CT Special Forces: Fire for Effect - Dev Diary #1 Feature

Hip Interactive is a relatively new publisher in Europe that already has a number of games due for 2005 which are receiving great comments and coverage.

The CT Special Forces brand was created 3 years ago on Game Boy Advance and received immediate success when released, having recently gained a top mark of 81% in Official Nintendo magazine for CT: Special Forces 3: Bioterror. The move to next gen machines and PC, now in 3D for the first time, will continue to build the brand within this enthralling universe. Based on the world of counter-terrorism, the focus is on 100% action. Over the next six months Totalvideogames will get all the inside information on the game as it comes together.

The French developer, Asobo Studio, which is designing CT: Special Forces Fire for Effect, was created in 2002 - a collection of highly experienced developers from various industry backgrounds includes expertise covering programming, game-design, art-design and animation. They all have an average experience of 8 years, some of them even more than 12 years in the videogame industry and know perfectly the latest console and PC technologies.

Already Asobo Studio has developed 2 games on console and PC: â??Super Farmâ??, an action fighting party game packed with humour, and â??Sitting Ducksâ??, an action platform game based on Universalâ??s hit TV series - both of which had a younger demographic focus!

Some members of the team have also worked on such titles as Nightmare Creatures and Dark Earth.

Asobo Studio is located in Bordeaux (South-West France) and has developed its proprietary cross platform engine for all next-gen consoles and the PC. This high-end engine allows for a maximum use of the hardware capabilities with spectacular visual effects and huge maps. It also allows our highly talented team to attain very high productivity levels in creating quality assets.

Speaking on this occasion will be:

Brice Davin - HIP Producer Jérôme Sicart - HIP Brand ManagerSebastian Wloch - Lead Programmer from Asobo

TVG: Could you please introduce our readers to CT Special Forces.

You belong to an elite force fighting against global counter-terrorism. Your team is made up of two crack agents poised to react to any threat. Your main objective is to dismantle the NEMESIS network and retrieve the stolen technology, software based on military anticipation scenarios.

The player can control two different characters - Stealth Owl, an expert in precision shooting, free fall and stealth and Raptor, an expert in heavy weapons and situations requiring close combat. The two characters offer two different progression paths, and the combination of their talents make up the force of the unit.

The CT Special Force will travel and fight in numerous countries and will face many varied environments, both internal and external settings, which have been inspired by famous locations giving a sense of realism.

TVG: Many gamers will not be familiar with the Special Forces brand but the transition from 2D to 3D have been notoriously tough in the past so what are you doing to ensure a smooth transition and will Fire for Effect retain the trademark qualities of the GBA franchise?

The brand CT Special Forces is well known to many, having been around for many years on other platforms, and for lots of gamers, this means fun and action drawing parallels with the famous Metal Slug brand. Our experience and focus with this licence has helped tune us into what players want, from 2D and 3D, and we believe the final 3D creation will be perfect.

Getting the perfect gameplay balance is, of course, the objective for the team but already from the feedback we have had at various shows like E3 and EGN we are moving in the right direction. CT Special Forces is a multi faceted, 3rd person, action, shooter game offering both â??Groundâ?? phases but also â??Airâ?? phases. As on the Handheld Console game, we wanted to offer the players varied gameplay ideas which will be achieved with many scenarios and situations. The element of surprise is also high on our spec list.

What made the success of the original CT series was the fact that you had 100% action, every time. It was possible to drive vehicles, to freefall, to snipe, etc. and all these features have been implemented in the home console version!

TVG: Just to give our readers a â??tasterâ??, perhaps you could give us a basic outline and describe the kind of variety on offer through the missions featured within Fire for Effect?

Well, one interesting idea Asobo has worked on is a totally new mode called â??Free Fallâ??, which offers new sensations and totally new gameplay, something never experienced before in videogames. Also, they did a great deal of intense research on military high-technology weaponry, so everything you will see in the game is either part of the current equipment of Special Forces or is at prototype stage and will be part of their â??gearâ?? in a few years. We are especially proud of some never-seen before weapons such as the electro-mag grenades, for instance, which can attract all the enemyâ??s weapons and take them off them. This and other interesting features of the game I am sure we can discuss, in more detail, in future sections of the diary!

Weâ??d also like to add that CT Special Forces has its own specially created engine that can be compared to best/existing ones for both physics and rag doll management, so CT not only boasts of new and innovative game ideas but the technology behind the game we believe is also state of the art.

TVG: Give us details on some of the locations that players will come across within Fire for Effect?

We won't reveal the whole locations right now but I can say that the Nemesis Network you are fighting against is really powerful (they know everything about the CT!) and has extended itâ??s antennas all around the world. Be prepared to travel everywhere.

