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World in Conflict Interview May 01, 2007 John JCal Callaham |
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Summary: John was so fascinated by World in Conflict he had to get more information on it from the developers. Here you can join us in this interview.
 Introduction | Page:: ( 1 / 3 ) |
FiringSquad: First, World in Conflict has been in development for a while now. Are you pleased with the progress of the game so far?
Martin Walfisz: The game is turning out very well! You can really see the progress from each build, and it gets more and more interesting as new features are brought into it. Even though we were optimistic from the beginning, we now know that we have a great game in the works. Seeing the entire dev team fight it out when we have play sessions is a great sign of the quality of our work. In short, we couldn’t be happier!
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FiringSquad: We know the game takes place in an alternate timeline where the Soviet Union stages an invasion of the US. Can you give us any more background on the backstory of the game?
Martin Walfisz: Well, as you already know, the cold war era was a tense period. What we’re seeing in World in Conflict is that the Soviet army, for many reasons, heats up the tension and invades Europe, where the US army draws in to help their allies. This just escalates the conflict further, resulting in a Soviet west coast invasion on the US mainland. And that’s just the rough cut of it. The singleplayer campaign, with the help of Larry Bond’s excellent writing, has a lot to offer in terms of strategic events, character development and mission design. It’s really an interesting setting to work in, and I’m sure that players will enjoy exploring it!
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FiringSquad: What can you tell us about the single player campaign in terms of the missions and locations that players will be able to use?
Martin Walfisz: The singleplayer campaign covers a vast variety of locations that are considered likely battlegrounds in case such a conflict would take place. The maps change from urban warfare to the rural countryside, all bringing their own tactical depth to the game and putting the players in unique situations. The singleplayer campaign also gives the player the picture that he’s only part of a bigger war. You will be handling missions side by side of other squads and commanders. It gives you an intense warlike feeling that is really satisfying.
| World in Conflict Update Interviw (con't) | Page:: ( 2 / 3 ) |
Martin Walfisz: Well, the third faction is NATO, which makes sense in terms of probable events. When the Soviet army invades Europe, NATO tries to hold them off and defend its member countries. The faction is quite similar to the way the other two factions are built, but it will of course have its own flavor when it comes to the specific hardware and tactical aids that it uses.
FiringSquad: What can you tell us about the development team's favorite types of units to use in World in Conflict?
Martin Walfisz:
Martin Walfisz: That’s a tough one. A lot of the artists are of course fond of their own creations, but in terms of the general opinion, it would probably be something like the heavy tanks – the Abrams tank especially – and the different artillery units, which really pack some heavy guns. And the choppers are great too. Seeing that our engine supports the almost complete destruction of the maps, any unit with lots of firepower is always a delight to see. But I think it’s safe to say that aside of all the units, the nuke gets the most attention. It’s just so huge and powerful, a real treat to the eye – regardless of how many times you’ve seen it before.
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FiringSquad: What can we expect in terms of multiplayer features and support?
We’re focusing a lot on delivering a unique multiplayer experience with vast online support. The key concept to our multiplayer is drop-in gameplay. Players can jump into any game at any time, and still be able to enjoy the game and contribute to the team, due to our reinforcement point system. Since there’s no base building, the game is more similar to multiplayer FPS games, where players continuously respawn as they die.
Our aim is also to appeal to both the casual players as well as the more hardcore, clan-oriented players. Our own proprietary online service, Massgate, is built with this in mind and I’m positive that it will both surprise and please most players who go online with WIC.
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FiringSquad: What other features do you consider to be important in World in Conflict?
Martin Walfisz: What’s really been important to us when it comes to multiplayer is the set of communication tools. Since team play is essential to success, we need to give the players easily accessible tools to express themselves to their team members. What we’ve ended up with is things like VOIP, radio commands and chat functions, which even work during loading times. Whenever a serious game of WIC takes place at the office, these tools really come in handy, and it makes the experience even more enjoyable
| World in Conflict Update Interviw (con't). | Page:: ( 3 / 3 ) |
Martin Walfisz: It’s still in development, but I can say that it’s looking great and that we’re very happy to be working with DirectX10! But the game already looks gorgeous on DirectX9, so it’s kind of like icing on a cake. :)
FiringSquad: Will there be any mission and mod editors for the game?
Martin Walfisz:
Martin Walfisz: Yes, we’re working very hard on giving the community all the tools they want – which basically means all the tools we use ourselves to build our maps and missions. Our hope is that players will see how rewarding the engine is to work with, and we want to encourage people to try it out and make something new. There are already a lot of mod ideas floating around the office, but I’m sure that the creativity of the community might even top those.
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FiringSquad: Will there be any downloadable content available for the game after its release?
Martin Walfisz: Yes, it’s something that we’re planning for, but we don’t have any more information on it at the moment.
FiringSquad: Finally is there anything else you wish to say about World In Conflict?
Martin Walfisz: Aside of the gorgeous visuals and the unique cold war setting, it’s all really about the combat. World in Conflict combines the tactical depth of modern strategy games with the intensity of the most popular action games. In the end, you’ve got a beautiful team based action-strategy game with short, intense matches. We’re already having a lot of fun with it, and we’re not even alpha yet! I think that in the end, once World in Conflict is released this fall, it will be a game that both action gamers and strategy gamers will be very happy with!