The Making of CF : Diary of a Game

-- MAKING OF CF1/2 --
Diary Of a Game | Rita, Sue and CF2 | Day in the life of...

Charting the progress of Cannon Fodder, from drawing board, to publication.

AUGUST, 1993

We all love Sensible Soccer. but it's a shame there aren't any guns in it. Jools Sensible explains how he set about rectifying matters.

I should really start off by introducing myself and the rest of the Sensible Sofware crew who are all sitting on the hot coals of controversy by having anything to do with Cannon Fodder. I'm Jools - programmer, co-designer, ectomorph and proud. The guy responsible for the luscious graphics is called Stoo (short tor stoopid i think) - he's a seriously talented artist who's going to aspire to the likes of Malone, Dok and Dali in the near future. On atmospheric sound and groovy moody music is the far out funster responsible for magical tunes published on all Sensible and Renegade games - Mister Richard Joseph. Which just leaves Jon Hare and Chris Yates, two guys who need no introduction (so they're not getting one - Ed).
So, you want to know about Cannon Fodder then? Excuse me while I get into my Tardis to take you back to the beginning. Hmmmmm.. the Tardis, that sounds like a good Cannon Fodder analogy - let me explain: something which looks natural from the outside; appealing in its function; obvious and simple to use. Yet on the inside its enormous size can be realised along with the potential to carry out seriously complicated calculations and tasks.
What we wanted was a game with a simple and clear control method, with which the player would control a little army of soldiers in a manner that would be natural, direct and responsive. That's pretty much where I started, with a group of cute little guys running around the screen A click with the left mouse buyyon would tell thern to move towards the pointer and the right button would make them shoot at it. Then a scenario was required. We chose a whole range of background styles, a few of which you'll be able to see dotted around this very page. It was at about this stage that I got the idea on how to create (teasing drum roll please) total interaction between the sprites and the background.
The men would swim in water, climb over obstacles, fall off cliff edges, walk slowly and laboriously up slopes yet be able to run down them. All on a pixel perfect scale, unlile so many games which deal with background objects (water, cliffs etc) by not letting the character near them.
We spent the next few weeks putting together a map editor - a tool for constructing each of the missions. And then we implemented the icon control system. This is used for weapon selection and group control, which is the next big topIc I'll tackle here. Say for example you have spotted an enemy base consisting of a barracks and soldiers posted as look-outs. Now, you may want to just charge in under a hail of bullets and blow up everything in sight. Alternatively you can use the icon panel to separate some men from your main group into a new group, give them a movement path by planning points on the map (in the general direction of the enemy sentries, say) then leave them to it by taking control of the main group.
You can now go into the enemy base and blow up the barracks with what's left of the original group, and all the while the other team you sent in are automatically taking out the bad guys. Up to three groups of your own men can be active at the same time - you control one and the computer helps you by looking after the others. This means you can do all kinds of things like set up ambushes, guard enemy holes or just leave men in safe areas. You can also select the weapons you want to use by clicking on their respective icons. You can always shoot your guns (unless your men are inside a vehicle or swimming) but you also have a limited amount of grenades and bazooka shells. Plus, If you have control of a vehicle, it may well have weapons like rockets or homing missiles - all of which are at your disposal.
The only other thing I should perhaps mention now is the fast smooth scroll - there's no chuggy, jerky moving around here Yeah, and the atmospheric sound effects where events In the distance are quieter than those up close - lovely.
Next month I'll tell you all about the front end - that's the graphic screens and menu-sort-of things bolted onto the main bit of the game. Oh and the vehicles, I'll tell you all about the amazing vehicles, the ones you can make your men jump into and drive or fly around. Excited? I hope so. Bye for now.

