TripleA: A Java-based free open source Axis and Allies | Hacker News Reader

TripleA: A Java-based free open source Axis and Allies

triplea-game.org

98 pointsxretaxeous22 comments

Back in the early 2000's, I wanted to create an online version of Axis and Allies so I could play over the internet with friends. I explored getting the IP rights, but wasn't able to do so.

I found another game that was sorta similar, War! Age of Imperialism, and was able to convince the publisher to allow me to create a computer version, which actually got sold in boxes in places like Target and Best Buy. http://www.donohoedigital.com/war/

I created a general-purpose "Game Engine" (in Java) that could have been easily been used to make something like this. I ended up using the same engine for my 2nd game, DD Poker.

Ah, the good ol' days.

That's actually pretty amazing. Well done.

For me, I read blog posts and sit on the sidelines, thinking about fun ideas like yours, but never executing or figuring out how to take forward steps. It's actually quite the accomplishment to ship a product, even if it was in the good ol' days.

My friends and I used to play TripleA by emailing the game file back and forth. Good times.

If anyone is interested, there’s a great game similar to A&A but with simpler rules and tons of maps and scenarios. It’s called Lux Alliance by SillySoft.

https://sillysoft.net/vox/

I never played TTRPG growing up, but when I was younger, my dad would let me roll his dice during his A&A game nights he had with some friends and co-workers, eventually joining the table as I grew older. It was a great excuse as a little kid to stay up late (they played once a month from 7PM to midnight).

I need to see if he'd be interested in trying this out!

Played Axis and Allies with some friends on the board game a long time ago. Spent a whole weekend on it. I think a large part of the allure is physically being in a room with friends. Will have to check out the online version.

Nice, wasn't this project dead at some point due to legal threats?

There seems to be okay-ish activity on the repo: https://github.com/triplea-game/triplea/commits/master

I've done some digging, as I am terminally curious.

It was taken down by Hasbro with a DCMA complaint in July 2009 [1]. Not sure when exactly it was resurrected, but I'm glad it worked out for them in the end.

[1] https://uboat-aaa.blogspot.com/2009/07/dmca-takedown-notice-...

I LOVED this board game as a kid! I even loved the video game. Glad to see that Axis and Allies is still around!

This looks great. Brings back old memory. Will try it out.

I’m sure they don’t know but for 40M people TripleA means this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentine_Anticommunist_Allian...

Your Nazi Tribute Band seems a pretty good copy of the original.

That’s because they adopted the originals when they disbanded at home.

Thats funny, because for me Triple A meant this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Automobile_Associatio...

Way more wholesome

For a even larger group of people, Triple-A would refer to games made by/published by big video game publishers.

Or, it's possible to initials (or whatever this is called) can mean multiple things depending on context, and I'm sure people generally can tell when the appropriate one applies :)

> Triple-A would refer to games made by/published by big video game publishers

Out of curiosity, do English speakers say "Triple-A" or "A-A-A" in this case?

(As an Argie, of course to me Triple A means the paramilitary Anticommunist Alliance mentioned in the top comment, as would for most Argentinians of a certain age...)

I thought AAA was anti-aircraft artillery.

I've only heard people say it as 'triple-A' in this context.

I bet the first thing that comes to mind for many is the American Automobile Association, or AAA baseball leagues. Would be surprised if the figures for those are also ~40m, each.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucha_Libre_AAA_Worldwide

It sounds like that was a horrific event. The inverse also happened under communist regimes though, since you bring it up, out of context of Java and AAA (triple A) gaming which is the definition most widely recognized by the HN audience in my view: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimes_against_humanity_under_...

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