Want to Go Deeper Than the Frontlines of War?  “East Front” Takes You There

by Louis Bedigian

“We try to make gameplay spectacular, dynamic and interesting.”

Titanic told the real-life story of a ship that sank due to carelessness.  It also told the story of two fictitious lovers who were parted when the ship met its unexpected fate.

East Front is a new first-person shooter that takes place during World War II.  Using emotion and the power of love to move its players, East Front looks to entertain more than the typical shooter addict. 

“East Front is a story of love and hate—they are red lines on the epic canvas of the alternative WWII universe,” said Dmitry ‘Alice’ Glaznev, Game Designer and Script Writer for East Front.  “The main hero is a German officer named Karl Shtolz. He becomes an object for strange experiments of SS command and acquires new battle abilities. Occasionally, he gets into hands of resistant forces and fights against his creators.”

The game promises stellar visuals and hours of action as players explore this alternative universe.  Dmitry continues: “We try to make gameplay spectacular, dynamic and interesting; missions – good-looking and unusual; enemies – smart and dangerous.”

Excited for more, GameZone Online sat with Dmitry for a fully-loaded session of interrogate and answer.

How far along is the game's development?  Do you have an anticipated completion date?

DG: We [have been] working on this project for 2.5 years and plan to release it October of this year.

What are the particulars of East Front?  What features make it stand out from the crowd?

DG: East Front is a shooter that takes place in the universe of the alternative WWII. In contrast to other games exploiting theme of WWII, our scenario includes [a] love story. Generally, scenario is less straight-patriotic then usually; it's more lively and intimate. Action takes place not on the battlefields but in the heart of Third Reich (that doesn't make gameplay less scaled!). As for gameplay, it's [a] fast, dynamic and movie-like spectacle. Some unique features, for instance, temporal shield makes it even more varied.

Have you decided on a composer yet?  When you do, what type of sound do you hope he or she can achieve?

DG: As for sound effects, they are made by our own sound engineers. As for music, we order it [from] musical studio Black Box. We have lots of discussion with guys from there about what kind of atmosphere we would like to achieve in the game. For better understanding we usually take some tacks from various artists. For example, for our last conversation we took tracks from such bands as Hekate, Von Tronstahl, Kirilian Camera and the title track of Battlefield 1942. We think this is a good cooperation. Hope that music will be original, serious, wicked and sometimes brutal. This is very important for communicating the atmosphere of the Nazi Germany.

Help me envision the worlds of East Front by explaining, in detail, the game's different levels and locations.

DG: When creating missions our aim was to get the player to such places that he has never seen before in games about WWII. We have no castles, villages, trenches, forests and fields. Instead we've got a navy base, a really existing Institute of Military-applied Sciences, an underground bunker and even a submarine. All locations are highly detailed and decorated according to the time. World of East Front is a realistic-industrial place. We think that heartless, mechanical surroundings will emphasize atmosphere of Third Reich.

Enemies come in all shapes, sizes and species.  Who will we be battling in this game?

DG: No matter how we wanted it, we couldn't insert in a game about WWII (even in an alternative world) aliens, zombies or Cherokee Indians. That's why most of the enemies are Nazi military forces. They can be common privates and officers or elite SS assault troops. In addition there are some special monsters that can use physical objects for attacking.

Are there going to be any boss battles, or any part of the game where a large enemy, or a large number of enemies, attack?

DG: As a rule we let out 3 to 7 smart enemies who can use tactical advantages of surroundings, retreat in hard situations and perform other maneuvers. There are some places where enemies come almost without limits. But in such cases a player usually has assistants like a large-caliber machine-gun or an antiaircraft gun. Well, in the very end of the game there will be a big boss.

What is your first line of defense against these enemies?  Will players have access to any special weapons?

DG: It's difficult to offer some special weapons being in the context of WWII, but we tried to solve this problem. Surely, we will present a standard set of MP-40, German and Soviet rifles, StG-44, FG-42, American and English models and even a Czech antitank rifle. But the most important mean of eliminating enemies will be a temporal shield.

How does the temporary shield work?

DG: This is a transparent time-screen surrounding a player. All bullets that get into it hang in the air (their time stops). The player can manipulate them-hung bullets move with the shield as the player moves. The player can rotate and point them to a desired direction. When the shield turns off, the bullets in it fall to the ground. The player can also direct bullets into the enemies. Thus, enemies can be killed with their own bullets!

Which graphic engine are you using?  Have you been happy with its results?

DG: We use our own engine named X-tend 2.0. It supports all modern features: shaders 2.0, parallax and bump mapping, post-effects, hot air effects and so on. The engine works well both on open and closed spaces. We are completely satisfied with quality of the picture it renders and its hardware requirements. 

Do you think the upcoming generation of game consoles and graphic accelerators is living up to expectations?  More importantly, are they living up to your expectations?

DG: This is a difficult question! :) As for me, I don't think that next-gen consoles will offer a real breakthrough, and I have grounds for that. What is a console? It's a platform for playing games. Games—that is what defines the look of the platform, its structure. It's no surprise that next-gen consoles make somehow the same things we have already seen on current-gen consoles.  They were made looking back to games that exist nowadays.

We have fighting, racing, arcade—what would they invent in next-gen consoles looking back to these games? The answer is: consoles that will run these games (or its sequels), but better, faster, and more realistic. I think a real revolution should be in game design. When new-age, revolutionary games appear, hardware manufactures will quickly catch up with them. But, of course, it would be easier to create new-age game design on next-gen consoles. Though this is a long process, 'cause developers need to get used to new platforms.

What does the future hold for gaming?  Do you like the idea of 3D goggle and goggle-free 3D monitors like the ones SeeReal designs?

DG: It seems to be a frightening thing! These (and other) technologies make line between games and reality thinner. I think this may be dangerous for human mind. Games like nothing else plunge players into fabricated worlds. I also think that in the near future with development of such technologies the role of government and officials in controlling game content will rise.

I presume that sooner or later technologies will make such a leap forward that it will be really impossible to differentiate game and reality. This is a very hard task for mentality, and I'm afraid this will change our civilization. Do you want my opinion on this? It won't be a splendid change.

I don’t think the day will come when looking at a screen, no matter how realistic the images are, will confuse us to the point where we believe we’re living inside The Matrix, but it’s something for developers to think about.  If anything developers should stay away from brain wave experiments.  The idea of sending an e-mail or controlling a character just by thinking about doing it sounds cool, but that’s a path humanity shouldn’t take.
 

Thanks Dmitry for your interesting and thought-provoking comments!

DG: You are always welcome, Louis! :)