NEW Interview with Bohemia Interactive on ArmA...

[XeLSiS 0]

Interview with Bohemia Interactive on the past, present and future of the Flashpoint legacy!

By XeLSiS

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1.

XeLSiS - At this point in time can you give me an idea of when Armed Assault will be released? I don’t mean like Q3/Q4...

I mean like a month in specific would be awesome!

Placebo - It still remains Q4, 2005

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2.

XeLSiS - Is codemasters officially out of the ArmedAssault/OFP2 deal?

Placebo - Right now, no we are not signed to any specific publisher, and the door is not closed to any publisher.

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3.

XeLSiS - Because of the unofficialness of Codemasters and ArmA, does ArmA then have a lot of Independent/Large Publishers interested in Publishing ArmA?

Placebo - We met with a large number of publishers during E3 covering all regions of the planet, we met with publishers large enough to publish globally themselves and we also met with enough independent publishers to cover the various regions

one by one. Due to the massive success of the original PC game, ArmA and Game2 have interest from most game publishers in the industry, corporation and independent size.

So yes there are plenty of publishers available and interested.

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4.

XeLSiS - What new features can Modders & Players look forward do?

Placebo - For now features of the game are being kept quiet, but we're getting closer to what we can share about it, for sure the game is definitely turning out to be more than the anticipated Opf v1.5 (with the next big game being known as “game2â€), this game is really developing into a "game2" of its own standing, maybe we should start calling the other one "game3"

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5.

XeLSiS - Should ArmA Modders look forward to much more user friendly software and will new technologies allow modders to model and texture outside of programs like o2?

Placebo - That's a very good question, I guess only time will tell, obviously we write and use all our own tools/software so for us there isn't so much need or incentive to make them compatible with outside programs, but there are some very talented and skilled programmers in the community.

5a.

XeLSiS - But I know for a fact that modders had a nightmare with LOD's and Textures and stuff in o2, will a new o2 have the ability to import textures and such that are on models and not just import models alone?

Placebo - I honestly don't know the answer to that, but I’ll try to find out for you.

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6.

XeLSiS - Will the ArmA MP Community see patching, installing mods and maybe a slightly more user friendly interface and such improved in AA?

Placebo - For sure multiplayer will be very significant this time around, rather than how the original Opf was a single player game with MP bolted on later, MP in ArmA will be a quite substantial part of the game, obviously helped greatly by having JIP

6a.

XeLSiS - JIP?

Placebo - "Join In Play", no more waiting in the lobby for the game to finish so you can join in, if you arrive late just join straight into the middle of the game.

6b.

XeLSiS - Will MP Clans have the luxury of XML Tags still, I'm a clanner as well as modder and I can tell you, XML Tags were one of the best things in MP OFP.

Placebo - Placebo - If a feature from Opf worked well then it would make sense to continue it, if the feature worked ok but could be improved then we'll look at where we can improve it.

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What we can see from this exclusive screenshot from the upcoming Xbox title “Operation Flashpoint: Elite†is that ArmA will have Right/Left hand weapon options, chinstraps modelled & textured onto the soldiers and visible Armor Vests.

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7.

XeLSiS - Is Armed Assault going to have a lot more realistic aspects then most FPS games like realistic damage counts, armor values, various features like the T-80's Auto Reload system, etc?

Placebo - I think the realism aspects of the game will be put into it as much as possible within the development time frame we have, there are many things planned for the game, some will be achievable, some won't.

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8.

XeLSiS - Operation Flashpoint was originally released in Europe months before OFP was released in the US, will it be the same case with Armed Assault or will it be released on both continents hand in hand?

Placebo - Really depends on the publisher, if we sign with one who is publishing in both regions then I think there's a good chance it will be published around the same time, if we sign with separate ones for Europe an NA I think there's still a good chance of it happening but a slight risk that logistics will cause a little delay at some point.

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9.

Now this last question I have doesn’t really regard ArmA, but I thought this would be a really interesting question.

XeLSiS - What was the original goal of the Spanel brothers, "Marek and Ondrej" in developing OFP?

Placebo - I think the main goals were those which were the key features to Opf, large open areas, tactical freedom, possibility to use many different types of vehicles in the air and on land, large number of troops to simulate modern warfare etc.

