- Location
- Orlando, Florida
The Final Front
The year is 1957 and while the Second World War ended in a ceasefire years ago, the front continues to advance. For Frank Malina, Werner Von Braun, Itokawa Hideo, and countless others, the battle for supremacy in spaceflight is the last avenue by which they may prove their worth, even if they struggle to find their own peace. In a Cold War darker than a black hole, mankind's age-old dream of flying across the skies may be the last beacon of inspiration in a world gone mad. Yet, some fear that mankind may end up only bringing sin to the heavens, and doom upon the world. The choice is yours to make.
Welcome to The Final Front, a project myself and others have been working on for almost an entire year at this point, first as a patch for The New Order: Last Days of Europe, the Hearts of Iron IV modification, and now as a standalone video game with an original setting. The Final Front intends to be a space race management simulator with a strong narrative component set in a dystopian Axis "victory" timeline. Our initial objective is to produce an initial prototype as a rudimentary as a text-based HTML browser game containing content from 1957-1960. Our ultimate objective is to create a proper narrative-driven management sim somewhat like to a combination of Buzz Aldrin's Race Into Space and Suzerain, spanning decades of an alternate history space race from the first satellite in 1957 to the 80s and beyond.
The TFF team may be found at our official Discord server, where we share updates on development and answer questions from the community. TFF also has an official subreddit where the dev team will repost teasers from the Discord.
Question: Is The Final Front connected to The New Order: Last Days of Europe?
Answer: TFF began life as an update for The New Order, but has since grown to become something more involved and in depth. As such, TFF is no longer an update for TNO, and is now its own independent video game that does not use TNO assets, lore, or elements. Work that was done by the TFF team on TNO has been carried over, and some of it will be maintained, while others will be thrown out and reworked.
Question: Why is TFF no longer connected to TNO?
Answer: Disagreements in creative direction, a desire to create something bigger and more involved, and simple wishes to do things not possible in the Clausewitz engine.
Question: How much will TFF cost?
Answer: TFF will always be 100% completely free, though we may ask for assistance in donations if needed in the future - these will always be voluntary and access to the game will always be free.
Question: Why has TFF chosen an Axis victory timeline? Isn't that super unrealistic and overdone?
Answer: There are multiple reasons why the TFF has chosen an Axis victory setting.
First and foremost is the fact that, in our own timeline, the Space Race was not remotely a fair fight by any means. The United States not only had been spared the enormous devastation of the Second World War but had become the global hegemon allied with almost the entire industrialized world, while the Soviet Union had only just industrialized, had lost 26 million of its citizens, suffered extreme devastation in an existential battle for its very survival, only to have to face the entire developed world with only developing Eastern European satellite states and recently decolonized third world nations as its allies. The very fact that the Soviets managed to place the first satellite and the first man in orbit around the Earth under these circumstances was an incredible accomplishment - but it does not make for an interesting gameplay experience.
In the world of TFF, the Space Race is a far more evenly-matched and dynamic conflict between three industrialized superpowers, each commanding a sphere of influence that supplies them with resources to fuel their space endeavors. Under these circumstances, space competition can easily last for decades without end - and détente is out of the equation.
The second major reason TFF is set in an Axis victory timeline is that it provides a platform to weave narratives around important figures - both well-known and obscure - in real-life spaceflight that we could not otherwise. In our world, Frank Malina and many of the other co-founders of JPL would have never continued working in the aerospace industry, Werner Von Braun never possessed unlimited control over an entire space program, and Dr. Itokawa Hideo never competed in a race to the Moon. In TFF, all of these are happening.
This way, we wish to both cast new light on well-known figures in our timeline's Space Race as well as give space travel's forgotten pioneers a spot in the limelight. In most Axis victory timelines, most depictions of space travel are of fantasies such as German Moon landings in 1962. From what we have seen, a more grounded Space Race
Finally, an Axis Victory setting offers us the ability to explore a world where our timeline's space treaties limiting the militarization and exploitation of space were never signed, and the space activities of the superpowers are significantly more militarized. In this way, space truly is the final front of the Second World War, and who shall win it remains to be seen...
Question: What is the overall scope of TFF?
Answer: TFF, in its final form, will be narrative-driven Space Race management simulator spanning decades of gameplay, from the very first satellite in 1957 to the new millennium and beyond. The player will be not only able to guide their nation to great achievements in space, but influence the society their program operates in - and maybe, help the characters in their space agency find peace.
At the bare minimum, we intend to have the space agencies of TFF's three superpowers - the US, Germany, and Japan - playable, along with the alt-history ESA formed by Italy. We may also consider making other secondary powers playable in the future.
Question: How is the world of TFF represented? Is this a map game, like Paradox Interactive grand strategy games?
