Producer Craig Mcleod on beating competitors
Battlefield 3's End Game DLC hits Xbox Live Marketplace on 12th March... but you can also download it now for "other platforms", if you absolutely must. In weary recognition of this depressing fact, here's the full text of our interview with DICE producer Craig Mcleod, exploring both End Game itself and DICE's DLC strategy in general, with a faint dusting of dinosaurs and Battlefield 2142 ruminations.
Before we begin, a quick recap: End Game adds four new maps, two AA vehicles, motorbikes, pilots-only Air Superiority mode, Capture The Flag and the usual drizzle of assignments and achievements. It'll cost 1200 MP. Now, on with the hard-hitting investigative journalism.
How pre-planned was Endgame? Did you have a fully formed idea in mind when you began developing Battlefield 3 DLC, or has it evolved according to player responses to your other packs?
That's actually a really good question. We only had the idea of Endgame, but we weren't 100% certain at the very beginning that we were going to do it, and then as we were going along we saw the success - and actually we saw a number of features that we want to add to the Battlefield 3 franchise, but weren't able to fit them into the current packs. So we decided to do one more to bring in things that we thought were really important, like Capture The Flag.
Your last pack Aftermath had more of a narrative context than this one. Is that because players weren't as keen on the idea of DLC that's supported by the story?
No, it wasn't really to do with that. We feel that people got Aftermath, but there were a number of people who really didn't enjoy the fact that we'd tied it in to the single player storyline. One of the things that we're able to do with extensions is we can kind of try out some new things. We had some great ideas that we want to get out there and some new features.
With this pack we're trying something different. What we're doing with our final pack, Endgame, is we're looking at speed and agility - that's what we're trying to bring to the battlefield this time. So this can be seen with a big focus on airplay, regarding our jets and air superiority, as well our AA vehicles and in particular the dirt bikes. We wanted to bring that aspect to the battlefield - that was really really important to us, rather than trying to shoehorn something else in that didn't quite fit right.
DLC does seem like a good opportunity to rediscover older aspects of the franchise, like Capture The Flag. How do you handle reviving these ideas?
I think it's a really important thing to do. We talk a lot to our community, whether it's at events or whether it's through forums and other media, and one of the things that we get from them is this kind of information, and the great thing with Endgame is that we were able to incorporate earlier feedback.
So, Capture The Flag is actually the first time we've brought it back in ten years since Battlefield 1942. It's something that we've wanted to bring back for a while, we know it's a core first person shooter game mode, and it's something that our community told us that they would love to see in Battlefield. This kind of extension pack allows us to do that.
I suppose with CTF in particular, there was a risk of conflating yourself with certain other shooters. It's quite a common mode.
I suppose that's true in some way, but the great thing about CTF, or the thing that I really like that we did and maybe we needed a bit more time to think about it was how do we make CTF feel Battlefield? So, how do we that instead of just making it a normal infantry "run with the flag" mode. And so we've added vehicles into the mix because this is one of our core pillars - it's what everyone knows Battlefield is for. So the authority to actually use the vehicles in this mode, we really felt that we've made it unique, and we really think that the fans will appreciate that.
Air Superiority terrifies me - I'm hopeless at flying things. How does that work exactly? Do you start on the ground?
No, you absolutely don't. Air superiority is pure jets. So it's 12 vs 12 jets and you spawn directly into the actual airplane. There's no on-land, there's no on-foot, you're not even taking off a runway. It's about speed and agility, about getting players into the fight as quickly as possible. This caters really well to our people who love jets and who love the dogfights.
There are a number of players who've said that they want more than a couple of jets available on each level. What we did to solve that was we took the idea of Tank Superiority and we flipped it on its head, with air combat. It can be a really good training ground for learning how the jet works, actually - it allows you to practice in an environment where you don't have to worry about upsetting your team. If you don't feel confident enough in a jet this is a perfect mode for you to get into.
Has the practice of DLC changed since you began developing Battlefield 3 add-ons?
I do feel that the DLC packs we release have expanded hugely. I look back to Bad Company 2, and we released a number of map packs, and then right at the end of the Bad Company cycle we released Vietnam. This was a much bigger pack incorporating new weapons and environments - we actually built a whole new front-end right into it.
And we found people really enjoyed this. As much as people enjoyed having new maps to play on, they really enjoyed having a new experience. So the ability to not only deliver new maps but new vehicles, weapons and completely new features. To reference End Game, we have the vehicle air drop - this is a fantastic feature that we haven't had before, that we've brought into the gameplay. It's a way of not only catering to our fans but also trying out new things from future development.
Would you say your competitors are playing catch-up in this regard?
Yeah, I think we're driving the industry in this respect. When I look at things like Battlelog, and when I look at the whole experience that we deliver in a DLC - people didn't do this before, they literally did map packs, and now we can see some of our competitors introducing not just new maps but also new weapons, and new features on the side. And I feel we're forcing the industry to step up and follow the example that we're setting.
Were there any particular ideas for Battlefield 3 DLC packs that you decided not to move ahead with?
When we go through and start collecting what DLC we want to do, we go through a lot of different ideas, we brainstorm an awful lot. We pick which ones we feel cater well to the experience we want to deliver, what our audience would enjoy. Sometimes we have feelings and beliefs that we've held for possibly a year, or a few years, and we put them into the game and try it out. So there were definitely some other ideas that we had bouncing around, but I really think we've hit a really good balance, and delivered something really fantastic. So I'm incredibly proud of it.
What about dinosaur maps? That's one of the big Battlefield fan requests.
It's not something that we looked at for Battlefield 3 to be perfectly honest - we did see it, obviously we heard about it. We played a little with it, played with the public a little bit. There are some Easter eggs within the packs as we've gone along, sort of referencing the dinosaur themes that people have mentioned. But it's not something that we looked at for Battlefield 3, no.
Is it possible you'll continue to support Battlefield 3 with new content alongside Battlefield 4?
I definitely think that's a possibility. I look back to Battlefield 2, which still has a good player base. I now look at Battlefield 3, and I do believe that as we move forward as a studio, BF3 will continue to be played for many years to come. I think that also the ability to deliver this digital content in the way that we've done it, and in the way that we've done it allows this to actually go forward and ride alongside other titles.
A final pie-in-the-sky question. I'd love to see a sequel to Battlefield 2142. Are there any plans in that direction or has the futuristic take on Battlefield been dropped for good?
We really can't sort of say what's in line for the future. Obviously we've announced that Battlefield 4 is being worked on in the studio but regarding any other sort of projects that we have, unfortunately we can't say anything.
It'll be easy money and that's what EA wants. They can't have COD, but they can milk the shit out of BF. The good news is that DICE is making them, but when they can't handle it and push them off to other studios.. then we'll have a problem. BF won't be any different then COD:MW, COD:BO, and COD:Whateverelse then. Am I wrong? I hope so.. But either way I think we have a couple good BF's left, before the share holders start demanding more money.
