Axis & Allies 1942 Online by Beamdog - now available on Early Access

[Life of the Party]

https://www.axisandalliesonline.com




https://af.gog.com/game/axis_allies_1942_online?as=1649904300

Spoiler

Coming soon to Steam Early Access!

Axis & Allies Online is an official adaptation of the classic board game, Axis & Allies 1942 Second Edition. Strategize your way to victory as the United Kingdom, Soviet Union, United States, Germany, and Japan vie for world domination at the height of the second World War!

www.axisandalliesonline.com

 

[Infinitron]

http://blog.beamdog.com/2019/02/beamdog-announces-axis-allies-online.html

Beamdog Announces Axis & Allies Online!



Beamdog announces official adaptation of tabletop classic:
Axis & Allies Online

We're thrilled to announce our latest project Axis & Allies Online!

Axis & Allies Online is an official adaptation of Axis & Allies 1942, Second Edition: a tabletop classic beloved by history buffs and strategy gamers around the globe! Check out the teaser trailer:

“Growing up, I had two favourite games, Dungeons & Dragons and Axis & Allies. As a long-time Axis & Allies player, I’m excited to be able to recreate this classic game for other avid fans— and for new online audiences. Axis & Allies Online captures the tactics and friendly rivalry of the board game with a few key differences: there’s no setup or cleanup, and you can’t flip the table when you’re losing.” ~ Beamdog CEO Trent Oster

The year is 1942 and the world is at war! Axis & Allies Online is a race for victory as the United Kingdom, Soviet Union, United States, Germany, and Japan vie for world domination in this official adaptation of the classic board game!

• Battle in single or multiplayer modes
• Play with allies and enemies across the world
• Hotseat play for 2 to 5 players
• Challenge yourself against AI
• Start with learn-to-play tutorials
• Keep informed with interactive game guides and war diaries

Axis & Allies Online will be coming soon to Steam Early Access.

Make sure to sign up for the Axis & Allies Online newsletter for the latest updates on community, strategy and development! Follow Axis & Allies Online on Twitter and Facebook!

 

[Sukhāvatī]

Sweet. Much more interesting/useful direction to take.

 

[Sacibengala]

What is this after all? Never heard about it before.

 

[imweasel]

But will it have trannies? Nazi trannies?

 

[LESS T_T]

https://www.axisandallies.org/p/announcing-axis-and-allies-online/

Announcing Axis & Allies Online

Today we’re pleased to announce that an official online adaptation of Axis & Allies is finally here and it is called Axis & Allies Online.

Axis & Allies Online will be based on Axis & Allies 1942 Second Edition with a few minor adjustments to streamline online play. It will be available for purchase on Steam for $19.99 USD for Windows, MacOS, and Linux. Early access to the game is coming very soon.

The game developer of Axis & Allies Online is Beamdog, a Canadian video game developer out of Edmonton, Alberta. Beamdog is known for reviving and updating classic Dungeons & Dragons video games such as Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights, and Planscape: Torment.

I spoke with the team late last week and after almost 2 years of development, they’re excited they can finally talk about the game, get it out into the world, and gather feedback from you, the Axis & Allies community. Trent Oster, CEO of Beamdog, is a long time Axis & Allies fan and started playing in the early 90s. One important thing that Trent said is:

“This is a multi-year thing for us. We’re excited about it and want to roll it forward and do a lot of fun things with it.”

We’ll have more about our conversation with the Beamdog team later but the important thing to note is that they are committed to Axis & Allies Online for the long haul and Beamdog’s record with their current line-up of games is testament to that.

I also had a chance to play a couple of games of Axis & Allies Online. As mentioned above there are a couple of changes to streamline the game for “asynchronous” play. This means that a player does their turn completely without the involvement of other players. As a result:

• Defenders do not choose their casualties and order of loss (OOL) is based on IPC value of the unit. The exception is battleships, where the first hit is taken on the battleship in a naval battle.
• You are not allowed to use transports nor aircraft carriers of friendly powers. For instance, the USA cannot fly a fighter to defend that newly built air craft carrier in sea zone 7. Note: this rule was first introduced in Axis & Allies & Zombies and we speculate that it will carry on to any new versions of the game.

The game also includes some other useful features like tutorials, map notes (leave messages for yourself or teammates), and a lightweight (not currently exportable) log of the game play. The map and graphics in the game look great and are reminiscent of the board game. The game plays smoothly and the AI is fast and will be updated over time to get better and better. I’m certain the Beamdog team will be interested in your feedback on how to make the AI better.

