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Battlestations: Pacific Q&A Feature
Chris Leyton
04/03/2008
Following last week's announcement TVG discovers further information on the Xbox 360 and PC sequel...
The original Battlestations: Midway served up a surprisingly entertaining blend between action and strategy above the Pacific Ocean when it was released on the Xbox 360 and PC last year.
Following soon after, Eidos will be returning to the theatre of operations for the recently announced sequel. Hoping to gain an eye on the improvements and new features currently taking place at Eidos Hungary studios, TVG recently had an opportunity to talk about the sequel with the game's producer Adam Lay.
The first title in the Battlestations franchise dealt with the Battle of Midway. Could you tell us about the game's new setting and backdrop?
Sure, looking at it from a chronological angle, the game takes place from the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 to the bloody battles of Okinawa in 1945. The content and unfolding of events in the Japanese and U.S. campaigns will vary considerably. Battlestations: Pacific will take the player to the Pacific theatre of the Second World War. Playing either as the Japanese Empire or the United States, the main goal is to control and dominate the whole Pacific Ocean.
In the Japanese campaign, players will start with the attack on Pearl Harbor, experiencing first-hand the surprise attack on the naval base at Pearl Harbor. Players will get an opportunity to continue their advancement and seize important territories around the Pacific, and eventually break through the U.S. fleet and sink their carriers at Midway, changing the course of history, resulting in counter historical victory over the U.S.
The U.S. campaign will play very differently. Following the victory at Midway, the U.S. saw a reverse of fortunes and advanced fast towards mainland Japan, freeing key locations of the Pacific of Japanese control along the way. This is a historically accurate campaign all the way through to the end and players will be able to take part in some of the most memorable battles of WW2.
The balance between strategy and hands-on action was well executed in the original, providing arcade thrills and a tactical challenge; what can we expect in this area for the sequel, are you changing the balance one way or the other?
We aim to keep the same sort of balance between strategy and action, whilst making the game generally more accessible overall. The game features a mix of strategy and challenge-based missions, which are interlinked in terms of rewards.
Generally players will have one main objective in the single player campaign missions, which is generally the goal of the whole battle: dominate the map, sink the enemy fleet or capture a set of specific locations. Besides this objective, there will be a number of smaller secondary objectives and events (which can be optional) but can directionally impact the outcome of the battle. It's up to the player to choose the right order of events.
For example, a player can just focus on the main objective, moving all of his units towards that particular goal - thus risking great loss of ships and man with a risky assault. This approach can sometimes work as the player might be able to achieve his goal before the enemy has had time to build up his forces. But it could go either way. Another approach would be to use superior reconnaissance to scout the enemy, and to use combined sea and air strikes where a vulnerable unit is spotted. With this tactic a player will be ahead of the game and know what's happening on the battlefield and prepare a surprise attack on the enemy.
What can we expect from the ships, subs, and planes in the sequel; are you introducing any significant control changes, new ideas, added realism, etc?
Controls in general continue to be tweaked and refined; this is a continuous and ongoing process during the development and testing. In general we are trying to make the overall accessibility, be it on Xbox 360 or PC, much greater than before.
In terms of realism, Battlestations: Pacific now features visible destruction, players will be able to shoot big chunks out of ships and planes - wings will disintegrate under enemy fire, and ships will break in two and sink to the ocean floor when heavily damaged.
Where did the team feel the original didn't quite achieve its goals and how have they been realised for Battlestations 2?
Probably the tutorial, the general in-game feedback to the player and the size of the single player content, these are all things we are addressing within Battlestations: Pacific. With the inclusion of both the US and Japanese campaigns we are doubling the content of the previous game, and as mentioned below, we are taking a different approach to the tutorial and how we feedback to the player overall.
The original Battlestation: Midway was initially developed on the last-gen consoles before ending up on the Xbox 360 and PC; can you talk about the technology behind the sequel, will we see any noticeable improvements or additions from the original and how this has freed up the team's creativity?
Battlestations: Pacific features a substantially upgraded version of the former technology. New technological features include a new foliage system, which gives islands a detailed and realistic look. HDR (High Dynamic Range) and post effects will now also feature in the game; there will be glare when looking straight at the sun, providing a similar experience to what gunners saw when they were defending against aircraft coming straight from the direction of the sun. The game will also feature additional effects such as heat distortion close to fires and explosions, along with motion blur, and depth of field. This will help make both the action and the scenery more stunning to look at.
One of the few criticisms of the original was the plodding pace of the tutorial. As a complex game, going through the tutorial was a necessity but would likely have put off many gamers; what changes and improvements are being considered to offer a more streamlined and accessible tutorial in the sequel?
The tutorial was a common criticism from the feedback we gathered on Battlestations: Midway. Although it was very thorough, it was also very long. Players often complained that by the time they got into their campaign, they had forgotten a lot of what they had been previously taught in the tutorial. The nature and potential scope of the game means there is a lot of information to portray to the player. Within Battlesations: Pacific we have broken down this information and it will now be presented to the player via pre-mission briefings, and whilst in game; as and when the players need it.
Presumably, multiplayer will be brought into even greater prominence this time around; what can you tell us about the direction you're heading in, are you planning to introduce persistent wars or strengthen the community aspects such as clan support?
For Xbox 360, we plan to incorporate some Clan support, and for both formats a ranking system, that will award players with greater ranks as they progress through the multiplayer game. Multiplayer hosting will now include a greater number of actions to allow players to customise their multiplayer experience further. All of the multiplayer modes can be played alone or with team-mates against the AI.
Several titles are now pushing for Xbox 360/PC cross-platform play; is this something that will be implemented in Battlestations 2 given Eidos' acceptance of Vista' Games for Windows initiative?
Battlesations: Pacific, will take advantage of Games For Windows LIVE, but currently it won't be supporting cross-play.
Battlestations appears to becoming a franchise for Eidos; however, the number of viable naval warfare encounters appears to be fairly restricted, would you ever consider portraying a possible near future conflict?
There are potential opportunities to establish the Battlestations franchise beyond the conflicts of WW2, but currently our focus is on the Pacific Theater of War, for this title at least.
TVG would like to thank Adam Lay for taking the time to answer our questions and share his thoughts, along with Charlene Allen for arranging the interview.
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