Dev Diaries: Red versus Blue news

Hello again from the Lucky Developer of the Week! My name is Igor, and I lead design for Nuclear Dawn. Many try their hand at the noble art of game design, and I was blessed with the chance to find out how much hard work designing a game actually is.

Nuclear Dawn is an incredibly rewarding project, and over the past months and years, it definitely gave everyone involved in its design the chance to stretch their creative muscles. The end result was a complex, believable game world that will resonate powerfully with players as they prowl the savage landscapes that might have once been their very home cities.

This game is as much as labour of love as it is a commercial project, and we took particular care in ensuring that nothing suffers from cookie cutter syndrome, and that every aspect of gameplay is presented in a fresh way that will hopefully appeal to all the players who are tired of playing World War II shooters. The design of the two main factions is indicative of that passion turned philosophy: the Consortium and the Empire are not just a blue and red side to pick in your average shooter, but rather two completely opposing sides of humanity after the holocaust, and their history, structure and organization will reflect in the way that you interact with the game.

Early on in development, we made the decision to move far past the ‘red vs blue’ nature of so many shooters, which often feature two identical factions, with slightly different weapons. The Consortium and the Empire are the last remnants of humanity’s proud nations, and each survived the holocaust in a completely different way.

The Consortium called upon the human spirit, and its nobler qualities, to pull through the destruction of their society. They are fierce individualists, and take great pride in their freedom.

On the other hand, the Empire retreated into the embrace of their governments, and developed along a hive mentality where individuals are statistics and units to be employed, developed or sacrificed for the common good.

We took those two opposing philosophies straight from the Cold War, and heated them up to nuclear temperatures, in more than just appearance. In Nuclear Dawn, each faction thinks, acts and reacts differently, and each reaction, thought and action is based on their way of life, which is radically different on the other side.

The Consortium are free range guerrilla fighters with the ability to place forward bases just about anywhere in the level, once they have developed the appropriate technologies. They operate by artillery and air drop, and their weapons and player augmentations are more humane and liberal than their counterparts.

Across the map and a world away, the Empire develops sprawling city bases with a unified power grid. Imperial commanders can only build within range of their power network, and their weapons and abilities reflect their life choice, by being more effective and powerful within the cybernetic embrace of their home, and less so outside.

At the end of the day, any game about conflict is about red versus blue. What we attempted to design into Nuclear Dawn is the kind of red and blue that you’ve never seen before. These colours have a history, a past, and they are actually different hues, rather than varying shades of the same theme.

Playing either the Consortium or the Empire in Nuclear Dawn will yield completely different experiences, and will require that you think differently about the actions, attacks and defensive manoeuvres that you plan.

A lot of effort and time went into making sure that players have a chance to identify with their colour of choice, and develop the best strategies to leverage the advantages of each faction’s way of life and combat.

The future, as you might have read elsewhere on this website, is war, and we’re going to make sure that it’s the most interesting, intense and believable war you’ve ever fought on your PC. Feelings of guilt at blowing the top of the skull of a father of three not included.

Igor Raffaele, Lead Game Designer

(Concept art for today's media update was kindly provided my Stuat Kim, who always amazes us with his ability to titillate with nothing but pixels, and always without nudity)

For the latest news, including blogs, media and feature updates, keep your eye onwww.nucleardawnthegame.com!