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Battlefield: 1942
by Len "Viking1" HjalmarsonGame Title: Battlefield: 1942
Category: WWII 1st Person & Vehicle Combat
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Digital Illusions
Platforms: PC and X-Box
Release Date: Fall 2001
Article Type: Interview
Article Date: March 8th, 2001
Jerris Mungai of Electronic Arts talks to Len "Viking1" Hjalmarson about the upcoming Battlefield: 1942.
Viking1: Thanks for taking the time to talk to us. We're pretty excited by some serious competition for WW2 Online. Could you start by telling us a bit about Digital Illusions and the team assembled for Battlefield: 1942?
Mungai: Digital Illusion is a Swedish game developer, tracing its history back to 1988. It has distinguished itself on several occasions, in diverse genres like Pinball, Racing and First Person Shooters. The Battlefield 1942 crew includes key members from the team that successfully pioneered the fully integrated vehicle FPS a while back.
Battlefield: 1942 P51 Mustang.
Viking1: All five major powers are represented: USA, England, Russia, Germany and Japan. The game is set in four theatres including North Africa, the Pacific, Eastern Europe and Western Europe. This is a pretty broad representation! In which major conflicts will you be allowing us to participate?
Mungai: We want to represent the total WWII experience and will feature real battles as settings in the game. Some of the battles we plan to highlight are Guadalcanal, Normandy, Al Alemein in North Africa and Kursk in Russia. Basically, all the great battles will be there.
Viking1: What are the main ships and aircraft we'll be allowed to command in the game?
Mungai: Current design includes well over 20 different vehicles, all of which can be controlled by the player. Every vehicle has its own, distinct, physics model. Planes fly, tanks crash through barbed wire, and a battleship can hold up to four players at once, each operating gun turrets or anti-aircraft artillery. All of the vehicles are based on originals that distinguished themselves during the war.
The Allies have the Spitfire, P-51 Mustang, B-17 bomber (with multiple players inside the B-17). The Axis side have access to Bf-109s, Zeros and Stukas.
Whew! look at the detail!
Viking1: With so many vehicles the focus is generally on the combat experience and not systems fidelity. Will the player be able to select from a high fidelity flight model as well as a relaxed realism model? How much systems management will be necessary?
Mungai: We are looking into this, but we will have a better idea in the coming months. Our main goal is to make them as accurate as possible without the complexity of learning all the instruments and gadgets in a hardcore flightsim. The players will definitely feel a distinct difference between the planes, however, and aces who play flightsims will undoubtedly be able to dominate the skies in Battlefield too.
Viking1: Are the air battles central to the outcomes in battle?
Mungai: Having air superiority makes a large difference to the outcomes. Being able to do recon from the air or quickly intercept vulnerable targets with a load of bombs is an invaluable advantage.
Viking1: Tell us about damage and physics modeling on ships and aircraft. Will it be possible to overheat an engine? Will different levels of structural damage be modeled?
Mungai: We are still looking into the detail of modeling. However, this is a game, not a simulation. We have put emphasis on gameplay. Even though the vehicles of Battlefield: 1942 draw upon real WWII vehicles for inspiration, they have been built to provide an optimal combination of fun and gameplay. Rest assured, though. All the fundamentals like weak spots, special weapons, and so on, are in the game.
Taking a bead on a hapless enemy
Viking1: You are planning to allow multiple human players on board the B-17. How many and which positions? Will you also allow multiple players on the ships?
Mungai: The exact number of positions has yet to be determined, but you can expect a player to act as pilot, gunner or bombardier.
Viking1: A capital ship is a lot of real estate! I assume you model only the weapon stations for the player? Which positions can be player-controlled aboard a capital ship?
Mungai: We plan to have the player be able to control the ships direction or be at the weapons station. They will be able to switch between stations freely. Please note that the entire ship will be modeled, and that players will be able to move around on deck as well.
Viking1: Player wounds and health are obviously critical to realism in a game like this. How have you modeled these aspects, and how do you present information to the player?
Mungai: In the balance between fun and realism, we are convinced that we have found a great model. If you mess up, you will be severely punished, but this system won’t detract from the pace or intensity of the game.
Reflections in the water!
Viking1: I'm curious about the integration of the various environments. Say that I bail out of a stricken P-51 and land in the middle of town, on the enemy side. I am quick to draw my .45 and I kill a German trooper who is standing beside a running motorcycle. Do I also have the option of hitting him over the head with my gun? Can I now jump on the bike and try and make my way to friendly territory? Can I even change clothes with him? Can I also steal his machine gun?
Mungai: Well, that’s an interesting scenario. The ability to steal uniforms is not in the game, because it is a war game, and not a covert ops game. Dressing up in enemy uniform is against the laws of war, and is not something soldiers normally are encouraged to do. And you’d probably want to pull out your bayonet for the close up work, unless you wanted to shoot him. Other than that, it sounds like a fun session.
Viking1: What kinds of weapons will be available to the foot soldier?
Mungai: If you know your WWII weapons , you’re probably at an advantage, since vehicles and weapons resemble their historical counterparts in effect as well as look. Like the vehicles, you’ll find all the true classics in there, and in addition to that, the odd surprise.
Viking1: Obviously multiplayer features are at the heart of the game. How many players can be involved in one scenario, and how large are the maps?
Mungai: Right now, we are looking into having a large number of players represented. The maps will be huge! Trust us.
Viking1: One of the design features I find very exciting is that either the computer or a human player can take overall strategic control. What kind of control does this give to a team leader, and how does he transmit commands to units?
Mungai: A player plays a single soldier. Battlefield: 1942 is not a squad action simulator, it puts the focus on the achievements of individuals. Individuals can work together, in co-op, or in versus modes. A soldier can fight on foot or in vehicles. This is all we want to say at the present.
Viking1: Tell us about multiplayer features in general.
Mungai: We can say right now that multiplayer will be a large compenent of this game featuring a lot of players. We expect it to be robust, smooth and very fun to play!
We want to make a service like Battle.net available to people who play Battlefield: 1942 online. We will have player tracking, records, and support for clans and rankings, with each clan or team having its own identification painted on the vehicles and shoulder patch on the soldiers. We’d also like to include kill markings on vehicles showing how many kills you have made.
MP40
Viking1: How many players will be able to face off in a single arena?
Mungai: Some of the larger scenarios will have up to sixty-four players at one time. The Battle of Kursk included over 3,000 tanks, but by scaling down the size of the battlefield we can achieve the same feeling of huge battle.
Viking1: Thanks very much Jerris and best of luck as you complete the game!!
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