“Call of Juarez” Makes the Call to Innovation in the Wild West

by Louis Bedigian

“It was a world of criminals, lonely sheriffs, Indians and the cavalry.” 

I take a few steps back, clinching my fist to avoid revealing its tremble. I turn around to face my enemy. The sun has nearly set, leaving dark shadows that stretch for miles. Every one in town is silent; the only sound is the whistle of the wind. Everyone is fearful, going in and shutting their doors and windows tightly. The only one who’s stayed behind is a clueless rat nibbling on some cheese. We’re playing a dangerous game. One man will walk away, the other one won’t.

With our hands next to our holsters, we stare deeply into each other’s eyes, waiting for a signal. Can’t risk a cheater. Eyes say everything.

We wait for the announcement. We wait some more, then finally realize that no one in the town was left to say, “Draw!” It’s at that exact moment that we reach for holsters, whip out our mice and jump on our keyboards to determine the fastest gamer in the Wild West. Hah! Gotcha again!

“You know the rules,” I say to my enemy. “Now get on your hands and knees and crawl out of here.”

What did you think was going to happen to him? Like I said, one man wouldn’t walk away from this.

Only one game could inspire me to write such a wild intro, a game that aims to redefine the Wild West: Call of Juarez. 

We’ve been following the game for a while now and finally got the chance to interview the game’s Producer, Paweł Zawodny. Paweł reveals new details about the playable characters, its powerful graphic engine, discusses a few of the developing gameplay elements, and much more.

Call of Juarez is set in the Wild West. That isn't the most common setting for the genre.  Besides having environments that look different, how will the Wild West setting make this a unique and special game?

Paweł Zawodny: The players will feel the uniqueness of the Wild West setting through many aspects. The environments that you mention are a great example. Extensive wild and uncharted landscapes and scenic towns on the American frontier deliver new experiences that set the game apart from other FPP’s. The weaponry is worth mentioning. Obviously, you won’t get to use rocket launchers, machine guns or plasma rifles. Instead, players will get a chance to play around with accurate models of historic pistols and rifles, throw sticks of dynamite or ignite highly explosive powder kegs. Like in any good western, you will have the ability to ride on horseback. You’ll find a horse in every stable, town or ranch in the game, so you’ll have to decide when to use them. The common elements of these features are a great storyline and new game play elements that make Call of Juarez a new experience. I think that the game will bring some fresh air into the somewhat stale market of FPP games.

Call of Juarez features emergent gameplay based on GPU interactive physical simulation.  What does this mean to gamers? Why is it exciting?

PZ: Call of Juarez features a system that simulates the natural spreading of fire and smoke, which extensively uses the GPU and the Shader Model 3.0. Each “flammable” element of the environment can start burning once it comes into contact with fire. We can also modify the properties of an object by pouring oil from an oil lamp on it. On top of that, the fire source can be mobile (like sparks from a ricochet), so the player can set up a trap by igniting a shed in which the AI enemy is hiding, and then patiently wait until he runs out screaming. You can use the smoke simulation system to get away from an overwhelming enemy force.

Other then the gameplay elements, physical phenomena simulation effects are also worth mentioning. Generated by the GPU, these effects influence the gameplay visual aspects by causing, for example, heat refraction – the view distortion caused by hot air above a fireplace or a prairie. More examples of the physical phenomena simulation include the wind effect, which can cause the laundry drying on a rope to sway slightly, move leaves on tree branches or disperse fireplace smoke…  

How does the physical simulation aspect work? Is it a key component of the gameplay?

PZ: Yes, the physical simulation feature is one of the game’s key elements. Half Life 2 proved that using the natural behavior of various objects can be very satisfying. We hope that Call of Juarez will introduce a whole new level of these interactions.

In Call of Juarez, the simulation systems control many landscape features, the way opponents bodies behave and, on top of that, fluid and vapor physics, such as water, smoke and air behavior. The Call of Juarez physics can also simulate object collisions and various physical properties, like flammability.

Once the player knows the wind strength and direction, he can control the spreading of fire throughout flammable environments. There are so many examples of this in the game, so I’ll mention just a few. Throughout the game, you’ll come across situations where you’ll need to drive out enemies from a fortified location, burn down objects blocking the way or create a wall of smoke to protect yourself from enemy fire. In fact, the number of strategies the players can use is limited only by their imagination. 

Can you give us a couple examples of what a developing gameplay element would be in this game?

PZ: Certainly. Call of Juarez features many innovative elements. I’ll mention just a few of them, because I don’t want to spoil the game for those willing to discover these features themselves:

Concentration – this feature allows players to shoot at targets from large distances. The concentration mode simulates eyesight concentration on a particular target, by sharpening the view, blurring out surroundings at the same time. By using this mode, we can also slightly zoom the view, increasing accuracy, but reducing fire speed.

Fastdraw mode – this mode is used for quick attacks against opponents. When the weapon is in the holster, players can use the fastdraw mode to gain a time advantage and use it against his opponent or a group of opponents. This feature slows down time flow, and allows the player to instantly use his guns – just like in real life duels, where reflex and accuracy were key to surviving.

Whip – this is one of the weapons available to players. It’s simulated by the game’s engine so that it acts just like the real thing. You can grab various objects with it and raise yourself onto them, make long jumps or use it against your opponents, just like the Gravity Gun in Half-Life 2. You can grab objects from a distance and then hurl them at your opponents. You can also topple your enemies, grab their guns or simply hit them with the whip.

