Paul grills Luke Tai - Associate Producer of World in Conflict - on Massive's ambitious and original new RTS title.

So what unconventional RTS elements can gamers expect from World in Conflict?

Luke: Well World in Conflict takes a new approach to the strategy genre. It does away with resource gathering, town building and tries very hard to get the player into the combat portion which is the most exhilarating portion of any strategy game. In any match played on an RTS, moments of intense conflict are the highlights, the moments that players remember the most. So, what we did was create a reinforcement system so that every player that hops into a match is given a set amount of credits - a budget if you will - to order in units with. The game gets you to choose a side, then choose a roll. You can play armour, infantry, air or support, and - in these rolls - order up a mix of units that you feel like playing for that particular match. There is no resource gathering. As a result, units engage in battle until they're killed off, then their value is refunded into the budget or pool of available credits for the player to use. Obviously this approach has generated a lot of interesting questions. Initially, players were concerned about the tactic of simply building and sending units to fight and die but this, as a tactic within the game we have created, will ultimately fail. The player that just builds and dies will not work well as part of a roll-based team play. So, if you sent in a group of helicopters, for instance, against an anti air support roll player they'd get chewed up in a matter of seconds. This is just one example of how we're doing our best to develop a heavy team play emphasis to each match.

Traditionally in RTS games every level there would see a new unit unlocked as a reward. How does this then relate to the budget mechanic and how do you sustain motivation in the single-player game?

Luke: What I described a moment ago about the multiplayer is the core of World in Conflict, but we also had to find a way to translate that into the single-player campaign. So, what we did was - instead of having the player play one single roll as they play thorough the campaign - they were given a custom set of units that are expanded over the course of various missions. This way they get to experience all the different play styles that multiplayer offers but in a single-player setting. Also, to supplement the team play aspect in multiplayer, we have very deep and rich characters involved in the single-player campaign. By doing this the player gets to experience the trials and tribulations inherent as part of working within a group. Not only that, but the scripting of the NPCs within the game means they will crack under pressure creating some interesting scenarios. These characters are not just machines, they're not emotionless...

Is this emotive scripting just on the support side - i.e. within your own team - or is this also implemented within the 'enemy'? I mean is this something that is scripted, or something that happens on the fly?

Luke: This is within your own side. You get in interact with these characters and see them grow and fail and achieve there highs and lows. There is obviously a main story is laid out pretty much in a sequence for the player to experience. In each battle, though, the player is given a custom set of units they can build. It's really up to them how they want to engage each situation. The could take their first objective using nothing but infantry. Or, if they didn't want to use infantry, they could build a couple of tanks and generate a very different feel to the gameplay. Both tactics are equally rewarding, but it challenges the player to think in different ways. If they chose to build infantry then cover and garrisoning units in buildings would be the smartest approach - a tactic that stands in complete contrast to going the direct route if they were to build tanks.

What was the decision to go for real world this time around as opposed to the setting used for Ground Control?

Luke: It's really so that new players could identify with the setting and to be able to feel the impact of war immediately. Our lead designer gives the example that if you blew away a plasma generator and saw it shoot off into the distance, the average player wouldn't really have a frame of reference for this - I mean how much does a plasma generator weigh and how much punishment it can take before it blows? But if they saw a school bus get blown up or a church hit with a missile and fall like a house of cards its instantly identifiable, they register the impact of such an explosion.

Is WiC completely contextual, or does the alternate run of history allow for some fantastical weaponry?

Luke: The alternate history introduces something that is imaginary, of course, but all of the events and all of the vehicles and hardware within the single-player campaign are completely authentic to that era. We have gone through extensive research and talked to various analysts - including Larry Bond who has written several Cold War books. Actually, Larry's been a major player in laying out the most probable sequence of events that could happen in a Soviet invasion of the US. Ultimately, we didn't want a cartoony or unrealistic feels to our single-player campaign, it needed to be completely realistic and believable.

In the game we've seen US and Soviet Combatants. Are there any kind of non combatants or any kind of local militia - for instance, a kind of tertiary NPC force in there too.

Luke: There will definitely be civilians portrayed in the cut scenes to give context to the areas that we're engaging in battle. Other than that, there is currently no plans for a militia force.

The game looks wonderful, do you have any kind of information on what kind of specs will be needed?

Luke: When people see the game they see beautiful explosions and blooming clouds and specular highlights. The advantage here is we have built upon the Ground Control Engine which is several years old now. It was this building process that has allowed us to learn lessons in key areas. As such, we've concentrated on making the game playable and scalable in order to support older systems. I myself have a five year old system at home, with a really old video card, and I am able to play the game. Admittedly without all the bells and whistles, but it still runs at a smooth frame rate enabling me to partake in the closed alpha test.

Moving away from the lower end spec, do you have any ideas for a Direct X10 version and whether there will be anything unique that will come with that?

Luke: Oh definitely. The tech team is hard at work with the Direct X10 version of the game. The specific details of the differences the player will see aren't really available as yet, but there is something special. The game will also be Direct X10 and Vista compatible right out of the box without a point release or a patch.

The threat of nuclear weapons was a large part of the Cold War. World in Conflict obviously uses this kind of weaponry but how have you managed to reign in Einstein's monsters to make sure the game doesn't just turn into a nuke chucking match?

Luke: That's very easy to answer. The tactical aid system is filled with a variety of abilities and they're all scaled according to the amount of impact they have in a multiplayer match. A nuke, producing such immense destruction, is highly valued and the point total needed to deploy this weapon is very high. You can play several matches and never see a nuke drop because the cost is immense. At the same time when you get into really good battles, where the teams are evenly matched and there's a lot of fighting going on, you might see three or four nuke drops! It's also worth noting when a nuke drops it doesn't mean the end of the match. It can be highly destructive and disrupt a team's momentum but, because each player can redeploy and re-supply the battlefields in such a quick manner, there's never really a point where one side is hopelessly lost.

We've seen, after a nuke or triple carpet bombing, the sheer devastation inflicted upon the terrain. Is there ever enough destruction occurring in a battle to turn the level into an absolute ashtray?

Luke: It takes really good teams on both sides in a monumental duke out. But, yes, there have been many, many times where the terrain is completely flattened and the skies have completely darkened. Its part of our global rendering system to promote the feeling that an incredible amount of destruction has happened in an area. The clouds will darken and instead of birds chirping you'll hear crows cawing. It's a complete experience that wraps around the gameplay.

Do you feel that the removal of resource management might potentially alienate hardcore RTS fans?

Luke: I think initially, without their laying their hands on it, there may be some apprehension from the traditionalists. However, the system is so well tuned and promotes such satisfying gameplay that if they are apprehensive they will have their minds changed very quickly.

Can you give us some idea of what sort of modes we might encounter in multiplayer?

Luke: There are three modes available. Domination, which is a standard head-to-head deathmatch. Then there is an Assault mode where one side is attacking and the other side is defending. In this, there are a series of control points that the attacking side needs to occupy and claim from the defenders and then, after a five to tem minute duration, the sides will swap. There is also one other mode currently in development and we will be revealing that at a later date.

What element do you think gamers will become most excited about?

Luke: I think that it's the prospect of a new genre that makes peoples eyes light up. An 'action' or 'fast paced RTS' or a 'Counterstrike meets RTS' title... Hearing this kind of feedback from the people on the forums who have played the closed alpha - without us ever really explaining what our aim was - is the most exciting response I've encountered thus far.

Thanks for your time, Luke, best of luck with completing the game.

By Paul Newcombe

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