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scanning around the net and came across this interview whcih shows all about the game, only 5 weeks to go now until its release so if you are interested read on...
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The Middle East always seems to be engaged in some kind of military conflict, and perhaps the most well known organized action was the Gulf War of 1991. Operation Desert Storm’s multinational fight to retake Kuwait from Iraq still affects relations with the involved countries today. UK developer SCi is now bringing that fight later this year to the PC, Playstation 2 and Xbox platforms with Conflict: Desert Storm, a squad based tactical action game that hopes to bring a lot of realism to the genre. internet people got a chance to chat with the game’s producer Lee Singleton to learn more about SCi’s plans for Conflict: Desert Storm.
internet people- The Desert Storm conflict is still fresh in the minds of most people in the world. Why do you think now is the time to make a game based on the war?
Lee Singleton - Desert Storm was one of the first high technology wars of our time and games lend themselves extremely well to this. We were thinking about WW2 but this genre has been over done - we think Conflict: Desert Storm brings some fresh ideas to the table.
KR - What sort of research did the team do to help create the game?
Lee Singleton - We have drawn on Cameron Spence's extensive SAS and military experience. Cameron was an SAS NCO in the Gulf War and has been consulting on the game. This was priceless for us because we learnt so much - first hand experience such as this is invaluable, it's not easy to gather this sort of information from books.
internet people - What is the plotline for Conflict: Desert Storm?
Lee Singleton - You play through the time line of the real war including the liberation of Kuwait and the eventual bombing of the Basra road. Missions are really diverse, amongst others you'll get the chance to take part in scud hunting operations, assassination, escort, rescue and seek and destroy missions.
internet people - What types of characters does the player control in the game and how hard is it to give the team orders?
Lee Singleton - The player controls either 4 SAS or 4 Delta Force operatives. The team orders are very intuitive and work really well, you will be able to ask individuals or the whole squad to stay where they are, to follow you, to go loud (open fire) or get them to move to certain areas of the map (without having to control them to get them there!). The AI is amazing and supplements non human control seamlessly, which is key in this type of game.
internet people - What types of levels and environments will the players find themselves in Conflict: Desert Storm?
Lee Singleton - There are urban and desert based maps, as well as indoor environments. This offers variety to the player and it's really stimulating to play a mission in the streets of Kuwait city after running around the open desert - we've also got some really cool sand storms!
internet people - What weapons will be used by the player in the game?
Lee Singleton - Real Gulf War weapons - we've developed a really nice ballistic model that uses real muzzle velocities etc. The result for the user translates into weapons doing what they would expect them to do, for example: The Barrett Sniper Rifle is truly awesome and will down an enemy in a single shot from long range. A silenced pistol is relatively accurate over a short distance but ineffective over a long range. Amongst other things we've also got heavy weapons, plastic explosive, night vision goggles, grenades, as well as a knife for stealth kills and the classic M16. One of our favourites is the LAW 66's anti tank weapon. A really cool feature is the ability to call in heavy artillery back up, you can designate a targets for air strikes by laser and can sit back and watch them happen!
internet people - What types of Iraqi enemies will the player face in the game?
Lee Singleton - All sorts really, starting with basic grunts all the way up to the Republican Guard and a Military General.
internet people - The AI of a game like Conflict: Desert Storm is very important. What will the AI allow the enemies and the player character to do in the game?
Lee Singleton - AI is really important to squad based games as there is nothing worse than watching characters running in the wrong directing or doing stupid things! The routing code is really effective and the game characters never take a wrong turn. We've also got some cool stuff like outnumbered Iraqi's getting scared and running off! If you throw a fragmentation grenade into a machine gun nest the gunner will disengage the gun and start to flee. Iraqi's also notice dead bodies which brings them up to level 1 alertness, they then raise the alarm and start looking for you. All game characters naturally see less at night - wear PNG's (night vision goggles) and you can see more! There's loads more too, we believe that doing the AI right in the first place has created a lot of emergent believe play.
internet people - What sort of vehicles will the player get to control in the game?
Lee Singleton - One of the missions involves driving a jeep with a mounted TOW launcher attached - this is really cool, you also get to drive a M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle (big tank!). You can also interact with some of the other enemy vehicles such a lorries.
internet people - What can you tell us about the features of the engine that Conflict: Desert Storm is using?
