A free and open-source game about the First Sino-Japanese War and other pre-dreadnought battles in East Asia. A miniature-like wargame system, but without 3D models.

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Early Access Game

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Note: Games in Early Access are not complete and may or may not change further. If you are not excited to play this game in its current state, then you should wait to see if the game progresses further in development. Learn more

What the developers have to say:

Why Early Access?

“I want to expand the potential audience, collect feedback, and gauge player interest to determine whether players are interested in a larger game—such as a campaign game with depth comparable to that of the naval tactical system.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“It depends on player interest. I think a functional campaign system that satisfies my basic goals would take 2–3 months. General improvements and research may take another 2–3 months.

I might also be making a demo for another game for October's Steam Next Fest, so I may have less time to spend on this game.”

How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?

“• A polished version of strategic layer
• An analytical alternative resolution system to replace the SK system, as I found that it does not work very well for ironclads.
• Graphics & UI improvements
• Better AI for opponent and automatic control
• More historical ships, battles
• More customizable rule options”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“Tactical naval combat is fully playable and fun (in my opinion), including historical battles, quick skirmishes, and editing capability for creating custom scenarios. For experienced wargamers, it feels like:

• WDS/JTS Naval Campaigns, but deeper and with skirmish support
• RTW/SAI, generally inferior, but more customizable, transparent, and multiplayer-friendly

The campaign is not player-ready yet and still needs a lot of development. At the moment, players can preview its flow or “play” in observer mode. Some naval battles are generated during the process and are playable, though.

Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?

“The game will remain free and open source.”

How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?

“Players can communicate with me via Steam discussions, GitHub issues, or Discord.”
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About This Game

First Sino-Japanese War is a free and open-source game covering naval tactical and strategic layers of the 1894–1895 war between China and Japan. The naval tactical combat system that uses a dynamic time step (e.g., 1 second per pulse) that can be played in turn (like 1 min turn) or real-time. Many of the core resolution mechanics are inspired by and digitally adapted from SEEKRIEG-style naval miniatures rules.

Features:

  • Historical battle scenarios like The Battle of Yalu River, one of most important yet underrepresented battle in the ironclad era. Some other historical or hypothetic scenarios in First Sino-Japanese War, Boxer Rebellion and Russo-Japanese are included as well.

  • Adjustable automation levels -- from manually controlling each weapon mount and FCS, to delegating partial or full fleet command to the AI. It's also possible to control both sides by hand at the same time.

  • A highly flexible editor that allows modification of ship classes (down to penetration and fire-control tables, armor, dynamic), detailed damage, environment and deployment. It should be easy to create custom battles beyond built-in scenarios.

  • The editor is integrated into the same interface as the normal gameplay mode, exposing all parameters and status data, allowing modifications and scenario generation at any time.

  • Quick battle in skirmish mode.

  • In LAN multiplayer mode, players can be assigned to command different parts of the OOB.

  • Open sourced game mechanism, no more black box and guesswork.

  • No 3D models—just ship counters (historical or generated line drawings) moving across the globe.

  • (Work-in-process) Campaign cover land combat resolution, supply, repairing, command chain and various action. The grand campaign scenario give a accurate description of the beginning of the war (25 July 1894) and model the followed dynamic.

System Requirements

    Minimum:
    • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
    • OS: windows 10
    • Memory: 16 GB RAM
    Recommended:
    • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
    • OS: windows 11
    • Memory: 16 GB RAM

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