There are two modes of play: Local and Online. For Local, you can select “Pass and Play” or “Single Player.” For Online games you can play with 2-5 humans and even include an AI player if you so chose.

We will have more details about the game in the coming weeks so please stay tuned! In the meantime, check out these links:

• Website: https://www.axisandalliesonline.com
• FAQ: https://www.axisandalliesonline.com/aao_faq.pdf
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/AandAOnline
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AxisAndAlliesOnline

For further discussion and feedback, we have a new forum category for Axis & Allies Online.

See below for the full press release for Axis & Allies Online:

Beamdog announces official adaptation of tabletop classic:
Axis & Allies Online

EDMONTON, CANADA— February 11, 2019. Today video game developer Beamdog announced Axis & Allies Online, an official adaptation of the classic board game, Axis & Allies. Axis & Allies Online will be released as a Steam Early Access title for Windows, macOS and Linux, priced at $19.99 USD.

“Growing up, I had two favourite games, Dungeons & Dragons and Axis & Allies. As a long-time Axis & Allies player, I’m excited to be able to recreate this classic game for other avid fans— and for new online audiences,” said Trent Oster, Beamdog CEO. “Axis & Allies Online captures the tactics and friendly rivalry of the board game with a few key differences: there’s no setup or cleanup, and you can’t flip the table when you’re losing.”

Axis & Allies Online adapts rules from Axis & Allies: 1942 Second Edition, a turn-based strategy board game in which players act as World War II powers on either side of the conflict: the Allied forces of United Kingdom, the United States and the Soviet Union, or the Axis powers of Germany and Japan.

“We know there is an appetite for an online version of Axis & Allies within the tabletop community, not necessarily to replace the board game, but as a way to play when your gaming group can’t meet up, or when you don’t have time to commit to a full game.” Oster continued, “Our online version is a great way for new players to discover the fun of this classic game.”

Axis & Allies Online players act as one or more of the world powers, with a maximum of five players in a single game. Multiplayer games can include both AI and human players; players also have the option to play on their own against AI. With asynchronous play, players can take turns on their own time and watch opponent’s moves in observer mode.

Oster says Beamdog’s adaptation successfully captures the spirit the original, “Axis & Allies Online is a loyal implementation of the 1942 Second Edition rules. We love the board game and we’re incredibly excited to bring that experience to the desktop,” said Trent Oster. Beyond its classic gameplay, Axis & Allies Online offers interactive maps, combat summaries, and dramatic music and sound effects.

 

[Bester]

Inb4 Goebbels- and US cold war- propaganda in game in form of abilities. "Use barrier troops: -1.5 million to population, + 150 to attack bonus for a short duration". Or "Ruler: Stalin (low IQ, but inspires fear and cannot be overthrown)".

Western cucks sure love their anti-soviet, nazi propaganda.

 

[LESS T_T]

https://venturebeat.com/2019/02/11/...e-beamdog-goes-beyond-enhancing-old-dd-games/

With Axis & Allies Online, Beamdog goes beyond ‘enhancing’ old D&D games

Beamdog’s adding an “A”-word to its established model of working on enhanced editions of classic Dungeons & Dragons role-playing games. The word of the day is “adaptation,” and it’s coming in the form of Axis & Allies Online for PC.

This will be an online adaptation of the Axis & Allies: 1942 Second Edition version of the World War II strategy board game. It’s for 1-to-5 players, and it’s a turn-based affair. The Allies are the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union, while the Axis is Germany and Japan. A solo player can play against the AI or a mix of AI and other people in multiplayer. Its release date is “coming soon.”

Axis & Allies Online is a shift for Beamdog, a Canadian studio that has been releasing enhanced editions of classic RPGs such as Baldur’s Gate and Planescape since 2012. But like with the previous enhanced editions of D&Dgames, it’s a passion play as well. And it doesn’t hurt that Axis & Allies publisher Avalon Hill is part of Hasbro, which holds the reins of Wizards of the Coast and D&D. The connection between Avalon Hill and Wizards is so strong that even the board game brand’s manager, Shelly Mazzanoble, cohosts the weekly Dragon Talk D&D podcast.

“The main reason Beamdog is making Axis & Allies Online is because our CEO, Trent Oster, has a passion for the board game, and he’s shared that with the team — we’re all hooked now!” said Sarah Dawson, the marketing & PR lead for Beamdog, in an email interview today. “He played Axis & Allies with family and friends growing up, and was beyond excited when he saw an opportunity to make his favorite board game into a digital adaptation — Axis & Allies Online. The Axis & Allies license is held by Hasbro’s Avalon Hill — which is connected to Wizards of the Coast. Beamdog has a partnership with Wizards of the Coast for our Dungeons & Dragons enhanced editions, so Trent was able to approach them about an Axis & Allies online game.”