9a.

XeLSiS - Ever since 1997 when Bohemia and Marek started working on OFP, have you felt that the 8 years of their life they've currently invested in OFP/ArmA/Game2 have been worth the time?

Placebo - Well as someone who grew up watching war movies and then playing war games which really did little to simulate the scale and experiences of war it was a shock to play a game as intensive and ground breaking as Operation Flashpoint,

the game created a new genre for itself and still really is unsurpassed 4 years later in term of size and scope of what the game offered. Now with Opf on Xbox, ArmA and game2 it's quite incredible to see what has become of the prototype from 1997.

9b.

XeLSiS - Do you think it has been a success?

Placebo - The original game has now sold in excess of 1.5 million copies worldwide, it won game of the year and similar awards from numerous magazines/websites, BIS won best PC game developer at ECTS 2001 and rookie studio of the year at GDC 2002 amongst others. More important perhaps it led to VBS1 which is used by numerous militaries around the world to train their soldiers and actually save lives. For gamers the name Operation Flashpoint and the company Bohemia Interactive Studio inspires a lot of respect and admiration, so yes I think it has been a success.

9c.

XeLSiS - Before AA became a reality, did you think taking OFP to the next level was worth it?

Placebo - Well you can consider worth it on a number of levels: financially: the original game sold huge amounts, it would only be common sense that a follow up if sufficient an improvement and sufficiently adhering to the game play principles of the original would sell well. Despite the fact you can't spit in a computer store without hitting a war game of some sort (on every format), there really is no direct competitor to Operation Flashpoint, even 4 years later.

Then you can consider worth it to gamers, as I mentioned, for gamers who are attracted by the game play, size and scale offered by the original there is not much else to choose to play, so gamers for sure will want to play a "next level" version.

Then finally there is worth it to those working on the project on the basic level of whether such a venture is worth it and rewarding creatively, whilst there are few people here who are die-hard military enthusiasts there is certainly a large amount

of pride that can be found in accomplishing the complex design, programming and artistic tasks required to make a "next level" game which can compete with anything else for next generation hardware whilst retaining the size and scope of the original game. For sure there is a desire to move onto different projects in the future, away from military games but there is still plenty to keep everyone inspired and dedicated.

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XeLSiS - Thanks Placebo for doing this interview, I'm sure that the OFP community will appreciate some of the valuable information here that at least I haven’t seen in other interviews about AA. I hope ArmA comes out soon and is a big success *thumbs up*

[snoops_213 75]

Woohoo. Certainly looking forward to ArmA.

Hmmmm turning into game2 by itself, awesome endless hours of speculation now till more info arrives

Great interview.

[berghoff 11]

Hehe nice xbox screenshot and interview .

[Sir Louis 0]

Damn good interview, you asked virtually all the relevant questions. If placebo is reading this however, has there been any consideration to making bullets travel realistically through cars, people, materials and such? One of the things sadly OFP did not capture was barrier penetration - the fact that a 30mm shell would hit something, a sign or someone's hand, and not go through, detracted from the experience a lot. Are there any plans for realistically simulating this properly, as it is a major factor in real life firefights? (50.bmg rounds routinely go through stone walls etc).

[Scrub 0]

Shweet!

Thanks for the info!

 Left and right handed   ... Guess THAT thread can be locked up now..

Modders will be using a tactical switch to the off hand for sure.

[Balschoiw 0]

I don´t think that left and right handed selection is for weapon handling. It looks like the preset configuration of the controller, the Xbox controller, but imo has nothing to do with weapon handling right or left handed as it says "controls" which imo points on the technical controller setup but not the ingame weapon position

[x Flashpoint x 0]

Hay that really looks like you Placebo

[FCOPZ-illuminator 0]

Who cares the left/right hand action ?

Should have the really nice XML Tag feature

[berghoff 11]

Yea the xml tag is definitly a must when squads are doing a war or whatever.