Answer: No, we do not intend a grand strategy game-style world map to be the main focus of the gameplay, as TFF focuses specifically on the Space Race, with the rest of the Cold War being a backdrop.
Question: What is the level of realism TFF is aiming for?
Answer: In the area of spaceflight, our commitment to realism is absolute. We will only consider content with a strong basis in real-life space history and what is physically and organizationally feasible for a space program to accomplish in the timeframe TFF takes place in. However, in terms of geopolitics, we are definitely willing to handwave a few things for the sake of the story.
Question: What is TFF's point of divergence compared to our timeline?
Answer: The first point of divergence for TFF is Virginia Governor Harry F. Byrd accepting FDR's offer to become Vice President in 1932, which he stays in until FDR dies in 1945. For those unaware, Byrd was one of the most hardcore segregationists imaginable who also ran a corrupt political machine that controlled Virginia politics for decades. I would say there isn't anyone worse to succeed FDR than him.
After that, our main points of divergence for the War in Europe is François Darlan being assassinated before Operation Torch, or not being offered a deal to defect to the Allies. Thus, the Vichy forces in North Africa never defect to the Allies and the Allies have to spend months fighting through French North Africa, preventing the decisive defeat of the Axis forces in North Africa in 1943. Without the German invasion of Vichy and emergency deployment of reinforcements to North Africa in our timeline, Germany is able to divert more forces to the Eastern Front, which results in the Axis forces breaking out of the encirclement at Stalingrad in late December or early January 1943.
The other major point of divergence for Europe is Germany developing plutonium-based nuclear weapons, with the reasoning being outlined in this document.
In the Pacific, our main points of divergence are Yamamoto launching a third wave of strikes on Pearl Harbor that destroy the naval base's infrastructure and fuel depots, preventing US naval operations in the Pacific for at least a year, and the Mark 14 torpedo's upgrades getting delayed, which significantly reduces the effectiveness of the US' convoy raiding on Japan, thus lessening the latter's resource shortages and allowing it to put up much more of a fight.
Following the fall of Stalingrad, the Germans are able to push further, seizing Leningrad and Moscow in 1944. With the loss of three crucial cities, the Soviets realize that the war is a lost cause and begin evacuating as many of their citizens, factories, and men to beyond the A-A line as possible. When FDR dies in 1945, he is succeeded by President Byrd, who orders the use of nuclear weapons on Hamburg and Essen as a last-ditch attempt to break the stalemate. However, to his shock, the Germans react by launching a suicide mission to drop an atomic bomb on London. It hits its target, igniting a firestorm among large areas of the city and disrupting the UK's railway network. Under these circumstances, continuing the war seemed pointless, and Byrd pushed the UK and Free French to negotiate a ceasefire.
With the Western Allies out of the war, the Germans are able to push to the A-A line and the Japanese are able to finish their conquest of China by 1947. The remaining Free French-aligned colonies in equatorial Africa are converted into United Nations trust territories. The Marshall Plan is enacted, with the main recipients of the aid being the UK, the USSR, and the African UN trust territories.
Answer: TFF began life as an update for The New Order, but has since grown to become something more involved and in depth. As such, TFF is no longer an update for TNO, and is now its own independent video game that does not use TNO assets, lore, or elements. Work that was done by the TFF team on TNO has been carried over, and some of it will be maintained, while others will be thrown out and reworked.
Question: Why is TFF no longer connected to TNO?
Answer: Disagreements in creative direction, a desire to create something bigger and more involved, and simple wishes to do things not possible in the Clausewitz engine.
Question: How much will TFF cost?
Answer: TFF will always be 100% completely free, though we may ask for assistance in donations if needed in the future - these will always be voluntary and access to the game will always be free.
Question: Why has TFF chosen an Axis victory timeline? Isn't that super unrealistic and overdone?
Answer: There are multiple reasons why the TFF has chosen an Axis victory setting.
First and foremost is the fact that, in our own timeline, the Space Race was not remotely a fair fight by any means. The United States not only had been spared the enormous devastation of the Second World War but had become the global hegemon allied with almost the entire industrialized world, while the Soviet Union had only just industrialized, had lost 26 million of its citizens, suffered extreme devastation in an existential battle for its very survival, only to have to face the entire developed world with only developing Eastern European satellite states and recently decolonized third world nations as its allies. The very fact that the Soviets managed to place the first satellite and the first man in orbit around the Earth under these circumstances was an incredible accomplishment - but it does not make for an interesting gameplay experience.
In the world of TFF, the Space Race is a far more evenly-matched and dynamic conflict between three industrialized superpowers, each commanding a sphere of influence that supplies them with resources to fuel their space endeavors. Under these circumstances, space competition can easily last for decades without end - and détente is out of the equation.
