An Interview with Magnus Jansén

It is probably safe to say that Massive Entertainment’s forthcoming World in Conflict is currently one of the most anticipated games for the PC (and soon, the Xbox 360). A gaming tribute to the quintessential ‘80s film Red Dawn, World in Conflict takes place in an alternative 1989 where the Berlin Wall did not fall and the Cold War erupted into World War III. With stunning visuals and hybrid “action-strategy” gameplay, World in Conflict is prepared to launch a blitz attack on gamers everywhere this September 18.

Recently, Gamesquad was able to interview Magnus Jansén (nicknamed ‘Soundboy’), lead game designer for World in Conflict.

Gamesquad: World in Conflict is set in an alternative 1989 where the Cold War has turned very hot. What was the attraction of a World War III setting? Was the classic ‘80’s film Red Dawn an inspiration? Can we expect to find some Red Dawn-inspired scenes in the game?

Magnus Jansén: We tend to get this question a lot, and yes, obviously Red Dawn served as a great source of inspiration. The movie is close to the scenario we are describing in the game and it has many similarities in atmosphere and feel, but World in Conflict has a much higher focus on the army and the men in it.

The main attraction of the setting itself was that we wanted to do a war game with contemporary units but we wanted to stay away from the classic Middle Eastern scenarios that are so common in games these days. The World War III “what if” scenario gave us a lot of elbowroom for story and game play, while at the same time offering a recognizable and intriguing setting. The Cold War was a period many of us experienced first hand, and we lived the fear of it turning into a full-blown conflict. Now we get to explore that scenario in a game.

Gamesquad: Massive’s proprietary Masstech engine promises to make World in Conflict enjoyable on a wide range of PCs, not just on bleeding-edge gaming rigs. Why was this an important development goal for Massive?

Magnus Jansén: Well, we believe that you shouldn’t need top of the line equipment to play our games. If you have a monster rig then by all means you should get your moneys worth from our games, but you should also be able to play it on older systems.

Gamesquad: World in Conflict will be released for both the PC and the Xbox 360. What type of design challenges did this entail? What are the potential benefits?

Magnus Jansén: The design changes are almost exclusively confined to the areas of control and online functionality (Massgate on PC and Live on Xbox). The rationale behind releasing it on the Xbox is very simple: we want more people to enjoy World in Conflict. So while it’s the exact same game in theory, there’s still a load of work to make perfect use of the potential of that particular platform. We don’t want it to feel like a shabby port, we want players to feel “this game was made for the Xbox from the ground up”.

Gamesquad: World in Conflict is described as a “new category of PC games: Action-Strategy.” Could you elaborate? What are WiC’s biggest differences from more traditional RTS strategy titles?

Magnus Jansén: The obvious differences are lack of base building, lack of resource management, emphasis on teamwork and fully destructible environments. There are many other differences as well, but these are the major ones that definitely set us apart from other RTS games. Since we have drop-in multiplayer functionality you don’t have the long-term strategic choices of normal RTS games where you often decided on a build order from the start that will net you a certain combination of tools (units, etc.) many, many minutes later. In World in Conflict we have shifted focus on long-term strategic choices over team play and tactical choices.

Gamesquad: World in Conflict is a DirectX 10 game. What has DirectX 10 made possible in WiC?

Magnus Jansén: DirectX 10 has allowed us to add features that simply would be too demanding (or even impossible) on DirectX 9. Soft particles, dual monitors, god rays and cloud shadows are examples of things that would be prohibitively expensive to do with DirectX 9.

Gamesquad: It probably is a little early to be asking this, but when the subject matter of a game is World War III, there is a great deal of potential for expansion. Are there plans to add new units, tactical aids, or locales to the game? Will these be part of regular online updates or separate expansion packs?

Magnus Jansén: We aren’t talking about this yet. But you are right, there is great potential!

Gamesquad: The demo is receiving a lot of praise since its release. However, there is one complaint that I have been hearing which involves rubble. In WiC, you can occupy just about any building. However, if a building is reduced to rubble, troops cannot enter the rubble and use it as defensive terrain. Why is that?

Magnus Jansén: We want everything to be destructible in World in Conflict, including cover. This means that you should be able to destroy cover (forests, Houses) as a kind of scorched earth tactic (especially interesting in the Assault game mode where the cover you destroy could benefit you later when you switch sides).

The fact that some of the houses look like they could provide cover even when destroyed is of course a feedback problem, but hopefully people will learn and accept that they don’t.

Gamesquad: Larry Bond, military fiction author and creator of the classic naval wargame Harpoon, has crafted the single-player story. Could you tell us a little about his storyline for the game?

Magnus Jansén: When it was clear that we needed to craft a realistic scenario where a Third World War led to a Soviet invasion of the US, we knew that we needed help from outside experts. After looking at some options, we immediately settled for Mr. Bond when his name came up. We flew over and sat at Mr. Bonds house for a couple of days and explained what the game was about, what the story needed to explain etc. After a couple of sessions and many emails, we ended up with the background story and events of the game. His military expertise saved us from making some realism blunders as well (no, I won’t tell!).

The characters, dialog, cutscenes, etc. were all done later by our own writer Christofer Emgård.

Gamesquad: WiC incorporates a number of robust multiplayer features, such as built-in VoIP, support for clan management, chat rooms, and what has been called ‘telestrator functionality’ for comprehensive post-game analysis. Multiplayer gameplay is also unique in that it requires specialization in a particular area of combat (infantry, armor, etc.), making cooperation essential to victory. Why did Massive incorporate such a great deal of multiplayer innovation in a single title?

Magnus Jansén: Because we could? Seriously though, the design of World in Conflict started with multiplayer. We wanted a strategy game that was as intense and challenging as any multiplayer shooter. To do this, certain features are pretty much a necessity since they add to the experience and the intensity of the game. Being able to properly communicate with your team is one of those features. Clan and community support another.

As development of the game went on, we realized that it had a strong appeal for e-sport gamers and leagues. That meant we needed the “telestrating” tools as well to better explain to viewers what is going on, so they were added. We have worked very closely with the e-sport companies and community to get a solid multiplayer product and in the end, this has benefited all gamers that will eventually try our game.

Gamesquad: Is there anything you would like to add?

Magnus Jansén: The game is now gold and sent off to manufacturing. But that doesn’t mean that our work stops now. We’ll be supporting the game for a long time, and we have several updates planned. Fans can look forward to the map and mod tools as well as the aforementioned broadcast tool. We’ll provide balance updates when needed, and we’ll fighting hard to keep ‘griefing’ and ‘cheating’ to a minimum.