Chapter 29: Creating

Jack leaned forward, eyes gleaming with excitement. "Should we create Omaha Beach first?"

Richard rubbed his chin, considering. "Nah, let's start smaller. We should do Carentan, Saint-Marie-du-Mont, Sainte-Mère-Église, and the Ardennes Forest first." He pulled up a topographical map of the regions, overlaying them with the procedural generation engine.

"Omaha can come later," he continued. "For now, we need to establish core mechanics—zone-based control, terrain destruction, and squad systems. If we get those right, we can scale up easily."

Jack nodded. "Alright, zones will be based on the actual maps, right?"

Richard clicked on the procedural terrain editor, dividing the map into strategic sectors. "Exactly. Instead of a small flag or capture circle, players will have to dominate entire sectors—clearing houses, bunkers, and defensive positions to gain control. Each zone will have different objectives: urban areas will require house-to-house fighting, while forests and open fields will focus on tactical positioning and long-range engagements."

Jack grinned. "Sounds brutal. I love it."

Richard continued, "We also need a physics system for indestructible objects. Some things—like buildings—shouldn't collapse easily, but if a tank shell slams into a wall at full velocity, it should at least crack, crumble, or weaken over time. We'll base destruction on penetration stats and impact velocity."

Jack scratched his head. "So, if a heavy shell slams into a bunker, it weakens the concrete, but a rifle shot does nothing?"

"Exactly." Richard pulled up a test scene and adjusted material resistance values. "Dynamic destruction means players will need to think strategically—no more mindless shooting at walls hoping for an explosion."

Jack sat back. "Man, this is shaping up to be more than just a game."

Richard smirked. "Told you."

Jack cracked his knuckles. "Alright, let's talk squads."

Richard brought up a whiteboard, sketching out a class-based squad system.

"Each player will have three squad slots," he began. "They can mix and match different squad types, but each squad will have distinct roles. First, we start with the basic Infantry Squad."

Jack listed off the roles:

Rifleman – Springfield, M1 Garand, BAR

Submachine Gunner – Thompson

Sniper – Scoped Springfield, possibly a Scoped M1 Garand

Light Machine Gunner – M1919 Browning .30 Cal (requires setup before firing)

Richard nodded. "Then we add specialty squads."

Mortar Squad – Infantry gear + M1 Mortar

Engineer Squad – Equipped with tools for building fortifications, setting explosives, and repairing vehicles

Medic Squad – Focused on healing and reviving downed teammates

Logistics Squad – Transfers ammunition and supplies from designated base points to frontline squads

Jack pointed at the board. "And then we've got the Tank Squad or Tank Crew."

Richard pulled up the vehicle spawn system. "Tank hangars can spawn up to five tanks every 10 to 15 minutes. If players don't manage their tanks well, they'll run out and have to fight without them."

Jack grinned. "We can make it so that tank squads have to actually repair their vehicles instead of just respawning endlessly."

"Yes and tanks will have a penetration system and modular health—damage will be based on armor thickness, angle, and shell velocity. Crew members inside can also be injured or killed separately, forcing players to manage their tank's effectiveness in real-time."

Jack leaned back in his chair, cracking his knuckles. "Alright, let's bring these battlefields to life."

He opened the procedural generation module and began entering historical prompts:

Carentan, 1944 – A war-torn French town, scattered with bombed-out buildings, muddy roads, and makeshift barricades.

Sainte-Marie-du-Mont – Open countryside with farmlands, hedgerows, and small stone houses, perfect for ambushes.

Sainte-Mère-Église – A crucial crossroads town, featuring the iconic church where paratroopers were caught on the steeple.

Ardennes Forest – A vast, snow-covered woodland with thick fog and limited visibility, ideal for tactical movements and tank battles.

With each entry, the Vector Engine's Phoenix AI analyzed historical maps, topographical data, and World War II photographs, stitching together hyper-realistic environments with detailed textures, terrain deformations, and destructible buildings.

Jack then implemented pre-generated defensive structures—sandbags, bunkers, foxholes, and anti-tank obstacles—ensuring that players would still be incentivized to build additional defenses as needed.

"Forward HQs," Jack muttered, placing final objective zones for both factions. These headquarters would serve as the last strongholds in each battle, the ultimate key points to victory. Players would have to fight through the map, capturing strategic locations, before attempting to siege the enemy's Forward HQ.