The second major reason TFF is set in an Axis victory timeline is that it provides a platform to weave narratives around important figures - both well-known and obscure - in real-life spaceflight that we could not otherwise. In our world, Frank Malina and many of the other co-founders of JPL would have never continued working in the aerospace industry, Werner Von Braun never possessed unlimited control over an entire space program, and Dr. Itokawa Hideo never competed in a race to the Moon. In TFF, all of these are happening.
This way, we wish to both cast new light on well-known figures in our timeline's Space Race as well as give space travel's forgotten pioneers a spot in the limelight. In most Axis victory timelines, most depictions of space travel are of fantasies such as German Moon landings in 1962. From what we have seen, a more grounded Space Race
Finally, an Axis Victory setting offers us the ability to explore a world where our timeline's space treaties limiting the militarization and exploitation of space were never signed, and the space activities of the superpowers are significantly more militarized. In this way, space truly is the final front of the Second World War, and who shall win it remains to be seen...
Question: What is the overall scope of TFF?
Answer: TFF, in its final form, will be narrative-driven Space Race management simulator spanning decades of gameplay, from the very first satellite in 1957 to the new millennium and beyond. The player will be not only able to guide their nation to great achievements in space, but influence the society their program operates in - and maybe, help the characters in their space agency find peace.
At the bare minimum, we intend to have the space agencies of TFF's three superpowers - the US, Germany, and Japan - playable, along with the alt-history ESA formed by Italy. We may also consider making other secondary powers playable in the future.
Question: How is the world of TFF represented? Is this a map game, like Paradox Interactive grand strategy games?
Answer: No, we do not intend a grand strategy game-style world map to be the main focus of the gameplay, as TFF focuses specifically on the Space Race, with the rest of the Cold War being a backdrop.
Question: What is the level of realism TFF is aiming for?
Answer: In the area of spaceflight, our commitment to realism is absolute. We will only consider content with a strong basis in real-life space history and what is physically and organizationally feasible for a space program to accomplish in the timeframe TFF takes place in. However, in terms of geopolitics, we are definitely willing to handwave a few things for the sake of the story.
Question: What is TFF's point of divergence compared to our timeline?
Answer: The first point of divergence for TFF is Virginia Governor Harry F. Byrd accepting FDR's offer to become Vice President in 1932, which he stays in until FDR dies in 1945. For those unaware, Byrd was one of the most hardcore segregationists imaginable who also ran a corrupt political machine that controlled Virginia politics for decades. I would say there isn't anyone worse to succeed FDR than him.
After that, our main points of divergence for the War in Europe is François Darlan being assassinated before Operation Torch, or not being offered a deal to defect to the Allies. Thus, the Vichy forces in North Africa never defect to the Allies and the Allies have to spend months fighting through French North Africa, preventing the decisive defeat of the Axis forces in North Africa in 1943. Without the German invasion of Vichy and emergency deployment of reinforcements to North Africa in our timeline, Germany is able to divert more forces to the Eastern Front, which results in the Axis forces breaking out of the encirclement at Stalingrad in late December or early January 1943.
The other major point of divergence for Europe is Germany developing plutonium-based nuclear weapons, with the reasoning being outlined in this document.
In the Pacific, our main points of divergence are Yamamoto launching a third wave of strikes on Pearl Harbor that destroy the naval base's infrastructure and fuel depots, preventing US naval operations in the Pacific for at least a year, and the Mark 14 torpedo's upgrades getting delayed, which significantly reduces the effectiveness of the US' convoy raiding on Japan, thus lessening the latter's resource shortages and allowing it to put up much more of a fight.
Following the fall of Stalingrad, the Germans are able to push further, seizing Leningrad and Moscow in 1944. With the loss of three crucial cities, the Soviets realize that the war is a lost cause and begin evacuating as many of their citizens, factories, and men to beyond the A-A line as possible. When FDR dies in 1945, he is succeeded by President Byrd, who orders the use of nuclear weapons on Hamburg and Essen as a last-ditch attempt to break the stalemate. However, to his shock, the Germans react by launching a suicide mission to drop an atomic bomb on London. It hits its target, igniting a firestorm among large areas of the city and disrupting the UK's railway network. Under these circumstances, continuing the war seemed pointless, and Byrd pushed the UK and Free French to negotiate a ceasefire.
With the Western Allies out of the war, the Germans are able to push to the A-A line and the Japanese are able to finish their conquest of China by 1947. The remaining Free French-aligned colonies in equatorial Africa are converted into United Nations trust territories. The Marshall Plan is enacted, with the main recipients of the aid being the UK, the USSR, and the African UN trust territories.
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