Lee Singleton - We do loads of cool stuff, everything is independent of the frame rate too. We've got real-time lighting / shadows cast from the sun which we use to choreograph the time of day when the player reaches certain points on the game maps - for instance we want it to be dark when the player reaches the air base on level 3 so we make sure it's bright when they start the mission, they get a sun set just before the air base and it's actually dark by the time they get their squad into the base. This works really well and looks exceptional.
internet people - What will the differences be between the PC, Playstation 2, and Xbox versions of the game?
Lee Singleton - The game features are the same but we play each platform to it's strengths. The consoles have co-operative play which is sooooo much fun - it's for two players and you take two squad members each and play together - this is excellent. Lot's of games that have a strong multi-player element are lacking in single player or vice versa - Conflict: Desert Storm is very strong in both areas. The Xbox uses bump mapping and progressive texturing etc. to make it look really great - we've also managed to push out the draw distance a long way too. The PC has support for Nvidia's GeForce 4, we use the vertex shaders for all sorts elements in the game. The PlayStation 2 also looks amazing, we've been constantly optimising our code to get performance gains which has allowed us to do more and more, the game is much better than we originally thought it could be.
internet people - Will Conflict: Desert Storm have any multiplayer modes?
Lee Singleton - Yes, , the consoles support co-operative play, the PC version has LAN support for Death Match and other modes.
internet people - Currently what is the status of the game's development and when will it be in stores?
Lee Singleton - We are at Beta now and starting to balance the difficulty. Keep your eyes peeled over the Summer months!
internet people - Finally, is there anything else you wish to say about Conflict: Desert Storm?
Lee Singleton - This is one not to be missed, it has a unique combination of gameplay elements which will cater for action gamers, team players and sim and strategy gamers a like - Conflict: Desert Storm represents the new SCi, this is the shape of things to come and the first game of the Conflict franchise.
internet people - What sort of vehicles will the player get to control in the game?
Lee Singleton - One of the missions involves driving a jeep with a mounted TOW launcher attached - this is really cool, you also get to drive a M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle (big tank!). You can also interact with some of the other enemy vehicles such a lorries.
internet people - What can you tell us about the features of the engine that Conflict: Desert Storm is using?
Lee Singleton - We do loads of cool stuff, everything is independent of the frame rate too. We've got real-time lighting / shadows cast from the sun which we use to choreograph the time of day when the player reaches certain points on the game maps - for instance we want it to be dark when the player reaches the air base on level 3 so we make sure it's bright when they start the mission, they get a sun set just before the air base and it's actually dark by the time they get their squad into the base. This works really well and looks exceptional.
internet people - What will the differences be between the PC, Playstation 2, and Xbox versions of the game?
Lee Singleton - The game features are the same but we play each platform to it's strengths. The consoles have co-operative play which is sooooo much fun - it's for two players and you take two squad members each and play together - this is excellent. Lot's of games that have a strong multi-player element are lacking in single player or vice versa - Conflict: Desert Storm is very strong in both areas. The Xbox uses bump mapping and progressive texturing etc. to make it look really great - we've also managed to push out the draw distance a long way too. The PC has support for Nvidia's GeForce 4, we use the vertex shaders for all sorts elements in the game. The PlayStation 2 also looks amazing, we've been constantly optimising our code to get performance gains which has allowed us to do more and more, the game is much better than we originally thought it could be.
internet people - Will Conflict: Desert Storm have any multiplayer modes?
Lee Singleton - Yes, , the consoles support co-operative play, the PC version has LAN support for Death Match and other modes.
internet people - Currently what is the status of the game's development and when will it be in stores?
Lee Singleton - We are at Beta now and starting to balance the difficulty. Keep your eyes peeled over the Summer months!
internet people - Finally, is there anything else you wish to say about Conflict: Desert Storm?
