Birds of Prey Interview - By Derek "Crossfire" Bond - Page 2 of 3
FW: How detailed will the modeling be in regards to ballistics and damage
models? For example, can individual systems and components be damaged? Will
there be a polygon or "bubble/box" type damage model?
WWW OpenPlane all ready supports very detailed damage modeling- any component can take dame and respond to that damage, even parts as small as an
instrument gauge. Bullets can pass through parts of the aircraft and lose
energy in the process. All the damage modeling information is kept as part
of the aircraft- so each aircraft is completely unique. There has never
been a bubble/box hit zone with OpenPlane, it has always used per-polygon
hit detection. This means that we know exactly what part of what component
has been hit, and you MUST hit a polygon to get a hit.
FW: How detailed will the terrain be? Will there be towns, individual trees,
living airdromes? Will there be persistent damage? For instance, if a hanger
is destroyed will it remain so until repaired?
WWW We are creating a new terrain engine for BOP. We are working on a special semi-procedural terrain that will let us create map-like terrain using less
processing power and texture memory. This will indeed include individual
trees (I love trees and clouds most of all!) - and detailed aerodromes. Aerodromes are very important to the role-playing aspect of BOP, expect allot of immersion at the aerodromes, a very "living" place.
There will not be intelligent persistent damage- objects destroyed will be
repaired automatically according to a schedule. However, this schedule may
include intermediate steps to these repairs aiding in further mission
generation over those same areas. BOP is all about the air war- not the
ground war. Taking out ground targets should be allot of fun though, and it
can count towards your role-playing persona’s success fulfilling mission
objectives, but it will not be tied to any tactical advantage.
FW: Will there be an off-line or practice/training component?
WWW The off-line game will work exactly like the on-line version only all the
other friendly and enemy aircraft will be controlled by the computer. See, our on-line game is built more in the spirit of a single player off-line game with the added dimension of battling against and working with other real human players.
FW: What aircraft will be flyable? And will there be other non-flyable types?
WWW All aircraft in the game will be flyable, this is the OpenPlane way!
FW: Do you plan to add aircraft after release?
WWW Yes, but not only us, the community will be invited to create aircraft that
are up to the same standards as the released BOP aircraft, probably even
better! Just look at the user created objects made for Fighter-Squadron, they go well beyond the level of detail found in the originally released aircraft. Users can spend more time on the details, and there are many more users than BOP team members- someone can spend months on a single cockpit if they wish.
FW: Along these same lines, will there be anything in place to prevent
cheating, or the Fokker with a 50 machine guns?
WWW The on-line BOP game will be closed, no user mods will be able to be
introduced. User mods can be used in the off-line mode, and we also hope to
release a more traditional "mission builder" type of on-line play component.
This mode of play would support peer-to-peer connections and allow groups
of people to put together missions scenarios and test new user mods on-line.
Our current thinking is to create a process for getting quality user mods
into the role-playing on-line world of BOP.
FW: How many players can fly simultaneously?
WWW We do not have a real limit right now on how many players can be logged on, or in the air flying at the same time. The technical limits start to come
in to play when there are too many aircraft all within view and at very close range. OpenPlane does have a way of easing this issue somewhat through the use of LOD's, or levels of detail. This allows us to set the amount of detail visible to the player for each model of aircraft as it relates to proximity. So, it would take much less resolving power to
observe several planes in a dogfight from say, 200 yards then it would from 30.
There will be a lot of space available to players in BOP. The game design
will accommodate future growth and distribute the action to all four corners
of the available map, helping to eliminate bunching up. The plan for our
on-line arena is quite a simple one really. We wish to make use of
something that most other simulations rarely if at all take full advantage of. That is, the size and design of their own playing map. There are some quite sizable virtual worlds out there for existing sims now, but very few players get to experience them, as most on-line play is focused on one small section of their available flying space. It is not
hard to understand why. After all, players want to be where the action is and nobody wishes to fly around desolate areas all by themselves.
