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This just in from the BF Blog:
If the nick "CMD" means anything to you, this is he. He also happens to be one of the designers behind our new Vietnam expansion. Gustav Halling is one of the youngest game designers here at DICE. He joined four years ago, having caught our attention for his kickassery in Battlefield and his great community work. Today, he is involved in every aspect of the development of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam.
Hi Gustav! How did you find DICE?
-- DICE found me! I played a lot of Battlefield on a professional and semi-professional level. I also started the sites bf2.se and bf2142.se when I was in school, so DICE heard of me and started inviting me to their playtests. I gave them a lot of feedback and design ideas during the playtests, so eventually they offered me a job as designer, and here I am.
And you got here straight after school?
-- Yeah, that was cool. Once I was in, though, I knew I couldn't just goof around. At DICE, everyone wants to prove themselves. But I'm really self-taught and learn everything I need quickly. If there's something I can't do, I learn it, like Frostbite and Maya that I work with now. When it comes to programming, I know enough to know what's wrong where. I guess I'm logical and technical, that way.
What did you start on after getting hired?
-- One of the first things I did for DICE was a gun sway system I developed, and that we are using in our Battlefield games now.
So er... what's a gun sway system, anyway?
-- It's a program that calculates recoil and shot spread based on weapon parameters that you enter. It's also based on where the last bullet travelled. Before that, we used a simpler system that was not as accurate. Our new system is more logical and makes sense on a whole different level. Plus designers get more freedom to tweak weapons quickly and easily with this.
For the love of planes. What was your next project?
-- I worked on the Conquest Map Pack for Battlefield: Bad Company, where we redesigned four singleplayer maps for Conquest game mode. This was the very first time we did Conquest in our Frostbite engine. I was responsible for game logic and gameplay.
-- Then I moved on to Battlefield 1943 as gameplay designer, focusing on weapons and vehicles mostly. I built all the maps, based on the height maps from the old game and transferred them to Frostbite. They looked kind of ugly and empty, so our grahic artists took the reins and polished them to the high quality they are today, and gave them an extra gameplay push, as well. I also helped build the classic Coral Sea from Battlefield 1942, which later became the Coral Sea Challenge [Where we asked the community to collect 43 million kills in the game to unlock this bonus map -- Editor's note].
How did you tweak Battlefield 1942 when you designed Battlefield 1943?
-- Something we did in general was to make the maps 20-25 percent smaller throughout, to make them fit the faster, modern gameplay better. The gameplay in Battlefield 1942 wasn't fast at all. For example, it only had walk and run, and walk is pretty much gone entirely in games today -- you either run or sprint! In 1942 you could spend too much time going from A to B. The pace would probably be perceived as unacceptably slow today.
How did it feel finally releasing Battlefield 1943?
-- It felt fantastic. With Battlefield 1943, we were kind of underdogs, in a very small project with a team of just 20 people for one year. And then we released it and it just kicked ass!
And from that you moved on to Medal of Honor, right?
-- Yep, I was gameplay designer on Medal of Honor, mostly tweaking weapons and gameplay. I built a few maps, too.
Which of your maps is your favorite?
-- Probably Garmzir Town. It's a tight map very much inspired by Counter-Strike's old Dust maps. It's split by a channel in the middle, with a few tunnels and bridges in between. It's for tight infantry battles with no long distance fights.
Can you shoot it? Yes, you can. And now you're on Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam. What is it that you do?
-- I'm designer. I do weapons, vehicles, and level logic, and try to help out wherever I am needed. If an artist for example has made a big polish pass on a level and want to move on to the next one, I try to help out with all of the small bugs in that first level.
Did you play the old Battlefield Vietnam at all?
-- Actually, no. I still played Battlefield 1942 on a serious level when the old Vietnam released. Some people like me didn't make the move to Vietnam, because competition-wise it was still Battlefield 1942 that was the game to play. So it is exciting now that I have the chance to experience Vietnam afterwards, so to speak.
How do you reason when you design the maps for Bad Company 2 Vietnam?
-- We want to create a bit more of an infantry focus here, even though we have large, vehicle-driven maps as well. I think Hill 137 exemplifies this, where there is a section in the middle with some vehicles, but throughout it has very tight infantry combat.
Will the gameplay differ in Vietnam from the base game?
-- It is a bit different. Since only sniper rifles have scopes in this expansion, it feels a bit more hardcore. Everyone runs around with ironsights, which makes it a bit harder, but everyone is playing on the same premises, so I think that's cool.
What does a normal workday on Vietnam look like?
-- I get here, talk a bit with Lead Designer "Figge" to see if there's anything urgent. Then I prepare for the daily playtest, check what we need to try out and see what we have in the Dev Track. That's the system where we list features and bugs. If something is broken, I go in and fix it. I do all kinds of things, really. Lately I've worked a lot on damage tweaking, for example.
What do you mean, damage tweaking?
-- Well, getting the damage model exactly right for the helicopters has been hard work. Since the NVA don't have any real AA weapons, we have decided to make the helicopter take damage from normal weapons. We do small adjustments every day to make it just right, balance-wise.
Do playtests ever go horribly wrong?
-- Hehe, well, one time, we had done some tweaks on the US tank, and it gained a speed of like 300 mph! There was also the time when tanks started floating in the sky, but that's all fixed now.
What's your proudest moment as game developer so far?
-- That has to be Battlefield 1943. I did so much in that game, and it's the very first game where I appeared in the credits. I guess you could get a worse start on your career!
FOUR FACTS WITH HALLING
Age: 25
Lives: Stockholm, Sweden
Skill: Never Gets Hungover
Three top Traits: "Doer. Logical. Technical."
