04/15/05 >> East Front

Genre: First-person Shooter

Developer: Burut

Publisher: Game Factory Interactive

No official site yet

We had the opportunity to speak with Burut, developer of the first-person shooter East Front. Once again, a big thanks goes to Slatvana Alexeeva for helping us put this together.

Please introduce yourself and your company.

Dmitry Glaznev, East Front game-designer and script-writer. I work for Burut, creators of the famous RPG series Golden Land.

What sort of physics system are you using?  And what are some examples of what the player can do within the game?

We’ve created our own physic engine based on the free ODE. We have profoundly increased its scope, and added some new potential. The special thing about it is that it provides compound objects of any kind, besides, there are plenty of physical objects on the level. Thanks to the latter property, we can afford not only to “make you happy” with some physics at some definite places, actually, we have made physical all the surroundings, except for walls and stairs. Such common objects as weapon or first aid kits are also physical.

If you happen to see a good barrel or a kit that is beyond the reach, for instance, high on a shelf, you can try to bring it down with a bullet. Besides, vehicles like lorries, tanks, planes are physical too. A lorry, for example, will blow up if hit in the petrol tank, and it can burst nearly into a hundred debris like boards, wheels, or headlights. I should say that we did our best to involve the surroundings interaction in the game. Collapsing covers right in front of your nose, impressive explosions and destruction, realistic equipment - that’s what we use the physics engine for.

When designing first-person shooters, there seems to be two ways of storytelling: seamless (everything presented to the player, no cut-scenes) and interrupted (non-interactive cut-scenes the player watches).  How is the story for East Front presented to the player?

We use both. Cut-scene is a good way to present events, say, between levels, or to show the things that don’t happened to the main hero (“and meanwhile…”). Besides, the production and the camera in cut-scenes can display really dramatic moments. However, in plot presentation we lay emphasis on in-game script scenes. We want a player to be involved in current events, and moreover, to be the momentum of these events. On the other hand, though we have created fairly serious and dramatic plot, we don’t want to impose it on players that prefer shooting without any peripetias of the plot. That’s why in-game scenes are more convenient in this case; a player can leave the scene any time and keep going and shooting.

Talk to us about the Emotion Engine. What kind of role will it play and how does it affect gameplay?

The emotion engine is an arcade system that fulfils only a few functions. If a player meets definite conditions, intentionally or not, he gets a certain emotion bonus. In this case a definite post effect is played. For example, having destroyed several monsters in a row and if not injured, a player gains a little more life. So, one, for instance, can stick to this style of game and get out of any hopeless situation safe and sound. Some emotions regulate the frequency of Time Shield use. Some of them are auxiliary.

When players talk about features they’d like to see in FPS, they usually mention non-linear gameplay and co-op.  Will either of these features be in the game?

In fact, it is not a trivial task to add a real nonlinearity to the traditional FPS. But we found this idea interesting and realized it on the level of “decision scenes”. For example, during a mission a player faces a choice and he has to make a decision. He has several seconds to make a choice and press “Use” button. Otherwise, somebody else does this for him. This decision doesn’t affect the main plot, but it can influence the game process profoundly. Every time a player comes across absolutely unexpected tasks: to give up or to fight, to kill a traitor or to spare, etc. As for co-op, it can be used only in the multiplayer.

Nearly all first-person shooters have scripted scenes, and when done right, add an important element to the game. However, some players have complained that scripted scenes actually curb dynamic gameplay. What are your thoughts on this?  And will East Front feature scripted events, dynamic gameplay, or both?

We tried to combine both types of gameplay. For this purpose we used them on different levels. So scripts regulate the general game process, such things, as: who appears in the way, where an explosion takes place, etc., but monsters` tactics and the way they behave in fight depend on the artificial intellect. We have given it a lot of attention, so each fight should be thrilling and exciting. Monsters throw plenty of grenades (say, to force you out of a cover), they can use covers, hide to reload weapon, and lay small ambushes, etc. To be a worthy enemy, you have to learn to do at least these things. : )

East Front takes place in an alternative history. How much research went into creating such a game world?

We discussed it a lot and finally came to the conclusion that the main difference between the real history and the plot of East Front is that in our game German scientists manage to achieve more impressive results in brain biochemistry, physiology, and paranormal phenomena than they did in reality. (Actually, it is a well-known fact that in Germany they did such kind of research, not to mention that Nazi Germany spent much more funds on the research of paranormal phenomena than the USA on the A-bomb.) This difference will influence some aspects of the game, but on the whole, the world of East Front is quite realistic.

Let’s talk about the hero’s ability to create the Time Shield. What is this and how does it affect gameplay?

The ability, that the main hero Karl Stoltz possesses, enables him to stop the time in the small area around him. All physical objects, flame, and smoke become still, “freeze” when get within this protection ring. It lasts not long and depends on the emotionality of the hero (in other words, it directly depends on the emotion engine). But when the time shield is active, it gives a player the big advantage over an enemy! And besides, it is quite spectacular!

What kinds of multiplayer modes will there be?

At the moment we mainly work at the single mode, so I can hardly give you any details of the multiplayer. However, we intend to keep our main features there, such as the use of physics, the emotion engine, and the time shield. All these should make the multiplayer original!

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Interview by Alex Hammond