Unreal Fortress Interview
Posted by Wildfire on 22/8/2000.One of the two big names in upcoming TF mods at the moment would have to Unreal Fortress (UnF for short). With its roots firmly embedded in QWTF and TFC but with the added bonuses provided by Unreal's graphics engine, it will probably take the online gaming world by storm when it's released in a month or two. We caught up with BrainFreeze (Vice Project Leader, Writer & Publicist) to find out what UnF might have to offer to us veteran TFC players.
While working on UnF, which of the TF versions (i.e. QWTF, TFC, TF1.5, Q3F) has been most inspirational to your work? Are any of the UnF team big fans of any one of them?
Azm0, the founder and leader of the project, is an old-school QWTF player who played for some of the top clans. Many other guys on the team, including myself, are or have been TFC players. Most of us have tried Q3F as well, and Azm0 is a friend of some of the guys who have worked on that. So, we've really been influenced by all of them in one way or another. We've also been influenced in some fashion (even if minor) by a number of other team FPS games, like Tribes, Counter-Strike, Rogue Spear, etc. We've never consciously tried to emulate any game, to be honest. We just came up with what we thought would be fun.
You've stated in your FAQ on the UnF website that weapons will have alternate fire modes, will this be leading you to replacing the current TF weapon set completely or playing around with them and adding a few new items?
The weapons are mostly new, or at least function in different ways. We want something new for Fortress players to enjoy, but we're still keeping balance foremost in our minds as we tweak the weapons.
One of the more controversial aspects of TF over the years has been concussion jumping. Will you be including conc grenades in UnF? If so would you prefer them to be similar to those found in a previous version of the game, or completely different?
We've had a lot of discussion with fans and amongst ourselves over including concs. We've decided to include both concs and conc jumping, though the jumps are more like what you'd find in TF than TFC; that is, they require more skill and care to pull off well.
In support of the MOD after release, how often will you be looking to update it, and will you be following a similar approach regarding maps as the Counter-Strike team did?
We intend to fully support the mod with any necessary bug patches. For future releases (no set timetable), we also have many new features planned, as well as ones we didn't have time to complete for release number one.
We also want to release official map packs, possibly running contests for the best third-party maps to include. We also have a sister site that's gotten underway recently: MapFortress. It's going to promote the third-party mapping scene with tutorials, news, reviews, and more. We're really excited about it, since it's run by BuddyPickle, who's one of the head guys behind the very successful Real Maps site that serves the UT Infiltration mod community in a similar capacity.
We also want to release official map packs, possibly running contests for the best third-party maps to include. We also have a sister site that's gotten underway recently: MapFortress. It's going to promote the third-party mapping scene with tutorials, news, reviews, and more. We're really excited about it, since it's run by BuddyPickle, who's one of the head guys behind the very successful Real Maps site that serves the UT Infiltration mod community in a similar capacity.
As a TFC veteran, what features would you use to try and sell UnF to me as something I would want to be playing rather than my current addiction. Bearing in mind that as has been highlighted so eloquently in the UT/Q3A debate, graphics aren't everything.
Well, I have to say that UT's graphics are gorgeous, and they do certainly add to the gameplay. For TFC players who haven't played UT, they'll be blown away the first time they play our mod. The engine is simply more advanced than the HL engine. The graphics engine not only allows for eye candy (including some wicked weapons effects) but also very large-scale maps, which means more players can participate in a game without it getting spammy.
As you say, though, graphics aren't everything, and the real heart of our mod is the reworked classes and new weapons and equipment. The basic gameplay will be familiar to any TF/C vet, but it all feels very fresh because of the new tactics and possibilities. Plus, you get many new maps, new sounds, and so on.
Most of our beta testers are/were active TF/C players, and their response - even to a slightly incomplete beta with bugs - has been wonderful.
As you say, though, graphics aren't everything, and the real heart of our mod is the reworked classes and new weapons and equipment. The basic gameplay will be familiar to any TF/C vet, but it all feels very fresh because of the new tactics and possibilities. Plus, you get many new maps, new sounds, and so on.
Most of our beta testers are/were active TF/C players, and their response - even to a slightly incomplete beta with bugs - has been wonderful.
You've stated in your interview with TF Central that 9 players will be the logical maximum number to play on each team (18 total). With the advent of broadband, and obvious ability of UT to render large maps, will this be a hard-and-fast rule or will servers be able to run larger (say 10v10, 12v12) matches as well?
It's ultimately up to mappers to make suggestions, and up to servers to set the limits. Some of our maps could be played with more than nine per team, although we've also included some smaller maps reminiscent of
2fort. We want to accomodate different team sizes and keep it diverse.
2fort. We want to accomodate different team sizes and keep it diverse.
Talking of 2fort, the map has made a name for itself as the "standard" TF map. Do you have any intentions to include an updated (faithful) version of this in UnF for the nostalgic vets out there?
We have a map that's very similar in gameplay, but we're not including updates of any of the classics other than Well, at least for now. We know the fans will very quickly step in and include updates of the classics, so we want to concentrate on new maps.
Spam is always a major issue in games of this type. We've seen in QWTF and TFC, the way that most of the general purpose weapons designed for killing rather than simply damaging, use explosives as their means to an end. Do you have any plans to introduce some powerful point-to-point weapons (e.g. UT's shock rifle, Q3A's railgun) to redress this balance?
We have diverse weapons: some are area effect, like the rocket launcher and mortar, and others are hitscan, like the minigun, SMG and assault pistol. These latter guns are relatively powerful, in that their rapid rates of fire make up for the lesser damage of each bullet compared to, say, a rocket. The flamethrower falls somewhere in between.
We've all seen the Armourer's security camera, how you have been able to overlay a second viewpoint onto the player's PoV. Everyone I've spoken to agrees that it's rather cool, but does it have a discernable impact on framerate?
We haven't yet run a timedemo specifically to check for framerate drops when using it, but I haven't noticed any difference during play.
One thing that's always bugged me personally was the fact that Sentries (other than in TFC) have always been impossible to distinguish the identity of, until they either kill you or you walk past unscathed. This is a particular problem in maps where engineers might be in the thick of the battle, territory control for example. Will you be adding team-orientated colours to your equimpent models [not including munitions, obviously] or is what we see now pretty-much the finished article?
We've just been discussing this, and it's still not set, though team colors are likely for the reason you discuss.
Realism is a big word at the moment, seeing as UnF is a big development in the way TF will be played, will you be looking to make it more realistic or to stay true to the original(s)?
Well, it's never been our intent to stay true to the originals, but rather to capture the basic feel of them in our own way with our own ideas. That said, we don't have plans to move towards Rogue Spear-style realism, as fun as that can be. UnF is a game, not a sim, and it will stay that way.
What additions can we expect to see to the UnF HUD over the basic UT setup?
Quite a few: damage icons to let you know you've been conced or poisoned, sentry gun health and ammo status, marksman rifle charging status and distance to target, ammo counts (loaded and carried), and more. In fact, we're working on a totally new look for it right now, and GuLdaN, our 2D artist and site designer, has done a great job.
Recently in TFC we've seen the version 1.5 patch which has in public opinion drastically altered the game in favour of defence players. With the planned class balancing can we expect UnF matches to be high scoring or with only a handful of flag captures within the timelimit?
It's honestly too early to tell. There are so many variables involved: map size and layout, team sizes and composition, players' skills, etc.
More information
| Website: | http://www.unrealfortress.com/ |
| IRC: | #unrealfortress on Quakenet |
| Release date: | Public release date hasn't been confirmed yet (probably about a month or two though) |
| Interviewed by: | Wildfire (September 2000) |