OFP2 interview

[Cozza]

Flashpoint.ru (http://www.flashpoint.ru/)

Glad there some news. English version is under the Russian Version.

[Hellfish6]

Nice find. http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/smile_o.gif Thanks for the interview, flashpoint.ru!

[m21man]

Well, I learned a few things from this http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/smile_o.gif .

The Highlights ( IMO ):

Quote[/b] ]Incredible: Are we going to see some complex ballistics in the game such as ricocheting bullets, tracers setting objects on fire, wind affecting objects, blast waves?
Marek Spanel: At least some of this features will be present for sure.

Incredible: Are you planning to work on such body movements as lean left/right and roll while laying on the ground
Marek Spanel: Yes, we plan such movements.

Incredible: Will there be animals?
Marek Spanel: Yes.

Incredible: How big will the islands be? Will there be only islands or land-only maps too?
Marek Spanel: Both type of maps will be possible.

Incredible: Will players be able to join games that are already underway?
Marek Spanel: Yes, of course optional for each mission type.

[Gollum1]

Hardly any surprising news (JIP, leaning, graphics fx...of course), but it's still...comforting to know that OFP2 is being worked on. http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/wink_o.gif

I do not care how long I have to wait as long as the end product is top quality.

[void_false]

Well, i wont comment it. http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/wink_o.gif
I love BIS http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/tounge_o.gif

[raedor]

he didn't say very much, but that is something http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/smile_o.gif

[Evishion]

Quote[/b] ]Incredible: It has been announced that OFP is due for release in year 2006. Why does it take such a long time to make the game and what parts of the development process are most time consuming?

Marek Spanel: It's very difficult and ambitious project and we want to bring our game to second level in every aspect possible. You shall be prepared for many surprises in next year or two in relation to the game. But despite anything that may happen I can ensure you we're working hard to deliver high quality game again once it's finished. But time is for us less important than complexity and quality.

Nice!! the high-lighted area http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/biggrin_o.gif

[void_false]

DiabloTerror
Screenshots, trailer or even demo!!!!!!  http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/ghostface.gif

http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/biggrin_o.gif

[Hellfish6]

A year or two is a long time to wait, don't go getting excited just yet. http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/wink_o.gif http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/smile_o.gif

[Cozza]

2006. Man I'll just stated year 11 and allmost be on my way to being in the army http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/sad_o.gif

[Jinef]

That interview was depressing, the interviewer was asking such stupid questions and unfortunately BIS lowered themselves to answer them.

They made a fabulous game the first time, I don't know why people seem so fixated on destroying the sequel by wanting it to turn into a counter strike relation.

If you have ever played 20 questions you will realise that you should use your questions wisely. This guy asked all sorts of stupid narrow minded questions. He should have actually prepared and read the OFP2 suggestions so he could formulate some proper questions about what BIS's attitude was to the community and to it's games. Those would be useful as then we could make the right suggestions that would actually persuade.

ARRGGG! http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/sad_o.gif

[Hellfish6]

Maybe you should make up some questions and ask them. If they answered flashpoint.ru, maybe they'd answer you too. Or maybe we could put a list together from the community of the 20 best (and most liekly to be answered) questions for BIS about OFP2? Like maybe start a new thread for it?

[kerosene]

Thats a good idea, there were a few questions that bugged me, like what kind of internet connection will you need for MP? Well, broadband obviously, its not going to be 56 f**king K is it?

Why not ask, roughly how many players are you aiming for in online games? (hope its at least 64 comfortably, then you could rely start to have good versus games.) And the Join in progress question - been answered already.

[SpecOp9]

DiabloTerror
Screenshots, trailer or even demo!!!!!!  http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/ghostface.gif

http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/biggrin_o.gif
They consider it http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/tounge_o.gif

[void_false]

Now seriously. I dont believe anything there before I hear a word from developers here. This interview seems to be for me like patch 2.00 that f*ru releases 1st April 2002  http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/blues.gif

[Silent N Deadly]

Quote[/b] ]Incredible: Many games these days are released for consoles (XBox, PS, etc) first and then for PC. Will that be the case with OFP2?
Marek Spanel: No, it will be PC game at first place.


