by Leonard "Viking1" Hjalmarson

Q. Since you are developing simultaneously for the Mac, your engine must be D3d and OpenGL. Will we also see Glide support? What will the max resolution be on the PC?

Mo: Max resolution on the PC right now is 1600X1200. As far as Glide goes we haven't made that choice yet. Open GL and D3D are already running.

Q. Let's get specific about physics. Are we going to see landing gear compress on a Spitfire? Do tracers fire in a nice straight line or will we see them spiral out a bit?

Mo: All gear, wheels, etc will compress with weight. Ballistics will be as accurate as we can get em. Dispersion, drag, downrange ballistic effects will all be in there.

Snail: The landing gear in that Spit you see in the screenshots already compresses, we just aint landed it yet J.

Damage Modeling

Q. Tell us about damage modeling on two different platforms: an aircraft and a tank. Can I overheat my engine? Can I break my landing gear? Can I blow a tire or throw a tread?

Mo: I hate to be dry here, but…yes to all and more once again. Our damage model will take kinetic, penetration, splinter, and explosive damage into account. The variety of damage on vehicles will be the highest detail modeled yet. Components on planes and tanks will be modeled accurately and available to be damaged or destroyed.

For example, you get a coolant hit in the left radiator on a Bf109, if you're quick, you can switch the coolant system to the remaining good radiator and try to exit and get home. In a Spit you only have one radiator. If your Matilda takes a turret hit, you'll still be able to drive it, but if your track throws you'll be stranded. If you take on water in a big Cruiser you might have to counter-flood to avoid listing.

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Q. Tell us about damage modeling in the environment. Can I destroy a single wall of a building? Can I break a window? Can I knock down a tree?

Mo: That's the idea, we are still early on in all this. We want to do as much of that as we can without a huge cost to performance. It's one thing to replace a tree with a burnt-out one in a game where your all by yourself, but for 75 guys to see that same tree is gonna cost just that much more bandwidth online. We will see what we can afford without kicking comm performance in the butt.

Q. You are also modeling infantry and intend to use a first person shooter type model in combination with the simulation. Tell us more.

Mo: Well, the ground troop will just be another mode of fighting. Not much to tell that hasn't been told already in other troop sims. We are really only bringing the best of all these genres together more than we are blazing new trails in any one. That is to say, the industry standard will be met or beat on all levels of this project. That's our vision.

As far as the troops go, you'll be the guy with the gun J. Any and all ground facility capture will be the troop's job. Whether your dropped from a plane, or spring out of a APC, or a landing craft, or grab a ride in a troop truck, you'll be the guy who gets the call to "storm the building" for the final stage of grabbing ground. WW2 era weapons will be available in relation to what country and side you've selected, and you'll have the right uniform on too. Fully articulated soldiers, accurate wepons, and NO CIRCLE STRAFING EVER! J.

Q. What weapons will I as a grunt have at my command?

Mo: Whatever you want to carry, and it'll depend on your country…Stens and Brens for the Brits. Colts and BARs for the Amis. Schmeisers, M1s, tommy and grease guns, grenades…Swiss army knife etc.

Go to Part VI: Infantry