AA 3.0 - [Dev]Pye Answers
Author: minor Date: 01.20.2009
While we are playing a lot of leagues made for AA we are still waiting for new informations regarding America's Army 3.0. The AAPortal http://www.aao30.com interviewed [Dev]Pye - AA 3.0 development team member. There is breaking news that you haven't heard, so don't hesitate to take a look at the interview.
Also check http://www.aa3.americasarmy.com/, the new website for 3.0.
AAO30.com - Will AA3 have the 2 parts much like the original version of AA –both the FPS and the Career mode?
[Dev]Pye - The persistent character element of AA2 is going to play a more prominent role in AA3. As for the character building process we’ve created an unlock and advancement system that will allow you to invest promotion points, which are earned alongside and as a result of your other scores, to further your career choices and will give you new gear at each step. Initially these advancements are all going to be 11B Infantry roles, the ones that are analogous to the current fire team roles such as Rifleman, Advanced Rifleman, Grenadier and SDM (Squad Designated Marksman - not technically a sniper — that comes later). We will be able to go into much more detail on this in the coming months.
AAO30.com - Will the new game be faster paced like CoD4 and the Battlefield or maintain the slower paced true tactical feel of the game that many of AA’s original fans enjoy?
[Dev]Pye - We do not try to compete with CoD4 or the Battlefield series. The style of those games is not consistent with the Army’s messaging. So, we will continue down the path we have in the past in developing a thinking man’s tactical shooter. That being said, the game will have mass market appeal, so we’ve been working with a consistent design philosophy: easily accessible gameplay, but with a layer of depth that suits the advanced player.
 more...
AAO30.com - What kind of destructible environment will we have if any, and will we have instances like the bullet proof cardboard boxes in the current version?
[Dev]Pye - Destructible terrain similar to what you see in games like Bad Company is not on our schedule, that’s not an insubstantial feature to develop. What is on our schedule is bullet penetration and ricochet.
AAO30.com - Will there be AI and if so, will it be similar to the current AI?
[Dev]Pye - AI is part of that multi-year roadmap. It will not be present at launch but it will eventually be incorporated. You can expect to see it phased in like this: the initial implementation is used for civilian AI, the second phase is used for enemy AI in co-operative play and finally vehicle AI for a vehicle mode.
AAO30.com Will there be cake at the end?
[Dev]Pye - No. The cake is a lie. There will, however, be punch and pie at the end.
AAO30.com - The system requirements haven’t been released yet, and folks are wondering how much more they will need to add to their PC in order to play. UT3 has been used as a baseline for people to shoot for. Would you consider that a fair “guess” at this time?
[Dev]Pye - UT3 is a reasonable baseline to start with. I will be willing to give a substantial answer after the game has been in Beta for a while; that phase of development is where we’re going to determine what is a realistic min-spec. The following is our best guess right now for the minimum and recommended specs. Again this is still an estimate, and we will have a more definitive answer after more testing and optimization efforts.
Category AA3 Requirement Operating System (OS)
• Microsoft Windows XP (with Service Pack 2)
• Microsoft Windows Vista
Processor (CPU)
• 3.0+ GHz Single Core CPU (Minimum)
• 2.4+ GHz Dual/Quad Core CPU (Recommended)
Memory (RAM)
• 1GB RAM (Minimum)
• 2GB RAM (Recommended)
Video Card
• Direct X 9.0c compliant, Shader 3.0 enabled video card with 256MB RAM (NVIDIA 6600 or better/ATI X1300 or better) (Minimum)
• Direct X 9.0c compliant, Shader 3.0 enabled video card with 512MB RAM (NVIDIA 7950 or better/ATI X1950 or better) (Recommended)
Sound Card
• Direct X 9.0c compliant sound card (Minimum)
• Creative EAX 4.0 compliant sound card (Audigy 2, X-Fi series) (Recommended)
Hard Drive Space
• 5GB free hard drive space
Network
• Broadband Internet Connection
DVD-ROM
• 4x DVD-ROM (Disc Copies Only)
AAO30.com - What kinds of visual effects can we expect? For example will we see the screen shake that was part of an explosion in the older versions, or the blur that is CoD4?
[Dev]Pye - We’re looking at special visual and audio effects that are triggered at various injury levels such as the dulling and occlusion of sound. Grenades will have a new emitter and create damage traces upon explosion so you’ll see fragmentation occur in the area around a grenade explosion. Additionally they will have overpressure effects when they are detonated in enclosed areas.
AAO30.com - Any plans for a VoIP program with the new game?
[Dev]Pye - Yes. Teamspeak 3 is already working in the AA3 -game.
AAO30.com - This one really isn’t a question but more of a comment. Several people seem to be concerned about ghosting after a player has been killed. How about implementing poker in-between rounds, and they can bet using their positive score?
[Dev]Pye - Funny. We actually did entertain the idea of an Army trivia game to keep people occupied while spectating, but when we started coming up with rough numbers for the amount of questions that we’d need to keep things from being repetitive, we balked at the amount of work we’d be signing ourselves up for.
As far as ghosting goes, the only true way to defeat it is to eliminate the ability to spectate entirely. Realistically, given how much time people spend in the dead channel, eliminating spectating entirely really isn’t a very attractive proposition. We chalk this one up to being a cure that is probably worse than the disease.
AAO30.com - So in ending. Thank-you for the great insight into the upcoming release. It’s been great that you took the time for us today from your busy schedule. We are all so anxious to see more of the game soon!
|
Paddie
24-05-2010
