GFI’s Nickolay Demchenko provides the details about Officers
By Michael Lafferty

“Officers underwent many changes if compared to its initial concept”

It begins with you taking the reins of a squad commander. But, if you perform well, there is the chance for advancement. And that means larger units to control and the opportunity to take part in bigger battles.

The game is Officers, from Game Factory Interactive, a PC title that combines some role-playing elements with the urgency and tactical unit-based combat of World War II. But what sets this game apart from the other WWII titles on the market. For the answer to that, GameZone went to the source.

Nickolay Demchenko, the PR Manager with the GFI UA development team, talked with us about this title.

Question: Tell us about the setting of this game?

Nickolay: The game uses the World War II theme as a setting for its massive battles, tactical opportunities and combat challenges. The theme proved rather successful among the gamers as it brings diversity in troops and technical equipment, associates with something that took place in the relatively recent past, and offers various tactical opportunities.

Game events will take place in France and Germany, starting with Normandy invasion and finishing at the Elbe River. Featuring dynamic day and night cycles, and weather effects that influence units’ performance, the game will put the player into a continually changing environment that will require player’s timely decision-making, wit and ability to quickly learn and adjust basic tactical skills. “Officers” offers extremely realistic landscapes with towns and settlements placed on truly huge locations 25 square kilometer each, so the player has quite a world to explore and conquer.

Q: The game’s press release says that this game offers a non-linear gameplaying experience. How exactly does this work and how many hours of gameplay does this game offer?

Nickolay: Even though the player mostly receives new objectives, one after another, there is always more than one way to accomplish them. You may even ignore a pending order and explore adjacent territories. This will usually complicate your further advancement but it is up to you what to do and in what order.

Mission duration heavily depends on your style of play. If you follow the orders and do not deviate from the route, the game will last you for about 30 hours. Otherwise, the overall duration will significantly increase.

Q: Tell us about the multiplayer aspects of the game?

Nickolay: The original game will ship without multiplayer. The MP mode will come with the add-on.

Q: How do players level their avatars in the game and what options will be available as they move up the chain of command?

Nickolay: The system is pretty simple. Promotion is given for successful accomplishment of a mission. You will also get decorations as rewards for meeting certain objectives. Rewards will appear in the player’s profile so you may always refer to them in between the missions. Promotion will usually result in bigger armies the player will command and consequently in more large-scale battles that require tactical weapons as regimental artillery and air forces.

Q: How do players control subordinates in the game?

Nickolay: The game utilizes a conventional unit control system so the player doesn’t have to learn any specific rules or methods of manipulating their troops. It’s all easy and simple.

Q: Tell us a bit about the graphics engine.

Nickolay: The game is powered by an in-house engine based on DirectX 9. The engine utilizes advanced vertex and pixel v2.0 technology and provides such features as per pixel lighting, particle system, destructible objects, skeleton animation for units and technical equipment, large outdoor environments with variable LODs, self-generated clouds lit in real time, dynamic shadows, self-shadowing and many more. Just check the screenshots.

Q: What was the most challenging aspect of bringing this game to life?

Nickolay: As you know, Officers underwent many changes if compared to its initial concept. The hardest thing was to keep the pace and minimize the risks of development process taking ages because of these alterations. So, in the long run, I’d say we did pretty well on this.

Q: What elements do you think will draw players into this game and create the kind of gaming experience players demand?

Nickolay: Large-scale battles on tremendous locations that provide ultimate freedom and huge space for tactical maneuvers, astonishing visual effects, picturesque graphics, breath-taking atmosphere and gripping gameplay will definitely please many gamers. On top of that, the game will ship with a map editor and mod tools that will allow the gamers create their own maps and scenarios with custom-made units.

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