Battlezone Combat Commander HD Laid Bare
Big Boat Interactive’s Mike Arkin gives us the low-down on what it took to remaster this classic
We sat down with Mike Arkin, CEO of Big Boat Interactive and lead developer of the original
BattlezoneII, to discuss the challenges involved in bringing the FPS/RTS classic into the modern era with the addition of HD graphics and modern-day OS compatibility.
Maximum PC: Hi Mike, the question has to be asked: Why now? Where did the desire to remaster this classic come from? Even in its heyday, the original BZ2 was a somewhat niche title, holding a hardcore base of players and fans, but it never came close to the heights of other RTS and FPS titles of the time. Can you tell us what inspired you and your team to take on this challenge? Mike Arkin: Well, if we go way back in time, Battlezone was a game I worked on back in 1997. For me, it was the first game I worked on as a developer, not a publisher, and it’s where I really learned all about game development. But it was more than that. Battlezone was something spectacular. In some ways, it was the ultimate RTS, and in others, it was a new experimental genre. We always assumed there would be many more 3D RTS games to follow, and I have to say, all these years later, I’m still shocked it never happened. But the lack of follow-ups and clones means the original games have that much more meaning.
When I was offered the chance to remake Battlezone98, it was the greatest thing I could ever imagine. In some ways, it was like this awesome do-over. Work on Battlezone again, and make it better! When we finished Battlezone98, I was hungry for more. It was just like finishing any other game; once it’s done, you think of all the things you didn’t do, and hope you can make a sequel. In this case, I just finished this great do-over, then there was a chance to do another. Having just finished one redux, we had so many ideas about what we could do better next time. So when Rebellion suggested a redux of BattlezoneII, it was like Christmas! I guess the question was: How could we not do it? MPC: What do you think it is about the original BattlezoneII that captured the imagination of so many players and fans? What makes the game so unique? MA: Gameplay, 100 percent. That’s the reason 15 years later there was still a die-hard group of players playing and modding like it was a new game. It’s timeless, and the great thing about the remaster is that the great gameplay is preserved, but it doesn’t feel like you’re playing something older. MPC: You worked on the development of the original Battlezone and spearheaded the remaster, what similarities were there (if any) when it came to developing these games? MA: Well, to be honest, it was a pretty different development process. When we were making Battlezone the first time, back in 1998, we were really inventing something new, and every new feature was a big surprise. With the remasters, we were keeping the game the same, but it was just polish, polish, polish. The other big difference was that everything was so simple then: 300-polygon tanks, 256x256 textures. Single textures for everything—so simple.
Today, as we’re not inventing a new game, it’s all about improving the visuals, and how we can make the game better, without breaking the gameplay and turning off the old players. To that end, we’re really focused on art and fixing bugs. It’s amazing how many bugs you can fix 15 years later! Hint: thousands! MPC: After playing the HD remaster for a few days now, it feels very much like the old one. From flying, to the way the AI behaves, to the sounds of the weapons, it feels the same, yet new, without even slightly damaging its legacy. How challenging was it to bring the title into the modern age? Is it rewritten from the ground up? MA: No, not at all, that’s the beauty of it. Like with Battlezone 98, we started with the basic assumption that we were using the old code as much as we could. Battlezone98 was old and crusty code-wise, but in the case of CombatCommander, we had a much newer, cleaner codebase to work with, and this made it
much easier to add new features to the old code while not breaking the game! So, yeah, if it feels the same, it is the same, but prettier, and with way fewer bugs. For me, the biggest thing that is new is the renderer. We pulled out the old DX6 renderer and wrote a new DX11 renderer with modern shader support, and that’s where the awesome visuals come from. MPC: In a lot of ways, the original BZ2’s bugs made it the game it was at the time. The community’s benchmark for a good scout pilot, for instance, was the ability to hover upside down in mid-air, and fire down at your pursuers. This was fixed in the 1.3 community patch, and has also been fixed in the HD remaster’s single-player. Yet you’ve included the ability to adjust gravity to sort of allow that old-school flying technique in multiplayer. Why did you make that decision? MA: Hovering scouts was a very interesting case. Some players loved it, and some saw it as a cheat, and hated it. It broke the community in two: the players who loved flying, and those who hated it. Some still want it back, but I’m not sure if that’s a good idea. We started with the 1.3 code, so the flying exploit is gone from the game as a result. You can turn on low gravity in a deathmatch game, but the flying exploit is still fixed. MPC: Can you tell us a little bit about your team? MA: We’re a small team: 3.5 engineers—yes, 3.5—and three artists, most of whom worked on Battlezone9 8. The best part is the two team members who came from the Battlezone community. One of the engineers, General Black Dragon, is a longtime Battlezone community member and modder, who came to us offering to help with the special effects. In Battlezone98, he did all the redone effects and fixes to vehicle/weapons stats. When we started Battlezone: CombatCommander, we needed someone who knew the missions inside and out, and he already had and knew the mission code. He was the perfect addition to the team, and for Battlezone: CombatCommander, he was in charge of fixing mission bugs and map issues. It’s great to have at least one person on the team who knows the game inside and out, and could help with old issues no one else understood.
On the art side, we needed one more modeler, and we happened to have a volunteer who was a long-time Battlezone mod artist. Jaydenbz, as the community knows him, was a really good artist and, again, knew the game inside and out. So we hired him, and he retextured all the Scion units, and did lots of general clean-up. One day, he said he had a great idea for how to make the terrain better, and he blew us away with his terrain test. It was so good, we knew we’d better have him redo it all, and you can see the result in the game today. MPC: How involved was the community in the development of the remake? How did you take their feedback on board? MA: The community was very involved. Just like what we did with Battlezone98, I hand-picked 15–20 players, and put them in a private beta test, with the criteria that they were modders and map makers. We wanted to ensure that people could test the tools thoroughly, and guarantee mod content being available day one at launch. That’s why we have 38 items on Steam Workshop as of today, and I expect we’ll have many more soon. MPC: Are we likely to see any major patches? A Forgotten Enemies patch, for instance? Or will this all be in the hands of the community from now on? MA: Yes, for sure, we’re still working hard clearing bugs and making changes based on what players are reporting. As for Forgotten Enemies, the original modder isn’t around, but I expect one of the other guys will fix it up and release. With the tools we’ve provided, I expect to see some fantastic mods for Battlezone: CombatCommander. MPC: For us, the biggest change we’ve enjoyed (aside from the textures, of course) is that models now have an accurate wire mesh for damage—you can shoot through holes in extractors and not damage them, for instance, unlike the original game. Are there any features that you added to the HD remaster that stand out for you? MA: Well, for me it’s all about the modding. While we absolutely needed that mesh collision you mentioned, collision isn’t very sexy. Modding, on the other hand, is huge, and can really extend the life of a game. For that reason, we added in game mod selection, so no more command-line nonsense. Also, and this is really great, if you go into a multiplayer game and you don’t have the mods the host is running, the game downloads them automatically. MPC: Are we likely to see the return of the rave cannon? MA: The rave cannon is in there somewhere. The real question is: Where do we put the super rave cannon? MPC: Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions, it’s been a pleasure. Is there anything else you’d like to add? MA: I’m just super-excited to deliver a game that is so near and dear to so many people. I hope you love playing it as much as we loved to make it!