Lee Singleton - This is one not to be missed, it has a unique combination of gameplay elements which will cater for action gamers, team players and sim and strategy gamers a like - Conflict: Desert Storm represents the new SCi, this is the shape of things to come and the first game of the Conflict franchise.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
obviously it was really an interview by me ;) but this game is shaping up to be really good and by the sound of things you get to feel part of a team and the graphics are also very detailed and some parts in the game have been done with real sounds and alot of time ahs been spent on this game. according to OPS2 the sound is amazing on it and it is very realistic, one thing i would like to see is how the AI reacts.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Middle East always seems to be engaged in some kind of military conflict, and perhaps the most well known organized action was the Gulf War of 1991. Operation Desert Storm’s multinational fight to retake Kuwait from Iraq still affects relations with the involved countries today. UK developer SCi is now bringing that fight later this year to the PC, Playstation 2 and Xbox platforms with Conflict: Desert Storm, a squad based tactical action game that hopes to bring a lot of realism to the genre. internet people got a chance to chat with the game’s producer Lee Singleton to learn more about SCi’s plans for Conflict: Desert Storm.
internet people- The Desert Storm conflict is still fresh in the minds of most people in the world. Why do you think now is the time to make a game based on the war?
Lee Singleton - Desert Storm was one of the first high technology wars of our time and games lend themselves extremely well to this. We were thinking about WW2 but this genre has been over done - we think Conflict: Desert Storm brings some fresh ideas to the table.
KR - What sort of research did the team do to help create the game?
Lee Singleton - We have drawn on Cameron Spence's extensive SAS and military experience. Cameron was an SAS NCO in the Gulf War and has been consulting on the game. This was priceless for us because we learnt so much - first hand experience such as this is invaluable, it's not easy to gather this sort of information from books.
internet people - What is the plotline for Conflict: Desert Storm?
Lee Singleton - You play through the time line of the real war including the liberation of Kuwait and the eventual bombing of the Basra road. Missions are really diverse, amongst others you'll get the chance to take part in scud hunting operations, assassination, escort, rescue and seek and destroy missions.
internet people - What types of characters does the player control in the game and how hard is it to give the team orders?
Lee Singleton - The player controls either 4 SAS or 4 Delta Force operatives. The team orders are very intuitive and work really well, you will be able to ask individuals or the whole squad to stay where they are, to follow you, to go loud (open fire) or get them to move to certain areas of the map (without having to control them to get them there!). The AI is amazing and supplements non human control seamlessly, which is key in this type of game.
internet people - What types of levels and environments will the players find themselves in Conflict: Desert Storm?
Lee Singleton - There are urban and desert based maps, as well as indoor environments. This offers variety to the player and it's really stimulating to play a mission in the streets of Kuwait city after running around the open desert - we've also got some really cool sand storms!
internet people - What weapons will be used by the player in the game?
Lee Singleton - Real Gulf War weapons - we've developed a really nice ballistic model that uses real muzzle velocities etc. The result for the user translates into weapons doing what they would expect them to do, for example: The Barrett Sniper Rifle is truly awesome and will down an enemy in a single shot from long range. A silenced pistol is relatively accurate over a short distance but ineffective over a long range. Amongst other things we've also got heavy weapons, plastic explosive, night vision goggles, grenades, as well as a knife for stealth kills and the classic M16. One of our favourites is the LAW 66's anti tank weapon. A really cool feature is the ability to call in heavy artillery back up, you can designate a targets for air strikes by laser and can sit back and watch them happen!
internet people - What types of Iraqi enemies will the player face in the game?
Lee Singleton - All sorts really, starting with basic grunts all the way up to the Republican Guard and a Military General.
internet people - The AI of a game like Conflict: Desert Storm is very important. What will the AI allow the enemies and the player character to do in the game?
Lee Singleton - AI is really important to squad based games as there is nothing worse than watching characters running in the wrong directing or doing stupid things! The routing code is really effective and the game characters never take a wrong turn. We've also got some cool stuff like outnumbered Iraqi's getting scared and running off! If you throw a fragmentation grenade into a machine gun nest the gunner will disengage the gun and start to flee. Iraqi's also notice dead bodies which brings them up to level 1 alertness, they then raise the alarm and start looking for you. All game characters naturally see less at night - wear PNG's (night vision goggles) and you can see more! There's loads more too, we believe that doing the AI right in the first place has created a lot of emergent believe play.
internet people - What sort of vehicles will the player get to control in the game?
Lee Singleton - One of the missions involves driving a jeep with a mounted TOW launcher attached - this is really cool, you also get to drive a M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle (big tank!). You can also interact with some of the other enemy vehicles such a lorries.
internet people - What can you tell us about the features of the engine that Conflict: Desert Storm is using?