A solution to that problem is our idea for the Persistent Battlefield. For
us this means the creation of a dynamic environment making intelligent use
of AI and in the positioning of players that will envelop and take full
advantage of our useable space. At the center, placing this virtual world in motion and keeping it there, will be our concept of the Circumstance Generator. This is a simplified version of what some single player games have called their Dynamic Campaign mode. We plan to use similar mechanisms to steer our on-line world and maintain that same
sense of logic mixed with surprise, unpredictability and randomness to what
the players will experience. This will also assure that there will be action throughout the arena.
FW: Will there be any multi-crew two-seaters?
WWW Multi-crew support is planned, OpenPlane all ready supports multi crew
functionality in its open format. You can all ready switch aircraft crew positions in Fighter Squadron- leave the pilot seat and the AI will take control of the aircraft and you can head to the rear gunner position. We plan to enhance the OpenPlane engine to support the crewing of aircraft with multiple personas, so you can pilot while your friend takes the rear seat.
FW: Will there be AI aircraft, or will each plane need to piloted by a
player?
WWW AI is a very important aspect to BOP. OpenPlane all ready has a thorough AI system, pretty good pilots really! They fly as we do, with the stick and
rudder. They take off, land, fight, and make mistakes like we do. We are
upgrading the AI to support the unique piloting skills needed to fly early
aircraft, and we also plan to implement "AI Styles" to support historically
accurate combat flying techniques. Our real hope is to create AI plugins
that allow BOP users to train their own AI pilots.
FW: When I first heard of Birds of Prey I was instantly intrigued by the role
playing or persona element. It should result in players actually caring about their pilot, and should discourage the "fly-and-die" mentality so persistent in today's mutilplayer environments. Can you please expand on this aspect of BoP?
WWW This question brings to center stage a very important aspect of our design. We have long felt that the entire concept of flying until one gets shot
down, just to respawn over and over, was not along the development path
where we wanted to be. Instead, players will have a certain accountability in BOP. The game will have a definite structure opposed to that of a strictly open multiplayer arrangement common to most other flight simulations. Our on-line version will have more in common with a good dynamically driven single player game than that of a
typical multiplayer arena. In fact, you can think of our goal as attempting to create a persistent on-line world making use of similar dynamic steering mechanisms found in some of the better off-line games and simulations.
It is from these single player games that our ideas for role playing and
character development come from. We knew we needed to foster the idea that
this virtual life had value by actually assigning a gaming value to it. So,
as long as this created persona would remain alive and fly well, points
could be earned to improve that players standing within the game. Unlike
most flight simulations where the players can pick and choose what and where
to fly, in BOP many of these choices as well as other options will first
need to be earned. As players are rewarded through quality gameplay, they
can also have penalties levied against them and have previously earned items
taken away. The death of a persona will have an imposing detrimental effect
and the choice to needlessly throw it away would not be a wise one to make.
Our planned reward and benefit system will follow historic models and has
strong ties to the role playing nature of our overall design. At the core
is the need and desire to keep the players persona alive. Our hope is that
this concern over virtual death will help the players immersion by creating
a more cautious flier, one that may closer resemble his historic
counterpart.
FW: As I understand it, the missions will take place in a persistent on-line
world. How will this work? Will players simply be able to choose a plane and
take to the skies, lone-wolf style? Or will missions be assigned?
WWW Both really- BOP intentionally focuses on the individual and the man-to-man fight. The lone-wolf player has allot to look forward to in BOP. Get on-line
and head to the aerodrome- board your current aircraft, start the engine - destination adventure! Soon you will be flying in dangerous skies looking for targets of opportunity- and keeping on your toes lest the hunter become the hunted!
But for those who like a more specific challenge and some company, missions
will be generated by BOP to deal with current events happening in the game
in real time! Maybe some enemy scouts were just spotted crossing a river
near your aerodrome- an "official" mission is set up by the BOP game- you
can sign up for this missions at the aerodrome. Maybe you end up flying with an AI squadron, or maybe some of your friends join you- either way, you are on a quest for victory! And maybe, just maybe, the other side is creating a mission to intercept your squadron on the way- this is the dynamic world of BOP.
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