Developer Spotlight:

Advanced Warfighter Chapter 2

I recently had the chance to chat with a couple of Red Storm guys who worked on Chapter 2, the premium content pack for Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter™. Say hello to Associate Producer Prince Arrington and Designer Randy Greenback.

TriXie First off, what are your gamertags?

Prince: My gamer tag is ALPHA MALE 06.

Randy: Well, I actually don't have one. I play so much at work and at friend's houses that I don't get online to play at home. When I'm home, my focus is on my family.

TriXie: Wrong answer, Randy. That's just shameful! How long have you worked at Red Storm, and how did you end up there?

Prince: In August, I will have been at Red Storm for five years. Honestly, I ended up here out of sheer luck. I was a fan of the Rainbow Six games and I had seen that there were some job openings for a while, but never actually pulled the trigger and investigated it because I was researching law schools at the time. Finally, I decided to send my resume in thinking that I would never hear a thing and the next thing I knew, I was making and playing games for a living.

I love the Shipping Port. There are quite a
few positions to snipe from, whether it's on
the large Warehouse roof, or atop one
of the large shipping cranes.

Randy: I've been working at Red Storm for just about two years now. I've always been interested in Red Storm as a studio that I would like to work at ever since the first Rainbow Six was released. Prior to Red Storm I was working at EA, and before that, Westwood Studios. The main reason I moved back to North Carolina was to be closer to my family and with Red Storm here as well, it was just a natural fit.

TriXie: What's your favorite Clancy game of all time?

Prince: I have to honestly say that Ghost Recon is my favorite. But I also have to say that the Splinter Cell series runs a very close second.

Randy: That's a close one … It's a toss-up between Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon and GRAW for Xbox 360™. In this instance nostalgia doesn't win out and I'm going to go with GRAW. Both games have a lot going for them but I love coming up with my own variations on multiplayer game types. There are so many options to tweak that you really can make just about any game type you want to play.

TriXie: Prince, what was your role in the development of Chapter 2?

Prince: I was the Associate Producer on the new GRAW content. Roughly, it was my job to assist in making sure that the team had everything that they needed to do their jobs, to do many of the things necessary to ensure that the content shipped on time and to talk to fans and press about the upcoming content. There were a bunch of other things that I had to do, but I'm ashamed of them all, so I won't go into them here. :o)

Seriously though, I have to give all of the credit to the extremely talented members of the team that worked so hard to create such great content.

If an evening map turns into a day/morning map,
it tends to speed up the pace of the action.

TriXie: How about you, Randy, I know you're a designer, but what part did you design?

Randy: I worked on the Co-Op Campaign, specifically scripting the Shipping Port and River Depot Missions on both the original and relight versions of the maps.

TriXie: Was there any break in between working on GRAW and beginning work on the new levels?

Randy: Yes … after any massive endeavor like completing work on GRAW, for instance, there needs to be some "recharge" time for the team. That time was taken and fan feedback was collected to help figure out what we would add to Chapter 2.

TriXie: As far as the amount of work goes, how does a massive content package like Chapter 2 compare with the original game?

Prince: Just like the original game, A LOT of time is spent on downloadable content (DLC) in terms of building levels, scripting, designing, coding, implementing, and testing. However, unlike the original, some of the assets used are already created (foliage, textures, etc.), so there is a little timesaving there. I guess a really rough estimate could be ~ four months for DLC versus ~ two years for the original.

It was a ton of work, but for me it was also
a lot of fun bringing new content to an already great game.

Randy: Well, nothing can compare with shipping a full fledged title like GRAW with all of the work that went into it. The Engineers, Artists, Designers, and Production staff all poured their hearts into it and did the same with the Chapter 2 content. Having worked on the original content, the team used the knowledge of the processes to avoid the potential pitfalls that can hamper development. This made things a little easier putting this package together and allowed us to push the gameplay even further. It was still a ton of work, but for me it was also a lot of fun bringing new content to an already great game.

TriXie: Is the team that worked on Chapter 2 a subset of the original GRAW team, or is it the same crew?

Randy: Well it's pretty much a mix of old and new. I for one rolled off of the Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Lockdown™ team onto Chapter 2, and a few others did the same. The core GRAW team was there working on the new content as well and those of us that were new to GRAW got the assistance and guidance we needed from them.

Prince: Not everyone from the full team is necessary on the downloadable packages, but it is very important to keep people on the DLC team that are familiar with the processes established on the original.

TriXie: Of the new missions, which is your favorite?

Prince: I can't in good conscience pick one mission over another, because I enjoy each one of them … and don't want to have to fight any of the designers.

TriXie: Cop-out! Randy, you've got a better answer, right?