Yay, Go BIS!

[shinRaiden]

Hmm... while there are a number of irrelevant q's (imho) that more properly should have been answered with "go script it yourself in OFP today", at least BIS claims they 'are considering it'. Part of the problem is that the really useful information at this stage, such dealing with moving stuff out of the engine and into externally scriptable areas, and the netcode nuances relating to JIP etc, is going to be in the minutes of developer brainstorming sessions, and nobody gives or sells those.

I like the idea of a community '20' questions interview. While the CS folks could try to stack the voting for questions likely already answered in the various scripting forums, other questions like "Will BIS release file format specs?" could get asked. That's one vote, do I hear a second?

[Jinef]

Fucking A

I want to be assured that BIS laughs at the CS kiddies who ask for jumping and ub33rrr l333tt00rr r0xxxorrr m4000rs.

1 Question: Does BIS consider themselves to be making a game, or a game engine?

As quite honestly the OFP community can make as many weapons and M4s as they like, we don't want to waste BIS's time with such requests. We want them to focus on making a very complex, powerful and unrivalled game engine.

Who plays the campaign now? Noone almost. We can do campaigns, missions, guns, vehicles. What we cannot do is make real weather systems, better graphics, sub terranean vehicles, continents, realistic flight models etc.

The problem in my opinion:

BIS should realise that they have a community with a lot of people who love the original game for what it is. There are loads of people who play the game in single player or with a few friends and enjoy the realism, they never go to the BI Forums and whine about how it suxx0rrs that the 'bots' shoot you from 200 metres away.

The 12 year old kids who keep typing in caps about how they are a Marine .... in 7 years, and whine that there isn't enough M4s are the people who play hexenkessel and want OFP2 changed into a game with a few 50 metre * 50 metre square islands with a few buildings and loads of G36s. These are not the people that BIS should be listening to.

The people BIS should be listening to are not saying much because they don't bother themselves with the mental agony of reading the BI forums.

Regards.

Jay

[Hellfish6]

Well someone get on it, then. http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/smile_o.gif

[Berghoff]

Oh great, JIP will be in OFP2. http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/biggrin_o.gif

[Suma]

Quote[/b] ]1 Question: Does BIS consider themselves to be making a game, or a game engine?

We considers us to be making both.

I am surprised how much talking the answer about jumping has caused. Of course, IF there will be any jumping, it will be a realisting jumping (that is covered by the word "we are considering it" - we are checking if soldier do jump if necessary, and we are thinking about if and how this should be translated into the game).


Quote[/b] ]BIS should realise that they have a community with a lot of people who love the original game for what it is.

The community might be able to realize the BIS love the original game for what it is, and we have no intension to destroy it, rather improve it.

[redface]

I'm delighted about the surprise mentioned. I hope it is something like a pack of new & good SP missions for OFP1.

BIS has done a lot of efforts for us, but maybe they could release a mission pack now and then in order to keep the community together. I can't be bothered by addons anymore, I just need some decent extra missions with standard units that I can hop into and have a sustained battle every day.

[Lupus[WD]]

I'm delighted about the surprise mentioned. I hope it is something like a pack of new & good SP missions for OFP1.

BIS has done a lot of efforts for us, but maybe they could release a mission pack now and then in order to keep the community together. I can't be bothered by addons anymore, I just need some decent extra missions with standard units that I can hop into and have a sustained battle every day.
Up to you to start your own pack of missions... you don't need BIS and their unique competences and access to the game engine for that. They are most certainly more useful to the development of the game's evolutions, aren't they ?

Now, if the surprise would be some test (real scale) implementations of future ofp2 features on a ofp1.5/resistance2 expansion of ofp1 ... huh :P dream on http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/smile_o.gif

edit: typo

[SpecOp9]

I dont really agree with the soldier jumping thing...there is really no need for it.

