Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising Q&A
Posted by Jon Seddon on 09.03.2009
Senior Game Designer Tom Browne talks shop with 411mania.
Dragon Rising is the first Operation Flashpoint game to come to consoles. The original game was developed Bohemia Interactive Studios and was a very hardcore simulation of the difficulties of fighting a modern war. As well as one hit kills, a very large play area and a generous selection of vehicles, it also featured a crushing difficulty level. It wasn't unusual to be taken out by an enemy that you would never see. Despite this it built up a solid fan base that the hardcore nature of the game.
Codemasters are now seeking a wider audience for this game by bringing the sequel to Xbox 360 and PS3 this October. This time the game is being developed by an internal Codemasters studio and moves the conflict on to the present day, placing the fight on a fictional island called Skira. You play the game from the perspectives of both an infantry marine and a Special Forces officer fighting the Chinese PLA.
411mania asked Tom Browne, Senior Game Designer at Codemasters about the challenges of bringing the hardcore to the console audience.
Q. An inevitable question - how did you approach providing the sim-like qualities of the PC original and adapt that for consoles keeping the essential elements that make it Operation Flashpoint?
A. We wanted to keep key elements from the original such as the one bullet kills to vital organs, a huge game world, sandbox gameplay and lots of weapons, equipment and vehicles for the player to play with. Some of these points were fairly trivial to have on a console however we're incredibly proud of Codemasters own EGO engine technology behind Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising and its very impressive 220km² playable island and the 30km draw distance.
Q. Can you describe the multi-player elements of the game - I assume co-op, but are there large scale player vs. player battles?
A. As you correctly assumed there is 4 player co-op through the whole of the single player campaign on both PC and console formats. We have two additional modes. The first is known as Annihilation and these areas are based around chokepoints where we felt exciting large scale battles could take place. In this game mode we give the players various vehicles and lots of cool kit and then let them fight it out. The second mode is known as Infiltration and this is something I'm particularly proud of. In this mode the USMC Spec Ops are the infiltrators and must destroy a particular target in the enemies' base of operations. As they're Spec Ops they're well quipped however we deliberately unbalanced the numbers for a more exciting gameplay. You'll find that the USMC have only 10 men against a much larger force of 22 PLA characters who are trying to stop and hunt down the USMC before the can complete their objective.
Q. What are range of vehicles can you control and how different are they to operate?
A. We have a large range of vehicles such as the HUMVEE, armored personnel carriers, several boats, battle tanks and of course several attack helicopters for the player to utilize. We've tried where possible to make the vehicles as authentic as possible even in their operation so we have the various positions require for operating say an M1A2 Abrams battle tank. You have a commander position, a gunner position and a driver position. Lots of other vehicles have various positions required to operate them effectively.
Q. What influence if any has Modern warfare had on this game?
A. Though a great game in its own right, Modern Warfare didn't influence our game. Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is a tactical sandbox shooter with the goal of providing a level of realism never before seen on a console.
Q. How does the game walk the line between sandbox shooter and scripted experience?
A. When we began developing the game we made a key decision to have minimal to no scripted events. We wanted the game to be unpredictable, which would in turn create much greater replay-ability. This ties in very nicely to the gritty reportage style we have for our game.