SEPTEMBER, 1993

Most games wouldn't be the same without a good selection of vehicles and weapons. Don't worry - Cannon Fodder has got plenty of b oth
Hi! And welcome back to the time deviating, swashbuckling and hard-rhyming pages of Jools' Cannon Fodder diary.
Okay, last month I promised to tell you about the vehicles and that's what I'm about to do but as well as the vehicles I'm gonna disclose the inventory of the whole armoury available in the game so if you suffer from a nervous disposition, if you're a Morissey look-a-like or simply a Take That fan - RUN FOR COVER!
I think what I'll do is put both the vehicles and the weapons into the same category, call It some pretentious name like 'The explosive forces of Cannon Fodder' and list everything in order of destructive power. And, as if by magic, here is that very list:
First of all we have the plain and straightforward bullet firing guns. The power of the gun depends on the rank of the man firing it:
the higher this is, the higher the rate of rounds, bullet speed, distance and accuracy. Your men get promoted to higher ranks after every mission successfully completed so if you can manage to keep alive for long enough, you will be rewarded with some seriously devastating firepower.
Next on the list are grenades, good for lobbog over background obstacles at enemies in well-dug-in positions and, more importantly, for blowing up buildings containIng the evil opposition.
Bazookas are used to reach the parts that grenades can't. Their pin-point accuracy gives them an effectiveness cherished by sadists and trainee dictators.
There will be a couple of other ground-based weapans: mounted guns and rocket launchers. But as they are not fully implemented yet I can't really tell you any more about them.
So then, straight onto the first vehicle - the jeep. Imagine the first time you discover a jeep while playing the game - you're casually walking around, blowing the hell out of everything in sight, and there it is, just parked there, all gleaming and new and free for you're taking. To jump in, just click on it with the left mouse button, then watch your men walk up to it and climb aboard. Now you can do what you want with it : if you fancy yourself as a Nigel Mansell you can go for some high speed seat-of-the-pants racing around. If you consider yourself more of an 'Evil Knievel', then try out some stunts like jumping a 20 foot chasm. For the Sunday drivers among you, posing down at the beech is even a possibility but what I really like to do is smash through fences and try to flatten as many of those little enemy blighters as possible. Each to their own, I suppose.
What's more fun than wreaking havoc with a speedy jeep? Well, how about causing total mayhem in a jeep with a rather large gun attached to it?
Of course neither of he previous two mechanisms have the sheer sexual prowess or frontmanship qualities of a practically indestructible tank, which just happens to be the next 'little' item in the Cannon Fodder weapon list.
Bored of all this ground-floor action? Well then, it's time to go up in the world, because Fodder's also got helicopters. Four different types of helicopters, to be precise. The first is pretty simple, and is used for transporing your men around and spotting the enemy with. The other three have weapons - bombs, rockets and homing missiles respectively.
I've recently finished the bits of code to make the homing missiles work and I'm very pleased with it to say the least. I'll try to explain. When the helicopter pilot (you, for example) has clicked on a target, the missile drops from the underside, and then slowly speeds up and turns towards its victim. However, if there are any obstacles in its path (and this is the clever bit) it automatically goes up in order to fly over them. Then, when there is a clear path, it decides to lose height again and gets on with the attack. These weapons can be used against anything - from background terrain, fences, buildings etc, to any of the enemy's armoury, including just a single man.
That leads me to the one most important thing left to tell you about in this section - THE ENEMY ALSO HAVE ALL OF THESE WEAPONS and are more than likely to be better than you at using them, but I'll have to finish coding the game and you'll have to buy it to find out how. Anyway it's that time again to bury my head back into the sands of Cannon Fodder and get on with what I get paid for, so bye bye for now.

OCTOBER, 1993

And there doesn't seem to have been much progress on Cannon Fodder, either. Still, the promotional side of things sounds like fun.
Hi! Jools is my name, Cannon Fodder is my game and you'll be insane for not buying it! Wow Did we have fun yesterday? Yeah, we went off down to some sunny countryside locations in south Suffolk to make a 'pop' video for Cannon Fodder and to get our photos taken. ("Oh my God!' I hear the astute amongst you say in the realisation that you're gonna get even more Cannon Fodder publicity thrust at you for diligent perusal.)
But anyway. So just what do I mean about a pop video for Cannon Fodder - a computer game? Well this was Jon's idea. As some of you may know he used to be a musician-singer-songwriter type of thing who, on at least a couple of occasions, was nearly on the brink of international success with his band 'Hamsterfish'. It seems he is still trying to 'make it big' in the music industry and to this end, has composed a couple of rather sexy tunes for Cannon Fodder. One's a rather delectable front-end menu piece called Narcissus, which, all being well, will be released by a very famous male singer in the not too-distant future, The other's a real toe-tapping thigh swaying reggae track called something like 'War Has Never Been So Much Fun' This is used in Cannon Fodder's fantastic intro scenes, and is the tune the pop video has been made for.
Tell me Dr Jools, just how do you make a pop video? Right kids, It all starts very early in the morning - 5.3Oam, to be precise. First on the agenda - meet Stoo and Chris at work, pick up the other Chris on the way and meet Jon and Richard down in Haverhill Sainsburys. Haverhill is where we get kitted out with our 'Nam American army uniforms (check out those photos, man), Hey! Do we make those Hidden guys on the left took like train-spotters or what? (That's enough of that, gentlemen. Ed)
Sorry, back to the bird in hand. We then had to meet the photographer, the cameraman and a rather amicable chap who owned a very impressive military vehicle which I can only describe as a cross between a tank and some kind of troop carrier.
We spent the rest of the day being shot by either cameras or toy guns, and attempting to act for the various scenes in the video, which of course you would love to hear about. And, of course, I'm gonna tell you that... I'm not gonna tell you about them. Sorry chums. You see Jon's trying his best to get some nice, some very very, very nice people on TV interested in putting it into one or two of their programmes. (Anybody reading this who might be interested please get in touch Domninik? Violet? Dexter? Please?) So if I tell you what happens in the video, I'll probably spoil all of the jokes for later - I hope that you'll understand.
I could instead, tell you more about the game you're all awaiting in eager anticipation.
Okay then, recent additions to Cannon Fodder have baen animals - including Scorpions, various birds, a pig, various sheep, some seals, and many, many more. A number of traps have now bean implemented - wmines and trip wires, for example. And there are civilians in it as well, induding natives, hostages, gunslinging cowboys and dirty old men. (Pardon? - Ed)
Right then, folks - get ready because it's competition time! Working from these lovely photos of myself, all you have to do is recognise me in a street anywhere in the country, walk up to me and casually say where's my pork pie?. The first person to do so will win a copy of Dino Dini's Goal which includes autographs of the Sensi-soft squad on the underside of the lid. This competition is not open to anybody who even slighty knows me personally, it is deadly serious, and the winner will get their name printed in a future edition of AMIGA POWER. (And, we add, presumably Jools' decision is final. - Ed) So, good luck? And bye bye bye for now.

NOVEMBER, 1993

The world's first interactive Diary Of A Game is here - experience the history of Cannon Fodder for yourself. Jools Sensible explains.
Hello again, chums. I guess by now you have already loaded up and had a few plays on the wonderful Cannon Fodder coverdisk and you have decided to read this because you're wondering what the hell it's all about. Well, do not fear, 'cos Jools is here - every mystery will be made clear.
Okay, let's get the quiz out of the way first I'm going to assume you've got as far as the main menu screen (which you get by switching on your Amiga and putting the disk in. Sheesh.) Move the pointer to somewhere in the 'Sensible Software Quiz' box and click your left mouse button. The screen will fade out, the Amiga will load from disk for a couple of seconds, and a lovely photogenic plc of us lot will appear. Got that? Good. Right, to be in with a chance of winning the fantastic Sensi-prize, all you've got to do is answer ten questions These can be found by clicking on the people and the four small photos in the corners of the screen.
For example, try clicking on Chris Chapman (the programmer of Sensible Soccer) - he's the guy on the left, the one having a little bit of trouble with his arm. A new pic will appear surrounded by details of Mr Chapman, with a rectangular box marked 'Question Five' over on the left. After reading through Chris's enthralling details, you should notice that one is missing ('Cannon Fodder Job'), which ties in with the question at the bottom of the screen: 'What did Chris do on Cannon Fodder?' Now you either have a massive brainstorm of an answer or just make up some amusing and/or insulting joke and pen it onto your postcard as Answer Five. Easy peasy, eh?
Questions One to Four are found by clicking on the four boxes around the main photograph of us lot standing against the jeep. When you've found all ten questions, and are completely satisfied with the answers on your postcard, send it off to AMIGA POWER, 30 Monmouth Street, Bath, Avon SAl 2BW. The person with the most correct answers (or, in a tie-break situation, the card drawn from Dave Green's big army helmet) will win a talking toy gun, a signed copy of a game and any other rubbish we find lying around the office. And while we're on the subject of competitions, nobody has yet come up to me in the street and said "Where's my pork pie?" in order to win that signed copy of Goal (See last month's AP for 'details'. - Ed), so that's still up for grabs...
To get back to the main demo-disk menu from the quiz, click on the dog that's having a go at Jon. What we originally intended to do for this disk was try and show the progress of the game over the last year or so, but of course that would mean re-implementing the old control systems and all the bugs and glitches that we've since corrected. And then you'd end up with a demo disk that's nowhere near as playable as the one you've got. So what we've produced Is something which shows how a Cannon Fodder mission is built up, from the map being laid out from a rough design all the way through to the finished thing.
For example, if you click on Stage One of the map you will find yourself playing on a sparsely detailed background with only two sprites: your man and a single enemy positioned in the top left-hand corner of the map. On the other three stages you should look out for boxes and barrels - pick these up by walking over them and you'll be rewarded with grenades or bazookas. (You can fire these by holding down the right mouse button and clicking the left one.) Oh yeah, and clicking with the left button makes your man (or men) walk to the point you clicked on. To shoot you can either hold down the right button or click on it repeatedly - whichever you prefer.
If you've got more than one man, you can split them into different groups by clicking on the names of the ones you want in the new group in the icon box. Then click on the top icon (it looks like a snake at first but changes into a cross between a bird and a snake when you highlight a man's name.) And there you have it: the new 'breakaway' group appears, with an eagle symbol to identify it.
Right, I think that's about it for now, so go and have lots of fun with the demo disk, buy the game and have a sleepless year or two playing it. Which means it's four byes from me till next time and don't forget: Cannon Fodder - war has never been so much fun!

