2024-02-17 01:59:21
Czech developers have made their mark in the video game world with several successful shooters. One of the most realistic Czech military simulations, Gray Zone Warfare, will most likely soon be added to the popular game ArmA, Vietcong or Operation Flashpoint. The developers from Madfinger Games plan to release it in the first half of this year. Studio head Marek Rabas described the details behind the development of the game.
Upon launching the upcoming sandbox title Gray Zone Warfare, the player becomes part of one of three private military organizations operating in the fictional Democratic Republic of Lamang. On an island in Southeast Asia that, despite its name, is subject to the power of the local dictator, an unspecified event took place, due to which the local residents had to be evacuated.
“Earlier in Lamang, people disappeared under mysterious circumstances and massive protests plagued the country. Then came an event that we don’t know much about. It is speculated that it could have been a radioactivity leak, covert experiments organized by the government or some extraterrestrial entity,” suggests the game’s story director of the Brno development studio Madfinger Games Marek Rabas.
What is a “sandbox”?
A sandbox is a type of video game that gives the player a great deal of freedom. It has its principles and rules, but it does not force the player to follow a predetermined goal. The titles often have an open environment that the player can interact with at will, rather than following a predetermined path.
The United Nations is convinced that the remains of the mysterious event belong to humanity. He is thus trying to protect the area from anyone who would like to tip the scales in his favor by getting to the secret first. Despite this, however, several companies send their mercenaries into the country to retrieve anything of value from the place.
From popular mobile games such as Shadowgun, Dead Trigger or Samurai: Way of the Warrior, Madfingers studio has moved on to create a colossal multiplayer action video game. “The market for mobile games has changed. When this field was taking off, there was enthusiasm from developers and publishers. Over time, it changed, it became a money machine. Performance indicators, the number of downloads, became the focus for everyone,” explains Rabas, why Madfingers decided to focus on computers.
The tactical shooter will take place on an island inspired by the Lao city of Vang Vieng. The studio is almost finished with its development, the team is already fine-tuning the last details. The new Gray Zone Warfare title will be available to PC gamers already in the first half of this year.
The video game relies on realistic details. That is why the developers discussed most of the elements with experts. “We were assisted with the weapons by an operator from the 601st Special Forces Group, who has battlefield experience in Afghanistan, Mali and Israel. We also visited England’s Royal Armories Museum, where we discussed our title with Jonathan Ferguson, a world-renowned weapons expert who he helped the developers of Call of Duty, for example,” says Rabas.
Photographer: Madfinger Games
Madfinger Games studio director Marek Rabas
Marek Rabas is one of the four original founders of the independent game studio Madfinger Games, which was founded in 2009. The Brno-based company has been on the market for fourteen years and is one of the best-known Czech mobile game developers. The company’s best-known titles include, for example, Dead Trigger and Shadowgun. Previously, Rabas worked at the Czech studio Illusion Softworks. He also participated in the founding of the Vatra Games studio.
With Ferguson, the studio discussed the inclusion of about forty weapons in the game, which were subsequently photographed by the developers in the museum and transferred in detail into graphic form.
To make sure his team understood the weapons, Rabas sent developers to the shooting range. Several of them underwent training under the supervision of specialists and several days of training to understand how a member of the special forces handles a weapon. But everyone enjoyed it,” says the head of the studio with a smile. The developers then filmed the movements of the experienced soldier from all angles and processed them into the game.
The studio focuses on details
The developers have also focused in detail on terminal ballistics, that is, the field that examines the behavior of the projectile after it hits the target. Thanks to this, they were able to create a system that can simulate the impact of a wound on a soldier, taking into account the location and intensity of the enemy’s impact. “Each bullet does different damage, has a different speed and penetration – both related to the material from which it is made and the rifle from which it is fired. When it passes through the body, it can ricochet off bones or hit organs. If they destroy them, you die, if not, you face the consequences,” adds the director of the studio.
The developers approached movement with the same precision. To give an idea – in order for soldiers to pass the physical tests, in the Czech Republic they must run at least 2.6 kilometers in 12 minutes under the age of 30, and at least two kilometers from the age of 46 and above. However, in Gray Zone Warfare, the player gets into the shoes of a retired elite soldier. “He’s really good, just a bit older, not a flashy youngster. We did a lot of research to make sure we knew how fast he could move,” explains Rabas. The movement in the game will also be influenced by how many things the character has in his backpack.
Photo: Madfinger Games
According to Rabas, almost everything is realistic in the video game, which the studio put together in an incredible year and a half. However, the healing process is an exception. In an effort to achieve smoother gameplay, the developers had to modify it. “When a soldier loses a lot of blood, he can use a transfusion. In the real world it would take a long time, while in Gray Zone Warfare it’s a matter of seconds. You can also operate on organs like the heart or brain in the field, which is logically nonsense, ” points to fictional elements. The wounds themselves, as well as their various extents, should be visible on the character, both in-game and while going through the inventory.
Healing wounds won’t be a matter of pressing a button. Each injury requires a different procedure. For example, when a bullet causes heavy bleeding, the player will first need to take care to suffocate the area. Only then can he continue his recovery. When he forgets it, he bleeds out. “Nothing will lead to the mercenary’s correct course of action. He has to figure everything out himself, and if he makes a mistake, it can be fatal,” says Rabas. However, an x-ray scan of the body that players can look into would also help.
It takes two hours to go through the map
Soldiers should have more resistance to missiles than they would in the real world. Since the developers tried to prolong the game experience as much as possible, the first bullet in the body does not automatically mean the end of the game. But if the soldier “catches” it, he will have to deal with symptoms that will complicate his passage through the story. You may experience hand tremors that make it difficult to aim, blurred vision or pain.
“When a soldier loses fifteen percent of his blood, it will not have any major impact on his health, while a thirty percent loss will already show symptoms that will affect his abilities in battle,” the developer continues. Higher percentages will already send the player into a coma, from which teammates can help him.
Character level will have almost no impact on gameplay. In the case of Gray Zone Warfare, the level is rather “for show”. The player’s abilities do not change in relation to their level, but more experienced mercenaries will be able to unlock better equipment, or differentiate their character from other members of the unit with more interesting clothing.
If the player decided to traverse the entire map diagonally on foot, it would take approximately two hours of real time, according to Rabas. Fortunately, this won’t necessarily be necessary – a helicopter will be available for quick transport. Here, mercenaries can call anywhere, but it will only be used to move to designated landing areas, which players must first discover on the map. Players will not get cars or motorbikes in Lamang.
Shooting may not pay off
In addition to the elite army of the local dictator, which is controlled by artificial intelligence, mercenaries from rival organizations can also threaten the player. They can slaughter enemies with the vision of getting supplies. “However, they don’t have to do it. Nothing in the game forces them to do so, there are no tasks that would lead the soldiers to destroy each other. It is up to them if they attack them, or come to an agreement among themselves or even consider bartering their supplies,” explains the developer.
The idea is to force the player to think before pulling the trigger. He can pay dearly for every ill-advised shot. “We made sure that the shots were realistically noisy. This way, the mercenary can reveal himself and show the enemy team where he is hiding. It’s not easy to use the weapon like in real life,” he says.
In the title, players will meet several characters from whom they will receive tasks. Many of them will help the soldier, in whose shoes many computer enthusiasts will soon play, unravel the dark story of the island. The studio even borrowed the faces of some of them from among its colleagues. For example, Michal Nguyen, who is the community manager of Madfinger Games, became the embodiment of the dictator Lamang.