Lee Singleton - We do loads of cool stuff, everything is independent of the frame rate too. We've got real-time lighting / shadows cast from the sun which we use to choreograph the time of day when the player reaches certain points on the game maps - for instance we want it to be dark when the player reaches the air base on level 3 so we make sure it's bright when they start the mission, they get a sun set just before the air base and it's actually dark by the time they get their squad into the base. This works really well and looks exceptional.
internet people - What will the differences be between the PC, Playstation 2, and Xbox versions of the game?
Lee Singleton - The game features are the same but we play each platform to it's strengths. The consoles have co-operative play which is sooooo much fun - it's for two players and you take two squad members each and play together - this is excellent. Lot's of games that have a strong multi-player element are lacking in single player or vice versa - Conflict: Desert Storm is very strong in both areas. The Xbox uses bump mapping and progressive texturing etc. to make it look really great - we've also managed to push out the draw distance a long way too. The PC has support for Nvidia's GeForce 4, we use the vertex shaders for all sorts elements in the game. The PlayStation 2 also looks amazing, we've been constantly optimising our code to get performance gains which has allowed us to do more and more, the game is much better than we originally thought it could be.
internet people - Will Conflict: Desert Storm have any multiplayer modes?
Lee Singleton - Yes, , the consoles support co-operative play, the PC version has LAN support for Death Match and other modes.
internet people - Currently what is the status of the game's development and when will it be in stores?
Lee Singleton - We are at Beta now and starting to balance the difficulty. Keep your eyes peeled over the Summer months!
internet people - Finally, is there anything else you wish to say about Conflict: Desert Storm?
Lee Singleton - This is one not to be missed, it has a unique combination of gameplay elements which will cater for action gamers, team players and sim and strategy gamers a like - Conflict: Desert Storm represents the new SCi, this is the shape of things to come and the first game of the Conflict franchise.
internet people - What sort of vehicles will the player get to control in the game?
Lee Singleton - One of the missions involves driving a jeep with a mounted TOW launcher attached - this is really cool, you also get to drive a M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle (big tank!). You can also interact with some of the other enemy vehicles such a lorries.
internet people - What can you tell us about the features of the engine that Conflict: Desert Storm is using?
Lee Singleton - We do loads of cool stuff, everything is independent of the frame rate too. We've got real-time lighting / shadows cast from the sun which we use to choreograph the time of day when the player reaches certain points on the game maps - for instance we want it to be dark when the player reaches the air base on level 3 so we make sure it's bright when they start the mission, they get a sun set just before the air base and it's actually dark by the time they get their squad into the base. This works really well and looks exceptional.
internet people - What will the differences be between the PC, Playstation 2, and Xbox versions of the game?
Lee Singleton - The game features are the same but we play each platform to it's strengths. The consoles have co-operative play which is sooooo much fun - it's for two players and you take two squad members each and play together - this is excellent. Lot's of games that have a strong multi-player element are lacking in single player or vice versa - Conflict: Desert Storm is very strong in both areas. The Xbox uses bump mapping and progressive texturing etc. to make it look really great - we've also managed to push out the draw distance a long way too. The PC has support for Nvidia's GeForce 4, we use the vertex shaders for all sorts elements in the game. The PlayStation 2 also looks amazing, we've been constantly optimising our code to get performance gains which has allowed us to do more and more, the game is much better than we originally thought it could be.
internet people - Will Conflict: Desert Storm have any multiplayer modes?
Lee Singleton - Yes, , the consoles support co-operative play, the PC version has LAN support for Death Match and other modes.
internet people - Currently what is the status of the game's development and when will it be in stores?
Lee Singleton - We are at Beta now and starting to balance the difficulty. Keep your eyes peeled over the Summer months!
internet people - Finally, is there anything else you wish to say about Conflict: Desert Storm?
Lee Singleton - This is one not to be missed, it has a unique combination of gameplay elements which will cater for action gamers, team players and sim and strategy gamers a like - Conflict: Desert Storm represents the new SCi, this is the shape of things to come and the first game of the Conflict franchise.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
obviously it was really an interview by me ;) but this game is shaping up to be really good and by the sound of things you get to feel part of a team and the graphics are also very detailed and some parts in the game have been done with real sounds and alot of time ahs been spent on this game. according to OPS2 the sound is amazing on it and it is very realistic, one thing i would like to see is how the AI reacts.
