| Team Alligator Interview
by Leonard "Viking1" Hjalmarson |
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Q: Sound modelling in Team Apache was one area that could be improved. What sound APIs will be supported for Team Alligator and how will this impact game play? A: Our biggest problem with Team Apache was that we simply had *too much* sound in it! Only the fastest machines could cope with the sheer quantity available, and that in turn affected quality. We will be using all the features of the latest Direct Sound, including the environmental filters where appropriate (eg echoes in canyons, muffled sounds in snow and rain, etc). Q: We have recently seen some excellent flight modelling in Apache Havoc. Flight modelling was a sore point for the more serious sim pilots with Team Apache. Can you compare the characteristics modelled in Team Apache to those that are modelled in Team Alligator? A: We were frankly surprised at the hostility we received from the hardcore fraternity for the flight model on Team Apache. We admit it: we built the FM for accessibility. With the agreement of our Apache advisors (including Desert Storm vets) a few compromises were made, but it was because we were trying to get Joe Public to pick up this game (something which we did with some success) and overcome the mystique that helicopters were hard to master. But we admit, we were stung by the criticism, however unwarranted we felt it was. So earlier this year, we began a debate in the COMBATSIM.COM™ forums, talking to the hardcore about what they wanted. The subject of flight modelling came up repeatedly, and we listened. We made some contacts through that discussion that has resulted in some of your readers now actively helping us out with the development and testing of the flight model. We hope the results will show. We will continue to retain the Team Apache 'simple' flight model in Alligator as a novice option. But we will also have a 'realistic' option which in turn will have selectable features so that players can choose effects such as phase lag, retreating blade stall and vortex ring state on or off. Players will be able to decide precisely what level of realism they want. For example, if vortex ring state keeps on slamming them into the ground all the time, they can switch it off. We are quietly confident that our flight modelling will lead the field by the time the sim is released. Q: Low level flight means that terrain is critical. What is the terrain resolution in Team Alligator and what kinds of terrain will we see?
A: As stated earlier, our new Daedalus engine allows us to throw a lot of polygons, objects and texture around. However, we've had to be careful, trying to find a good balance of elements to ensure the terrain not only looks good, but runs fast. |
 Our terrain runs on an adaptive mesh that will alter itself to match the speed of your machine. On high spec machines, terrain polygon sizes are measured in centimetres! As you've already seen in the demo, our art team has done a marvellous job creating terrain textures with contrast and depth of field that provides a real feeling of low-level flight. (And they tell us they want to go back and make it even *better*!) The rivers and bodies of water in the sim have to be seen to be believed. Q: Low level flight means that terrain is critical. What is the terrain resolution in Team Alligator and what kinds of terrain will we see? A: As stated earlier, our new Daedalus engine allows us to throw a lot of polygons, objects and texture around. However, we've had to be careful, trying to find a good balance of elements to ensure the terrain not only looks good, but runs fast. Our terrain runs on an adaptive mesh that will alter itself to match the speed of your machine. On high spec machines, terrain polygon sizes are measured in centimetres! As you've already seen in the demo, our art team has done a marvellous job creating terrain textures with contrast and depth of field that provides a real feeling of low-level flight. (And they tell us they want to go back and make it even *better*!) The rivers and bodies of water in the sim have to be seen to be believed.
 Team Alligator: Town We are dressing the campaign areas with thousands upon thousands of objects, from buildings to trees to telegraph poles. Which reminds us: we have a bone to pick. Your correspondent at E3 who commented that we didn't have "tactically useful trees" in our demo obviously didn't stick around long enough to check out our huge forest objects, which are about as tactically useful as you can get! Go to Page Six
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