Ten Times the Excitement in Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers

by Louis Bedigian

“One of the best enhancements in the game is the addition of diverse multiplayer.”

“Pull back!  Pull back!  The enemy is gaining the upper hand!

“Bravo Team, disperse your men and duck behind our vehicle.  Alpha Team, give Bravo Team cover until they are safely shielded by the tank.  From there we’ll—“

[The commander is shot by an unseen sniper.]

The others scramble for cover.  Some are unable to react fast enough under the pressure of this surprise attack.  Death is certain for them.

The sniper gets what he deserves when they notice a ravaged guidepost east of their location.  Given the number of structures in the area, they can’t confirm that that’s the sniper’s location.  They reposition the tank and fire anyway, obliterating the post and everything inside it.

Full Spectrum Warrior was the most innovative game released last year.  It took real-time strategy to a place no one ever anticipated.  Battles occurred among a few dozen men, not hundreds of units.  You had complete control over your team and the actions they took, and despite having an up-close, third-person camera, it never once felt like a third-person shooter.

Pandemic Studios is the one who deserves our praise.  They’re the studio responsible for creating the first game.  As we speak they’re hard at work making the second game, Ten Hammers, come to life.

Lead Programmer Alexander Boczar debriefs us on the next mission. 

What can you tell us about the evolution from the first game to this game?  Vehicles are being included this time – tell us how that's working out.

Alexander Boczar: As you imagined, we've got quite a few enhancements to the original game.  For example, the vehicles that we now presenting, they are one of many things that are team-controlled.  We also did a lot on the enhancements of the controls.  We have dynamic AI.  This led to a very fast-paced game, which we did not really expect.  We had to do a few changes in the core game to adapt to this new speed.

In the first game we had a squad of two teams.  Four people for each team.  This time around we can have up to four teams in a squad.  [With the additional teams] you can have up to six teams per player.

I would also like to mention that one of the best enhancements in the game is the addition of diverse multiplayer.  We have different fractions competing in different types of battles.  The one were demonstrating here [at the show] is a combination of deathmatch, but also objective-based where we have objectives that determine your success.

How does that work then?  Full Spectrum Warrior always felt like a single-player experience.  How does multiplayer fit in?

AB: It's basically the same game as the single-player game – it's all about strategy.  You'll have to make decisions a lot quicker than you used to.  As an example, suppose you're playing as the United States.  The U.S. has four teams.  [They] have a Bradley team, an RBG team, and a squad of two normal teams.  This is a lot to control.  Making the right decision when you move and how to plan attack moves will decide whether you end up winning or losing.

The first game had incredible music.  Are you working with the same composer?

AB: The music hasn't been determined yet.  But we're going to try to have a similar theme, but we're moving it a little up north as the war has now moved north of the country.  It was previously under Asian control with a lot of Asian influences.  [I'm guessing] the soundtrack will adapt to that.

How far along is Ten Hammers?  It looks really good, but the graphics don't seem quite as crisp as the original.

AB: This [points to screen] is a multiplayer level, and I would like to say that we've done better graphics [than what you see at the show].  We're about half-way through production.  But we will have all the effects you'll expect: dynamic light, specular light, [texture] mapping, etc.  And we will have a few effects that will surprise you.  They're not evident at E3, but they will be there and they will show more of our graphical capacity.

When do you expect to have the game finished?

AB: This winter.  It seems like it'll be Q1 2006.

Which platforms is it coming to?

AB: Xbox, PlayStation 2 and the PC simultaneously.

Are you working on all three versions?

AB: We're doing internally the PC and Xbox versions and we're getting help from Mass Media to make the PS2 version.  They did the PS2 version of the first game as well, and we were really happy with what they did.

Regarding the characters, before you had a really involved story...

AB: Yes, we put [even more] effort into the characters this time around.  We have more simultaneous stories that intersect at the big event of the game, which is the bridge.  At the bridge level, for example, we have the British Forces.  We'll follow them for a few levels.  We have the U.S., and they'll intersect and it creates a very interesting story.  And we've added some really deep [story elements] this time.

Sounds great.  Thanks for your time!