There have been no replies to this thread yet.
scanning around the net and came across this interview whcih shows all about the game, only 5 weeks to go now until its release so if you are interested read on...
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Middle East always seems to be engaged in some kind of military conflict, and perhaps the most well known organized action was the Gulf War of 1991. Operation Desert Storm’s multinational fight to retake Kuwait from Iraq still affects relations with the involved countries today. UK developer SCi is now bringing that fight later this year to the PC, Playstation 2 and Xbox platforms with Conflict: Desert Storm, a squad based tactical action game that hopes to bring a lot of realism to the genre. internet people got a chance to chat with the game’s producer Lee Singleton to learn more about SCi’s plans for Conflict: Desert Storm.
internet people- The Desert Storm conflict is still fresh in the minds of most people in the world. Why do you think now is the time to make a game based on the war?
Lee Singleton - Desert Storm was one of the first high technology wars of our time and games lend themselves extremely well to this. We were thinking about WW2 but this genre has been over done - we think Conflict: Desert Storm brings some fresh ideas to the table.
KR - What sort of research did the team do to help create the game?
Lee Singleton - We have drawn on Cameron Spence's extensive SAS and military experience. Cameron was an SAS NCO in the Gulf War and has been consulting on the game. This was priceless for us because we learnt so much - first hand experience such as this is invaluable, it's not easy to gather this sort of information from books.
internet people - What is the plotline for Conflict: Desert Storm?
Lee Singleton - You play through the time line of the real war including the liberation of Kuwait and the eventual bombing of the Basra road. Missions are really diverse, amongst others you'll get the chance to take part in scud hunting operations, assassination, escort, rescue and seek and destroy missions.
internet people - What types of characters does the player control in the game and how hard is it to give the team orders?
Lee Singleton - The player controls either 4 SAS or 4 Delta Force operatives. The team orders are very intuitive and work really well, you will be able to ask individuals or the whole squad to stay where they are, to follow you, to go loud (open fire) or get them to move to certain areas of the map (without having to control them to get them there!). The AI is amazing and supplements non human control seamlessly, which is key in this type of game.
internet people - What types of levels and environments will the players find themselves in Conflict: Desert Storm?
Lee Singleton - There are urban and desert based maps, as well as indoor environments. This offers variety to the player and it's really stimulating to play a mission in the streets of Kuwait city after running around the open desert - we've also got some really cool sand storms!
internet people - What weapons will be used by the player in the game?
Lee Singleton - Real Gulf War weapons - we've developed a really nice ballistic model that uses real muzzle velocities etc. The result for the user translates into weapons doing what they would expect them to do, for example: The Barrett Sniper Rifle is truly awesome and will down an enemy in a single shot from long range. A silenced pistol is relatively accurate over a short distance but ineffective over a long range. Amongst other things we've also got heavy weapons, plastic explosive, night vision goggles, grenades, as well as a knife for stealth kills and the classic M16. One of our favourites is the LAW 66's anti tank weapon. A really cool feature is the ability to call in heavy artillery back up, you can designate a targets for air strikes by laser and can sit back and watch them happen!
internet people - What types of Iraqi enemies will the player face in the game?
Lee Singleton - All sorts really, starting with basic grunts all the way up to the Republican Guard and a Military General.
internet people - The AI of a game like Conflict: Desert Storm is very important. What will the AI allow the enemies and the player character to do in the game?
Lee Singleton - AI is really important to squad based games as there is nothing worse than watching characters running in the wrong directing or doing stupid things! The routing code is really effective and the game characters never take a wrong turn. We've also got some cool stuff like outnumbered Iraqi's getting scared and running off! If you throw a fragmentation grenade into a machine gun nest the gunner will disengage the gun and start to flee. Iraqi's also notice dead bodies which brings them up to level 1 alertness, they then raise the alarm and start looking for you. All game characters naturally see less at night - wear PNG's (night vision goggles) and you can see more! There's loads more too, we believe that doing the AI right in the first place has created a lot of emergent believe play.
internet people - What sort of vehicles will the player get to control in the game?
Lee Singleton - One of the missions involves driving a jeep with a mounted TOW launcher attached - this is really cool, you also get to drive a M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle (big tank!). You can also interact with some of the other enemy vehicles such a lorries.
internet people - What can you tell us about the features of the engine that Conflict: Desert Storm is using?