Horseback combat – this is a new innovative element that we will introduce in Call of Juarez. You’ll get to not only ride on horseback, but also fight your enemies. Players will have to learn new evolutions, allowing them to ride faster, use their guns more efficiently, and move their bodies in the saddles to avoid bullets and other objects.

It’s also worth mentioning that players in Call of Juarez will get to play two characters: the brutal and ruthless pastor, who won’t stop at anything to get his revenge, and a young boy, who prefers to avoid combat and sneak behind his opponents’ backs. Players in Call of Juarez get two unique experiences – a typical FPP gameplay, where they’ll get to shoot at anything that moves, and a slower paced puzzle solving and sneaking around gameplay, where they’ll have to use their wits to find a way out. 

Players impersonate a fugitive and a reverend.  Do you actually control these characters, or are you playing as someone who wishes to deceive others and disguises himself as those men?

PZ: Yes, in Call of Juarez you actually play both characters. In some levels it’s the reverend Ray who is chasing Billy. So the player alternately assumes the roles of two distinct, antagonistic characters. Aside the interesting, emotional and psychological aspect of the link between the two characters, the player will experience gameplay differences when playing a particular character. Billy is agile, smart and tends to avoid direct combat, sneaking between enemies. Often, he manages the obstacle with the whip (thanks to unparalleled level of interaction with the environment). Reverend Ray is strong, brutal and effective in a shootout, he can manage the obstacles with a kick.

How is stealth being incorporated?  How, when and where will players have to be sneaky?

PZ: Stealth gameplay is a common feature in Call of Juarez. Players who prefer this kind of experience will feel right at home. Some levels, mostly the ones where we get to play Billy, require players to quietly sneak behind enemy lines. Billy is much weaker than Ray, so he has no way of directly attacking his foes (though, sometimes, he has to).

When we designed the stealth mode for Call of Juarez, we were inspired by the best examples, and then added some innovative elements onto that. Some of the classic ideas we implemented include player’s invisibility in deep shadows and noise levels that can cause the character to be detected. Dynamic light sources (such as lamps, carried by the enemies) will also make hiding in the shadows harder. New features include the influence of natural phenomena and light effects. For example, lightning flashes can reveal the player’s position for a split second and cause his enemies to investigate the “weird shape” they just saw in the shadows. The sound of thunder on the other hand mutes all noises, so the player can shoot someone without compromising his position. 

There are no cars in the Wild West, and the guns aren't as fast or as powerful.  What was it about these primitive elements that was appealing to the development team?

PZ: The Wild West boasted unforgettable pristine American landscapes and large open expanses traversed by settlers. It was a world of criminals, lonely sheriffs, Indians and the cavalry. These were the times of lonely gunmen, the samurais of the Wild West, who traveled throughout America. Free and independent, they were the very last hope for townsfolk terrorized by local bandits. Their courage and incredible reflexes made them into formidable foes for the roaming packs of bandits. This is why we think that the Wild West setting is a great choice for a computer game.

In the last few years, World War 2 became the center of attention for game developers, despite the fact that the weapons and vehicles from that era are nowhere near as exciting as the ones you get in Unreal Tournament or Counter Strike. All this was started by Saving Private Ryan and Medal of Honor. We believe that Call of Juarez can kick start the Wild West genre just as Medal of Honor has made WW2 popular among game developers.

Are the different locations based on real Wild West settings?

PZ: The plot takes places on the Mexican border, but we didn’t want to limit ourselves to particular cities and towns. Copying real locations into the game would take up a lot of our time and we thought we could do better things with it.

Many locations in the game are based on real places. Also, all the graphics are based on pictures taken in the USA. Observant players will recognize many American landmarks in the game.  

Call of Juarez also features incredible environments and beautiful sunsets.  These were achieved using Chrome Engine 2005, correct? Tell us about that.

PZ: We wanted our game to be incredibly playable and look great at the same time. That’s why we use our own game engine – the Chrome Engine 2006 which with close co-operation with nVidia was improved to use the Shader Model 3.0 and supports all modern per-pixel lighting and rendering techniques such as:

• normal mapping, Phong & Blinn lighting with spherical harmonic maps

• virtual displacement mapping

• pre-computed shadow masks, omni-projector lights

• High Dynamic Range environment mapping
   

It also offers a wide range of post processing effects (such as depth-of-field, light blooms, refraction and heat distortion).
 

As far as animation and dynamics are concerned the engine features:

• Multi morph target facial mimics

• Shader Model based simulation and animation of vegetation, fumes and smokes

• Open areas and impressive field of vision

• Dynamic changes of daytime and global lighting

• Physics system including the simulation of:

• Ragdoll

• Wind effects

• Rigid body dynamics introducing emergent gameplay

• Fire, smokes, changing object properties with liquids

Of course just as in our previous titles, the game will be delivered together with effective and easy to use authoring tools for creating not only user’s own maps but even completely new mods.

However, the most important thing for us was to create a virtual Wild West. We watched many classic westerns and carefully planned all the locations. We also paid a lot of attention to the details, and the best example of that are the bloodstains on the bandits’ shirts that increase in size as time goes by :)

Thank you for your time.

PZ: Thanks for the chance to answer all the questions. You’ll find more info on the official Call of Juarez webpage: http://callofjuarez.com