This latest version of Harpoon will now have sophisticated camera features that allow for user-controlled viewpoints and real-time control of viewing perspectives," said James R. Jones, CEO at Crusaders Studios. "We are very excited at bringing this technology to Harpoon. It will give the player a very real situational awareness, a must for a combat sim of this caliber." The database structure for the computer simulation will closely match the paper rules version of Harpoon 4. The objective of the design team is to make this system as robust and easy to update or amend as the paper rules set. Many suggestions for Computer Harpoon 4 have been received from Harpooners via several web pages and by e-mail. According to SSI's Executive Producer, Carl Norman, "We have maintained a listing of these suggestions and have consulted the list frequently during the formulation of the design document. Harpoon has always enjoyed a strong participation by the users. There is enormous interest in this product by the Harpoon Faithful and we are grateful for their active participation." BT Back to The Naval Sitrep #14 Table of Contents Back to Naval Sitrep List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1998 by Larry Bond and Clash of Arms. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com