AusBattlefields.com Interview news

[BKM]Quicksilveraus over at AusBattlefields.com recently interviewed Battlefield 2: Australian Forces mod leader arkanis50 about the mods history, the 0.3 release, and where the mod was heading in the future - including any official word on a BF2142 spin-off.

This is a result of some questions that I sent the way of the Ausforces Mod Crew Cheers to Arkanis for taking the time to reply and make this possible.

Q: What prompted you to start the massive undertaking that is this mod?
A: Australian soldiers are undoubtedly some of the most professional and highly-skilled solders in the world – so why aren’t there more games around where you can play as Australians? Sure, there is the odd appearance by Australian solders in World War Two games, but as far as the modern Australian Defense Force goes, there have been very few mods or games based on the ADF.

The genesis for Battlefield 2: Australian Forces stemmed from my work modding Ghost Recon in 2001, where I released several content packs including variants of the Steyr F88 and similar modern Australian weapons. Eventually the weapon packs were going to lead to creating a full-blown mod called Flashpoint Oceania, which was going to be set in Australia, New Zealand and Asia. Although due to the limitations in working with Ghost Recon, especially as far as mapping and adding new vehicles was concerned, I ended up moving on from Ghost Recon to work on a few small mods for Soldier Of Fortune 2 - namely Full Metal Rocket and B.A.R.D.

Fast forward four years to the release of the Battlefield 2 demo. Having successfully tinkered with skinning the US team flag, HUD and uniform for the demo, I came to the conclusion that Battlefield 2 would be the right game for an Australian Defense Force mod.

Battlefield 2: Australian Forces was officially founded on July 18th 2005.

Q: How many people are in the modding team and what sorts of technological backgrounds are you from?
A: Australian Forces has a core mod team of four developers, all of whom have been working on the mod for about the last year. Outside of the core development team we also have recently picked-up a few new members who are looking at contributing to the mod on a casual basis, mainly consisting of students from one of the local multimedia/game design schools in Canberra.

Of the core developers, BrotherEstapol is lead weapon modeler, and also works with new team members in order to make sure their content meets our level of quality. Beex is lead vehicle modeler and has a very good all-round knowledge the Battlefield 2 engine. Vando is our lead mapper and also chips-in making hand weapons and animations. My role as the lead developer is to make sure the mod is progressing smoothly, making executive decisions, coding and putting the builds together - doing all the other behind-the-scenes work that most people don’t get to see.

As far as the backgrounds of our team, we have a mixture of members who have training in multimedia and game development, university graduates in Information Technology, as well as members who are completely self-taught. Many people would be surprised to learn that our lead vehicle modeler Beex is completely self-taught!

Q: What sort of weapons are in this mod and what weapons are we likely to see in the future?
A: Battlefield 2: Australian Forces currently has between twelve and fifteen new weapons earmarked for inclusion in version 0.3. We have covered the majority of modern Australian infantry weapons, such as the Steyr F88C, Steyr F88S, Steyr F88 with Grenade Launcher, Browning HP, SR-98 sniper rifle, the ADI F1 hand grenade, a Spec Ops M4 with Eclan, the M72 LAW, and the Carl Gustav 84mm rocket launcher. We have also included new handheld anti-air weapons like the Stinger and SA-7 Grail, as well as new MEC weapons like the RPG-7 rocket launcher.

As far as the weapons we plan on releasing in the future? By the time 0.3 is released we will have just about covered all of the main Australian weapons, as well as a few we have thrown in to spice-up the gameplay, such as the anti-aircraft weapons and timed C4. After 0.3 we will be focusing mainly on adding new weapons for use by the MEC and enemy armies – the exact details of which we will disclose closer to release.

Q: For the people that have never used the mod are there any changes or additions vehicle wise?
A: Battlefield 2: Australian Forces currently has between ten and fifteen new vehicles earmarked for inclusion in version 0.3. Given the focus of the mod, the majority of these vehicles will obviously be for the Australian team - although MEC and China will also have a few new vehicles at their disposal. The next release will definitely contain the Long Range Patrol Vehicle (LRPV), Tiger-ARH, ASLAV-25, ASLAV-PC, ASLAV-AD, Bushmaster IMV, MRH-90 transport chopper, F-111, civilian pickup truck, technical, four and six wheel ATV’s, and one or two “secret” vehicles.

When adding any new content for the Australians, the development team are always conscience of keeping the gameplay as balanced as possible. What was the logical Australian equivalent to the US Humvee? The MRH-90 can carry up to eighteen troops, so how many should it carry in the mod? Australia doesn’t have a dedicated anti-aircraft vehicle, what is the most logical unit for the mod? At the end of the day I am confident that we have made the right choices in terms of striking a balance between portraying the modern Australian Defense Force and first and foremost producing an enjoyable multiplayer modification. We make no excuses for having to sacrifice a little realism in order to keep the gameplay balanced and fun in terms of the Battlefield 2 universe.

