Recently we got in touch with Insurgency 2's project lead, Jeremy Blum, and asked him some questions about New World Interactive and their new game. This time around, we also allowed the fans to send in their questions. All interview questions and answers are below. Enjoy!
Rollin Bros: What
struggles did you and your team come across when deciding to start an indie
game company and how did you overcome these struggles?
Blum: I think
financial pressure and morale struggle definitely both applied to us throughout
development. It’s tough being a young startup studio in this industry.
I think the biggest challenge we’ve faced so far happened
about a month ago, when our team down-sized. We had about 7 people onsite for a
steady 8 months but now there are only 3 of us. Needless to say we have a
handful of contractors all over the world who play pivotal roles, but two of
our guys had to return home for personal reasons and become independent
contractors, and two others I had to let go because of our tight financial
situation. So obviously this has put us in a tough position because on one hand
we want to make all these great improvements to the game that our community
wants to see, and on another hand we are limited in how fast we can produce
these changes.
I think being at GDC and participating in the independent
games summit was a big eye opener for me, especially amidst this
“restructuring.” I heard many inspirational stories from independent game
developers who had gone through some really tough times to get their game out.
I also got to spend some time talking to Charlie Cleveland, the creator of
Natural Selection. Despite some community backlash on certain differences
between NS1 and NS2, their community essentially “saved” the project on
multiple instances, and I think there’s something valuable to be learned from
this.
Rollin Bros: What do
you feel has played the largest role in successfully opening an indie game
company?
Blum: Knowing
good people to start up with and having the money you need to make it happen.
That and a lot of hard work that went into the mod before we decided to make
the game, which made this an actual opportunity in the first place.
Rollin Bros: What
makes you so passionate about Insurgency and when did that passion take root?
Blum: Well it
started about seven years ago. After playing an instrumental role in the
conception and creation of Red Orchestra I was determined to make a game that
embodied much of the same character but in a modern setting. Our team spent
almost four years working on Insurgency in our spare time before we released
Beta 1. We invested so much time and dedication to the mod that this project is
really a tribute project for many of us. It is essentially the opportunity to
finish what we started.
Rollin Bros: If you
had built Insurgency exactly how you wanted, without worrying about what the
audience wanted, how would it be different?
Blum: AI is
something I’ve taken a great interest in lately so personally I would like to
focus on more cooperative game modes like convoy ambush and also improve the
PVP modes to include objectives besides capture points like destructible weapon
caches.
Rollin Bros: Did you
ever think about planning another game with a Call of Duty-like style
considering it may have attracted a lot of attention to modern gamers?
Blum: No
Rollin Bros: With so
many modern FPS games on the market, what is the void you hope to fill with
Insurgency 2?
Blum: Insurgency
is a realistic, bare-bones, cerebral FPS experience. It’s got the free aim and
damage model of a hardcore realistic shooter but the experience is not boring,
clunky or frustrating. It’s kind of like a bastard child of Red Orchestra and
Rainbow Six. I consider us more of a competitor with a game like Red Orchestra
than a game like Call of Duty for instance. This is how we stand out, by not
trying to compete against mainstream casual FPS games.
Rollin Bros: Insurgency
2 is quite different from the Insurgency mod. What is the reasoning behind
creating something different than what the hardcore Insurgency: Modern Infantry
Combat fans were accustomed to?
Blum: Insurgency
is what we always wanted the mod to be at its core. I think there are some key
differences but at the end of the day they are very similar. One thing we have
done is taken surveys, so we can actually analyze what the community wants to
see with real data. The two things people liked most about the mod according to
our survey was first and foremost its level of intensity, and secondly its
squad and commander system.
The people who played the mod who are off-put by the game
will eventually come around. When people can play HD versions of Baghdad,
Almaden and Sinjar, when we re-introduce Push and Battle, and when we improve
the squad system and add tactical maps. These are features from the mod that
people have missed the most, and they are coming.
Rollin Bros: What are
some major changes made in Insurgency 2 from the Insurgency mod and why?
