John Williamson is the Producer/Designer of Spec Ops II
Spec Ops II is the sequel to Spec Ops and Spec Ops Ranger Team Bravo
(the multiplayer add-on pack). At this time, Spec Ops II will ship with
the multiplayer component included and we will try to have a mission
editor (it may be downloadable from our site rather than on the CD.)
Engine
Spec Ops II is being written using the internally developed
Zombie game engine, Viper. The new engine will again support both 3rd
and 1st person views, as well as the return of "buddy" who will now be
even smarter and follow more commands, using a new click and drag GUI.
We are also experimenting with adding 3 buddies. This allows Spec Ops
to be differentiated from the other shooter style military sims due out
in the coming year.
The engine will now have D3D/Glide support to bring a wide
range of new cards into the fun, and will run at 1024x768 (as well as
800x600 and 640x480). Currently, we are looking at a minimum system
between a P166 and a P200 with a 3D card.
We will have more dynamic lighting (searchlights, flashlights, etc.)
and 3D audio (probably supporting both EAX and A3d.) While still
focusing on exterior environments, you will now be able to open doors
and go into far more interior spaces (hangers, warehouses, cranes,
trains, etc.), complete with ladders, staircases and more. But the
emphasis will be on exteriors and vast landscapes. The game will take
place in a wide range of environments bases on real world missions and
will include jungles, frozen tundra as well as industrial parks and
waterfronts.
Six of the guns in SPEC OPS II
As in Spec Ops a great deal of attention is being paid both to
details and accuracy/realism. In Spec Ops, all the texture maps started
as photos from locations, as well as all the uniforms and faces. All
the motion capture data was taken off a former special forces officer,
wearing full gear and all the audio was taken from several live fire
exercises.
For Spec Ops II, we are following the same art path and have recently
completed a 3 day training course with the local SWAT team, blowing up
buildings (literally) and shooting down doors with shotguns (and I went
to college for this?). We also spent a day struggling over (or just
walking around) the obstacle courses (I am not as limber nor strong as
I was 20 years ago, despite going to the gym every day) and the shoot
house and tire house to get a better feel for the training levels we
created.
Back in January we spent time at the docks for our "On the
waterfront" level (sorry no Marlon Brando). Try as I might, I just
can’t get the accountant to approve that "fact finding" trip to
Thailand (she also wouldn’t approve my fact finding trip to Vietnam for
Spec Ops Ranger Team Bravo. Sigh.)
True light sourcing and dynamic lighting greatly change this game over
the original Spec Ops. You can shoot out virtually any light on any
mission, which makes you harder to see, but the initial shooting of the
light will raise the AI awareness. If you turn on your flashlight, that
will give away your position.
With true light sourcing you can tell where the light's source
actually is. This will prove to be extremely useful in hostage
scenarios where you have to go into dark rooms and rescue people.
The settings for missions will also vary greatly nationally, including
a ship yard in Germany, Nuclear rocket test facilities in Pakistan, a
jungle patrol for guerrillas in Thailand, rescusing defectors in North
Korea, and satellite recovery in Antarctica. The training base includes
an obstacle course, firing range, CQB shoothouse, and tirehouse.
Although the game is about Green Berets we will also have
international assistance on two "CODA" missions, one with the German
GSG9 and one with the British SAS. The weapons and uniforms will change
accordingly.
Multiplayer
Again Spec Ops will use RTime’s multiplayer code to allow seamless
multiplayer over a LAN or Internet. Several changes will be made to the
lobby server to give the player more information with regard to the
game in progress as well as the skill set of the opponents.
Multiplayer will include straight up death match as well team
vs. team DeathMatch. Variants on these will include capture the flag
and assassin. And once again, if the single player missions prove too
trying for you, you and your friends can meet online and take on the AI
as a group. If the missions are too easy, you can play against other
humans who are on the side of the AI.
The default will be to play with Buddy for 3 on 3 multiplayer, but
there will be an option to turn off buddy and play 6 on 6 in any of the
above multiplayer games.