DECEMBER, 1993

They think it's all over - it is now. Jools Sensible brings down the final curtain on the long running Cannon Fodder story. Get those tissues ready

Welcome back to the fifth and final page of the diary you all love to read, of the game I'd love you to buy and you are gonna love to play. And yes, fellow computer comrades, Cannon Fodder really is all about love. I mean what would make me (hedonist and hardened party-goer) stay in at work on a Friday night? The love of working on Cannon Fodder, of course. What would make me work 136 hours a week? Why nothing but the love of turning out a game that everybody will take home and enjoy for evermore.
And why will you buy it? Well, because you love addictive and playable games, you love gorgeous graphics, you love amazingatmospheric sounds, but most of all you love killing people. Whether it means a simple bullet through the left eye or an inhuman splattering of their guts all over your tank tracks, you just love to bring other people's lives to a swift and totally injustlfiable end. But it's not all a game of kill, kill, kill - there,'s plenty of maiming, injuring and just plain bleeding in there too. Lets face it, Cannon Fodder is the key that will unlock the door to your most violent desires and what's more... IT'S FINISHED After months of trials and tribulations (most of which have been documented in these very pages), the game should be in the shops on November the 20th. So, take a look at the calendar, and if that's today's date (or, heaven forbid, Nov 20th's been and gone), then get your boots on and gan doon them shops t' buy it.
Anyway, now that the end, as they say, is near, it's time to play the Sensible company anthem and roll the closing credits. Let's ask the rest of the team how they feel about the completion of Cannon Fodder. First, I'd like to say a big thank you to Jon Hare and Chris Yates for not paying me enough. And Jon had this to say:
"Hooray - another game goes out of the door. 'War has never been so much fun', eh? It's been my job to take all the credit for this game and rip everybody else off. Quite justified I feel - after all, I did come up with the basic idea for the title tune.
And cheers to Richard Joseph for doing the sound and music. (Did you know that the title music has got Jon singing on it? Yes, singing - we've made your Amiga sing, that's one you've got over your SNES and Megadrive owning friends.) Richard's feeIings were, er, mixed...
"I can now sleep at night without the worry of Jools phoning me at half past four in the morning with sound problems. And no more Jon for a long time, phhewww "
Respect is also due to Stoo for his lovely and gorgeous graphics. Most of his comments were sadly unprintable but he did manage to utter the following:
"You see that Theatre Of Death, that's not Cannon Fodder, that isn't. After 72 maps, crunching, drawing, designing and numerous trips to the toilet, erm..um... HELP ME! I'm drowwwwnninnng...
Which just leaves me - Jools. This is a sad, sad day for me. Our baby is born, the conception was painful the pregnancy was full of morning sickness, and the birth took weeks - but born it is. Long live our baby. But why be sad? I'm sad because finishing a game is like the end of a long friendship - and now I have to make a new friend by writing a new one. On top of that, I'll miss those cheery phone calls from Dave Green, reminding me that I was anything up to three weeks late with my copy. But that's enough negativity - why should we worry when we can play Cannon Fodder? Goodbye forever my fnends. (Well, that is unless AMIGA POWER agree to do the diary of Sensible Golf.) (We'll think about it. Cheers Jools. - Dave)

-- MAKING OF CF1/2 --
Diary Of a Game | Rita, Sue and CF2 | Day in the life of...