Fire Commander News

Emergency is most likely the first title gamers think of when it comes to firefighting – and for a very good reason. It is a real-time strategy game, where the player commands many different units from 4 branches (fire department, medical services, police and technical units) trying to resolve accidents of different kinds. Emergency was certainly a big inspiration for our game but also not the only one. Here are some more:

Burn

A 2012 documentary film about Detroit’s firefighters. The city has been in severe decline in recent decades and by many, it’s been written off as dead. Many of the abandoned decaying buildings catch fire, turning into a more and more concerning problem. This film tells a story through the eyes of the personnel of the Detroit Fire Department, about their lives and their taxing battle on the front lines. They face constant emergencies, their budgets are shrinking, and the task is truly thankless. And yet, they preserve, determined to save the city at all costs.

Benjamin Franklin

Yes, that Benjamin Franklin. Surprised? Did you know that in 1736 he co-founded the Union Fire Company, the first formally organized all-volunteer fire company in the colonies? That he did. It was the first fire company dedicated to protecting the entire community and later served as an example for other such companies. In 1730 a fire started on a ship and consumed all warehouses in the harbour and three neighbouring houses. Seeing the damage caused by fire, Franklin started advocating for community service to help extinguish fires to protect citizens’ properties. In 1733 he wrote an article in the Pennsylvania Gazette about how the colonies needed an organised group of citizens dedicated to fighting with fire. And so the first Fire Company was founded.

The games of our youth

And there were many. The old close combat games, the first RTSs. The games we know and love. Who didn’t play StarCraft, slacked-jawed and awed about it then? Then more strategy RTS games came, management came in. More studios decided to make games about the police, firefighters, and so on. And they’ve stuck with us, so for certain, some of them became our inspiration, consciously or not.

These are some of our inspirations for Fire Commander. There are more, of course, as there is a lot of fantastic books, games and films about firefighters. What comes to your mind when you think about these heroes?

Hello, heroes!

Recently, we’ve gotten some good questions from one of our fans, NitrouZ, and we decided to fire some answers back. Here we go!

Q: How big will the campaign be? How many missions can players expect?
A: At this moment we have more than 30 missions in a variety of environments. Some of the missions have major set pieces and story bits, some are smaller but still tense and challenging. Like a real firefighter, you don't just fight the biggest fires ever, but also respond to minor calls.

Q: What kind of missions will there be? Only fires, missions without fire or also traffic accidents?
A: Not just fires or arsons. Traffic accidents, toxic spills, even a plane crash! I think you'll be satisfied with the variety.

Q: What units and vehicles will there be? Do they have any special functions (dangerous goods, divers, etc.)?
A: There are different types of firefighters and vehicles, and moreover, they're upgradeable! We have medics, units specialized in breaking through obstacles, high-altitude people, water refill vehicles, ambulances, ladder trucks, water cannon trucks... But what we like about this selection is that every firefighter can do the other's work, at least to some degree, just not as skillfully. It's not like you have this one person that only takes care of the victims and is useless in other situations.

Q: Will the units only be American or are there plans to offer units from other countries later on?
A: We based the game and the style on the American firefighting units, but it's a cool idea to introduce other nations, and we don't say 'never' to cool ideas. 🙂

Q: Will modding be possible?
A: To make a game mod-friendly it's best to start making it with this intention because it changes the entire development philosophy. Fire Commander wasn’t made with modding in mind but we will see what the future brings.

Q: Will there be film sequences for the various missions (e.g. events that could occur during a mission)?
A: Yes, we have introductions, voice-overs, cool cinematic shots et cetera, which goal is to add immersion and bring focus to what’s at stake. Mostly in the story missions, of course, which are perhaps a bit more 'out there' than your side missions in terms of spectacle. Bigger flames, Hollywood-style firefighting action! 🙂

Q: What are the plans after the release? Are there plans for DLCs that will continuously expand the game?
A: The cool thing about Fire Commander is that it gives us so much freedom to take it beyond its initial setting. Buuuut, let's not commit to anything yet. We want the base game to be a full, complete product that you can fully enjoy without opening your wallet every 15 minutes.

Q: What is the story behind Fire Commander?
A: If you mean the story of how the game came to be, it's just we thought that firefighters are kinda underappreciated. When you think about it, they are everyday heroes. Soldiers fight in wars and that's brave and all, but firefighters jump into fire pretty much EVERY DAY. They deserve their own game. And we liked the firefighting RTS games of the olden days, so we thought we could modernize the formula a bit.

Q: Is the lighting of the vehicles still being worked on?
A: Everything is, really. 🙂 It's the question of managing your time and resources, which of course aren't endless. At this moment we can start polishing the visuals etc., but our priority were the mechanics. Until the game goes gold, we'll keep improving stuff.

Q: Did the development take inspiration from other games?
A: Sure! I mean, we can't pretend Emergency doesn't exist. This was one of the games of our teenage years. We loved it, but even if we hadn't, we'd play it just to see what it did, and that'd also mean taking inspiration from it.

Q: Will the turntable ladder be used to rescue people later on? Or will it only be used for extinguishing?
A: You can order your firefighter to climb it, take a victim, and bring it back down.

Q: There are already different extinguishing agents. What about ventilation in case of fires (e.g.: smashing windows and doors to avoid burn-through)? Will this feature be implemented?
A: I can't say for sure right now because it's not always obvious what works best. You'd think that a firefighting game should have these things, but once you start making it more realistic, it just becomes cumbersome and slow to play. That's why we don't have hoses. We tried them, but then it turned to Hose Deployment: The Game. It was slow, you focused on them too much, and it wasn't the game we wanted to make. So: we're trying stuff, we'll keep balancing it, but ultimately we want the game to be fun. We'll see! Work in progress.

We hope that answers some of your doubts or wonderings. If you want to help us, wishlist the game!
See you next time.

Hello, Heroes!

Ready for a sneak peek into never-before-seen maps? Here they are!

Fire can break out anywhere, so your missions will take you to a variety of places: bridges, gas stations, diners, etc. You will also face many dangers. Besides the ordinary fire, you'll have to prevent explosions and put out chemical fires.



Are you excited to be the firefighting hero in these missions? Wishlist Fire Commander!

Hello there!

We bring you thrilling news from our friends at Movie Games. Their demo for Lust from Beyond: M Edition, a first-person Lovecraftian horror is now available! Check it out, David Jaffe himself gave it a high praise.

[previewyoutube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBSNPvt-vJQ&ab_channel=MovieGamesS.A. [/previewyoutube]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1641890/Lust_from_Beyond_M_Edition

The full game will be released on the 10th of February 2022. Add it to your wishlist to keep it on your radar!

Out with the old, in with the new! Happy New Year and let’s hope it brings us all prosperity and good fortune. May it be the best year of your life yet.