Lee Singleton - We do loads of cool stuff, everything is independent of the frame rate too. We've got real-time lighting / shadows cast from the sun which we use to choreograph the time of day when the player reaches certain points on the game maps - for instance we want it to be dark when the player reaches the air base on level 3 so we make sure it's bright when they start the mission, they get a sun set just before the air base and it's actually dark by the time they get their squad into the base. This works really well and looks exceptional.
internet people - What will the differences be between the PC, Playstation 2, and Xbox versions of the game?
Lee Singleton - The game features are the same but we play each platform to it's strengths. The consoles have co-operative play which is sooooo much fun - it's for two players and you take two squad members each and play together - this is excellent. Lot's of games that have a strong multi-player element are lacking in single player or vice versa - Conflict: Desert Storm is very strong in both areas. The Xbox uses bump mapping and progressive texturing etc. to make it look really great - we've also managed to push out the draw distance a long way too. The PC has support for Nvidia's GeForce 4, we use the vertex shaders for all sorts elements in the game. The PlayStation 2 also looks amazing, we've been constantly optimising our code to get performance gains which has allowed us to do more and more, the game is much better than we originally thought it could be.
internet people - Will Conflict: Desert Storm have any multiplayer modes?
Lee Singleton - Yes, , the consoles support co-operative play, the PC version has LAN support for Death Match and other modes.
internet people - Currently what is the status of the game's development and when will it be in stores?
Lee Singleton - We are at Beta now and starting to balance the difficulty. Keep your eyes peeled over the Summer months!
internet people - Finally, is there anything else you wish to say about Conflict: Desert Storm?
Lee Singleton - This is one not to be missed, it has a unique combination of gameplay elements which will cater for action gamers, team players and sim and strategy gamers a like - Conflict: Desert Storm represents the new SCi, this is the shape of things to come and the first game of the Conflict franchise.
internet people - What sort of vehicles will the player get to control in the game?
Lee Singleton - One of the missions involves driving a jeep with a mounted TOW launcher attached - this is really cool, you also get to drive a M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle (big tank!). You can also interact with some of the other enemy vehicles such a lorries.
internet people - What can you tell us about the features of the engine that Conflict: Desert Storm is using?
Lee Singleton - We do loads of cool stuff, everything is independent of the frame rate too. We've got real-time lighting / shadows cast from the sun which we use to choreograph the time of day when the player reaches certain points on the game maps - for instance we want it to be dark when the player reaches the air base on level 3 so we make sure it's bright when they start the mission, they get a sun set just before the air base and it's actually dark by the time they get their squad into the base. This works really well and looks exceptional.
internet people - What will the differences be between the PC, Playstation 2, and Xbox versions of the game?
Lee Singleton - The game features are the same but we play each platform to it's strengths. The consoles have co-operative play which is sooooo much fun - it's for two players and you take two squad members each and play together - this is excellent. Lot's of games that have a strong multi-player element are lacking in single player or vice versa - Conflict: Desert Storm is very strong in both areas. The Xbox uses bump mapping and progressive texturing etc. to make it look really great - we've also managed to push out the draw distance a long way too. The PC has support for Nvidia's GeForce 4, we use the vertex shaders for all sorts elements in the game. The PlayStation 2 also looks amazing, we've been constantly optimising our code to get performance gains which has allowed us to do more and more, the game is much better than we originally thought it could be.
internet people - Will Conflict: Desert Storm have any multiplayer modes?
Lee Singleton - Yes, , the consoles support co-operative play, the PC version has LAN support for Death Match and other modes.
internet people - Currently what is the status of the game's development and when will it be in stores?
Lee Singleton - We are at Beta now and starting to balance the difficulty. Keep your eyes peeled over the Summer months!
internet people - Finally, is there anything else you wish to say about Conflict: Desert Storm?