GAMEOGRAPHY
Battlefield: Bad Company Conquest DLC Design
Battlefield 1943 Gameplay Design
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Additional Design
Medal of Honor Gameplay Design
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam Gameplay Design
Source...
If the nick "CMD" means anything to you, this is he. He also happens to be one of the designers behind our new Vietnam expansion.Hi Gustav! How did you find DICE?
-- DICE found me! I played a lot of Battlefield on a professional and semi-professional level. I also started the sites bf2.se and bf2142.se when I was in school, so DICE heard of me and started inviting me to their playtests. I gave them a lot of feedback and design ideas during the playtests, so eventually they offered me a job as designer, and here I am.
And you got here straight after school?
-- Yeah, that was cool. Once I was in, though, I knew I couldn't just goof around. At DICE, everyone wants to prove themselves. But I'm really self-taught and learn everything I need quickly. If there's something I can't do, I learn it, like Frostbite and Maya that I work with now. When it comes to programming, I know enough to know what's wrong where. I guess I'm logical and technical, that way.
What did you start on after getting hired?
-- One of the first things I did for DICE was a gun sway system I developed, and that we are using in our Battlefield games now.
So er... what's a gun sway system, anyway?
-- It's a program that calculates recoil and shot spread based on weapon parameters that you enter. It's also based on where the last bullet travelled. Before that, we used a simpler system that was not as accurate. Our new system is more logical and makes sense on a whole different level. Plus designers get more freedom to tweak weapons quickly and easily with this.
For the love of planes.-- I worked on the Conquest Map Pack for Battlefield: Bad Company, where we redesigned four singleplayer maps for Conquest game mode. This was the very first time we did Conquest in our Frostbite engine. I was responsible for game logic and gameplay.
-- Then I moved on to Battlefield 1943 as gameplay designer, focusing on weapons and vehicles mostly. I built all the maps, based on the height maps from the old game and transferred them to Frostbite. They looked kind of ugly and empty, so our grahic artists took the reins and polished them to the high quality they are today, and gave them an extra gameplay push, as well. I also helped build the classic Coral Sea from Battlefield 1942, which later became the Coral Sea Challenge [Where we asked the community to collect 43 million kills in the game to unlock this bonus map -- Editor's note].
How did you tweak Battlefield 1942 when you designed Battlefield 1943?
-- Something we did in general was to make the maps 20-25 percent smaller throughout, to make them fit the faster, modern gameplay better. The gameplay in Battlefield 1942 wasn't fast at all. For example, it only had walk and run, and walk is pretty much gone entirely in games today -- you either run or sprint! In 1942 you could spend too much time going from A to B. The pace would probably be perceived as unacceptably slow today.
How did it feel finally releasing Battlefield 1943?
-- It felt fantastic. With Battlefield 1943, we were kind of underdogs, in a very small project with a team of just 20 people for one year. And then we released it and it just kicked ass!
And from that you moved on to Medal of Honor, right?
-- Yep, I was gameplay designer on Medal of Honor, mostly tweaking weapons and gameplay. I built a few maps, too.
Which of your maps is your favorite?
-- Probably Garmzir Town. It's a tight map very much inspired by Counter-Strike's old Dust maps. It's split by a channel in the middle, with a few tunnels and bridges in between. It's for tight infantry battles with no long distance fights.
Can you shoot it? Yes, you can.-- I'm designer. I do weapons, vehicles, and level logic, and try to help out wherever I am needed. If an artist for example has made a big polish pass on a level and want to move on to the next one, I try to help out with all of the small bugs in that first level.
Did you play the old Battlefield Vietnam at all?
-- Actually, no. I still played Battlefield 1942 on a serious level when the old Vietnam released. Some people like me didn't make the move to Vietnam, because competition-wise it was still Battlefield 1942 that was the game to play. So it is exciting now that I have the chance to experience Vietnam afterwards, so to speak.
How do you reason when you design the maps for Bad Company 2 Vietnam?
-- We want to create a bit more of an infantry focus here, even though we have large, vehicle-driven maps as well. I think Hill 137 exemplifies this, where there is a section in the middle with some vehicles, but throughout it has very tight infantry combat.
Will the gameplay differ in Vietnam from the base game?
-- It is a bit different. Since only sniper rifles have scopes in this expansion, it feels a bit more hardcore. Everyone runs around with ironsights, which makes it a bit harder, but everyone is playing on the same premises, so I think that's cool.
What does a normal workday on Vietnam look like?
-- I get here, talk a bit with Lead Designer "Figge" to see if there's anything urgent. Then I prepare for the daily playtest, check what we need to try out and see what we have in the Dev Track. That's the system where we list features and bugs. If something is broken, I go in and fix it. I do all kinds of things, really. Lately I've worked a lot on damage tweaking, for example.
What do you mean, damage tweaking?
-- Well, getting the damage model exactly right for the helicopters has been hard work. Since the NVA don't have any real AA weapons, we have decided to make the helicopter take damage from normal weapons. We do small adjustments every day to make it just right, balance-wise.
Do playtests ever go horribly wrong?
-- Hehe, well, one time, we had done some tweaks on the US tank, and it gained a speed of like 300 mph! There was also the time when tanks started floating in the sky, but that's all fixed now.
What's your proudest moment as game developer so far?
-- That has to be Battlefield 1943. I did so much in that game, and it's the very first game where I appeared in the credits. I guess you could get a worse start on your career!
FOUR FACTS WITH HALLING
Age: 25
Lives: Stockholm, Sweden
Skill: Never Gets Hungover
Three top Traits: "Doer. Logical. Technical."
GAMEOGRAPHY
Battlefield: Bad Company Conquest DLC Design
Battlefield 1943 Gameplay Design
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Additional Design
Medal of Honor Gameplay Design
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam Gameplay Design
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