by hitfan on Thu Jun 16, 2011 11:52 am
The swastika means so many things to so many people. Such a controversial symbol...
I once programmed a WW2 tactical war game based on the Eastern Front (Germany vs USSR). The main scenario involved the German human player being outnumbered and fighting the Soviet computer player where the player has to win the battle of Kursk and then go straight to Moscow. It's a thrilling game, and you are basically given an impossible task (akin to Hitler ordering suicidal attacks with barely-existing forces). In fact, by winning the game against insurmountable odds, you feel as if you achieved something heroic.
So when it came time to choose a flag as a map identifier, I didn't want to have to make the player feel that he was fighting for the cause of Nazism, so I used the Iron Cross instead, which I prefer for aesthetic reasons anyway. I wasn't trying to be PC or anything, I just wanted to get some of the politics out of the game. To be honest, WW2 on the eastern front involved two bastards (Nazis vs Soviets) fighting in a grand death match.
I still kept the use of the Soviet flag, because it represented the computer antagonist you had to beat.
My view of the use of the swastika in CC maps? I suppose if it is used and it's evident that it is not meant as an endorsement but rather as a historical representation, then that shouldn't be much of an issue. BUT the owners of CC set the rules, and so be it.