A Conversation About WWII: RTS
By Aaron "Spectre" WatsonArticle Type: Interview
Article Date: July 09, 2002
Product Info
Product Name: Wartime Command
Category: Real-time Strategy
Developer: 1C
Publisher: Codemasters
Release Date: Summer 2004
Files & Links: Click Here
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The fine folks at 1C have recently gone into a different direction in order to produce a real time strategy title that uses a newer generation of the excellent IL-2 Sturmovik flight simulator backbone. I was fortunate enough to pose a few questions to Mr. Nikolay Baryshnikov, the International Sales Director of the 1C Company.
Aaron Watson (A.W.) Good afternoon, and thank you for taking the time for this interview. Let me start with the big question, has a permanent title been chosen for WWII:RTS?
Nikolay Baryshnikov (N.B.) No, unfortunately not yet. However, we are working in this direction, as the game cannot hang nameless in mid-air forever.
A.W. Can you tell me what countries and terrain types will be modeled?
N.B. We will have 2 sides in the game: Allies and Axis. Thus Allies include US, UK, French, Soviet troops and all other countries that supported Allies. Axis will be represented by all countires that were on the same side with Germany. Furthermore we will have a whole bunch of countries that took part in the conflict on both sides depending of the year! Players will have a unique chance to play the whole war from 1939 to 1945, playing for all countires that waged war in Europe.
A.W. Are the objects in game imported directly from IL-2 Sturmovik?
N.B. Of course not. Everything is being remodelled. The level of detail in this game is tenfold higher, as it is not a flight sim. And I can assure you—incredible level of detail is a key feature of this title. You will see even license plates on APCs, shovels attached to tanks and fire extinguishers attached to walls. I think that many 3D-shooters can envy such richly detailed environments.
Richly detailed environments
A.W. Will the acquisition of men and/or material be in any way associated with the exploiting of resources? As in gathering gold, mining minerals, or the like?
N.B. No! No harvesting, no peons hacking trees [Note]. It is a real war, so you cannot produce anything on the battlefield. This game is a pure tactical wargame in real time. On the other hand you will have to form your task force between missions. You will have "bonus points" that can be used to "order" new equipment and soldiers.
A.W. Will units be specialized to a particular purpose? As in, will a rifleman be able to operate a captured mechanized vehicle?
N.B. Oh, here is the most important part of the project. :) Every soldier will have dozens of attributes, parameters and skills. You can assign any piece of equipment to any soldier—from a pistol to a 88 anti-tank gun. However, if you decide to promote a nice looking nurse to a tank gunner, then I would suggest that you put other friendly units as far from her tank as possible. Seriously speaking you can make any adjustments directly on the battle field or before the mission.
So, if a gunner of a 45 mm gun is killed, then you can get a tank gunner out of a tank and assign him to the gun. Or if a loader of a heavy machine gun is killed, then you can put any other soldier in his place. This means that you will have thousands of possible combinations. Furthermore, soldiers can salvage equipment, capture enemy vehicles and pick up any dropped weapons and ammo.
A.W. One of the things that impressed me most about IL-2 were the details. The few screens I've seen look very encouraging. Can you elaborate a bit on the movement and articulation of the units?
N.B. We are trying not to miss any single datail. All units have hatches/doors that can be opened. Troops can enter and leave vehicles and buildings.
Every crew is properly animated—for example a mortar unit has to disassemble the mortar in order to move and then assemble it back! Every piece of ammunition is rendered and shown: a standard firing sequence for any unit shows every move in detail. One guys takes a shell from the crate, the other targets the gun, the third fires it, etc. As for tanks and cars, everything is fully modeled. Even suspension on cars! Individual soldiers have huge number of animations, from idle itching to death from a high caliber shell impact, all in superb details.
Working in unison.
A.W. With all the research material you've gathered for IL-2 be reflected in historical battles in this title?
N.B. Some of the materials will be used, however, this game requires much more. We have consultans, hundreds of books, thousands of blueprints, old maps, etc. Realism and historical accuracy are our two main aspects.
A.W. What can you tell me about the off-screen assets? Artillery, air support, naval shore bombardment capabilities?
N.B. Players will be able to call for air support (depending on the mission). These will include gun/mortar barrage, paradrops, air strike, air recon.
A.W. How are the benefits of experienced troops being addressed? Longer range of sight/weapons, better accuracy, harder hitting?
N.B. As I said, every soldier will have many stats that can be increased (it is like an RPG). Veterans will have better stats, can use equipment more efficiently, survive where a green soldier would panic and die. Furthermore, you will be able to transfer your troops from one mission to another (with some restrictions) so you can end with an elite band of cut-throats capable of manning tanks and using sniper rifles.
A.W. Who is this title focused toward? Flight simulation enthusiasts, RTS veterans, board game strategists, or gamers in general?
N.B. The game is targeted at two major groups of gamers:
1) All hardcore gamers that are interested in WWII wargames, simulations and strategies and even RPGs. This game will combine all the best elements from wargames (historical realism, missions, regiments, etc), simulation (highly detailed models, superb design, correct behaviour, etc), gorgeous graphics and even RPG elements (stats, attributes, skills, character development).
2) The game will appeal to casual gamers that love beautiful graphics, Hollywood style cutscenes, massive action, large scale battles. AI can take over in many cases and casual gamers will have a strategy of Warcraft style - where you just click on enemy units and you don't care how to attack, which ammunition to load, what specific weapon to use. And hardcore gamers of course will have control over all these and dozens of other options.
The water is gorgeous!
A.W. Will units from one campaign mission carry over to another, especially for experience purposes?
N.B. Yes. You will be able to keep your soldiers with some restrictions. For example, if your next mission requires some stealth action then you won't get heavy tanks. On the other hand you can give small arms to your tankmen and use them as infantry or put them on bikes or APCs. Experience and soldier development is a very important part of gameplay. We call it human resource management.
A.W. I'm sure weather and seasons are modeled, but to what degree? Snow falling, lightning, detriment to movement due to mud?
N.B. Weather effects are modelled. It is a bit early to discuss this in detail, but at least there will be different seasons. And warfare in winter will be quite different from warfare in summer. :)
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I appreciate the time Mr. Baryshnikov took to answer these questions for us all, as they look to be very busy with this title. I feel that, with all the points mentioned, and the fact that the engine is flight sim based, that we may be seeing an excellent cross-genre contribution soon. This would be great as it could get flight simulation enthusiasts looking into RTS's, and vice-versa.
Resources
Articles:
- 2002/07/09: WW2:RTS Interview with Nikolay Baryshnikov
Files:
- No Demo Yet
Official Sites:
