Posted: 01-06-05 In: Interviews By: Munro2 |


Halflife2.net: First of all, I'd like to thank you both for taking the time out to speak to us. Can you both start by telling us what your roles are on Cold War: Melting Point?

SidewinderX: I am the Project Leader, as well as now being the principal modeller.

[=hris: I am a coder, and the web designer.

Halflife2.net: You recently made the decision to change the backdrop of the game's story from being set in the modern world to a historical 1960s setting. What was the reasoning behind this major change?

SidewinderX: Well, there were a few major reasons. The main one was that, while we were sure that our mod was innovative, the modern time setting was something that everyone was doing and it would get repetitive. This time setting has never been touched in an FPS. The closest that we could find are Vietnam games, and Operation: Flashpoint, which was based in the 1980s. This time setting will not only allow us to do very cool things based on the historical facts that everyone knows, but it allows us to use a very cool time setting with unique traits in the weapons and vehicles.

[=hris: Yes. Although modern shooters are fun, the mod community is getting a bit saturated with them at the minute. A lot of modern mods are taking each others ideas making it hard to distinguish between them. This time setting will let us add more individuality to CW:MP.

Halflife2.net: Sounds like a wise decision in my opinion. How do you expect the rest of the community to react to this change?

SidewinderX: We think they'll like it. And it should interest a wider range of people.

[=hris: Obviously some people would have preferred a modern military shooter, however, I think in general it will be received well as it sets us apart and also adds a new era, which can't be found anywhere else.

Halflife2.net: Something I feel is pretty unique about your mod is the Campaign Mode. It's clear that you're not just aiming for some sort of Counter-Strike or Day of Defeat style clone, but you're going for something original. How exactly will the campaign mode work?

SidewinderX: Well, with the time setting change we have added a Cuban campaign that will be shorter and more simple than the others will be. The campaigns as a whole will follow this basic format: there will be an initial mission, with multiple possible outcomes. The outcome of that mission determines what the next mission will be. The commanders of the teams will have opportunities at certain parts of the campaigns to elect to attempt side missions, where the results of which will impact the next campaign mission. For example, if NATO completes a side mission of damaging an airport runway, the Warsaw Pact may not have access to air support in their next mission. We also plan to set up a "Save" system for clan tournaments. A clan match may have 1-2 missions at a time, then "Save" the progress, and continue the clan battle later. This, we hope, will serve to make CW:MP a premier tournament and ladder mod.

[=hris: It's little touches like the side missions which will really define the campaigns, as well as secondary objectives that will act in a similar way to the side missions, helping you on the next map. Some games have implemented a mode where you progress through missions in a "campaign" but none have had the dynamic features CW:MP will have. Also, we will have stat tracking throughout the campaign, so that people can build up experience points - a bit like Call of Duty: UO, but you get to keep your bonuses at the end of a map.

Halflife2.net: What was the reason for the Cuban campaign being shorter and more simple? Is this so you can get the mod out of the door quicker or was there something else that influenced the decision?

SidewinderX: There were two main reasons. The first was exactly that; a shorter and simpler campaign will allow us to get a playable version out sooner. The second reason was that a shorter version will allow us to get the code of the campaign implemented and tested sooner, which will speed the overall progress along.

[=hris: Well, Cuba is a small place! It does however allow us to get a version with a full campaign, and most of the vehicles out quickly. We don't want to release a half finished mod, which doesn't have many vehicles / skins etc. Having a smaller first campaign will mean more time for improving other content. Also, it will keep the file size down, so the mod will be accessible to more people. I think a lot of people are put off mods that would be a huge download, when they haven't played it, and therefore don't know if they will like it.

Halflife2.net: It's over a year ago now since Valve had their Half-Life 2 source code stolen. Up until the first release of the SDK it seemed as though a lot of mod makers were trying to get a head start in their development by using this source code (and the tools included). Is this something that Cold War: Melting Point ever considered doing themselves?

SidewinderX: The team hasn't done anything with the tools. I, of course, cannot speak for each individual team member, but I can assure you that none of the content of the mod will have been made with the stolen files.

[=hris: We don't condone the use of the illegal pre-alpha material, however the coders have been playing about with the HL1 SDK, although there is obviously not as much power there as the HL2 SDK will have.

Halflife2.net: Now there's been so many changes to the mod, what has this done for the overall progress? Is there much work you're going to have to completely re-do? Additionally, what is the overall progress of the mod at this time?

[=hris: Obviously no coding / map making can be done, as the full SDK doesn't exist, but we have a lot of concept material for the maps as well as plans for layouts, reference photos, and campaign flows. Unfortunately because of the change in timeline, some of the art work that had been completed has had to be ditched, but we are progressing with creating the new models. I don't see this holding up our release, based on the current modelling progress for the new timeline.

Halflife2.net: Now part of the SDK is out, how long do you estimate it will be before we're able to see some screenshots of Cuba?

[=hris: Not before November 16th! Initial material will start rolling out before the end of November, I would expect, but screens fit for human consumption could take longer. Again, we don't want to release stuff that has "insert jeep model here" or "re-texture this" plastered all over it.

SidewinderX: Well, I've spent the better part of 4 hours trying to get the Model Viewer to do something useful, so maybe longer!

Halflife2.net: If all goes well, the rest of the SDK should be released no more than a week after Half-Life 2 is released (if we're being optimistic). If all goes well, how long after that point would you expect there to be a public playable version of the mod being released?

[=hris: September 30th!

SidewinderX: We really have no idea at this time. The current plan is to have an extended private beta to get the campaign system functioning, balance, etc, and THEN move onto a public release with the Cuba campaign fully implemented.

Halflife2.net: Great - thank you both for the chat. I for one am definitely excited about the mod and I wish you both the best in your respective roles and look forward to seeing more of your work. Thanks! Anything further to add?

[=hris: One thing - We are always open to community suggestions. We will alter the mod based on what people say in our forums and several features have already been adopted based on comments posted so far.

SidewinderX: Yeah, join the forums and leave us your 2 cents! On the team side of things, we're looking for another modeller/texture artist to help with prop design, and mappers will always be considered.