The Eastern Front Battles of
WWII Come Alive
Conducted
by
CLIMaX
___________________________________________________________________INTRO
Red Orchestra 3.0: Combined Arms
was released
this week to eager fans of this retail-quality total conversion
mod for Unreal Tournament 2004. Red
Orchestra first debuted for Unreal Tournament 2003, and quickly
secured a steady following; historical realism, excellent maps
and period weapons are just a few of the reasons why. RO won 1st
Place/Best FPS Mod in the Make
Something Unreal Contest and continues to attract new recruits
every week. While out on patrol I spotted RO development team
members P_Witty, SasQuatch and wilsonam and mananged to interrogate
them before the next enemy wave came over the hill...
_____________________________________________________________INTERVIEW
[CLIMaX]
Tell us about the Red Orchestra UT2k4 Mod Team. Who does
it take to put together such a realistic war sim?
[P_Witty]
It's a solid, professional mod team shaped from years of experience.
I'm one of the many artists contributing to RO.
[SasQuatch]
The MOD team includes members from various countries. We have
programmers, 3d artists, skinners, animators, level designers, sound
engineers, and a historian. There's also a test-lead and public relations
people. We have about 28 members who work off and on, and an additional
test-team of about 35 to 40 people.
[wilsonam]
Like the guys said - variable sized core team, covering all the
vital mod roles for modelling, art-work, animation, coding, and so forth.
We have additional history specialists (me, myself and I, with help
from everyone), small-arms specialists and armour fanatics, too. Within
the core team and the extended test team we also have people with appropriate
German and Russian language skills, movie-making skills and more.
[CLIMaX]
What is Red Orchestra, the mod? How did you come up with
the name?
[P_Witty]
Red Orchestra is a highly immersive representation
of infantry and tank combat on the Eastern Front of WWII. The name is
based upon the Red
Orchestra spy network, one of the keys to Soviet victory in the
war. The mod changed its focus very early on, but the name stuck.
[SasQuatch]
Yes, now the mod is aimed squarely at representing
infantry-based combat during WWII on the Eastern Front. Everything that
goes into the game including the latest vehicles and artillery support
the basic infantry.
[CLIMaX]
There are quite a few war simulation mods now for popular
FPS games. Were you inspired by any of these? How has Red Orchestra
improved on them?
[P_Witty]
I'd say alot of team members draw off of different
influences. There are those of us who played alot of Day of Defeat and
there are those of us who came from other WW2 mods for older engines.
On a whole I'd say players from both games could get into RO easier
than somebody going in cold, but RO has alot more to offer to players.
RO has abandoned the crosshairs of DoD for ironsights and plays a lot
better for players who form squads simply because the slower pace allows
for real life tactics to be properly executed in-game. RO also has dynamic
artillery strikes as well as balanced, realistic vehicle combat. I don't
think I've seen anything like that in any war simulation mod before.
[SasQuatch]
I think, for me personally, I'm inspired by all
kind of games, not necessarily WW2 combat games. Making a mod is somewhat
like making the game that you yourself would like to play, and I'm a
fan of the more slow paced tactical shooters. The main attraction for
me in RO is the setting; WWII-Eastern front, a somewhat mythical time
in world history. It's a challenge to recreate the look, feel and atmosphere
of the time.
[wilsonam]
"Different influences" is right. From
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault I developed a huge
desire to see a good, accurate, Eastern Front game appear. Personally,
I am not so influenced by loads of other games as I don't play many.
The big influence/driver for me is to get the right historical accuracy
and feeling into the game---everyone else spends time interpreting my
historical babblings into a workable game.
[CLIMaX]
What features of Red Orchestra are you most proud of?
[P_Witty]
The artillery system. It opens up for alot more
strategy in RO and changes a map from playing the same way over and
over. I really dig our new vehicles but they are still under constant
development and the code we'll be playing with now is too simplistic
for what we have planned.
[SasQuatch]
Right now I think it's still the balance of weapons
and how they handle. They get better and better with each release. And,
the models and animations are pure sex; I can't even start to imagine
what would happen if we could actually access all of the original Unreal
Tournament code.
[wilsonam]
Happily - the accuracy and feeling to the game.
We've managed to keep the Rambo element down and it is the overall effect
that I like best; players are actually careful about their lives! You
find people using real-world tactics---creep around the corner, sprint
from cover to cover, duck and hide, shoot carefully. As for individual
features, it is hard to say. I've always been hugely impressed by the
effort that has gone in to the game and the general professional attitude
of the team. The player models are stunning, the new artillery system,
animations... It's just too hard to pick one!
[CLIMaX]
What does the Red Orchestra team have planned for the
future? Are there new RO features you guys are working on that hardcore
gamers like us can look forward to?
[SasQuatch]
I'm very excited about our first implementation
of artillery and vehicles. I think the artillery has unique feel about
it, and it's great fun! The vehicles are still very rough, but they
have great promise. Our first tanks handle really well, and I especially
love the realistic reload times. You get this enormous feeling of suspense
which I've never encountered in a multi-player game before. I'm really
looking forward to what this team can accomplish in the field of tank
warfare.
[wilsonam]
Ever onwards. Next couple of months, we'll work
on the artillery and vehicle systems to make them really special.
There are a bunch of other infantry weapons and systems to bring in;
the infantry needs more anti-tank capability. Right now, the drive will
be to refine the major new systems, though, as well as just adding in
a few more tanks. We want to work on the vehicles to make them play
realistically enough. 1940s tanks are not invulnerable to infantry,
contrary to popular Hollywood belief, without sufficient infantry support,
or in bad terrain and built-up areas.Under those conditions they were
very much at risk. Other projects. Yes, of course. But for me they have to do with writing
and publishing on historical topics, not other games I'm afraid.
I have a question to fire back at LadyGamers.com: would you like to
see anything specific in the game? Female player models, such as for
the famous Soviet female snipers have been suggested in the past. Is
that sort of thing of interest to you? Do you consider it appropriate?
I'd be interested to know the views from your readers!
[CLIMaX]
Well, I'm a guy and I'd like to see Soviet female
snipers. But, let's ask CaliGirl, of LadyGamers.com.
[CaliGirl]
Wilsonam you rock! The past 7 years I managed so many sites, I have never
been asked such a question in an interview before! Actually, since I am
not a history major I don't know many Soviet female snipers there actually
were. However, now you have totally peeked my
interest. I am extremely curious to know more about these courageous
ladies! The only thing that comes to mind is one of my favorite
movies with Jude Law and
Rachel Weisz in Enemy at the Gates.
Vassili Zaitsev is the only sniper I
can think of that I have heard of, and I am ashamed to say its from
watching the movie.
I
feel female player models do play an important role in games, but
its not a needed feature. However, it does give some girls more of
an incentive to play the game. I have noticed many of my non-female
gamer friends play a game if they could be a female player in it.
Back in 1998 I experimented with them by having them play Quake 1
and then play Quake 2. Many of my friends who I grew up with desired
to play Quake 2 so
they could be as they put it, "a bad@$$ army chick." If
you do feature any female player models, please make sure you keep
us in mind! I'll try to scoop some of the girls on top of your cone
of Red Orchestra
community! ;)
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