Joint Task Force Developer Diary – Part 2

“One of the most important aspects of the game, the tactics you choose will play a huge difference in your game”

The real-time strategy genre is rather crowded and in order for a title to stand out, it must provide a unique experience in some regards. Joint Task Force is throwing its hat into that ring with many elements that should have RTS gamers sitting up and taking notice.

Joint Task Force is from Most Wanted Entertainment and will be published by Vivendi Universal Games. The title is, according to the press release, “the real-time strategy game where you command the frontline forces in tomorrow’s most hazardous conflicts. Lead twenty dramatic missions in explosive war-zones including the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Balkans. Experience the evolution of warfare firsthand as you bring superior tactics and military technology to bear against dangerous and unconventional forces. No game has been so gritty or immediate. Use the principle of combined arms to your maximum advantage. All battlefield units — including infantry, tanks, artillery, reconnaissance and helicopters — are strongest when used together. Your men’s lives depend on your level-headed strategy.”

GameZone.com got a preview look of JTF prior to E3 2006, but now we get to take an inside look at the title with a series of developer diaries.

For part one of the JTF developer diaries.

Exclusive screenshot

Developer Diary 2
by Kristoffer Waardahl, Designer Joint Task Force

Welcome back to the JTF dev diaries! Things are moving on at high speed in the Joint Task Force workshop – but I though I’d start off by shedding more light on the goodies I talked about last time before I unravel more cool stuff …so let’s begin with ...

THE MAPS

Since our goal is to evolve the way RTS games are played without actually changing the RTS feeling, the first logical stop was the battlefield itself. I already mentioned map sectors – so what are they? The JTF battlefield is a dynamic environment where the maps expand as you play. As new mission objectives are given, new map sectors are opened each time to keep you on your toes – you’ll never know where to go next!

The action in the game takes place in gorgeous locations all across the globe, so expect a very diverse combat environment, from caves and jungles to suburban areas. Besides being graphically different, each area is a different challenge – the enemy behavior changes to reflect their home ground, so at each area you’ll have to adapt your ...

Exclusive screenshot

TACTICS!

One of the most important aspects of the game, the tactics you choose will play a huge difference in your game. Whether you are an armor nut preferring to mow down your foes under tank tracks or an infantry grunt, relying on steely nerves and fast maneuvers, you’re spoiled for choice in Joint Task Force.

A lot of important choices are made right at the beginning of each battle… go for vehicles or infantry? Deploy now, or scout ahead? Equip the men with extra weapons, or go for scavenging? These are but a few of the decisions you’ll have to make.

With the dynamic air deployment in the game, you don’t need a “home base.” The helicopters transporting your infantry to battle can land anywhere on the map, giving you enormous tactical freedom. Of course, the choppers can only carry infantry and light vehicles, but infantry is a force to be reckoned with in the right terrain!

INFANTRY

Since JTF is regularly a vehicle-heavy environment, we were faced with quite a challenge to make infantry interesting and worth playing with – usually in games like this the “little guys” often end up in the background or as “first-tier” units, which are seldom used later on. Drawing on personal army experiences in the team and consulting with a professional mercenary were just some of the steps we took to integrate infantry the right way in our game.

First of all, we had to decide on which unit types to include. Everyone has their favorites of course, but it was also important to give them a clear role to play. We decided to have JTF Rangers (the basic “soldier”), SF operators (masters of stealth, demolition and mayhem in general), Marksmen (long-range killers), and two supporting units, Medics and Combat Engineers.

Exclusive screenshot

In order to keep a reasonably realistic gameplay, we decided to make infantry pretty fragile but very versatile. They are fully customizable with gear, from C4 to Stinger AA missiles to cover a wide scope, but their primary advantage is their ability to hide and maneuver.

Infantry can enter buildings, narrow alleys and other hard-to-access places. They can also hide in high grass; take cover behind wrecks or in buildings. This not only helps them staying alive, but since tanks have trouble spotting infantry you’re good to set up nice and sneaky ambushes given the right environment. Sneaking is also a slow but sure recipe for getting close to the bad guys and deliver a nasty C4 surprise.

The AI is also designed to look out for the men; there’s nothing worse then having to baby-sit your units because you know they’ll just look stupid and get mowed down if left unattended. The AI detects threats just like you would, and moves soldiers behind cover or into concealment if there’s anything nearby. Failing that, they’ll do their best to engage the target, but don’t expect miracles if you’re facing off with a T72 MBT with a few assault rifles! : )

That’s all for now folks – keep checking back to the next installment which will deal with heroes, special weapons and more!

Share | Digg This | Glink It

---