Lee Singleton - This is one not to be missed, it has a unique combination of gameplay elements which will cater for action gamers, team players and sim and strategy gamers a like - Conflict: Desert Storm represents the new SCi, this is the shape of things to come and the first game of the Conflict franchise.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
obviously it was really an interview by me ;) but this game is shaping up to be really good and by the sound of things you get to feel part of a team and the graphics are also very detailed and some parts in the game have been done with real sounds and alot of time ahs been spent on this game. according to OPS2 the sound is amazing on it and it is very realistic, one thing i would like to see is how the AI reacts.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Middle East always seems to be engaged in some kind of military conflict, and perhaps the most well known organized action was the Gulf War of 1991. Operation Desert Storm’s multinational fight to retake Kuwait from Iraq still affects relations with the involved countries today. UK developer SCi is now bringing that fight later this year to the PC, Playstation 2 and Xbox platforms with Conflict: Desert Storm, a squad based tactical action game that hopes to bring a lot of realism to the genre. internet people got a chance to chat with the game’s producer Lee Singleton to learn more about SCi’s plans for Conflict: Desert Storm.
internet people- The Desert Storm conflict is still fresh in the minds of most people in the world. Why do you think now is the time to make a game based on the war?
Lee Singleton - Desert Storm was one of the first high technology wars of our time and games lend themselves extremely well to this. We were thinking about WW2 but this genre has been over done - we think Conflict: Desert Storm brings some fresh ideas to the table.
KR - What sort of research did the team do to help create the game?
Lee Singleton - We have drawn on Cameron Spence's extensive SAS and military experience. Cameron was an SAS NCO in the Gulf War and has been consulting on the game. This was priceless for us because we learnt so much - first hand experience such as this is invaluable, it's not easy to gather this sort of information from books.
internet people - What is the plotline for Conflict: Desert Storm?
Lee Singleton - You play through the time line of the real war including the liberation of Kuwait and the eventual bombing of the Basra road. Missions are really diverse, amongst others you'll get the chance to take part in scud hunting operations, assassination, escort, rescue and seek and destroy missions.
internet people - What types of characters does the player control in the game and how hard is it to give the team orders?
Lee Singleton - The player controls either 4 SAS or 4 Delta Force operatives. The team orders are very intuitive and work really well, you will be able to ask individuals or the whole squad to stay where they are, to follow you, to go loud (open fire) or get them to move to certain areas of the map (without having to control them to get them there!). The AI is amazing and supplements non human control seamlessly, which is key in this type of game.
internet people - What types of levels and environments will the players find themselves in Conflict: Desert Storm?
Lee Singleton - There are urban and desert based maps, as well as indoor environments. This offers variety to the player and it's really stimulating to play a mission in the streets of Kuwait city after running around the open desert - we've also got some really cool sand storms!
internet people - What weapons will be used by the player in the game?
Lee Singleton - Real Gulf War weapons - we've developed a really nice ballistic model that uses real muzzle velocities etc. The result for the user translates into weapons doing what they would expect them to do, for example: The Barrett Sniper Rifle is truly awesome and will down an enemy in a single shot from long range. A silenced pistol is relatively accurate over a short distance but ineffective over a long range. Amongst other things we've also got heavy weapons, plastic explosive, night vision goggles, grenades, as well as a knife for stealth kills and the classic M16. One of our favourites is the LAW 66's anti tank weapon. A really cool feature is the ability to call in heavy artillery back up, you can designate a targets for air strikes by laser and can sit back and watch them happen!
internet people - What types of Iraqi enemies will the player face in the game?
Lee Singleton - All sorts really, starting with basic grunts all the way up to the Republican Guard and a Military General.
internet people - The AI of a game like Conflict: Desert Storm is very important. What will the AI allow the enemies and the player character to do in the game?
Lee Singleton - AI is really important to squad based games as there is nothing worse than watching characters running in the wrong directing or doing stupid things! The routing code is really effective and the game characters never take a wrong turn. We've also got some cool stuff like outnumbered Iraqi's getting scared and running off! If you throw a fragmentation grenade into a machine gun nest the gunner will disengage the gun and start to flee. Iraqi's also notice dead bodies which brings them up to level 1 alertness, they then raise the alarm and start looking for you. All game characters naturally see less at night - wear PNG's (night vision goggles) and you can see more! There's loads more too, we believe that doing the AI right in the first place has created a lot of emergent believe play.
internet people - What sort of vehicles will the player get to control in the game?
Lee Singleton - One of the missions involves driving a jeep with a mounted TOW launcher attached - this is really cool, you also get to drive a M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle (big tank!). You can also interact with some of the other enemy vehicles such a lorries.
internet people - What can you tell us about the features of the engine that Conflict: Desert Storm is using?
