Gamecloud - What are some of the other more unique features in Faces of War?

Sergey Gerasev - There are several things in Faces of War we are really proud of. First of all I would like to say that our AI didn’t grow worse in comparison to the original game. This is important, because that complicated and detailed AI, we have developed for Soldiers: Heroes of WWII can be easily spoiled through adding of new multiple features, demanded by the time and the genre. Compared with the previous project the search for solution and the solution list taken by the units during the battle has expanded. The eyes and ears of the units allow them to take decisions according to what they hear and what they see. The units can also exchange information and keep the enemy location in mind. This all results in a quite realistic behavior of units: they attack or retreat, get into covers, throw grenades and use that weapon, which corresponds with the enemy type. For example a soldier would not attack a tank with a gun, but try to retreat and get to a hideout or try to use the grenade-launcher, if it has one.

Besides the soldiers can lie, sit, hide or peep out of the cover positions, they can also swim. However I can not say that swimming would be an interesting activity in the game, as a swimming soldier is absolutely helpless in the battle and is an easy target. Therefore I doubt that anybody would like to jump to the river in the heat of the battle. Sometimes soldiers would have to swim: if they need to swim across a river or pass throw a swallow river place and if they need to save oneself out of an ice-hole in case of a misfortune.

If we speak about our physics engine in general we can say that it is an essential part of gameplay because the engine calculates all the destruction and all the hits. By destroying buildings, barricades and other things one can clear the line of sight and hit the enemy from the range that previously wasn't suitable for that. In comparison to Soldiers we use physics a lot more. Now instead of pre-animated destructions we use physical models. Broke off large objects are used just as any other object - they can also become cover for soldiers and they can be destroyed as any other object. Please remember that it is not a wise idea to leave your infantry near the building that is being fired on by the enemy because the falling off pieces can hit them. And this kind of damage might be lethal.

All bullet, projectile and rocket flight paths are calculated honestly, which means - according to laws of physics. This means that all objects of the game world are obstacles that can be used as covers for the player or prevent him from destroying enemy forces. Explosions of grenades, high-caliber projectiles may become the cause of a full or partial destruction of an object. For example the openings that are formed by the destruction of a building wall are real holes. I mean if you make a hole in a building you start shooting through it. You can drive a tank in it, or send in your infantry. By the way, this is one of the means to capture blocks of buildings with perimeter defense - make holes in walls that are less defended.