From: GDWGAMES@aol.com
Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 19:04:26 EST
To: musides@earthlink.net
Mime-Version: 1.0
Subject: Re: GDW history
>Specifically, I'm looking for some information about Twilight: 2000. How it came together,
Geez, when was Twilight: 2000 Published, 1985, 86, 87? -- I don't remember right off the top of my
head. Anyway, by way of background, several of us had been toying with the idea of an RPG set in an
"After the Holocaust" situation (games like FGUs Aftermath, and TriTac's Morrow Project are examples
of the genre), and we had discussed various settings, most of them being the typical "Generations
after the war" sort of thing. These games centered around a small group of people trying to survive
and rebuild civilation after it had cracked apart. Some scenarios did not involve a war, just a
breakdown of civilization. I was particularly interested in this sort of situation, and did a lot
of research into the genre.
Two prototype games are relevant to the development of
Twilight: 2000. One was titled "Guardian" and was set in a world several generations after a
"something" (we never really settled on what) destroyed civilization. Guardian had the characters
battling marauders, and trying to locate and repair what technology was still around. The characters
were roving bands of "specialists" who had bits and pieces of the old knowledge, like how to fix a
truck engine, passed down generation to generation, parent to child.
The second "The Lucky Ones" was based on an idea of mine, which had people gaming out the final
disaster itself. I explored several possible "somethings" to wreck civilization, anf TLO finally
settled on a plague that wiped out 99% of the population, but left most of the pysical plant intact.
The characters had to live through the chaos of the final disaster, and try to rebuild after it
was all over.
We looked at dozens of somethings, ranging from plagues to alien invasions
to crashing comets (Lucifer's Hammer came out about this time, and I suspect inspired some of us).
At the same time, and separately, we had been doing books for Traveller with military themes,
starting with _Mercenary_ and moving on to _Striker_. We had done TacForce (a miniatures game
of modern warfare on a grand tactical level), and tinkered with various other set-ups that
would turn ito Command Decision (the WWII/Modern miniatures game). One type of miniatures
game that has always had immense popularity in gaming circles (and still does) is the
so-called "Skirmish game" where each person plays one (usually) or at most a small group
of soldiers or warriors. There are colonial skirmish games like The Sword and the Flame,
Western Cavalry vs IUndian skirmish games, western gunfight games, and so on. GDW experimented
with a number of WWI and modern era games along these lines.
Anyway, you could say that Twilight: 2000 gradually grew out of our collective interest in
things military (we are wargamers, after all) and a desire to do another role-playing game
that would be as successful as Traveller.
>the history of it's development
OK, with the stage for all of this set: Twilight was born over dinner in Dallas Texas, after
the Origins gaming convention was over. I forget ewhat year it was, but it was the year before
the first publication of Twilight: 2000. The convention had ended, we had loaded up the
company van with the leftover products and our display. We were all tired, and we had
gathered for the GDW traditional dinner before hitting the road for the long drive home.
We were all seated around the dinner table: Me, Frank Chadwick, Marc Miller, Rich Banner,
John Harshman, John Astell, maybe one or two of the warehouse/shipping guys and the art
staff -- I forget who we took to the convention that year. The conversation rolled around
to the notion what the RPG world needed was a game that would appeal to a majopr, untapped
market: males, age 16-24, with an interest in role-playing and a very strong interest in
the military. Inspiration struck: (I forget who had the notion first, but it is not
important) a military RPG set _during_ WWIII. Military RPGs had all suffered from the
same major defect: players must be in control of their own destinies. In a military
RPG, you have superior officers, orders, restrictions on all sides, and are not really
in control except in certain, very restricted scenario settings. What if the command
structure is suddenly gone, we thought. You have all the benefits of a military RPG
and yet the characters are the masters of their own fates. Instantly, we knew we had
a winning concept. I proposed a name: The Twilight Soldiers. Twilight had a double
meaning: it can mean the last dying rays of sunlight before night falls, representing
the end of civilization, but it can also mean the growing brightness before dawn,
heralding a new day and a fresh beginning. Very powerful imagery. Rich Banner suggested
a slight change, to give the title some aliteration and make it more striking: Twilight: 2000.
We talked until they threw us out of the restaurant, then we piled into the cars and
drove home. On the drive, the discussion broke down into little groups (one per each
vehicle, and continued. Over the 16 or however many hours it took to get home, we
wold stop, and trade one or two people from each vehicle and continue the
conversations, cross-fertilizing and developing, and discussing. The setting in
Poland, the chronology, the rough background was all worked out by the time we got home.
We spent a lot of time figuring out just how to make a game that would grab our
target market, and whoa! did we ever hit a nerve. Twilight was a wild sucess right
out of the starting gate, and would become one of our most sucessful games by a wide margin.
We did a design, went into playtesting, and got enthusiastic reports from the
playtesters. People LOVED it. They wanted more. They _demanded_ more! The playtest
game went on for years after we stopped participating, and for all I know somebody
at the U of I gaming club is still running it. Gawd knows a lot of the people are still there.
>the people involved with the project.
The people are easy:
Look in the credits of the original books.
Frank Chadwick did the main system design. Supplementary design and development was
provided by my humble self. Marc Miller, John Harshman, and Rich Banner were also
involved in various ways with the original game system.
Naturally, this is from my perspective. ANy of the participants will give you a
version that differes in details.
Anything else you wanted to know?
Loren Wiseman
GDW Emeritus
SJG Emigre
© 1998, Loren Wiseman
Design: Frank Chadwick
Development: Loren K. Wiseman and Julia Martin
Art Direction: Amy Doubet
Cover Art: Dell Harris
Pencil Illustrations: Tim Bradstreet
Vehicle and Animal Illustrations: Rick Harris
Vehicle Illustrations: Michael Doyle
Small Arms Illustrations: Kirk Wescom
Heavy Weapons Illustrations: Shea Ryan
Graphic Design and Production: Dan Griffin and Cain Budds
Text Manager: Michelle Sturgeon
Text Processing: Elizabeth Meier
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