Blum: We got a
little bit away from the "restrictive" nature of the game in the way
the squad system works, which was a deliberate design choice. We've spent a lot
of time improving weapon feedback, which we felt was "okay" at best
with the mod in comparison to the game. We also focused a little bit more on
cooperative vs. AI which is something that was never even touched with the mod.
This was decided because we've seen a growing trend in multiplayer games
towards cooperative and we want to be a part of that.
Rollin Bros: Is Insurgency
2 more focused on a consistent style of gameplay, or can players tweak server
settings to create their own custom experiences?
Blum: Well we
come from the mod community so we always want to keep the game open to a
certain extent. Don’t expect everything to be open, however we will restrict
certain things if we feel they should not be tampered with. If a lot of people
are playing a modded version of the game instead of the game itself, to me,
that’s an indicator that we are doing something wrong. So that’s been an
experience we witnessed with realism mod, and as a result we ended up using a
lot of those settings for the normal mode in the game, and people have
responded very well to this change.
Rollin Bros: How are
you taking direction from the vibrant community that has sprung up around this
game, with so many people making suggestions and so much passionate discussion
around the direction of the development of the game?
Blum: We are
constantly modifying the game based on input we’re receiving from people.
That's why this is an Alpha and not a Beta - because we are still willing to
change core game mechanics if there is a high enough demand for it.
Rollin Bros: Currently
we know of 4 game modes in Insurgency 2. Are there others that are being worked
on or do you feel that 4 is enough?
Blum: For right
now four game modes work fine. We are going to be bringing back Push and Battle
from the mod which will make a lot of people happy. In the future we have plans
to add more game modes to the game which we will reveal a little later.
Rollin Bros: Insurgency
takes the path away from cone of fire, and more towards a player-managed system
of sway and recoil. How can new players better understand this approach to more
quickly adapt to the game, and enjoy what it has to offer?
Blum: Basically,
your gun and your head are not attached to each other like most FPS games. If
that makes sense to you, you’re off to a good start.
Rollin Bros: What
features will the game have that is essential to competitive play (e.g. demo
recordings, round restarts, etc.)?
Blum: All of the
above, this is a Source Engine game – this thing is built for competition and
server flexibility.
Rollin Bros: Is there
a planned release date for Insurgency 2?
Blum: Nope,
however we will be launching early access on Steam very soon, which will open
up the game to a second round of feedback and testing. We will then continue to
make improvements and set a release date when we know we can deliver something
we're proud of.
Rollin Bros: Are
there any plans in the future associated with the promotion of the game? Is
there a possibly of a free weekend on Steam?
Blum: Yes once we
get on Steam we will be promoting the game more and think of creative means to
do this. For now we have stayed relatively quiet intentionally so we can get
all the major feedback and issues sorted before we hype the game to a larger
audience.
Rollin Bros: As far
as promotion of the game in other countries, fan websites and blogs can go a
long ways. One fan asked if there will be fansite kits released to aid those
interested in supporting Insurgency 2?
Blum: Yes we will
probably release a fansite kit after we launch on Steam. Right now we're too
focused on getting the game ready. We will do everything in our power to
support the community and the fans as much as possible. I think we all want to
see this game have a long lifetime and there's no better way to do that than to
keep improving the experience and supporting the community.
Rollin Bros: Can we expect
to see an open or closed beta in which players will be able to obtain free keys
to participate and provide feedback as a final testing stage before the
official release?
Blum: If Valve
lets us do a free weekend while we are still in early access we will do that.
Otherwise, we will stick to the closed alpha and beta that our fans have signed
up for.
Rollin Bros: Are
there any plans for DLC in the future?
Blum: We plan on
releasing DLCs that will be free to purchasers that will include new scenarios
and new game modes that we have planned for further down the line after we get
what we currently have as solid as possible.
Rollin Bros: Thanks
for taking the time to talk to us today Jeremy. Is there anything else you
would like to say to the readers?
Blum: Thank you
to all our supporters, and for those of you who are itching to play the game
with more people. We will be on Steam early access pretty soon so you don't
have to wait much longer.