[Colossus 2]

Wow! Really nice interview, and it gave me a bit insight about what you want to reveal and why you guys don't say much about ArmA.

lol, I have a bit doubt about the left/right-handed option since I'm used to use my right hand for gaming. And I might feel that it's a bit weird to use my right hand on the mouse and left hand in the game. But hey, let me try it first and then I'll start complaining

Argh, now I have to have two breaking news in my sign

EDIT: Spelling

[Guest Ti0n3r]

XeLSiS - Is codemasters officially out of the ArmedAssault/OFP2 deal?

Placebo - Right now, no we are not signed to any specific publisher, and the door is not closed to any publisher.

Quote[/b] ]XeLSiS - Because of the unofficialness of Codemasters and ArmA, does ArmA then have a lot of Independent/Large Publishers interested in Publishing ArmA?

Placebo - We met with a large number of publishers during E3 covering all regions of the planet, we met with publishers large enough to publish globally themselves and we also met with enough independent publishers to cover the various regions

one by one. Due to the massive success of the original PC game, ArmA and Game2 have interest from most game publishers in the industry, corporation and independent size.

So yes there are plenty of publishers available and interested.

Those words made me very happy!

[meyamoti 0]

As long as its not EA...they usually screw things up

[Acecombat 0]

I want more interviews with screenshots .

[Raptor 10]

I want more interviews with screenshots .

yes,me too

btw, interesting Interview.

raptor

[WhoCares 0]

Regarding the screenshot, I never heard of a word like Passcode, must be a mixture of Password and Codeword.

And the map in the background, could that be Everon, near the intersection leading to through the valley to the south (just can't remember the name of the village there)?

Otherwise some good questions and answers

[Goeth 0]

Nice interview and somehow it made me feel that armass is really going to come soon. And about the EA as publisher i agree that they should be left out

[Scrub 0]

Quote[/b] ]Balschoiw Posted on Sep. 01 2005,07:54

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I don´t think that left and right handed selection is for weapon handling. It looks like the preset configuration of the controller, the Xbox controller, but imo has nothing to do with weapon handling right or left handed as it says "controls" which imo points on the technical controller setup but not the ingame weapon position

Darn Xbox! Darn it to HANG!!

Now you know I never played a console..

[zayfod 1]

Great interview, thanks!

Some really good reading there , almost sounds as if development has kicked into another inspired gear. Must get a new PC , my 5 year old gal is almost falling over.

[Postduifje 0]

Nice interview

WhoCares; Passcode is an existing word. It's used for a password that consist only of a numeric combination.

[JdB 151]

Passcode is an existing word. It's used for a password that consist only of a numeric combination.

Player ID?

[mattxr 9]

Great Job  

Just one question:

Q1 - Jan,Feb,Mar

Q2 - Apr,May,Jun

Q3 - Jul,Aug,Sep

Q4 - Oct,Nov,Dec

is that the way that system works? ^

[WhoCares 0]

...

WhoCares; Passcode is an existing word. It's used for a password that consist only of a numeric combination.

Bah, and I checked several dictionaries: English Dictionaries

I wonder how XeLSiS could not know about JIP - in the early days the magic word appeared in every second thread of the Multiplayer forum  

Not to mention the MP Suggestions thread in the Game2 Forum  

@Matt Rochelle: Usually yes.

Sometimes companies adjust it to their fiscal year, which might be from Oct. to Sept. or similar, but I hope BIS does no such stunts to us

[Madus_Maximus 0]

Yey! Can't wait! This has made me want it even more now. And I hope to GOD that EA DON'T publish it in any way shape or form. I hope Marek tells them to get stuffed if they ask. Same with Ubi, unless they sign a contract saying Ubi ONLY have publishing rights and can't make patches and addons and whatever as they REALLY do suck at programming, especially patches!

I'm sure some of you will remember the "hot fix hot fix" for Ravenshield about a year ago haha. Classic.

[rainbow 0]

Proposed dates of release (ArmA):

ABCGames.cz - december2005

GameStats.com - 12/30/05

TotalVideoGames - 01 Dec 2005

Gry.wp.pl - 2006

[Postduifje 0]

Passcode is an existing word. It's used for a password that consist only of a numeric combination.

Player ID?

No, it remains a secret code to gain access, player IDs aren't secret. It just differs from a password in that it contains only numbers. Your PIN is a passcode for instance.