Switch Between RTS and FPS Gameplay Styles in “Field Ops”

by Louis Bedigian

“I think we have a good balance between the freedom of shooting, and the strategically master plans.”

Grand Theft Auto merged action and driving. Battlestations Midway is attempting to merge action, driving, and some creative strategy elements. Field Ops hopes to take the dream one step further by merging true FPS gameplay with RTS-style mechanics. How is this even possible?

The game does it by keeping both options open at all times. You’re not confined to playing from a first-person view, nor are you forced to control things from far away as you are in a real-time strategy game. Field Ops lets you do both, and it hopes to do so effectively by giving players exactly what they want.

“The FPS part will be 100% fun of shooting, running, and grenade throwing,” said Executive Producer M. Majeri. “[It’s] a perfect slice of the war-cake.” 

Just how perfect? And how exactly will all this function in a game that’s moving so fast? We sat down with M. Majeri to find out more.

Field Ops is attempting to merge the RTS and FPS genres. Both genres result in vastly different gameplay experiences, as well as different control and camera perspectives. How does Field Ops bring the two together?

M. Majeri: In Field Ops, the main focus is on the mix of the two genres, RTS an FPS.

The main challenge was the difference of the tempo, while in FPS everybody loves the fast action, strategy needs time. So we had the main focus, during fine-tune, on the length of the firefights, the damage models, and the AI behavior. Now I think we have a good balance between the freedom of shooting, and the strategically master plans.

The game appears to be played from both the FPS view, as well as a third-person view that resembles an RTS. Will both perspective be accessible, and if so, how does this affect the gameplay?

MM: Every point of view is part of the game, and you can switch between them whenever you want. With the FPS and TPS you can directly control your units, while the RTS gives the best overview of the battlefield, to plan, and control complex operations.

Are character(s) controlled by pointing and clicking (RTS-style), or with the arrow keys (like an FPS?).

MM: We kept both ways of control, to let the players feel familiar with the mouse and keyboard setup.

How many characters do you control or at least have some control over?

MM: In the ordinary missions the player controls an average of 5-10 characters. Additionally to this, you can control vehicles. 

Vehicles are also being planned – can you tell us about those? Which ones do you hope to include, and will any of them be playable?

MM: Many different vehicles will be playable in the field, helicopters, boats, armored vehicles like the LAV25, or the Russian T90, fast transportation, and civilian cars.

How are the vehicles acquired? Are they provided at the beginning of specific missions?

MM: The player can acquire vehicles both at the beginning of some missions, or during it (capture vehicles) The civilian cars for example can be used not just as transportation, but you can build barricades from them, break trough some walls, or as traps with sneaky car bombs.

In what ways are the tactical elements being employed?

MM: On the field, you have to use many tactical situations, to archive the victory. Hide behind covers, ambush the enemy, throw grenades above walls, and create traps with mines and car bombs, and many more. You can also use the physic system to build or destroy covers, open alternate routes, or move dangerous elements out of the way (or to the way of your enemy).Additionally, we bring what we called the “Advance Command Tools” for the RTS view which help players to control precisely their movements, attack and defense position.

Will you be able to issue commands to soldier(s), enabling them to perform actions automatically?

MM: Yes, if you use the RTS view, gain control over all of your soldiers, who uses the same AI, as the enemy, so you don’t have to take care of them all the time. 

Tell us about the transition ground to air or water battles. Also, how are the RTS and FPS elements implemented here?

MM: The air, and water battles can be played in RTS, or change to TPS control, and shoot your opponents with rockets, and machineguns....

What are the different classes, and how will they affect the course of the game?

MM: Each side, the S.O.G., and the terrorists have 7 classes, each of them are equipped with various weapons, and gears. We have all the usual classes like spec-ops, medics, or snipers, while have special ones as well, as the suicide bomber, or the armed robot.

How do resources and resource management get thrown into the mix (assuming they are used at all)?

MM: We don't use the resource management in our game, as a game element.

Can you create or form new soldiers to build a bigger army, or to replace soldiers lost in combat?

MM: You start with a pre-determined Mission Point, to build your team at the beginning of the game. During the game, you can't order reinforcements, but the medic revive ability gives the opportunity to keep them alive.

Is there anything special about the weapons being used, either by the player or by AI enemies?

MM: The S.O.G. and the terrorists use weapons of the today warfare. While some of them can be new, like the body-bomb of the suicide bomber, or the car bomb, which can be used to detonate civilian, or military vehicles, for bigger destruction. 

What can you tell us about the multiplayer mode and its features?

MM: In multiplayer, you will have the unique possibility to compare the effectiveness of the RTS and FPS genre. Before Field Ops, there was no game that gave this kind of opportunity.

Combining these 2 views bring new gameplay experience. For instance, you can form team with 1 RTS fan and 1 FPS fan players. Then you can set tactics, where you will manage only the RTS view action and your friend will play mainly in FPS mode. This will be a mortal combination in MP game

We also bring new multiplayer mode which are not usual in RTS game. There are three: Bomb Run, Conquer and VIP, which are self explanatory. We cannot just make a basic deathmatch because we felt that this kind of mode cannot show the effectiveness of this combination.

Thank you for your time.