Randy: Well, I might be a bit biased here, but I love the Shipping Port. The map is so well done that the mission came together very well just based on its layout. The mission is a lot of fun and there are several instances where the enemy may surprise you by sending in counter snipers to slow down your team or pick off your Marksman from across the map. There are quite a few positions to snipe from, whether it's on the large Warehouse roof, hunkered down on the deck of the docked ship, or atop one of the large shipping cranes, it truly is the best map for a Marksman. This is also the first map in the Co-Op Campaign where you will be taking on an enemy helo, which is a blast to take down with your team.

TriXie: Which of the new weapons is your favorite?

Prince: My favorite weapon has to be the SR25-SD. What's not to like about a silent sniper rifle?

Randy: Oh man, I'm glad you asked that question. Now first off I got to say that I am torn between two roles in GRAW, Rifleman and Marksman. With that said, I am partial to the new Rifleman weapon, the SCAR H-SV. The SV stands for Sniper Variant, and because of that this weapon really speaks to me. I love how versatile it is! I can set up an ambush on a group of enemies that are crossing a clearing on the River Depot map and take them down with some well placed bursts from medium range or utilize the improved optics to take single long range shots from a defensible position on the ridge looking down into their base. It really offers the best of both worlds and is hands down my favorite gun in GRAW.

TriXie: Which of the new game types are you better at: Team Battle or Team Blind Siege?

Prince: I think I'm better at Team Blind Siege … but I may suck equally at both.

Randy: Heh, Team Blind Siege is definitely a tricky game mode to play. On the defensive team you really have no idea where the attacks will come from or when they'll move in to engage. Tension is high since you have to be in a constant state of readiness. While assaulting, you have to coordinate your attacks and sometimes waiting is the best option, making the defending team sweat is something I enjoy doing. I love the two different feelings you get depending on which team you are playing on and I am good at switching up my style of play to foil my enemy, so between the two new types, Blind Siege is my game.

TriXie: How does relighting a level make it fresh and add to replayability?

Randy: At first glance a person might look at a relit map and think that playing it in a different time of day wouldn't change the experience much, if it all. Really, however it does indeed change the way you play, especially in a tactical game like GRAW. Lighting does make a difference in how you move through the level and changes the tactics that you use. You definitely have a better chance being stealthy on a night map with shadows.

Now remember all the times in the dead of night that you were able to sneak through underneath the docks in Wharf to assault the enemy? That was a viable approach available to you because it was so dark. Now try to do that in the new version in broad daylight and the enemy is going to pick you off before you even have a chance to fire back.

Playing Wharf in the day you will have to switch up how you move through the map and come up with new tactics as well. Again, on the Shipping port the difference is literally night and day. Try playing a game on each variant and see what I mean.

Prince: What it does is challenge the player to use a different strategy in playing a familiar level or mission. Because sight lines and visual acuity are diminished in night/dusk maps, it takes what once may have been a run-and-gun assault and changes it into a more controlled, paced encounter. Conversely, if an evening map turns into a day/morning map, it tends to speed up the pace of the action because the player can see more of the surrounding environment and can spot enemies at a greater distance.

Although these changes might seem subtle, they not only make all of the relit levels play as if they were entirely different maps, they also allow the players to enjoy a new experience on what might be one of their favorite maps.

TriXie: What was the first video game you ever played?

Prince: Wow, that was a long time ago. It was either Pac-Man or Pong. I do remember that it was during the time you could play all of the games in the arcade (yes, arcade) for a quarter.

Randy: Asteroids, the arcade machine, not the Atari 2600 version. I remember my dad holding me up to the machine so I could reach the controls and play the game. I didn't do well at first, but needless to say I was hooked and dropped many a quarter into its slots.

TriXie: Who's your favorite super hero?

Prince: For me, Nightcrawler from the X-Men was always my favorite. He wasn't the most powerful or popular, but he was a very interesting character nonetheless. There was no way for him to hide the fact the he was a mutant, so he embraced it and eventually people who initially feared him learned to love and accept him based on his character, not his appearance. Not only that, he had yellow eyes, three fingers and toes, a tail and blue fur … and still got the ladies. If that's not a hero, I don't know what is.

Randy: I'd have to say it's The Flash, the Silver Age Flash aka Barry Allen. I know that he's not the most popular super hero around, but I like him. He has super speed, the ability to travel through time, and break the laws of physics, but really there was one defining moment in comic book history that made me a fan. In issue #8 of Crisis on Infinite Earths he gave his life to save so many in the fight against the Anti-Monitor, and for that he has the top spot on my list of favorite super heroes.

TriXie: If you didn't work in video games, what would you be doing?

Randy: Actually, I really don't know. I love games so much and have been working in the industry for so long that I can't imagine doing anything else.

Prince: That's a good question. I would probably either be a lawyer or dancing for money in some seedy club in Vegas. Luckily for the world, I'm doing neither.

TriXie: Thanks guys; and get a gamertag, Randy!