Eastern Front (1941)
| Eastern Front (1941) | |
|---|---|
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| Developer(s) | Chris Crawford |
| Publisher(s) | APX, Atari, Inc. |
| Designer(s) | Chris Crawford |
| Platform(s) | Atari 8-bit |
| Release date(s) | August 1981 |
| Genre(s) | Turn-based strategy |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
Eastern Front (1941) is a computer wargame for the Atari 8-bit series created by Chris Crawford in 1981 and released by the Atari Program Exchange (APX). Recreating the German invasion of Russia during World War II, Eastern Front covers the historical area of operations during the 1941–1942 period. The player commands German units at the corps level and must contend with the computer-controlled Russians, as well as terrain, weather, supplies, unit morale, and fatigue.
Eastern Front was widely lauded in the press, won the Game Manufacturers Association "Best Game" award in 1981, and one of a very few titles that would later be licensed by Atari for distribution on game cartridge. It was among APX's best selling games of all time, ultimately selling over 60,000 copies, a number only approached by Caverns of Mars, which was also subsequently released by Atari on game cartridge.
Crawford released the source code to the game through APX for $49.95 ($150 according an interview), and was surprised that while it sold well, no other game used it. He also released a scenario editor, but only one pre-packaged set of user-created scenarios is known.
Eastern Front puts the user in control of the Germans, in white, while the computer plays the Russians, in red. Units are represented as boxes for armored corps or cavalry, and crosses for infantry, an attempt to replicate conventional military symbols given the low resolution.
The screen shows only 1⁄9 of the entire map at one time, smooth-scrolling around it when the joystick-controlled cursor reaches the edges of the screen. According to creator Chris Crawford, it is the first wargame to feature a smooth-scrolling map. The map covers the area from just north of Leningrad at the top to Sevastopol at the bottom, and from Warsaw on the left to just east of Stalingrad on the right. The terrain is varied, including flatland, forests, mountains, rivers and swamps, each with their own effects on movement. Cities are displayed in white, and are a major source of "victory points", the player's score.
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