You should be able to climb and jump on objects when near them, but not jump in the middle of a battlefield...it will just play bad in Multiplayer.

[theavonlady]

I dont really agree with the soldier jumping thing...there is really no need for it.

You should be able to climb and jump on objects when near them, but not jump in the middle of a battlefield...it will just play bad in Multiplayer.
I'm sure there are ways of limiting how many jumps one after another, the effect of a pack on your back, immitating the real life exhaustion of jumping up and down again and again, etc.

Even Call-Of-Duty's developers impeded jumping in the latest expansion. Remember the COD Bugs Bunny flic that was linked to here soon after COD was released? LOL! http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/tounge_o.gif

[Berghoff]

Remember the COD Bugs Bunny flic that was linked to here soon after COD was released? LOL! http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/tounge_o.gif
Yes, lets all bunny hop thru the frontline with a fully loaded bag on yer back! http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/crazy_o.gif

[gonk]

Glad to see some news of OFP2 trickle out. Thanks http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/biggrin_o.gif

[gunterlund]

I agree with the jumping issue. The only thing a soldier should be able to do is jump down from something and climb up. I guarantee there is no way a soldier will be jumping on the battle field with all the equipment they carry. They may jump up once but that would be it. Jumping like a pogo stick to dodge hits is pure junk.

[HotShot]

Would be nice to be able to jump over a wall that only goes up to your knees, rather then needing to run around to the entrance.

[Baphomet]

Quote[/b] ]Incredible: Many games these days are released for consoles (XBox, PS, etc) first and then for PC. Will that be the case with OFP2?
Marek Spanel: No, it will be PC game at first place.


To me this is an important issue. Gaming franchises are being ruined in my opinion by giving primary consideration to console playing audiences (which are, let's face it, not as sophisticated). Nice to see that BIS will continue to support their PC audience. It means a lot to someone such as myself.

I recall back in the days when I used to play Daggerfall how I used to anticipate morrowind coming out, and then Zenimax pretty much bent Bethesda over a table and turned the elder scrolls into one of the biggest piles of sellout garbage I've ever seen. It was so obviously made for an Xbox it's enough to make me cringe.

I have such little interest in games anymore as it stands. I think I'd not bother with PC games period if OFP development went that route.

[SpaceAlex]

I think that they should include climbing rather than jumping. It would be nice to climb through a windor or on a wall. Jumping through a window or jumping on a wall would be funny though.

[philcommando]

As i read the posts, i cant help but wonder if most guys here have ever served in the military or if they had served, if they have forgotten or choose to be selective in their memory of their service.

Soldiers are supposed to be physically fit and able to do everything that an athlete can and even more for war is not about competition but infliction of physical and mental might onto the enemies. Those who pass various physical tests would be selected for special soldiers vocations such as rangers, deltas, spetnaz, etc. Those who are average will be send to infantry units or support arms and those who are borderline cases or lower will be sent to rear echelon duties.

Soldiers are expected to run fast, jump high, leap far, use his bare hands and legs to fight when run out of ammo or in very close quarters or when silence is required, with or without equipment. The battlefield is merciless to those that falters. Anyone who is not physically or mentally fit will only drag down his fellow teammates. In most instances when a soldier carries his pack is only during marching to the location. Once there, all packs are off, for commanders are not fools and knows that soldiers will not be able to perform well with additional weight while conducting the critical phase execution of the mission. At most the soldier will only carry an additional 3kg - rifle, 9mags, grenades, special equipment. If he cant or thinks he cant even run or jump or leap with that weight, he better be sent packing to perform rear echelon duties!

The only time he will run or jump or leap with his pack is when he withdraws or escape from the enemies and even then, the pack is optional for the human body holds more intelligence under influence of drugs than a pack of equipment when captured. In the rush when faced with physical obstacles, i am sure they are not gonna whine about weights they carry cos its either whine, get captured, shot or freedom.

