Now 1C Company is working on the sequel, Theatre of War II: Africa 1943, that changes the game's setting to the North African portion of the conflict. Once again Battlefront.com will offer the game via download and mail order for the US market and it's currently schedule for released before the end of 2008. Big Download got some answers to our questions about the game from David Philippov, the head of internal game development at 1C Company.
First, were you pleased with the reactions that the first game got from gamers and reviewers?
Yes. I'll admit that the majority of responses were positive. Gamers and journalists enjoyed many features of our game, especially the detailed models, unique vision for the game and damage system, and so forth. It seems that our hopes were justified. There certainly was some criticism as well, but we worked hard to analyze all the responses from our community and take their opinion into account. The effort's worth it!
When the time came to work on the sequel, what were the development team's main goals?
We put in a lot of work to create brand new features. Such as: improved unit AI, battles inside buildings, use of smoke screens and ammunition, and new types of units such as howitzers. This will all be in Theatre of War 2: Africa 1943. Some can say this was all done in Close Combat, but it's important to remember that Close Combat is a 2D game with top-down perspective, while Theatre of War is a fully 3D atmosphere with free camera movement and specialized viewing modes, sounds and ballistics. It wasn't easy, but we managed to do it!
Why did the team set Theatre of War II in the North African portion of World War II?
Well, that's a hard question to answer. Maybe it was because the idea for the game came in winter, and it's so warm in Africa. Seriously though – we considered the idea of recreating the seat of war on the African continent to be fascinating. Using the unique landscape, complete with deserts and lush vegetation was very exciting to us. We also found it attractive due to the various set of techniques coming from the campaigns of such legendary characters as Erwin Rommel, Bernard Montgomery and Dwight Eisenhower which played a great role in those events.
What can you tell us about the single player campaigns for the game?
There will be three campaigns for each side. Missions will be connected with the help of a storyline, where key characters will carry out orders of supreme commander-in-chiefs. Missions will become much more dynamic and diverse and players will have to use every type of units and many types of tactics to complete missions. Average time it takes to fulfill a mission is about 40-60 minutes.
Yes. I'll admit that the majority of responses were positive. Gamers and journalists enjoyed many features of our game, especially the detailed models, unique vision for the game and damage system, and so forth. It seems that our hopes were justified. There certainly was some criticism as well, but we worked hard to analyze all the responses from our community and take their opinion into account. The effort's worth it!
When the time came to work on the sequel, what were the development team's main goals?
We put in a lot of work to create brand new features. Such as: improved unit AI, battles inside buildings, use of smoke screens and ammunition, and new types of units such as howitzers. This will all be in Theatre of War 2: Africa 1943. Some can say this was all done in Close Combat, but it's important to remember that Close Combat is a 2D game with top-down perspective, while Theatre of War is a fully 3D atmosphere with free camera movement and specialized viewing modes, sounds and ballistics. It wasn't easy, but we managed to do it!
Why did the team set Theatre of War II in the North African portion of World War II?
Well, that's a hard question to answer. Maybe it was because the idea for the game came in winter, and it's so warm in Africa. Seriously though – we considered the idea of recreating the seat of war on the African continent to be fascinating. Using the unique landscape, complete with deserts and lush vegetation was very exciting to us. We also found it attractive due to the various set of techniques coming from the campaigns of such legendary characters as Erwin Rommel, Bernard Montgomery and Dwight Eisenhower which played a great role in those events.
What can you tell us about the single player campaigns for the game?
There will be three campaigns for each side. Missions will be connected with the help of a storyline, where key characters will carry out orders of supreme commander-in-chiefs. Missions will become much more dynamic and diverse and players will have to use every type of units and many types of tactics to complete missions. Average time it takes to fulfill a mission is about 40-60 minutes.
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