Dynamic Zone Control & Engineer System

With the map layouts finalized, Jack moved on to scripting zone logic. Each map was divided into sectors, each with unique tactical advantages.

Captured zones could be converted into buildable areas by engineers.

Engineers could construct supply areas for ammunition and medical resupply, allowing troops to stay in the fight longer.

Forward bases could be built, serving as spawn points for troops and vehicles.

Hangars & motor pools would allow for tank spawns, but with a global cooldown timer, ensuring strategic resource management instead of endless vehicle spam.

Jack tweaked the economy system, ensuring that each captured zone generated resource points—an essential factor for constructing fortifications, summoning reinforcements, or deploying heavy weaponry.

"No mindless building," he thought. "Every structure has to serve a purpose."

The Chain of Command & Player Progression

Next, Jack introduced the strategic command system.

High-ranking players could take on the role of Commanding Officers (COs), overseeing the battle and allocating resources across the map.

COs could issue orders to squads—defend, attack, build fortifications, or reposition.

If squads followed orders, they would earn experience points (EXP), progressing their rank.

If COs made poor tactical decisions that led to failure, they would lose credibility and receive no reward.

Jack grinned. "No more lone wolves. Players will have to work together, or the battle is lost."

Finalizing the Core Gameplay Loop

As the last lines of code compiled, Jack stepped back, watching the procedural landscapes render in real-time. Defensive structures stood ready, supply depots and forward bases awaited construction, and the first squads were already assigned to their spawn points.

"This isn't just a game," Jack said under his breath. "This is war—where strategy and teamwork will decide who wins."

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Jack was deep in the numbers, tweaking and adjusting the global balancing system.

Structure health had to be realistic yet balanced—foxholes should provide good cover but could be collapsed by explosives, sandbags should block bullets but not tank shells, and bunkers should be tough but not invincible.

Resource points needed careful tuning—too much, and the game would become a mindless spam-fest; too little, and players wouldn't be able to build fortifications or call reinforcements.

Mechanics adjustments—the global cooldown on tank spawns, fortification builds, and artillery strikes had to be precisely timed for fairness.

As Jack fine-tuned the system, Richard leaned over his desk, scanning the map layouts. "We should add pre-generated map weapons."

Jack looked up. "What do you mean?"

"Like static enemy artillery for the Nazis."** Richard explained.** "Think about it. Some battlefields had heavily fortified 88mm Flak cannons, coastal artillery, or Pak 40 anti-tank guns. Instead of just letting players build everything, certain maps could have these already placed—acting as high-value objectives that players must capture or destroy to gain an advantage."**

Jack nodded. "That would make each map feel more authentic and strategic. Defenders could use them at the start, but if the attackers push forward, they can take control."

Richard grinned. "Exactly. It forces players to think about their approach—blindly rushing in gets you shredded, but flanking and taking out artillery first? That's real strategy."

Jack started implementing pre-placed artillery emplacements, marking their positions on key maps like Carentan and Ardennes Forest, ensuring that each was located in historically accurate positions.

Testing the Vector Engine Installation

With the game balancing in progress, Richard turned his attention to the Vector Engine's installation process.

He glanced at Jack's computer. The file transfer was finally complete—the massive 151GB install file had finished copying.

Richard could have just dragged and dropped the installed files from his own PC, but this was a critical test. The installation program had to work flawlessly, or everything they built would be meaningless.

He double-clicked the installer, watching as the sleek, minimalist Vector Engine logo appeared on the screen—a bold hexagonal 'O' with futuristic lines and dots. The black background faded into a simple installation interface, displaying a list of installation steps.

Richard exhaled. "Alright, let's see if this thing holds up."

He scrolled through the terms of agreement, which—ironically—he had written himself. A small smirk played on his lips as he skimmed over the complex legal jargon he had crafted to protect their work.

Jack leaned over. "Did you actually read all of that?"

Richard chuckled. "I wrote it. If I didn't read it, we'd have a problem."

Jack grinned. "Fair enough. So, are you ready?"

Richard clicked "Install."

The progress bar appeared. The hard drive whirred, the system processed, and the installer began extracting thousands of files.

He crossed his arms. "Hopefully, nothing goes wrong."