Report In! - Interview with Karel Mořický, senior designer

First up in our new 'Report In!' series, a discussion with one of Bohemia Interactive's senior designers, and some exclusive 'behind the scenes' images have been declassified and are ready for immediate analysis!

We're often asked to let some of our people talk about what it's like to develop a game at BI. So, stepping aside from our usual PR activities for a moment, 'Report In!' gives you a more personal perspective on our team, and a more detailed look at the way we go about our work. First up is Karel Mořický, senior game designer at Bohemia Interactive, who discusses the powerful Mission Editor, explains what it's like developing games a Bohemia Interactive, and drops a couple of hints about an as-yet-unannounced addon for Arma2: Operation Arrowhead!

Introduction

Tell the people a little about yourself.. What's your role? How long have you been with Bohemia Interactive? Which games have you contributed on and which is your favourite BI game or mission?

I'm one of the many OFP community creators recruited by BI for professional development. Joining as an external designer shortly after the ArmA 1 release in '06, I designed exclusive missions for the European and American release of the game.

Becoming a full-time employee during ARMA 2 development, I was responsible for all the dynamic modules named after girls, such as ALICE (Ambient Life In Civilian Environment) or ZORA (ZOne Restriction Assistant). So far, I've most enjoyed creating and developing the free DLC campaign 'Eagle Wing', where I could merge my serious interest in advanced scripted systems, with my secret passion for Tony Scott-esque action blockbusters.

And can you give us a random fact about yourself?

I'm a bit of a code freak, often nesting little jokes within scripts. I still can't decide if the universal constant for all calculations should be 42 or 1138.

Editor Questions

Briefly describe 'The Editor' for those who might not know it: what exactly is it, and what can be used for?

The editor is one of most powerful tools that this game provides. It lets you create a whole range of content: from random skirmishes to single and multiplayer missions - even fully blown campaigns. Accessible from the game's main menu, it requires no further installation or configuration. Just open it and start designing - it's simple as that.

For someone approaching Arma 2's Editor for the first time, where do you begin?

Before even going to the editor, play tutorials, campaigns and some scenarios. It will give you broad picture of what the game engine is capable of, and what features you like. Then recreate it in the editor, with your story, your characters, your ideas.

What's the best bit of advice you can give to someone trying to create a mission for Arma 2?

Play other games, play official scenarios, play community missions. Observe what players like and what would they want to see. Unpack missions and learn the procedures used by others. There's no better study material than the source files of a mission you've enjoyed. Changing random values and observing the differences between final states is an effective way to understand the functionality of some commands.

Our community wiki, http://community.bistudio.com/, is also good way how to learn new stuff. Many people share their knowledge and results of experiments here. Be one of them and start experimenting too. You would be surprised what new possibilities arise just by putting a negative value where a positive one is expected.

Design Questions

Where do you start when designing a mission for Arma 2 - what kind of process do you go through?

For me, a good game should be 'experienced', not just 'played'; the player's feeling while playing a mission is the focal point. The very first thing I do is establish the mood of scene, tweak colour post-process effects and choose major sound effects. Until I can feel the desired 'wow' effect, I don't really believe in the success of the mission, even while other aspects are fine.

What informs your design ideas - what influences do you draw upon?

The biggest influence right now is a sum of all the ideas drafted a long time ago for various Operation Flashpoint and Armed Assault projects, but which I had neither the time nor determination to finish. Including characters like intel officer Mark Reynolds or war criminal Aslan Radayev especially feels like dealing with some unfinished business.

With Tony Scott and Michael Bay as my favorite movie directors, you'll soon realize I'm the one who's first question is "will it be fun?" rather than "will it be realistic?". I think it's important to counterbalance our drive towards accurate simulation with gameplay that is likely to appeal to classic gamers, rather than only the hard-core.

Let me be clear: authenticity and realism are still the most unique aspects of our games, but sometimes it's good step back and ensure that you havn’t gone too far. Afterall, that's what the ACE mod is for.

You're involved in the creation of 'modules', which can be used in the Editor - could you briefly describe what these are, and which module you like the most?

Imagine you've opened the editor for the first time and have no editing skills whatsoever. Just a head full of ideas. To translate many of these ideas into gameplay, you might need vast experience with scripting languages, which can take years to fully master. Thanks to modules, you can skip this part and use pre-designed solutions - fully working after just few clicks.

Want a civilian population in all towns across the map? Use the 'Ambient Civilians' module. Having thoughts about a town in the middle of desert? Go for the "Town Construction" module. Instead of including every single civilian or building in the editor, such modules will do all hard work for you. And with several customisable parameters, you can tell them how large the town should be, or what type of civilians should be used. My preferred option would be a city full of girls!

Future Projects Questions

What are you working on at the moment? What kind of plans to you have in place?

Right now, we're working through the initial stages of an ArmA 2: Operation Arrowhead addon. It's intended to add depth to the much larger and older Armaverse, which has evolved across all previous projects, and now contains several fictional countries, including their histories, territories and, most importantly for our game, their wars.

This seems like a good opportunity to reveal some information about the content or mention some specific gameplay, wouldn't you agree?

Gameplay is really important now. ArmA 2: Operation Arrowhead and its consequent patches introduced many great features that were not fully exhibited from a gameplay perspective. We're looking to take the most interesting ones and present them across a campaign featuring both single and two-player co-op gameplay.

One can be lonely, and three may be a crowd, but two is perfect for enjoying cooperative gameplay without the need to arrange meeting with a large amount of players. That's important when you're dealing with sniper/spotter or mortar operator/forward observer scenarios, where close cooperation and clear communication is key to success.

A strong campaign with a good narrative and characters are key. The storyline should tie both playable characters together, adding depth to the experience. But as for what it's gonna be about - that is yet to be declassified.

I think people may be a little disappointed if you don't mention just a little more...

Our upcoming work will add a new faction to the Armaverse; we'll see one or two new nationalities, and a focus upon more modern theme.

Introduction

Editor Questions

Design Questions

Future Projects Questions

Other questions