Full scale 3D world
The following Q&A was conducted with the Creative Director of Tom Clancy's EndWar, Michael de Plater.
Please give us a short overview on EW. What is the story behind it….?
End War is a full scale wargame set in a highly plausible near-future global war, a chillingly realistic vision of World War III in Europe and America. It is an epic real-time strategy game where you are the commander of the elite forces and advanced war machines of 21st Century super-powers.
Set in the year 2020, EndWar explores the future implications of a number of real world events which are taking place today. The nuclear deterrent kept the Cold War from going hot for 60 years. In EndWar's story the missile defence shield cooperatively deployed by the USA and Europe effectively removes that deterrent. Also for 60 years the Western world was united against the perceived threat of the Soviet Union. Without a common enemy, without mutually assured destruction and in a world of diminishing resources, we assume that the 21st Century won’t be so different from the age of hate we saw in the 20th Century. When people start forgetting the horrors of the past they are doomed to repeat them.
I think the following quote by Albert Einstein actually sums up our vision for EndWar very well: "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones".
What is the development team background?
We have about 120 team members collaborating on the game now, and we've been working on it for over 2 years. We have brought together an international team with members from China, France, England, America, Canada, Romania, Serbia and Australia who have previously worked on games such as Ghost Recon, Rainbow 6, Splinter Cell, Brothers in Arms, Command and Conquer and Total War. It’s a great experience to get to work with such incredible mix of industry veterans and enthusiastic and talented graduates on their first game.
Click for larger imageRTS are considered to be inadaptable in console, how are you going to proceed?
I think that RTS is the last genre to successfully move to console because it's the last genre to be stuck in 2d. By 2d I don’t mean the rendering engine, I mean the gameplay. Neverwinter Nights or Command and Conquer 3 might have 3d engines but they are 2d games in that they are designed to be played ‘top down’ And any old school 2d RTS is never going work on console in my opinion, no matter how they remap the buttons.
Our inspiration has come from other genres which have moved from being 2d / PC experiences to being 3d / Console experiences. The difference between Neverwinter Nights and Knights of the Old Republic is a great example of how moving from 2d to 3d enabled the RPG genre to explode on console. GTA is another good example.
So I don't think it’s about mapping buttons from a keyboard and mouse. It's about navigating in a real, immersive, full scale 3d world, which is where I think next generation consoles are superior for any genre, especially with widescreen and HDTV.
And I certainly can say that EndWar would not have been possible on any previous generation, including PC. The widescreen, HD, voice command, LIVE experience is unique to next-generation consoles.