Cold War Melting Point

[Munro]

We talk with project leader SidewinderX and coder [=hris from Cold War: Melting Point.[br]Halflife2.net: First of all, I'd like to thank you both for taking the time
out to speak to us. Can you both start by telling us what your roles are on
Cold War: Melting Point?

SidewinderX: I am the Project Leader, as well as now being the principal
modeller.[br]
[br]
[=hris: I am a coder, and the web designer.

Halflife2.net: You recently made the decision to change the backdrop of the
game's story from being set in the modern world to a historical 1960s setting. What
was the reasoning behind this major change?

SidewinderX: Well, there were a few major reasons. The main one was that,
while we were sure that our mod was innovative, the modern time setting was something
that everyone was doing and it would get repetitive. This time setting has
never been touched in an FPS. The closest that we could find are Vietnam
games, and Operation: Flashpoint, which was based in the 1980s. This time setting
will not only allow us to do very cool things based on the historical facts that
everyone knows, but it allows us to use a very cool time setting with unique traits
in the weapons and vehicles.[br]
[br]
[=hris: Yes. Although modern shooters are fun, the mod community is getting
a bit saturated with them at the minute. A lot of modern mods are taking each
others ideas making it hard to distinguish between them. This time setting will
let us add more individuality to CW:MP.

Halflife2.net: Sounds like a wise decision in my opinion. How do you expect
the rest of the community to react to this change?

SidewinderX: We think they'll like it. And it should interest a wider range
of people.[br]
[br]
[=hris: Obviously some people would have preferred a modern military shooter,
however, I think in general it will be received well as it sets us apart and also
adds a new era, which can't be found anywhere else.

Halflife2.net: Something I feel is pretty unique about your mod is the Campaign
Mode. It's clear that you're not just aiming for some sort of Counter-Strike or
Day of Defeat style clone, but you're going for something original. How exactly
will the campaign mode work?

SidewinderX: Well, with the time setting change we have added a Cuban campaign
that will be shorter and more simple than the others will be. The campaigns as
a whole will follow this basic format: there will be an initial mission, with
multiple possible outcomes. The outcome of that mission determines what the next
mission will be. The commanders of the teams will have opportunities at certain
parts of the campaigns to elect to attempt side missions, where the results of
which will impact the next campaign mission. For example, if NATO completes a
side mission of damaging an airport runway, the Warsaw Pact may not have access
to air support in their next mission. We also plan to set up a "Save" system for
clan tournaments. A clan match may have 1-2 missions at a time, then "Save" the
progress, and continue the clan battle later. This, we hope, will serve to make
CW:MP a premier tournament and ladder mod.[br]
[br]
[=hris: It's little touches like the side missions which will really define
the campaigns, as well as secondary objectives that will act in a similar way
to the side missions, helping you on the next map. Some games have implemented
a mode where you progress through missions in a "campaign" but none have had the
dynamic features CW:MP will have. Also, we will have stat tracking throughout
the campaign, so that people can build up experience points - a bit like Call
of Duty: UO, but you get to keep your bonuses at the end of a map.

Halflife2.net: What was the reason for the Cuban campaign being shorter and
more simple? Is this so you can get the mod out of the door quicker or was there
something else that influenced the decision?

SidewinderX: There were two main reasons. The first was exactly that; a
shorter and simpler campaign will allow us to get a playable version out sooner.
The second reason was that a shorter version will allow us to get the code of
the campaign implemented and tested sooner, which will speed the overall progress
along.[br]
[br]
[=hris: Well, Cuba is a small place! It does however allow us to get a
version with a full campaign, and most of the vehicles out quickly. We don't want
to release a half finished mod, which doesn't have many vehicles / skins etc.
Having a smaller first campaign will mean more time for improving other content.
Also, it will keep the file size down, so the mod will be accessible to more people.
I think a lot of people are put off mods that would be a huge download, when they
haven't played it, and therefore don't know if they will like it.

Halflife2.net: It's over a year ago now since Valve had their Half-Life 2
source code stolen. Up until the first release of the SDK it seemed as though a
lot of mod makers were trying to get a head start in their development by using
this source code (and the tools included). Is this something that Cold War: Melting
Point ever considered doing themselves?

SidewinderX: The team hasn't done anything with the tools. I, of course,
cannot speak for each individual team member, but I can assure you that none of
the content of the mod will have been made with the stolen files.[br]
[br]
[=hris: We don't condone the use of the illegal pre-alpha material, however
the coders have been playing about with the HL1 SDK, although there is obviously
not as much power there as the HL2 SDK will have.

Halflife2.net: Now there's been so many changes to the mod, what has this
done for the overall progress? Is there much work you're going to have to completely
re-do? Additionally, what is the overall progress of the mod at this time?

[=hris: Obviously no coding / map making can be done, as the full SDK doesn't
exist, but we have a lot of concept material for the maps as well as plans for
layouts, reference photos, and campaign flows. Unfortunately because of the change
in timeline, some of the art work that had been completed has had to be ditched,
but we are progressing with creating the new models. I don't see this holding
up our release, based on the current modelling progress for the new timeline.

Halflife2.net: Now part of the SDK is out, how long do you estimate it will
be before we're able to see some screenshots of Cuba?

[=hris: Not before November 16th! Initial material will start rolling out
before the end of November, I would expect, but screens fit for human consumption
could take longer. Again, we don't want to release stuff that has "insert jeep
model here" or "re-texture this" plastered all over it.[br]
[br]
SidewinderX: Well, I've spent the better part of 4 hours trying to get
the Model Viewer to do something useful, so maybe longer!

Halflife2.net: If all goes well, the rest of the SDK should be released no
more than a week after Half-Life 2 is released (if we're being optimistic). If all
goes well, how long after that point would you expect there to be a public playable
version of the mod being released?

[=hris: September 30th![br]
[br]
SidewinderX: We really have no idea at this time. The current plan is to
have an extended private beta to get the campaign system functioning, balance,
etc, and THEN move onto a public release with the Cuba campaign fully implemented.

Halflife2.net: Great - thank you both for the chat. I for one am definitely
excited about the mod and I wish you both the best in your respective roles and
look forward to seeing more of your work. Thanks! Anything further to add?

[=hris: One thing - We are always open to community suggestions. We will
alter the mod based on what people say in
our forums
and several features have already been adopted based on comments posted so far.[br]
[br]
SidewinderX: Yeah, join
the forums
and leave us your 2 cents! On the team side of things, we're looking for another
modeller/texture artist to help with prop design, and mappers will always be considered.