CT Special Forces will have to travel and fight in many countries and will face many varied environments, as well as internal and external settings. It was important the player found both narrow and wide areas to offer the best gameplay variations as possible. The team has created original locations whilst still being inspired by famous settings giving a sense of reality.

Here are more precise details, a little teaser, for your readers for the mission that takes place on a ship:

Once on the bridge of the ship, you try to find a way to the control room and defuse the bombs. You must also deactivate the automatic pilot that is directing the boat towards the coast. It will be necessary to move through the hallways efficiently and to master the close combat techniques in order to get through the enemies. Your mission:

-Defuse 4 bombs. -Make it to the bridge control room. -Deactivate the auto-pilot -Secure the Ship.

TVG: Players take on the role of 2 characters; could you please give us details about them and are there any plans to incorporate a multiplayer mode?

Stealth Owl is an expert in precision shooting, free fall and stealth, as his name suggests! He can take enemies by surprise thanks to his optical camouflage.

Raptor is an expert in heavy weapons and situations requiring close combat. The two characters offer two different progression paths, and the combination of their talents make up the force of the unit.

No, there won't be any multiplayer version as we wanted to focus on the solo experience to offer the best sensations to players. We really wanted players to be totally immersed in the game. We also noticed that lots of games are offering a very average level of quality when trying to include a multiplayer mode. We want the experience to be unique!

TVG: The market for counter-terrorist titles is certainly a crowded one, however Fire for Effect offers a significantly different experience to the likes of Rainbow Six 3; what do you feel are the trademark qualities that will â??wowâ?? gamers?

I believe we have the chance to come to the PC and consoles with an existing brand that will extend all the great values the series has offered and stands for. We have built up a great core base and the new platforms will take advantage of many ideas, offering a top-notch title that has been recognised on portables!

Our job is to make CT Special Forces Fire for Effect one of the best 3D arcade shooting games on the system. Secondly, I think that CT Special Forcesâ?? content is perfectly in sync with gamers expectations and requests!

Our experience with this licence, over many years has helped tune us into what the players want. In effect, for each release of CT Special Forces, our marketing and development teams have been listening carefully to playersâ?? choices, remarks and requests.

CT Special Forces offers a real challenge to all players. Combining pure action, technological weapons and realistic environments, CT: SF FFE won't let you have a second free to think!

TVG: Please could you give a brief description of the engine behind Fire for Effect, which we can delve into in more detail during our technology focused chapter?

Asobo Studioâ?? own proprietary physics engine is giving some incredible results. It allows for the maximum use of the hardware capabilities, and it is specifically optimised for the chips of each platform to obtain spectacular visual effects. Indeed, most of the environment can be destroyed and rag-doll technology is being used to full effect.

An example of what the physics allows is realistic vision and feeling of explosions such as in real shock waves. With the powerful weapons and the electromag bomb, the engine offers astonishing effects: all enemy weapons are totally attracted from a certain limited perimeter according to the explosive centre of the grenade. Players can also attract crates in order to build a shelter for their progression.

Asobo Studio has also developed a very advanced AI engine that has grown extremely mature with CT. A next generation path finding engine allows enemies to adapt their strategies in real-time depending on an always evolving environment. Combined with a world structure analysis engine, the AI knows where to find shelter, how to progress safely towards the player and where to hide in case of a close grenade; even if the player moves some objects, explodes some vehicles or closes doors; the AI adapts its strategy.

World structure analysis also allows for extensive and realistic behaviour regarding sound. When enemies hear a suspicious sound outside a room they actually look at where the sound came from â?“ e.g. the door. This is a very important feature for Owl, the stealthier characterâ??s gameplay. Finally, the AI also features some very complex personality and group behaviour systems. Chiefs will order soldiers to progress towards the player; soldiers communicate to circle around the player and if the player shoots down the most courageous enemies, the other ones might just abandon the battlefield. But the player isnâ??t defenceless in front of all these menaces. He can use a full arsenal of weapons, including Ultrasound Defence shields, a Optical Fiber Cameleon device, magnetic grenades to disarm enemies, a full range of explosives and vehiclesâ?¦ Raptor, one of the two playable characters features overwhelming firepower!

TVG: What is the current state of development on all three platforms!?

Asobo Studio is taking advantage of its full cross-platform technology and all three platforms progress at the same pace. The game is currently between the pre-alpha and the alpha phases. Gamplay is about to be completed and tuning has already started, all levels are up and running and weâ??re now taking all the time necessary to implement all details required to create the most exciting experience ever in a third person shooter.

TVG would like to thank Asobo Studios for the first instalment in a continuing series of Developer Diaries focussed around CT Special Forces: Fire for Effect; stay tuned next month for a closer look at the actual gameplay of the title.