I am considering writing an Axis and Allies Toolkit for the iOS platform (iPhone, iPod, iPad). Eventually I would like to extend the supported platforms to Android, tablet and desktop PCs. What I would produce is individual apps sold separately for each of the various editions, including but not limited to 1940, 1942, Europe, Pacific, D-Day and Guadalcanal. Each would have a combat simulator with hit and run and must take options as well as probability graphs for victory, role reversing, etc. In addition, I’m considering adding a banker feature to keep track of territories and current IPC per country. I know there are already several calculators out there, including one for iOS devices, but what I am designing would take the best features from all of them and put it all in one place.
I am an avid A&A player and would love having such a tool, but my ultimate goal is to make money. My plan would be to price each app edition at $2.99 on the iTunes store. I understand the A&A circle is large. I also understand the iOS user circle is very large. However, I’m not clear on how much those two circles overlap and within that overlap, how many are be interested in possibly purchasing apps like this.
Any feedback, suggestions or comments are welcome. Marketing analysis is not an exact science, but I want to at least make sure there is a reasonable amount of interest before I proceed.
Thanks!
if you are going to make a calculator, don’t limit yourself to only accepting a certain a&a game,
for example, instead of saying you want 2 infantry and 1 artillery, tell it you want 2@1 supportable, 1@2 gives support
this will allow you to support all games, including non axis and allies games
if for example i play a custom mod where we different units, your calculator will still support those units…
Thanks for your comment! I decided to move forward with the project and am about 75% complete with it now. I was originally going to have different apps for the various versions of A&A as I stated in my original post, but decided against it. Now it will be just one one app that supports multiple versions/editions of A&A. Through upgrades (most likely free) you’ll be able to gain additional game editions over time as they come out or as I add them. I thought about making the app completely generic as you suggest, but decided if I do I probably shouldn’t call it anything that has Axis and Allies in the title. If I don’t call it something with A&A in the title, it may get lost that it supports A&A. If I make the title have A&A in it, but it is a generic calculator with pre-defined A&A rules available some of the features become less clear (such as pulling up info on unit types). In the end I decided a compromise would be to make the app A&A specific, but add the ability to add “custom units” that you can name (e.g. paratrooper), assign type (naval/ground/air) hit and defense capabilities. This feature will likely not make it into the first release, but will follow on shortly afterward.
I will be sure to post a link to the app in the Apple App Store when it becomes available. My target release date is late Jan or early Feb, depending on how quickly I can get through testing and get Apple to approve it for release.
If anyone has any additional suggestions or comments, please feel free to make them. Your idea may not make it in the first release, but can always be added on later as an upgrade if it is a good idea. :)
As soon as you try to publish this you will probably get shot down, you can’t make money of WOTC’s copyrighted games without consent.
Since android is Java, you could consider porting TripleA to Android. You’d need to re-write the user interface using google’s APIs but I think most of the engine code would work.
I did think about contacting the makers of Triple A, but decided not to. I doubt the makers would be too enthused about someone trying to repackage something they would have the vast majority of the work invested in. I thought about trying to reach a financial agreement, but it would still be an awful risky venture for the amount of time I’d have to put into it. Sorry, I don’t like to work for fee. ;-) Plus, I’m afraid the user interface would be a little difficult to use on such a small screen despite the iPhone 4 and 4th gen iPad Touch 480x960 resolution. Dido for the Android. Not saying it couldn’t be done, these were just challenges I wasn’t ready to tackle. Tablets like the iPad would be a different story of course.
As for the app I developed, version 1.0 has been approved and is available for sale on the iTunes store now (Axis and Allies Recon: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/axis-allies-recon/id423269955?mt=8). Besides mine, there are two other apps out there that do similar things (Axis and Allies combat calculators). Mine does a bit more in terms of features, but one of the two has been around for a couple of years now and the other for about 6 months. Version 1.1 of A&A Recon has several fixes and is in the process of Apple approval right now.
The next apps I develop won’t have anything to do with Axis and Allies, but being passionate about A&A I plan to continue to provide great support for A&A Recon and am open to any feature requests.
Thanks for your comments!
You raise a good question about getting permission from WOTC. I assumed since there are two other apps that do similar things that adding a third to iTunes would be no problem. I didn’t ask for WOTC’s permission first, however, I just sent off an email to WOTC’s press handler to see if there is any issue so we’ll see what comes back. I’d hate to have to pull it with all the work I put into it, but if asked to do so, I will. If that happens I imagine the other two apps will have to be pulled as well.