No tangled code this time
I’ve talked to Beamdog a number of times about the difficulties of taking old code from previous Windows operating systems and making it work for modern PCs. For Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition, Oster said the studio just ignored the original codebase and Icewind Dale to the codebase they’d created for Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition. This time, Beamdog’s creating fresh code.

“Code-wise, this is a different challenge than our D&D games since we [are] developing proprietary code, but the philosophical approach is similar. Like Dungeons & Dragons, Axis & Allies is a beloved game. Beamdog wants to create an authentic experience of Axis & Allies that will really feel like the board game players know and love. We believe we’ve created a faithful adaptation of Axis & Allies 1942 Second Edition, with a few changes to enhance gameplay,” Dawson said. “Rule changes are minimal, but the main difference is that Axis & Allies Online allows players to take their full turn distinctly/asynchronously without other players needing to be in the game.”

Instead, complex rules replaced aging, twisted code as a hurdle to overcome.

“The ruleset for Axis & Allies 1942 Second Edition is somewhat complex — and this did pose a challenge during development,” Dawson said. “We want the game to appeal to veteran players, but we don’t want to scare off new players. That’s why we also created some tutorials to help guide new players through the interface and the rules for different unit and combat types. These will continue to be developed through early access. We do believe that Axis & Allies Online will make it easier for new players to learn the game, since the setup and rules are automated/enforced.”

Getting bigger
Beamdog has now made a pair of big announcements. Last week, the studio said it’s working with Skybound Games (the game industry arm of The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman’s Skybound Entertainment) to bring the Enhanced Editions of Baldur’s Gate, Baldur’s Gate ll, Baldur’s Gate: Siege of Dragonspear, Icewind Dale, Planescape: Torment, and Neverwinter Nights to consoles this year. And now Beamdog is adapting a board game.

Dawson that they’ve staffed up in 2018 and that the Axis & Allies Online team is close to a dozen people. So while this might not be the Icewind Dale II: Enhanced Edition or Baldur’s Gate III announcement so many fans of classic RPGs have been hoping for, it does show that Beamdog is working on a plan for what happens when it’s done enhancing all the old BioWare and Black Island D&Dgames.

 

[Tigranes]

You know what, they should have done this from the start: make a real game with their own ideas and own hard work. So now that they're trying, good on them. Remains to be seen if they can actually make a good game, but at least now we'll know.

 

[Snorkack]

with their own ideas

...like a 1:1 boardgame adaption?

 

[Tigranes]

Yes, exactly. Could they really do a whole adaptation of a boardgame without someone else's source code of a brilliant RPG? The mind boggles at their ambition.

 

[Grunker]

Axis & Allies is fantastic on PC, the 1998 version has eaten countless hours from me and friends' life. If they do it 1:1 like that and even include the most popular house rules like that game did, I can't see how this can fail.

 

[nikolokolus]

But will it have trannies? Nazi trannies?

Is there another kind?

 

[Infinitron]

http://blog.beamdog.com/2019/03/axis-allies-online-is-now-availble-to.html

Axis & Allies Online is now available to wishlist on Steam!


Wishlist Axis & Allies Online on Steam today!


Hi Everyone!

Today we've kicked our Steam page live! This means you can now:

• wishlist Axis & Allies Online ahead of release,
• take a first look at screenshots of the online boardgame!

It's been one month since we announced Axis & Allies Online and we're overjoyed with the response from the community.
We don't have a release date to share yet, but we are working hard to bring this iconic boardgame to life as a digital product - soon.

Please stay tuned for more news!

We'll be looking for feedback from players when we launch into Steam Early Access.

 

[Grunker]

Somehow it looks worse than the '98 game but hey at least it looks to be a faithful implementation right?

 

[SausageInYourFace]

I always enjoy a good adaption of a board game cause I like board games but my normie friends won't play with me. I particularly enjoy it when the adaption attempts to maintain the board game feel. Always wanted to try Axis & Allies so lets just hope for the best.

 

[luj1]

Board game adaptation?

