Battlefield 1943 – Developer Interview
The Xbox Community Network recently caught up with Gordon Van Dyke, Producer for Battlefield 1943, to ask him all about the upcoming game.
Let’s talk a little bit about Battlefield as a series. Is it fair to call this a re-imagining of the original Battlefield 1942?
It’s more inspired by BF1942 than a re-imagine. It oozes Battlefield through the entire experience while playing and WWII captures that best when focusing on what we coin “Battlefield Moments”.
It’s a big step, releasing an online FPS as an Arcade title. Can you give us a bit of insight into that decision?
For us it didn’t seem like a big step, rather than a perfect fit for an accessible and focused Battlefield game. Plus DICE is always looking into new ways of delivering high quality games in new ways and never afraid of new business models to support those ideas.
Do you think Battlefield 1943 will set a new benchmark for XBLA multiplayer titles?
I hope so, it would be great to see even more games follow this formula, if it is successful, and I think you will.
If it proves successful can you see more episodic-style multiplayer games hitting XBLA in the future?
I can’t promise that from DICE, but I’m sure it will be looked at if Battlefield 1943 is successful and the community wants more.
There have been a few changes from the original, right? Tell us about the new health and ammo systems.
Explaining these changes on paper doesn’t give it justice, but the main goal of these that has proven very successful with veteran BF players was to increase the focus on squad movement across the battlefield and focus on the core essence of what Battlefield is about.
What about classes? There are only three now right?
Correct, we streamlined it to three core and well equipped classes with a clear focus on their skill set and tools. For example, Scout is long range combat and espionage, Infantry is close combat and anti land vehicle, and Rifleman is midrange combat and anti infantry.
How have you ensured you’ve retained the game’s balance while reducing the class types?
Reducing them actually makes that easier and clearer to the player, so 100% yes, we retained and arguably perfected the balance in BF1943!
And the game will contain three original maps right? Have you tweaked them much?
Actually we have four original maps that are all based on the actual real life counterparts, which are Wake Island, Iwo Jima, Guadalcanal, and Coral Sea. Coral Sea will be unlocked when a collective 43 million kills are recorded on Xbox Live.
Bf:BC really set a new environmental standard with its destructible environments. Since 1943 is also built on the Frostbite engine, can we expect something similar? Maybe even better?
Absolutely, using the Frostbite engine BFBC1 used has opened these locations from BF1942 in new and very exciting ways. We also changed the buildings to be destructible down to the foundations.
Let’s talk about vehicles. There’s quite a variety of air and land transport right? What about sea vehicles?
We have anchored aircraft carriers and landing craft to launch from as well as fighter planes.
What about this Bomber Shack thing? Can you give us a bit of detail on how that works?
It’s easy to enter and like any other vehicle in BF1943, but takes great timing and a lot of skill to plan the course of your bomber squadron to get a lot of kills or take out an annoying group of tanks, since you only have a single bomb drop at your disposal. After unloading your carpet of bombs you are forced out of the Bomber Shack and can’t re-enter until it is ready again, which takes a good amount of time to happen.
The original Battlefield 1942 saw a couple of expansions and loads of mods. What are the chances of DLC for this title? Are there any other maps in the original that you’d hypothetically like to update?
There are no solid plans for DLC and I think pretty much every map from BF1942 could be remade. They were all exceptional maps and still stand up next to anything new in the BF universe.
What about pricing? Any word on how much this will run to?
We will sell it for 1200 MS points. Amazing value and I promise it will offer endless hours of fun.
Can you give us a firm date?
No specific date, but we’ll have that soon, so keep an eye out for that news hitting any time now.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many classes are in Battlefield 1943?
Producer Gordon Van Dyke confirmed the game streamlines things down to three classes: Scout for long-range combat and espionage, Infantry for close combat and anti-vehicle work, and Rifleman for midrange combat and anti-infantry duty.
Which maps does Battlefield 1943 include?
Four maps are based on real-world locations from the Pacific theatre: Wake Island, Iwo Jima, Guadalcanal and Coral Sea. According to Van Dyke, Coral Sea was set to unlock once a collective 43 million kills had been recorded across Xbox Live.
What engine does Battlefield 1943 run on?
It uses the Frostbite engine, the same technology behind Battlefield: Bad Company, which the interview notes allowed the team to rebuild the original Battlefield 1942 locations with fully destructible buildings that can be brought down to their foundations.
Is Battlefield 1943 a re-imagining of Battlefield 1942?
Van Dyke described it as inspired by BF1942 rather than a re-imagining of it, aiming to capture what the interview calls “Battlefield Moments” while building a more accessible, downloadable-scale entry in the series.
How much was Battlefield 1943 priced at launch?
Van Dyke stated in the interview that the game would sell for 1200 Microsoft Points as an Xbox Live Arcade title, with no firm release date confirmed at the time of the interview.