Joshua Copley-Vickers
Games & Levels DesignER
About Project
Genre: RTS
Platform: PC
Project Length: Jan - Mar 2025
Total Hours: ~80 hours total production time
Roles: Level, World and Mission Design,
Software Used: Men of War: Assault Squad 2 Map editor (Gem Editor), Adobe Photoshop, PureRef, OBS Studio, Davinci Resolve​
Zaragoza 1937 is a Men of War: Assault Squad 2 map I created using the inbuilt GEM Editor and utilising the Spanish Civil War mod. The major goal of this project was to diversify my portfolio but to explore a historical setting and create a fun playable environment. It has allowed me demonstrate extensive experience in level & mission design, creating an environment that reflects the complexity of urban warfare during the Spanish civil war.
Walkthrough
Scenario overview to players
In a fictional twist on the historical Battle of Zaragoza, the Republican forces have achieved a significant breakthrough of Nationalist lines, launching a bold offensive from the north of Zaragoza. In response, the Nationalist defenders have hastily recruited large numbers of militia and dug into defensive positions across the city.
To delay the advance, Nationalist command has issued a final order: destroy the bridges leading into the city. The explosives are set. You, the player, have 15 minutes before the bridges are detonated.
Your mission:
Push through the outer defenses
Secure a foothold at the Zaragoza port
Ensure the Republican forces gain a staging ground for the greater offensive to come
Research and Pre-Documentation stage
Setting Goals
Intially, I wanted a new project on my portfolio to diversify my experience. Having a lot of hours in the men of war GEM Editor, I decided I was going to use this to create a historically set mission where the player would have a certain amount of resources to complete an objective.
​With that in mind, I also wanted to try something new instead of using the base game assets, in hind sight I should've used the newer updated editor and engine I have access to and a newer more stable mod. I did find Spanish Civil War mod on the steam workshop that I thought might create an interesting a scenario.
Researching the site
I eventually chose to focus the scenario on a fictional setting of a battle that happened in real life, where Republican forces attempted to win key points in the Northern Sectors of Spain, but ultimately lost. I thought this might make an interesting setting to explore incase I wanted to follow on this scenario in future to explore other battles the could happen.
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Wanting a semi-realistic setting, lead myself and a friend to look into the numbers and structure of both sides was during the time, this was easier said than done however with the Republican side being pretty well documented, however the Nationalist forces were not and heavily relied on militia forces that didn't document them.
Real Life Setting
Fictional Scenario
Initial Sketching and Blockout
In establishing the layout of the map, premise I wanted to was a simplistic attack path and stages the player would fight through:
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Stage 1: Fighting across fields into the first defenders line
Stage 2: Player Army to gain control of the Bridge
Stage 3: Urban fighting in the city and industrial areas
I would later redesign this idea for the objectives of the mission to incorporate other elements like an the major objective being to cross bridge before it exploded, adding tension to the dynamics of the mission. During the blocking out phase I also added a secondary bridge and then later a river crossing to provide more options to the player for both crossing the river but also a fall back if they fail to cross the bridges in time. These options to the player, adding the overall weight to their choices of approach as well as more strategic defenses.
