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Offical Q and A!
GameBiz recently caught up with Armando "Aj" Marini Senior Designer of Battlefield Vietnam and asked him a few questions about Electronic Arts new BattleField title
GameBiz What was your inspiration behind developing BF:Vietnam?
Aj: We wanted the game to be Battlefield meets the Hollywood Vietnam. E wanted the player to play a game that reminded them of Vietnam war films.
GameBiz: What research went into re creating battles in the Vietnam war?
Aj: We began by looking at the significant altercations of the war. From there, we pared down until we had a good diversity battles to choose from. The recounts of the war helped us to home in on the vehicles and weapons that we eventually included in the game.
GameBiz: What new features can we expect from Battlefield Vietnam?
Aj: The new rendering engine is the first thing people will notice. It allowed us to have graphics that are on par with the other first person shooters available this year. A back to back comparison between Vietnam and 1942 is really eye opening.
There is also music in vehicles. This music is heard not only by the driver, but by everyone in earshot. We also added the ability to customize this music so players can use their own MP3’s. Those however, are not broadcast.
We have added the ability to customize the look of your character to a degree, and for each class there are two kit choices. This gives the player greater flexibility and choice in terms of how they play the game.
Last, but not least, we added helicopter physics, and ergo, helicopters. They really add a new dimension to the way the game is played. The helicopters also come with the ability to airlift vehicles that are designated to be lifted. Although this makes you more of a target in the air, the ability to relocate teammates and equipment in this way really expands the types of strategies that can be employed to win a map.
GameBiz: How have you balanced the game play between the US forces equipment and the Vietcong?
Aj: First and foremost, we wanted the game to be fun and not necessarily and Vietnam War simulation. It’s more like a Vietnam War reenactment. We balanced the game by keeping a close eye on the outcomes of battle and what elements can help to compensate. If a particular vehicle, for either side, tipped the balance of power too much, we took steps to offset it in some way.
GameBiz: What new weapons and vehicles will we be able to use?
Aj: For the US and ARVN, there are the Huey helicopters, the F4, the A7, Sheridan tank, Patton tank, and more. Their weapons include the M16, M60, M79, M14, M21, and more. For the Viet Cong and NVA, there are Russian Mi8 helicopters, T54 and PT76 tanks, etc. Their weapons include the AK47, the RPD, 2 RPGs, the SA7 heat seeking missile launcher, Chicom type56 and type 53, and much more. The list is very long and if I give it all away now, it will spoil the surprise.
GameBiz: Can you tell us how the Helicopter/Vehicle (pickups) work?
Aj: We wanted it to be as simple as possible. When you are in a helicopter with this feature, you hold the right mouse button to lower the cable, then simple hover over the item you want to lift and it will attach to it automatically. Then you can release the button and fly away. When you’re ready to drop, click the right mouse button again and your payload is released.
GameBiz: What new improvements have you made to the AI for the single player experience?
Aj: We ran through almost every aspect of the AI to try and make them function better and be less taxing on the hardware. The first thing players will notice is that the bots are more vocal now. They taunt each other and the player during the course of battle which adds a lot to the feel of the game. They also listen to the player much better than before and issue responses to the commands. The player will know if he was heard and if he should expect his orders to be followed. It’s really great to issue the follow me command to the bots and have them trail you through the map. It makes base captures so much better.
GameBiz: We have heard Battlefield: Vietnam is going to be very cinematic. Can you tell us how this is represented in the game play?
Aj: As I mentioned earlier, we took a lot of inspiration from Hollywood. To that end, we tried to “set the scene†better when it came to creating the levels. Many choices we made to create a richer atmosphere for the player. The music helps as well.
GameBiz: Did you find that re creating the jungle environment realistically difficult?
Aj: Yes we found that to be quite a challenge. First off we had to create systems to allow us to densely populate the environment. There needed to be trees and grass everywhere and it had to be efficient. Once we over came the technical hurtles, we hit artistic and game play hurtles. On the art side, it had to look varied and believable. On the game play side, it had to be immersive, but not restrictive. It was a constant push and pull between art and design to get the balance that we finally ended up with. GameBiz Can you tell us about some of the special effects in BF: Vietnam? Will there be blood effects?