Those who ask for the jump or leap feature are not asking for supermen or thunderbolt martial art shooting soldiers, just a reflection of real soldiers and capabilities. Those who counter them SEEMS to be a couple of rear echelon armchair warrior dreamers - just walk your way, take your time, to mission success..( hehe..no offense intended  http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/tounge_o.gif )

[ozanzac]

As i read the posts, i cant help but wonder if most guys here have ever served in the military or if they had served, if they have forgotten or choose to be selective in their memory of their service.

Soldiers are supposed to be physically fit and able to do everything that an athlete can and even more for war is not about competition but infliction of physical and mental might onto the enemies. Those who pass various physical tests would be selected for special soldiers vocations such as rangers, deltas, spetnaz, etc. Those who are average will be send to infantry units or support arms and those who are borderline cases or lower will be sent to rear echelon duties.

Soldiers are expected to run fast, jump high, leap far with or without equipment. The battlefield is merciless to those that falters. Anyone who is not physically or mentally fit will only drag down his fellow teammates. In most instances when a soldier carries his pack is only during marching to the location. Once there, all packs are off, for commanders are not fools and knows that soldiers will not be able to perform well with additional weight while conducting the critical phase execution of the mission. At most the soldier will only carry an additional 3kg - rifle, 9mags, grenades, special equipment. If he cant or thinks he cant even run or jump or leap with that weight, he better be sent packing to perform rear echelon duties!

The only time he will run or jump or leap with his pack is when he withdraws or escape from the enemies and even then, the pack is optional for the human body holds more intelligence under influence of drugs than a pack of equipment when captured. In the rush when faced with physical obstacles, i am sure they are not gonna whine about weights they carry cos its either whine, get captured, shot or freedom.

Those who ask for the jump or leap feature are not asking for supermen or thunderbolt martial art shooting soldiers, just a reflection of real soldiers and capabilities. Those who counter them SEEMS to be a couple of rear echelon armchair warrior dreamers - just walk your way, take your time, to mission success..( hehe..no offense intended  http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/tounge_o.gif )
Good points. http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/smile_o.gif

I for one would enjoy a realistic 'jumping' model, where factors such as weight and fatigue are taken into account.

We already experience 'virtual fatigue' following a lengthened sprint. Why not have the same effect following a jump?

Perhaps commands such as 'drop packs' could be integrated as well, which alters the physical abilities of a soldier, much like how handling a heavy weapon slows a soldier down in game.

The possibilities are endless, and surely not too hard to implement. Most of the groundwork is already there. http://forums.bistudio.com/oldsmileys/wink_o.gif

[KimTuomi]

Make it so that soldiers CAN'T run all the time, breathing heavily. Somewhere there must be a limit!

In a normal situation, I think not every soldier is a top-trained commando performing extreme athletics. Usually, I think, they are regular guys put in a very unregular situation. Sometimes, it is a requirement to jump briefly over trenches or maybe shelling holes etc.. I wouldn't consider it as jumping either; it's more like leaping or so?

[jackson42]

[...] and turned the elder scrolls into one of the biggest piles of sellout garbage I've ever seen. It was so obviously made for an Xbox it's enough to make me cringe.
...well I guess you never played Pirates of the Carribean (also Bethesda, aka the much awaited Sea Dogs 2) then? Good graphics, good setting -absolutely unplayable because of the XBox like interface.
Good to see BIS not hopping on that train

[.pablo.]