Lee Singleton - We do loads of cool stuff, everything is independent of the frame rate too. We've got real-time lighting / shadows cast from the sun which we use to choreograph the time of day when the player reaches certain points on the game maps - for instance we want it to be dark when the player reaches the air base on level 3 so we make sure it's bright when they start the mission, they get a sun set just before the air base and it's actually dark by the time they get their squad into the base. This works really well and looks exceptional.
internet people - What will the differences be between the PC, Playstation 2, and Xbox versions of the game?
Lee Singleton - The game features are the same but we play each platform to it's strengths. The consoles have co-operative play which is sooooo much fun - it's for two players and you take two squad members each and play together - this is excellent. Lot's of games that have a strong multi-player element are lacking in single player or vice versa - Conflict: Desert Storm is very strong in both areas. The Xbox uses bump mapping and progressive texturing etc. to make it look really great - we've also managed to push out the draw distance a long way too. The PC has support for Nvidia's GeForce 4, we use the vertex shaders for all sorts elements in the game. The PlayStation 2 also looks amazing, we've been constantly optimising our code to get performance gains which has allowed us to do more and more, the game is much better than we originally thought it could be.
internet people - Will Conflict: Desert Storm have any multiplayer modes?
Lee Singleton - Yes, , the consoles support co-operative play, the PC version has LAN support for Death Match and other modes.
internet people - Currently what is the status of the game's development and when will it be in stores?
Lee Singleton - We are at Beta now and starting to balance the difficulty. Keep your eyes peeled over the Summer months!
internet people - Finally, is there anything else you wish to say about Conflict: Desert Storm?
Lee Singleton - This is one not to be missed, it has a unique combination of gameplay elements which will cater for action gamers, team players and sim and strategy gamers a like - Conflict: Desert Storm represents the new SCi, this is the shape of things to come and the first game of the Conflict franchise.
internet people - What sort of vehicles will the player get to control in the game?
Lee Singleton - One of the missions involves driving a jeep with a mounted TOW launcher attached - this is really cool, you also get to drive a M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle (big tank!). You can also interact with some of the other enemy vehicles such a lorries.
internet people - What can you tell us about the features of the engine that Conflict: Desert Storm is using?
Lee Singleton - We do loads of cool stuff, everything is independent of the frame rate too. We've got real-time lighting / shadows cast from the sun which we use to choreograph the time of day when the player reaches certain points on the game maps - for instance we want it to be dark when the player reaches the air base on level 3 so we make sure it's bright when they start the mission, they get a sun set just before the air base and it's actually dark by the time they get their squad into the base. This works really well and looks exceptional.
internet people - What will the differences be between the PC, Playstation 2, and Xbox versions of the game?
Lee Singleton - The game features are the same but we play each platform to it's strengths. The consoles have co-operative play which is sooooo much fun - it's for two players and you take two squad members each and play together - this is excellent. Lot's of games that have a strong multi-player element are lacking in single player or vice versa - Conflict: Desert Storm is very strong in both areas. The Xbox uses bump mapping and progressive texturing etc. to make it look really great - we've also managed to push out the draw distance a long way too. The PC has support for Nvidia's GeForce 4, we use the vertex shaders for all sorts elements in the game. The PlayStation 2 also looks amazing, we've been constantly optimising our code to get performance gains which has allowed us to do more and more, the game is much better than we originally thought it could be.
internet people - Will Conflict: Desert Storm have any multiplayer modes?
Lee Singleton - Yes, , the consoles support co-operative play, the PC version has LAN support for Death Match and other modes.
internet people - Currently what is the status of the game's development and when will it be in stores?
Lee Singleton - We are at Beta now and starting to balance the difficulty. Keep your eyes peeled over the Summer months!
internet people - Finally, is there anything else you wish to say about Conflict: Desert Storm?
Lee Singleton - This is one not to be missed, it has a unique combination of gameplay elements which will cater for action gamers, team players and sim and strategy gamers a like - Conflict: Desert Storm represents the new SCi, this is the shape of things to come and the first game of the Conflict franchise.
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obviously it was really an interview by me ;) but this game is shaping up to be really good and by the sound of things you get to feel part of a team and the graphics are also very detailed and some parts in the game have been done with real sounds and alot of time ahs been spent on this game. according to OPS2 the sound is amazing on it and it is very realistic, one thing i would like to see is how the AI reacts.