Q: How many different versions of this mod have been released so far and how many are planned for the future?
A: Work on Australian Forces started with the Battlefield 2 demo in mid-July 2005, with version 0.1 being released on the 29th of September 2005. Our last public release was 0.28, which ultimately consists of a skin pack that include new Australian uniforms, flags and HUD icons. The upcoming version 0.3 will be our first real content release in the last year.

We envisage that Australian Forces will be broken into three main releases, each release with its own distinct focus. Beginning with release 0.3, the first phase will revolve around adding the complete compliment of Australian weapons, models and vehicles, focusing on operations in Iraq, and the Middle East. This release will obviously take the longest to complete, given that we have to make the bulk of the content for the mod – hence why it has taken almost a year to get to this stage. Once this content is complete, we anticipate releases 0.4 onwards should only take a few months each to deliver. Think of them as small booster packs.

Phase two, 0.4, will focus on a completely new part of the part of the world – shifting the combat from the open desert to the confines of the tropical jungle. We don’t plan on divulging much about 0.4 at this stage, although I can say that we have started work on new content for the release. Set much closer to home, 0.4 plans to focus much more on close quarter infantry combat and the use of light vehicles, requiring a completely new set of tactics to counter the enemy.

Phase three, 0.5, will most likely be the last major installment of the mod. We are staying tight-lipped about what 0.5 will involve, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure it out where it may be set. Of course whether we actually make it to release 0.4 or 0.5 will be totally dependant on support from the Australian BF2 community - if people aren't going to play it, we aren't going to continue making it.

Q: Has there been much support for this Mod from the community?
A: Australian Forces has received overwhelming support from the Battlefield 2 community, especially during the first six months. We had a lot of people inquiring about helping out with the mod and wanting to know what plans we had in the long term. The interest has dwindled a little recently – most people just buy a new game a play it for a few months until the next big thing comes out. Interest levels should pick up again after the release of 0.3, and we can hopefully secure a couple of servers with the larger ISP’s in Australia, such as Internode and Bigpond.

Q: Is this mod useable in single missions, online play or both? And are there and new maps included in your releases?
A: Australian Forces can be played in both singleplayer and multiplayer mode, although our main focus is on creating a robust multiplayer experience. All the stock BF2 maps have been converted to include the Australian team and vehicles, as well as five awesome new maps created by Vando - with a possible sixth or seventh map being dependant on additional features that may be adding in the upcoming release. These new maps are set in the Middle East, and will see Australian forces fighting for control of a cement factory, recapturing an airfield, securing a town being used to launch roadside ambushes by insurgents, and fighting in the mountains of Afghanistan.

Q: Have you had many offers from people willing to join the modding team to help you guys out? If so are you looking for people with certain skills that would help you out in future releases?
A: We have received a lot of people interested in joining the mod team, but very few stay around for the long term - usually real life gets in the way, or just generally finding the process of working with Battlefield 2 too difficult. We require that anyone interested in joining has to be able to demonstrate their skill before we can accept them onto the team, whether it is a small map made with the editor, or a sample weapon created in 3D Studio. Nine times out of ten, when you ask someone to come back with a sample of their work, you generally never hear from them again. Fortunately we have maintained a very dedicated core development team over the last year, all of whom are willing to stick with the mod for the long term.

With that said, the team is always on the lookout for skilled individuals to help out with the mod. Obviously much of the base content is on the verge of being completed for 0.3, but we still wouldn’t mind an extra modeler for weapons and/or static meshes, a mapper and a dedicated texture artist. We also get a lot of questions about Australian voiceovers appearing in the mod, but there are literally hundreds of new voiceovers that need to be done, so we are yet to find someone to take on the challenge of recording all these voiceovers.

Q: Are there any plans at all to try and put an Aussie spin on 2142 (Flags, maps etc)
A: Officially we don’t have any plans to mod BF2142. For the foreseeable future, the team is dedicated to channeling all of our energy into finishing Battlefield 2: Australian Forces. Given the trials and tribulations of “working” with the Battlefield 2 engine over the last year, I’m not entirely sure that we would be in any hurry to take on a new Battlefield 2142 mod. With that said, working with 2142 would clearly afford us more artistic freedom in order to create our own weapons, vehicles and storyline.

Q: Have you got anything to say to the Aussie BF2 community?
A: Be patient. The development team has invested over a year of work into Battlefield 2: Australian Forces, so we are in this for the long haul. All we ask is that local community support the mod when it is finally released, and in turn, we will continue supporting the community with new content.

Also a big thank you to everyone who has stood by the mod over the last year – when most people got sick of waiting and moved on, you guys stayed with us and kept the team motivated. We are going to reward your dedication with an awesome locally produced mod!

Once again thank's go to Arkanis for taking the time to answer my questions.