Development
Initial development began following the creation of the basic game engine by lead programmer Ralf Knoesel during his holiday break following the completion of Stormfront's previous release, a Hot Wheels racing game. Together with lead artists Tim Dean and Matt Small, they conceived a concept that was essentially "Twisted Metal on water." The team received permission to develop a prototype and Stormfront started looking for a publisher.
Enter Microsoft who was looking for a suitable development partner for an original IP they had developed that was likened to "Crimson Skies on water." While Stormfront's engine had been designed to support arena combat, they were confident it could be adapted to support the story-driven mission-based structure needed by Microsoft.
The development team grew under the direction of David Bunnett who hired a contract writer named David Ackerman-Gray to develop the story, and David Wessman to be the lead designer. Wessman had formerly been the gameplay and story lead for the highly acclaimed X-Wing series, and was eagerly welcomed to the team for his expertise in vehicular combat games. In addition, he brought a passion for research into the topic of small boat warfare and drew inspiration for the story and missions from histories of the American Civil War, the Opium Wars, World War II and the Vietnam War.
As the game took shape, the team was able to consistently deliver on its milestones up to a week early, thus earning considerable respect from Microsoft. When the game entered QA at Microsoft it was observed that testers who were not assigned to work on it nevertheless would spend their free time playing it. This was noted as an extremely good sign, and Microsoft began to think they might have a sleeper hit on their hands. Stormfront was granted a small extension to their schedule for additional polish.
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“To be sure, we have inherited abilities, but our development we owe to thousands of influences coming from the world around us from which we appropriate what we can and what is suitable to us.”
—Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749–1832)