Yikes

Okay, well our plans for frequent updates kind of fell by the wayside after the first round of alpha testing opened. So I guess Ill just jump back in here and tell you all what we are currently working on. The User Interface (that so many of you were kind enough to help us test) is now complete, feature wise. There are a few more graphics that need to be added but all the major features are implemented. You also might have noticed that the website is still evolving (the "links" page for instance is currently being constructed). Anyway thanks for dropping into Campaign '63 HQ and stop by again soon.
Jeff

Free Trial Period

In celebration of Mutant Entertainment Studios first release we are happy to offer a three week free trial period. The trail period will end on November 1st. So in the meantime please join or start a game and check back here soon for announcements regarding pricing.
Jeff

Ready for Testers!

Hey everyone. We are ready for testers, so just sign up here. Then join the test game that is set up
here. There are only 9 spots on the first test round, so sign up early to make sure you get to poke and prod our work. Thank you so much everyone and we'll see you soon.
Jeff

Eye Candy

Things are moving right along. Test accounts will be open soon. In the meantime here is some eye candy for you

WANTED: T-shirt Wearing Volunteers!

So, if you're going to be in the Fresno, Calif. area over the weekend of Oct. 3-4, have we got a great job for you! We're looking for friends, family, strangers, dogs, horses, and whatever else can fit in a size large t-shirt to attend the Kearney Park Reenactment and wear Campaign of '63 t-shirts to give us some cheap, yet eye-catching advertising. These shirts will be free for our volunteers who attend (tickets to get in will NOT be free: $10 per adult, $5 per child 6-12) and the event is sure to be fun! I went last year with my sister to the reenactment near Mariposa, Calif. and we greatly enjoying the sword fighting cavalry men, and of course the great drama of the dying soldiers. :)

Here is the link for more info:
http://www.valleyhistory.org/civilwar2009.html

Email us at info@campaign63.com for info on getting ahold of a t-shirt.

The Game, Background and Gameplay

The Game

The turn-based multiplayer team-versus-team Campaign of '63 provides a strategic simulation of the U.S. Civil War's critical Gettysburg Campaign. You assume the role and responsibilities of one of ten historic military commanders. For each 12 hour game turn, plan your actions, dispatch your orders and await the results. Maneuver your troops to victory and avoid defeat.

Background

With Lee's confidence bolstered by the victory in the Chancellorsville Campaign and to counter the mounting pressure in the West from Grant, Lee decided a second invasion of the North was crucial. His plan would give Virginia a much needed respite and allow the Confederate Army to live off the riches of northern farms while threatening Washington, Baltimore and Philadelphia, and vitally aiding the growing peace movement in the North. The results of his decisions lead to the pivotal campaign in the Eastern Theater and the clash of over 150,000 soldiers with the fate of a nation in the balance.

The Play

Taking place in the summer of 1863, the Campaign of '63 begins on 22 June 1863 and runs through to 10 July 1863. With each day consisting of 2 game turns (a day turn and a night turn). With each turn players will receive staff reports on your units, combat results, and intelligence reports as well as correspondence from other commanders. Complete your orders and submit your correspondence prior to the dispatch deadline for the turn, then await the results. Players should remember however that "No battle plan survives contact with the enemy" and plan accordingly.

Players will sign on to the Campaign of '63 headquarters to select one of your current games, join a game or start a new game. For gameplay you need a standard web browser and Flash player 8.0 or higher to access the user interface. Once you have logged in and entered an active game you are now free to review your staff reports and correspondence, issue orders to your units and write correspondence all prior to the dispatch deadline for the turn.

Campaign of '63 is designed around what we call asychronus gameplay. Which is just a fancy way of saying that your "team" doesnt all need to log in at the same time to play the game. A game turn will last for set number of days, and players will be able to login at any time and plan and submit their dispatches up until the specified deadline for the game turn. Once the deadline is up the game will process all the players dispatches and process the results. Once the results are available they will be posted, and players will be notified that the previous turns results are available and a new deadline is set for the next game turn.

Build Your Own Game...

It's pretty much the dream of every gamer to make their own game. When you get any group of game enthusiasts together in a room, they can talk for hours about what they would make if they had the money, workers, and equipment. In our case, it's 3 main workers and a lot of great contractors (oh, and a lot of tasty beverages).
We'll be posting some pictures soon, which will do more to illustrate my next point than I can with just words, but the gist of it is, we've come a long way, baby. Three years ago we were just a group of friends and an IDEA. An idea that we'd never seen any game company come up with. We're still trying to figure out what to call our game style. They have RPGs: role playing games. They have MMOs: Massive Multiplayer Online games. They have MMORPGs: Massive Multiplayer Online Roleplaying games. We've made a Turnbased Strategy Teamplaying game. TBSTG? TSTG? TSTPG? Maybe that will be our next poll. :)
The other day, Jeff and I went through our archives of the past three years, chuckling over the truly rough "programmer art" we were stuck with until we hired our artists. Each step back was even more awe-inspiring than the last. When we got to our earliest saved folder, we were practically patting each other on the back, it looks so good now, compared to what we started out with. You will be amazed when we finally post those pictures.
And now we are literally weeks away from launching our baby, the compilation of the last three years -blood, sweat and tears- and I'm so excited and anxious I can barely stand it. I'm excited to show off what I've worked so hard on, and anxious that people will actually love it as much as I do. It's a roll of the dice. We've done our market research. We've done our planning, and our coding. We hired a fantastic bunch of people to make up for our stick figure drawing capabilities. We've got a website, a forum, and wonder of all wonders, a developers' blog. Fingers crossed we don't get snake eyes. :)

Who we are

So you might be asking yourself, "Who the heck are these people?" Or maybe like me, you're thinking about tasty beverages. Either way, introductions are in order. First off, the company: Mutant Entertainment Studios was founded in 2006 by Clarke Steinback, Kate Stoddard and Jeff Underwood with the goal of producing casual market games featuring deep and compelling game play. In case you haven't noticed, the casual market has grown exponentially over the last few years, while quality of those games has remained middling. That being the case, we noticed a huge opportunity to jump into a growing genre and make an immediate impact. Our first project, Campaign of '63, allows players to assume the role of any one of ten real life civil war commanders on either The North or South sides. Each side has one general (Lee for The South and Meade for The North) who is in charge of overarching strategy for their camp. The object of the game is fairly simple. The South will try to take Washington and/or as much Northern territory as possible while The North must defend. Specifics however, will have to wait for another time. At any rate, thanks for checking in. We will bring you more on Campaign of '63 development soon.

Jeff

Welcome

Hello and welcome to Mutant Entertainment Studios developer blog. The intent of this blog is to keep you updated on the latest developments of M.E.S.’s first project tentatively entitled “The Campaign of ‘63″. Look for an official press release with specific details about the game on the Campaign of '63 web site soon. Feel free to contact us with any questions: info at mutantentertainmentstudios dot com

Setting up the MES Developer Blog

Hi,
We are currently setting up our MES Developer Blog. Please check back soon for updates on Mutant Entertainment Studios first project: The Campaign of 1863