21-Jun-2004 Exclusive: Dropping behind enemy lines with Illusion Softworks to discuss its H&D 2 expansion pack Hidden & Dangerous 2, Illusion Softworks' rock-hard but utterly brilliant WWII squad-based shooter on PC will, in the Autumn, be the proud recipient of expansion Sabre Squadron. A return to action for the Allied crack combat troops that cut their teeth on the original title's globe-spanning campaign, new missions, co-op play, further multiplayer additions plus more, more, more is being crammed into the add-on.
We caught up with Sabre Squadron team lead Alexander Sila to find out precisely what's what.
Sabre Squadron features nine new single-player missions - in which countries do these missions take place, and is there an overall plotline connecting these missions that you can tell us about?
Sila: We have kept the concept of campaigns divided into several missions in Sabre Squadron. As such, we will lead you through four different locations: Libya (three missions); Burgundy (three missions); Sicily (two missions); and La Rochelle (one mission).
What actual events from World War II have inspired the missions, if any, and could you perhaps detail what one or two of the new missions entail?
Sila: Most of the missions are based on real actions, but we had to change a few things in favour of gameplay. For example, adding some objectives. I can give you two examples of historical backgrounds from two missions to give you a better idea.
The Sicily campaign is based on a real event from July 1943. Operation 'Husky' began with the landing of Allied forces at 10.7.1943. Part of this operation was mission 'Chestnut' where two teams of SAS helped the USA invasion by destroying ground communications like bridges and railways leading to the northeast coast (effectively cutting Sicily away from Italy).
The campaign in Burgundy has been also based on a real event. After landing in Normandy, 144 men from the Special Forces were put ashore behind enemy lines on enemy territory near the French town of Dijone. The operation was named 'Houndsmith'. The objective of SAS forces was to cause chaos in enemy supply lines, destroying important ammunition storages, interrupting important railway connections and capturing German officers and other persons cooperating with German empire.
Operation Houndsmith was a great success of British SAS in a war against the Nazi regime. Seven thousand seven hundred and thirty three German soldiers died because of this operation, 4784 were captured and 700 German vehicles were heavily damaged or destroyed. One hundred and forty three important railway connections were cut off, seven trains were destroyed and 33 more derailed.
Twenty four members of SAS died in this operation and one American pilot ended as a German POW.
We've read about AI improvements - for instance soldiers will run for cover, set up ambushes and have a heightened sense of self-preservation. Can you elaborate on this and give us details on any other AI improvements that have been made?
Sila: Both player and enemy AI has been improved in many ways. They run for cover when they get hurt, use grenades in a clever way and have more realistic behaviour while using weapons etc. Enemy reaction to your weapon or vehicle usage has also been improved. Your teammates will also locate cover much more effectively than before. And the whole path-finding system has been improved as well making it much more dynamic.
Is Sabre Squadron running on a revised LS3D engine? If so, what additions have you made and how do these directly impact gameplay?
Sila: There haven't been many changes made to our engine since the original H&D 2. The one thing that is new is that we now support EAX3. Our aim wasn't to implement tons of new features to the engine; we just wanted to give players better and improved gameplay, optimisation and code stability.
How about weapon and equipment additions - what's new here?
Sila: The original H&D 2 already had a big number of weapons which is why we only added a few new pieces - mostly for the balancing of the multiplayer etc. There are five new anti-personal (i.e. hand) weapons. The German Panzerschreck (similar to a Bazooka), the French MAM Mle, a 1936 rifle, the German Gewehr 43 semi-automatic rifle, the German Parabelum pistol with silencer and a type of Flare Gun. There are also two new emplacement weapons; the PAK 40 antitank cannon and a second artillery gun.
What's the situation with co-op play? Is this still going to be limited to the expansion pack or are you now also planning to add it to the original Hidden & Dangerous 2 campaign?
Sila: All nine missions from Sabre Squadron will be playable in co-operative multiplay, but co-op won't be supported for original H&D 2 maps. This may change in the future.
What other additions are you making to H&D 2 multiplayer outside of co-op? We've heard that there'll be three new multiplayer missions for example - what will we be doing in those?
Sila: There will be actually eight new multiplayer maps, three Occupation maps (Alps3, Ardens2, Normandy4), three Deathmatch maps (Poland, Libya1, Burgundy3) and two Objective maps (Alps3, Ardens3). Objectives in the last two maps are quite interesting. You have to stop German forces passing through a canyon in Alps3, and in Ardens3 you must destroy emplaced German artillery - we're very proud of this last mission because we have recreated a movie-like atmosphere of winter combat in a very realistic environment.
Anything else cool or that you're particularly excited about coming in the expansion that we should know of?
Sila: There are some new cool features such as shooting from static cannons and watching as the camera actually follows the projectile until it blasts through your targeted tank. In essence Sabre Squadron will build on the original H&D 2 with the huge amount of improved new features that the H&D 2 fan community most wanted. Really 'hot stuff' is the new co-operative multiplayer mode.
We have spent a lot of time making and testing the add-on and have had a really good time doing this. I think the single missions will also grab your attention with their advanced design and improved gameplay.
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