Interview Page 3

Q: Can we expect any significant ET updates in the future? Perhaps a SDK? Do you have any ideas you would have liked to see implemented, perhaps by the community?

Our first priority is wrapping up the ET server patch. Following the server patch we will be releasing the Level Design Tools. This package will include everything a level designer needs (including media and documentation) to start making missions or campaigns for Enemy Territory.

Spying away

Doh being shot in the back

Can you hear the planes?

We definitely want to keep the community supplied with all the support they need to keep ET growing, but we’re not ready to give any more details now.

Q: Has the experience point/skill system had the impact you wanted? Was it a difficult pitch to the gaming public?

It’s my favorite part of Enemy Territory’s game-play, and I’m really pleased that it’s been received so well. In terms of First-Person-Shooters, it’s not so much innovation as evolution, but it was a goal from the beginning that Enemy Territory have more depth than other similar games. When we started to think about adding a skills and rewards system, the initial discussions were about whether or not it could work in a short campaign of perhaps only an hour! The difficult part is striking a balance between making the rewards worth having, but not making them so good that a player joining a game in progress feels overwhelmed by everyone else that already has their rewards. It’s no fun to join a game as a newbie and be immediately obliterated by a level-zillion ‘technomage’. Principally, we wanted to reward players who played for their team’s benefit, so even players without great FPS “deathmatch” skills, could still contribute to victory by being an outstanding medic, or by standing on a hill and spotting landmines, or building bridges and other installations. Teamwork is a key component of Wolfenstein multiplayer in general, and the skills and rewards system extends that even further.

They'll live

FG42 = l33t weaponry

MG42 planted

I read a review recently where somebody called Enemy Territory a “Thinking Man’s Shooter” and I think that’s a fair analogy. We’re throwing a lot of new stuff at the player, so it’s quite a demanding game. It would appear, however, that the popularity of Enemy Territory shows that players are not only able to handle it – they really enjoy it.