Aj: We remade all the effects in the game to better suit the game we created. I’m very pleased at the results. In terms of blood, there is some blood, but it isn’t a vastly gory amount.
GameBiz: Can you tell us about the maps, are they all based on historical moments like the Ia Drang Valley, the first major conflict of the Vietnam War. And are they well balanced?
Aj: We had a lot of fun doing the maps for the game. We chose altercations that gave us a broad variety in terms of backdrops. All the battles are based on historical fact. We even went so far as to research the forces that appeared in the altercation and recreate them as best we could. If you play the US or ARVN, you can even see the unit insignias proudly emblazoned on the shoulder of each soldier.
In terms of balance, we want to make sure that no team had significantly more wins on a map than the other. In each map, a good strategy will always win out regardless of how the map is set up at the start.
GameBiz: Has there been any improvement to the net code?
Aj: We were fortunate enough to have a greater grasp on the elements that caused network issues. The actual code for network gaming was quiet good to begin with. However the elements in the map were sometimes problematic. We made the elements in the game more efficient and therefore users will find fewer issues when playing over the network. That said, we couldn’t do much about the guys who run 64 players servers on their Pentium 90 machines
. We made it a little clearer for players to see what kind of horsepower the server is running so hopefully we can clear up some frustrations that players may have had. GameBiz: In the multiplayer mode, we can expect two new modes, can you tell us about these.
Aj: The first new mode is called Evolution. Here, a round consists of two maps rather than one. The scores (tickets and points) from the first map are carried over and added at the beginning of the second map. This means that the way you play the first map will greatly affect the outcome of the second map.
The second is my favourite mode. It’s called Custom Combat. Here, the server can change the defaults on the selected maps. Instead of playing the map with the US Army vs. the NVA, you play as the ARVN vs. the US Marines, or any other combination of forces. The server can also change what vehicles appear. He can set it to none, random, or he can swap each vehicle for a similar counterpart (for instance land vehicle, for land vehicle, air for air, etc). In addition to all that, restriction can be placed on a class level, kit level, or even individual weapon level. So, if there is a clan out there that wants to run a Vietnamese only, no vehicle, knife and pistol sever, they can do that. If someone wants to run US only, all cobra helicopters, no sniper server, they can do that. If adds infinite replay value to the game as you never quiet know want the parameters will be when you join the game.
GameBiz: Battlefield Vietnam has moveable spawn points, can these be moved anywhere? And how do these work for the US and NVA.
Aj: For the most part, these spawn points can be placed wherever the player can reach. For the US, the only method of movement is airlifting. As you can imagine, this opens up some extreme possibilities in terms of strategy. For the NVA, the engineers can pick the spawn points up and run them to a new location. All in all, it makes the game far more dynamic.
GameBiz: Do booby traps work in Multiplayer? And are they static or dynamic?
Aj: There are two kinds of traps. There are static log traps that we’ve placed in maps. Although they are completely functional and quite good at killing, they are more for immersion than game play. The classes have an assortment of explosives and other “items†that can be laid strategically to eliminate unsuspecting victims. How these get used is more up to the player. They are flexible enough to be placed in very devious ways.
GameBiz: Cheating is a big concern for many 1942 players how have your addressed this in BF: Vietnam?
Aj: We’ve implemented Punkbuster to help curb the cheats.
GameBiz: Are there any plans on converting other mods for BF like Desert Combat to BF Vietnam?
Aj: I sincerely hope so. The mod community desires really fueled the initial discussion of features that we included in the game. For the most part, this game is meant for our most vocal fans, the modders and the clans.
GameBiz: Do you have any other plans for an expansion pack?
Aj: We haven’t spoken about an expansion pack at this time, but who knows. Never say never.
GameBiz: What is the minimal requirement for Battlefield: Vietnam?
Aj: A Pentium 933, 128 megs of RAM, and a Geforce 3 (or comparable). I’ve played the game on this machine and it works quite well. Obviously the graphical quality isn’t going to be as stellar as it would on the high end machines, but the game is definitely enjoyable.
Thankyou very much for your time Aj, and we look forward to playing Battlefield: Vietnam when it’s released in Australia. Look forward to seeing what you have planned next.
Well I for one am very excited to see how well they pull off all these great, new ideas.
Wonder if there will be a patch out on day one too?
