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Battlefield: Bad Company - Q&A Feature
Gwynne Dixon
27/03/2008
TVG talks to EA DICE Senior Producer, Karl-Magnus Troedsson, about the first tailor-built Battlefield game for the consoles...
As a tailor-built game for the next-gen consoles, Battlefield: Bad Company marks a watershed in the series' history. In the past we've seen various iterations of the Battlefield PC games eventually trickle down onto the consoles (e.g. Battlefield 2: Modern Combat), but Bad Company will be the first outing for the series that hasn't been scheduled for the PC first, and then the consoles. We caught up with Karl-Magnus Troedsson, the Senior Producer at DICE, to see what's in store.
TVG: This will be the first game to use DICE's Frostbite game engine. We've seen the tech demos of 90% destructible environments (which look mightily impressive), but what else will the engine bring to Battlefield: Bad Company?
The Frostbite engine is a very advanced piece of technology that not only enables us to have a huge amount of destruction in the world but also to have it on a vast scale. Maps are huge, ranging up to 4 by 4 km and within these, destruction in consistent. Unlike many of our competitors it's not a tunnel game, it's an open battlefield in which the player chooses how to try to solve the objectives at hand or take out an opponent. Every piece of the engine, from render to audio, is written and optimized for the experience of Battlefield: Bad Company and realises our early goals of creating a true next-gen game with stunning visuals and awesome sound.
TVG: This title is set to offer one of the most extensive single-player campaigns for a Battlefield game to date. How exactly will DICE's Sandbox FPS gameplay be implemented into the single-player game? Will it utilise the control point structure of previous Battlefield games in a single-player campaign? Or will it expand Sandbox gameplay to the extent of a game like Mercenaries 2, for example?
The experience in the singleplayer campaign is built upon the same principles as of a multiplayer game. This was actually one of our early goals, to build an experience that was very similar to how you play online. This means that it takes place in a huge open environment and it's up to you as a player to use your imagination on how to resolve matters at hand. Yes, every now and then we control the player a bit more and we also have choke points where we bring the player in so we can trigger cut scenes etc. But other than that it's the same sandbox experience that is trademark for any Battlefield game.
TVG: In the past, Battlefield has traditionally been at home on the PC, with console interpretations coming after the main PC game's release. Why has DICE limited the series to the Xbox 360 and PS3 this time around?
Battlefield: Bad Company is solely optimized for the next-gen consoles so that we could keep our focus on making this as strong an experience as possible. We don't want to make ports and everything from controls to interfaces need much work to make the most of the differences between PC and consoles.
TVG: The single-player campaign certainly has similarities to the film Three Kings, in the sense that the main characters are soldiers gone bad, utilising a war for their own profit in gold. How much did you look at Three Kings, or any other influences for that matter, in putting the story together?
When starting out on a new project we very often use movies as a source for inspiration, both for tone, attitude and sometimes even story. We then bring this together with all the other ideas about what the game should be, grind it all together during the preproduction into some kind of reference to how the game should look and feel. In the case of BFBC, Three Kings but also the old WW2 movie Kelly's Heroes proved to be very inspirational.
TVG: With four main characters in the single-player game, this suggests a lot of squad based play. What features will be integrated into the squad based play, and are we looking at four player co-op over Live and PSN?
Actually, we decided early on to exclude any squad mechanics in the game all together. So many games have tried this and only the ones that make into a key mechanic succeed. Most shooters turn it into a weak and less used add-on feature. The squad in BFBC is there to support the player but you don't have to order them around. They move around all independently, choose their own targets and act according to their profile and choice of weapon. They call out enemy locations, can help you out of a squeeze and follow you around. But most importantly they help in telling the story of the game.
TVG: The new 'Gold Rush' multiplayer mode sounds a bit like the Fragile Alliance mode in Kane & Lynch, in the sense that the mode's ultimate aim is a monetary reward with an attackers vs. defenders format. How much would you say this comparison is accurate and, if not, what sort of other things are we likely to see from 'Gold Rush'?
The new game mode in Battlefield: Bad Company shares little references to Fragile Alliance since the actual gold in the mode isn't there for an actual monetary reason because it's more of an objective. The actual captured gold isn't used for buying new weapons etc. as this is all handled through the persistence system. For example, taking out a gold crate will give you points (as with so many other actions in the game); points will rank you up and rank will give you unlock points. This can then be turned into new weapons and gadgets.
TVG: The multiplayer game provides for up to 24 players. Given that previous PC titles have catered for many more players, are we likely to see a scaled down Battlefield with Bad Company - i.e. smaller, but denser maps than previous PC titles?
After listening to the fans we've created two different kinds of maps. Half are more infantry focused for the players that like maps with tight action and little interruption from vehicles. The other half caters to the vehicle lovers: huge open maps with support coming in the form of both land, air and sea vehicles. The 24 players on these maps creates different experiences but the action will still be condensed to a clearer front with the game mode.
TVG: What different soldier classes will there be in the game and how have you tweaked the perk system to make it more at home on the consoles? Also, are there any unique features to the class system that will be new for a Battlefield game?
There are five classes of soldiers in BFBC: the Assault, Support, Recon, Specialist and the Demolition kit. All play very different roles on the battlefield and can be upgraded with different gadgets and weapons as the player ranks up and earns unlock points.
TVG: We assume that players will be able to drive tanks and hummers etc. in the multiplayer game, but will gamers also be able to pilot helicopters and planes similarly to Battlefield 2? Additionally, will this range of vehicles be carried through into the single-player campaign?
There's a huge amount of vehicles in Battlefield: Bad Company. Everything from attack choppers, jeeps, light and heavy tanks to patrol boats and heavy cutters. That, in combination with all the stationary weapons and the handheld ones, creates a vast selection of hardware to use in order to annihilate your enemies. And yes, all of these weapons are also available in the single-player campaign.
TVG would like to thank Karl-Magnus Troedsson, Senior Producer at DICE, for talking to us about the studio's upcoming game for Xbox 360 and PS3, Battlefield: Bad Company
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