Interview with “AJ” Marini, L. Designer of Battlefield Vietnam

Warcry: Let's first talk about Digital Illusions (DICE); how do you collaborate with the office in Canada when making the games?

AJ:[/b] As in all of our projects we share information, ideas and knowledge between the different teams and offices. People from Canada come to Sweden and vice versa. On a day to day basis we keep contact via e-mail, phone and MSN. We have a producer who is in charge for the game and then we have a lead designer who's function is like a director on a movie set. Then we have a graphics, a lead programmers, sound engineers, etc developing the actual game..

Warcry: Were you in Vietnam to get the right idea how the landscape and the towns should be presented in the game?

AJ:: Traveling to Vietnam was never a consideration. Our goal was to present Vietnam both as it was during the war and as it is seen in films and movies. We face a problem that many film directors faced in that, strangely enough, Vietnam doesn't look like what people think Vietnam is supposed to look like. Many people have a misconception of Vietnam as a jungle covered country, although that is only true in some areas. Being accurate to that degree would mean that the maps wouldn't convey that "Vietnam feeling" we are aiming towards.

Warcry: Are there any "Heroes" in the game?

AJ: As with BF: 1942, the player is the hero. With the game being so player and multiplayer focused, there really isn't a place for "heroes" so to speak.

Warcry: Will the two sides have an objective?

AJ: The game play focus will be pretty much like BF: 1942 in that you must capture or defend control points in order to control the map. This is what has made BF: 1942 so popular so it would be foolish to change it. We are refining this game play however with changes to the way in which Control Points are captured.

We are considering several alterations to the single player game and one of those alterations is a challenge mode. Here, the player is given a specific task with specific constraints.

Warcry: What military advantages will Vietcong posses?

AJ: Unfortunately we cannot reveal this yet.

Warcry: What can you tell us about the music?

AJ: There is a music interface in each of the vehicles. The player can pull up this music list and then select any of the songs from that list. It's completely dynamic so the player can change songs on the fly as much as they like. Anyone within audible range of that vehicle will hear the music being played as if from the speakers of the vehicle. Let's face it, you could only listen to Ride of Valkyries so many time before you go insane.

We had considered a feature to add your own music in the form of MP3, but the playback of MP3 is too costly and causes the game's performance to suffer. Also, there are many licensing and sharing issues with MP3, so we decided to steer clear of the issues altogether.

Warcry: I heard of tanks being able to shoot while being transported by helicopters! Doesn't that make you scratch your head a little?

AJ: What's not realistic about it? The U.S. airlifted Sheridan tanks during the war, so that's realistic. The only thing that stopped soldiers from firing the weapons in those airlifted tanks was the threat of a court-martial. Let's face it, in real life it would be extremely dangerous but there is no physical reason stopping a person from doing it. That's why Battlefield is so much fun. We don't enforce a bunch of unrealistic rules on the player (and we don't threaten them with a court-martial). If the player wants to do something foolish but fun, go ahead.

Warcry: In what ways will BattleField Vietnam be better than previous versions of the game?

AJ: We've had time to look at what we did with BF: 1942, what people liked, and what they disliked. This gave us a good foundation for enhancements in the game play. We've also had time to develop better technology that performs better and allows us to do more in creating the game. We are touching every aspect of the game and trying to improve on it. So to answer the question, BF Vietnam will be better in the overall experience that the player has. It will be more immersive and fun.

Thank you for taking your time!

Thank you for your interest in our game!

Source: http://www.eagames.com/official/battlefield1942/editorial/vietnam.jsp