It might include a solo game filled with bots to kill, but let's be honest here - the reason we're all pumped for Red Orchestra 2's brutal take on WWII battle is the multiplayer game. So when we recently had a chat with the devs behind the game, Tripwire Interactive, we couldn't help but pick their minds for anything related to the game's online mode, covering everything from the VOIP system to dedicated server support to modding tools. Read on for their replies.
GameSpy: How does the morale system work online? How is it displayed, what impacts it, and how does it affect the player's ability to play?
Tripwire Interactive: Online, it is tied in to the Suppression system, plus how capturing objectives work. It isn't designed to make players "worse" or "better", suddenly shooting straighter - that just doesn't fit with Red Orchestra. Seeing a bunch of your friends get themselves mown down will impact your morale, adding a level of suppression for a moment, with your heart racing and so on. Operating close to someone who has achieved "Hero" status will mean that the effects of Suppression on you will be reduced slightly and you will capture Objectives slightly faster. But if he then gets shot down right beside you, it will have the opposite effect.
GameSpy: What kind of interface will you have for joining servers?
Tripwire Interactive: Simply put, the core is a good, old-fashioned server browser with filters. Go hunting for the type of game you want to play, use the Honor level on the server (compared to your own) to find people at a similar skill level, pick a server that matches your requirements, join it.
GameSpy: When will the dedicated server be released, and what are the hardware requirements for it? What kind of interface will it have for server admins - will it have all of the features necessary to enable competitive play (spectator cam, remote admin, etc)?
Tripwire Interactive: Server-side will be ready in time for people to grab it and get their servers up for launch, plus we'll ensure there are a bunch of them already available. A 64-player server is, like any 64-player server, going to be a bit of a beast. We'll release the full specs as soon as we can - but we really need more beta-testing (ramping up now) to get a good handle on that. Plus we're working hard on optimizing right now, of course! Server admins will have the familiar web admin interface (Unreal, RO1 and others), with access to a large range of parameters they can mess around with, as well as being set up for competitive play from the get-go. We're likely to run a comp or two after launch, to get people competitive on "stock" RO! But this is PC gaming - so the tools are there!
GameSpy: Will the game include VOIP? If so, is it team wide, or just by squad? Given the game is so focused on players operating in squads, what other tools will you include to facilitate teamwork?
Tripwire Interactive: There are three channels of VOIP, including team and squad. There are also scoring bonuses for players operating as a squad, rewarding them for doing the "correct" things. Add in pieces like the option to "Spawn on Squad Leader" to maintain squad cohesion. Note that you can't spawn on your Squad Leader if he is surrounded by the enemy, engaging in close combat - he has to be relatively "safe" and there has to be somewhere "safe" for you to spawn, too. HUD tools help you locate your squad if you get separated. There's also comms system where the Commander and Squad Leaders can pick who, within their chain of command, they are issuing their orders to.
GameSpy: How does the game play with higher pings - can players still be competitive with pings around 150ms, or does it really require a low ping?
Tripwire Interactive: This is always an argumentative issue! We reckon you can play pretty well on our games with higher ping than some others, that the netcode is really tight. But some people just can't play with three-figure-ping, regardless - it is kinda "beneath them"! You can play at 150, but I think most people would want to keep it lower - sub-120, for example. On the other hand, there is no excuse for a shortage of servers - anyone can put one up!
GameSpy: Can you talk about the timing for the release of modding tools, or any plans around DLC?
Tripwire Interactive: The SDK is scheduled to be available from launch. Worst case, it might be delayed a few days, but it shouldn't be. A pre-release version has already been in the hands of a few select individuals and teams for a little while. As for DLC, we haven't actually put a date to that internally. Work has actually started on some of the first batch of new weapons and vehicles, as people start getting freed up from the main-line development. We'd like to think we can get the first free DLC out before the end of the year, but it really depends on what we decide to include in it, to be honest. But it will be free, as usual for us. We have talked about producing full expansions and asking people to pay money for it - but those would be pretty much as big as the base game, including single player. We don't charge for packs with "just" new weapons, vehicles, maps. Never have done.
GameSpy: You've included weapon unlocks and perks - how many hours of gameplay will it take the average player to unlock all of these, not including things like achievements?
Tripwire Interactive: Some people may never unlock everything, as some of it is class-specific. So if you don't play much of a particular class, you may not get there. And some people will burn through the whole lot in a few weeks. Some people scared the heck out of us with how fast they worked through everything in Killing Floor - and this is not intended to be that whole RPG-style thing. It is about getting small awards for progress, getting recognition for actually becoming good at the game. And the rewards are deliberately subtle - the Red Orchestra franchise is rooted in reality, after all!
GameSpy: One last thing, we noticed in our demo that anti-aliasing wasn't working - will that be fixed at launch?
Tripwire Interactive: Yep, should be fine. Famous last words - and there is probably a graphics programmer ready to kill us for promising anything! If there are any horrible issues (like performance), we'll hold off and fix it up later, but it is coded in, and we were dealing with optimizing it.
GameSpy: Anything else you'd like to add?
Tripwire Interactive: I think that, this time around, we've been able to build the game we wanted to build. The "old hands" worrying that we're dumbing down Red Orchestra 2 needn't worry. We're just working on making it more accessible, not "easier". We want it to be simple enough to pick up quickly - and very rewarding if you put the effort in to get good at it. The reaction to the early Beta has been good - we'll see how that goes once we open that up further. [Soon!]