Those who ask for the jump or leap feature are not asking for supermen or thunderbolt martial art shooting soldiers, just a reflection of real soldiers and capabilities. Those who counter them SEEMS to be a couple of rear echelon armchair warrior dreamers - just walk your way, take your time, to mission success..
people who disagree with the need for jumping want the same thing as you do: realism. the problem that these people see with jumping is that there is almost no need for it in ofp, as most the the time you are in wide open spaces, not in urban areas with debris on the group to hop over, like you find in cs. to them, it is clear that there is no need for jumping, as there are almost no situations a player could be in in which they would need to jump over something.

the other problem that these people see is that in real life, people jump differently depending on what they are jumping over, or across; if they're going over a knee high wall, they just throw one leg over at a time; if they're leaping across a trench, they leap full speed, spreading their legs as much as possible to reach for the other side. unfortunately, though, the game developers can't/don't make animations for all the different ways a person can jump; instead they come up with 1 animation. the reason some people think that is bad in ofp is that it looks wrong when a person is trying to get over a knee-high wall and leaps over instead of just throwing one leg over at a time, and it looks wrong when a person is trying to get over a trench and they pick up their legs into their chest, when there is nothing they need to jump over. in short, the people who oppose jumping oppose it because they think the implementation will be unrealistic, not the concept. if you think jumping is a good idea, go play america's army for a while; you'll see that it is used far more frequently in unrealistic ways than in realistic ways (ie people jump when they're being shot at, they bunny hop at spawn when the game begins), and even when they are used in realistic ways, it looks unrealistic.

climbing is the same way; it would be realistic if it were implemented properly, but with today's games it just isn't possible to make something that would look halfway decent. combined with the fact that the player never really needs to climb, it is clear to see that the ability to climb is not something the game developers should work on.


i definitely agree with this though:


Quote[/b] ]As quite honestly the OFP community can make as many weapons and M4s as they like, we don't want to waste BIS's time with such requests. We want them to focus on making a very complex, powerful and unrivalled game engine.


and on an unrelated point, i would ask BIS if they were going to do something about the AI's reaction times; i don't mind being killed from 200-300m away, but if i do it should be because the AI was laying down and took some time before taking the shot. in ofp now, i have been in situations where i was lying down shooting at a guy running across a hill-face from about 200m away, only to have him stop--turn towards me--fire one burst--and kill me. from 50m, maybe; from 200m, theres no way in hell. the annoying thing is that the AI does this consistently; they will consistently turn towards you, or run and hit the dirt facing you, or whatever, only to pop off one 3-round burst that kills you. i think BIS should introduce some kind of semi-HD (high dispersion) effects in AI when they are doing certain actions. the problem with this, im guessing, will be the extra CPU power required to do these checks whenever some ai guy shoots. so, maybe they could let the player select whether they wanted to play with AI HD, and if so, whether they wanted the AI to always have HD (like in BAS), or only have HD when they are running/turning/moving (like what i wanted).

[[DsO] BuRNeR]

i think a realistic jumping at ofp 2 would be fine.
but it must be limited because it must be unable to shoot while jumping and the endurance should be play a role. once i was playing bf vietnam i was laughing from the beginning to the end. i had a sniperrifle and was jumping like a kangoroo and tried always to shoot with the scope. it was so easy to make headshots while jumping. this is one reason that i never played it again. somthing like this sucks.
i hope bis found a realistic ballance for it, then i do agree

[[FHA]Dynamo]

Quote[/b] ][DsO] BuRNeR Posted on Oct. 31 2004,20:09
i think a realistic jumping at ofp 2 would be fine.
but it must be limited because it must be unable to shoot while jumping and the endurance should be play a role. once i was playing bf vietnam i was laughing from the beginning to the end. i had a sniperrifle and was jumping like a kangoroo and tried always to shoot with the scope. it was so easy to make headshots while jumping. this is one reason that i never played it again. somthing like this sucks.
i hope bis found a realistic ballance for it, then i do agree

what did u expect from BF..lol
anyways.. who says u shouldnt be able to shoot when u jump...
just make it so that when the player does jump and shoot, his ret-sight flares-moves and makes his weapon extreamly inaccurate.

as far as never needing to jump in OFP.. HA!  how many times hav i been killed running along a street with fences to my left and right with nowhere to go.. how i would love to just throw my self over one of thoes fences.