These talentless hipsters will never come up with something their own

 

[luj1]

You know what, they should have done this from the start: make a real game

 

[Tigranes]

Yes that was Bad sarcasm + Cannot read = Bad shitpost

 

[LESS T_T]

"Something new" after this: https://www.edmonton.com/articles/m...-beamdogs-next-project-promises-something-new

More than an Enhanced Edition: Beamdog's next project promises something new

Trent Oster will be the first to tell you he owes much of his success to nostalgia. His game development studio is known for enhancing classic roleplaying games (RPGs) from the 90s after all. But did you know he also owes a debt of gratitude to the late Steve Jobs?

In 2009, Beamdog — now the largest independent game studio in Edmonton — was struggling to distinguish itself in an ever-crowded online gaming market. Firm believers in direct sales, Oster and his co-founder Cam Tofer set up a digital distribution platform similar to online PC-games retailer Steam. Despite more than 300 unique titles on offer, Beamdog barely had any sales. This was the same year the iPad launched.

“It’s a big iPhone,” Oster thought when news of the tablet broke. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

So naturally he bought one.

His opinion quickly changed. Not only was the tablet ideal for casually surfing the web or answering emails, but it was perfect for playing tactical RPGs similar to Baldur’s Gate, which Oster and Tofer both helped develop while working at BioWare.

“With a PC you can cook in three or four, maybe five hours of focused, intense gameplay,” Oster explains, “then you need a break. Whereas when you’re on your couch playing [on an iPad], you’re relaxing. You can set it down for a minute, come back. You can just engage in a different manner.”

The pair immediately started chasing down the rights to Baldur’s Gate, and a year later came away with a deal that would allow them to enhance five classic RPGs: Baldur’s Gate, Baldur’s Gate II, Icewind Dale, Planescape: Torment and Neverwinter Nights.

It’s taken years to fully take advantage of this deal. (The plan to make targeted, focused improvements was abandoned two weeks into enhancing Baldur’s Gate, when Tofer was forced to delete more than 300,000 words of code.) But the studio finally released its last Dungeons & Dragons title in 2018 — leaving fans to wonder what was next.

In 2019, Beamdog will release its first unique title: Axis & Allies Online. The one- to five-player game is a loyal adaptation of the beloved World War II strategy board game, Axis & Allies: 1942 Second Edition.

A turn-based affair, it pits the Allies (the U.S., the U.K. and the Soviet Union) against the Axis (Germany and Japan). Players can play solo against a script-based AI, or against a mix of AI and other people in multiplayer. There is also an option to play asynchronously.

“It allows almost that play by email mechanic,” Oster explains. “You can each take your turn when it fits into your schedule, which for older guys like me is an important thing.”

While enhancing the RPGs came with some challenges (about 70 per cent of the original code had to be rewritten and some of it was lost), so did building a unique title from scratch. User interface design became especially important in communicating the game’s complex rules, and the team was forced to build a custom web-based engine to ensure the back end was both scalable and secure.

Except in local, single-player mode, all games are hosted on a cloud-based server, which validates each move. This prevents cheating and opens opportunities for competitive play down the road, explains Oster.

2019 is a big year for Beamdog — with the 20th anniversary of Baldur’s Gate, the upcoming release of Axis & Allies Online and the announcement that all six of their RPGs (the studio also developed an expansion called Siege of Dragonspearin 2016) will be released on Xbox, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch later this year. The triple I (for indie) studio has also doubled in size to include 47 people.

“We’re in a position to do something new and different and exciting,” Oster says about the slow build to Beamdog's first unique title. “It’s really a chance to level up the company.”

 

[LESS T_T]

EA release in July 31. They changed the title to Axis & Allies "1942" Online:

 

[Infinitron]

 

[LESS T_T]

This is out now: https://steamcommunity.com/games/898920/announcements/detail/1616148671791463021

Join the Battle: Axis & Allies 1942 Online

Hello friends!

Today, strategy players from around the world take to Steam to test their wits in the early access release of Axis & Allies 1942 Online.

This brand new chapter in Beamdog's journey could never have happened without support from all of you - Thank You!

We still have huge love for D&D, but we're very excited to release something new. We've had a blast developing this game and we hope you enjoy the results.

We'll be adding features and fixes over the next little while in Early Access, but fans of the iconic board game can enter the fray now!

- Beamdog Team

 

[LESS T_T]

Early reviews are... mixed (45%). Skimmed a bit, looks like the gameplay itself, being an adaptation of the popular game, is fun, but specifics of adaptation - graphics, UI/UX, modes - are bland and the program is unstable and clunky (well, early access after all).

 

[Dayyālu]

E, looks like the gameplay itself, being an adaptation of the popular game, is fun,

(But A&A isn't a fun boardgame)

(like, at all)

(Eat me alive now, thread)