MHII designer Ralph Gerth answers some of the most frequently asked questions posed by the MAKING HISTORY community. Learn more about the gameplay you can expect, changes from MHI, the addition of special forces, improved naval combat and more.

Ever since we first announced Making History II, there are certain questions that seem to get asked more often than others. For this design report I thought it would be good idea to address a few of these. - Ralph Gerth

Is Making History II: The War of the World just a war game?

We consider Making History II a grand strategy game set within a World War II timeline. Although much of the gameplay leads to military conflict, players also must manage a broader range of features that cover economics, diplomacy, trade and domestic population issues. Much of the key gameplay centers on the relationship between industrial strength and military power. So just like in WWII, in Making History, victory on the front begins at the home front.

What's the biggest difference between the first Making History and Making History II?

With MH II we've increased value in pretty much every area. To begin with, we've expanded the game activity beyond the nation versus nation concept down to the level where different demographic identities now vie for power within and from without a nation's borders. Each region contains a separate population with its own ethnic, cultural and religious affiliations. These may or may not be the same as other regions in the nation, or more importantly the ruling government. Unstable conquered territory and restless colonies may force players to garrison troops to suppress nationalities that might declare independence. Conquering the world will require a lot more strategic decision making than creating an invincible army. Maintaining a sound national economy helps keep your government stable and your population under control. While players can now decide if it's better to annex territory, designate a colony or install a puppet government, each choice offers different gameplay advantages and disadvantages.

Is there any espionage gameplay in MH II?

We've chosen to provide a set of espionage and foreign influence actions that will offer tangible rewards without requiring constant attention. Nations can swipe technology from other nations in the form of Research Points that get applied to their own tech tree. Stealing full projects outright will be rare. They can also attempt sabotage against an array of city and regional based infrastructure. In the political arena, MH II will offer new actions for interfering in the affairs of your friends and enemies. Players can fund the ideological groups within other nations. This may undermine an unstable government and create opportunities for coups that could potentially setup a puppet state under your influence. Of course these activities will come with the risk of damaged national relations, embargoes and war.

How many nations will be playable?

Currently there are around 180 nationalities that could potentially establish an independent state. This includes almost every contemporary nation with the exception of a few tiny places like Monaco & Lichtenstein, and many stateless entities. Each regional ethnicity will associate with at least one nationality. Governments will have competing claims that overlap and instigate conflicts. Making History II also allows any nation to be split into multiple parts so that there could be a democratic German state and a communist governed Germany. Technically there is no limit to the number of nations although the AI will tend towards reconciling disparate regions. We don't envision a vast number of broken up states in a normal game. Still with a system like this the gameplay variety is a nice entertaining element and the modding potential huge.

What improvements have been made to the military system?

The big change is that all units now have a standard set of unit properties including: health, experience, offensive/defensive power, morale, and supply level. This allows us to craft military unit types that have distinct combat advantages and disadvantages. Since forces take damage and gain experience from battles, the system now supports reinforcements and upgrades. Logistics too have become more interesting. Each unit will now carry a cache of supplies that will be replaced according to the supply rate of the region they occupy. When a region is first conquered, the rate of supply will likely be lower than 100%. That will restrict the resupply rate for all units in the region. The more extended the line of supply becomes the greater penalty on the rate of supply. The rates do creep up over time, but this should hamper a nation attempting to blitz from Warsaw to Vladivostok in a single season.

Are there paratroopers and other specialized forces?

Will there be paratroopers? This may be the number one asked question by the gamers familiar with the first Making History. The answer is yes. We're also adding mountain troops, combat engineers, marines, and militia - each type with their own abilities and unique 3d model. This combined with the regular, mounted, motorized and mechanized infantry will allow players to create armies that behave with more distinct tactical variation. In the air force branch, we've added new categories for naval bombers, heavy fighters and more. We've extended the research tech timeline to include many pre-war and post-war units, from biplanes to jets and a lot in-between. Carriers now act as floating airbases so players can load them with any carrier able air groups they have available. Across all the military branches, we've increased the number of units a player can build. Even many of minor nation's forces are represented, everything from Yugoslavian fighters to Albanian mountain troops.

Will naval power play a larger role in MH II?

The largest impact to naval gameplay should be seen in the new trade route system. In MH II nations move supplies between trading partners and even their own colonies along predefined lanes which are formed by contiguous sea regions. Submarines and other commerce hunting vessels can be used to attrit supplies creating gameplay conditions similar to the historic Battle of the Atlantic. Technology advances will be critical to gaining an advantage against the predatory submarines. Another big difference is that naval vessels also must carry their supplies with them. This limits their time at sea and requires that they maintain a supplied naval base or port to refuel, repair and rearm.

In closing I would like to add that our primary design goal for Making History II was to expand upon the conceptual framework of the first Making History and produce a more entertaining overall game experience. We've added many new features and greatly extended the content offered to the player. It's also important to us that the game looks good and runs well. The Muzzy Lane engineers have completely rewritten the game engine so that both visually and structurally MH II will be a more advanced product. This includes a web-based game delivery system that will make it easy to create new Making History II multiplayer games and share content. Players will be able to go directly to the Making History Gaming Headquarters website, start a game with friends or play any of the existing games they are already a part of. The service will even notify players by email when a new turn is pending. We look at Making History II as more than just a game, it's a gaming community centered on a game platform. Making History II is designed to grow and evolve along with the community.