We got a chance to talk with Yaroslav Shklyar of GFI (Game Factory Interactive), the game designer of Jagged Farm: Birth of a Hero, to find more about their upcoming real-time strategy game where you must defend against attacking Pigs trying to take over the world. The game should be available in Q2/2007.

GGMania: Could you introduce yourself to our readers and tell them a little bit about what you do on Jagged Farm?

Yaroslav Shklyar: My name's Yaroslav Shklyar, the game designer for Jagged Farm: Birth of a Hero.

GGMania: Can you give us an overview of Jagged Farm, telling us what the game is all about?

Yaroslav Shklyar: Well, Jagged Farm: Birth of a Hero is a real-time strategy, with the main hero Gluk'OZA and her band that make up their mind to snub the rebelled pigs. The game starts with a road accident the popular Russian singer with her team get into during their world tour. The band is rushed by unknown inhabitants and can't move further as their car is broken and some musicians are lost. Gluk'OZA goes to the country to sort everything out. There she founds out that the village is captured by the pigs and makes up her mind to settle everything down. Impressive fights, funny heroes, interesting tricks, a giddy whirl of pleasures - everything will raise your mood.

GGMania: What can you tell us about the storyline of the game?

Yaroslav Shklyar: As I already told you, Gluk'OZA gets into trouble on her way. She goes to the country and comes across a villager who unfolds what the matter is. It turned out that dwarfish piggy SvinoZka, who used to live in one of the country-houses was evicted by the owners. It nursed a grievance against them and began to brood over schemes of vengeance. Every evening it gave fiery speeches in front of its brothers about human injustice, humiliation they bear from other animals, about their destination, about the future when pigs will rule in the world of animals and people. Its ideas found support among the others and every its speech they met with wild applause and approving scream. Nobody could even imagine what it all would turn into. The pigs gathered into assault brigades, handled trainings of their military divisions. A few days ago this nightmare began. Country people tried to resist swine hordes but found themselves unready for such massive attacks. Pigs encamped a part of the village that was hard to recognize. Houses are empty, pigs walk along the streets and everything seems to be destroyed very soon. The villagers have nobody to help them. Gluk'OZA decides to take matters into her own hands. She can't imagine yet what a serious battle is in store. Animals which stand against pigs made up an alliance but it's not strong and numerous yet. Gluk'OZA acts as a leader and heads fighting drag detachments. The singer and her team, as you may guess, are the main characters.


GGMania: What playable sides will the player get to use in Jagged Farm?

Yaroslav Shklyar: There are pigs full of themselves and people - teammates who stand in opposition. Almost all the animals from neighborhood come to help Gluk'OZA. They are beavers, moles, bears and many other volunteers.

GGMania: How many different kinds of units are there and do they gain experience, abilities or skills over time? What is one of your favorite units?

Yaroslav Shklyar: There will be several unit classes: light infantry, heavy infantry, light and heavy equipment, aircraft. As for general units, there are about 100 of them available at your disposal. As far as unique units are concerned, there will be 50 of them. You will be able to improve them in the immediate mission, but not in the battle. There is a special period of time to do it before each mission. All the troops have 3 levels. You can buy them between missions for money or upgrade them during the game by eliminating hostile units. So, I mean, if the detachment killed a definite number of enemy units, it automatically upgrades its level. It's necessary to note that a level and an upgrade are two different things. The level improves only attack and armor indicators. The upgrade is a change of weapons (an increase of an attack and, obviously, armor) and, as a rule, an access to abilities. As for my favorite units, ha-ha, I like them all :-)


GGMania: Can you reveal a bit more about the heroes in the game?

Yaroslav Shklyar: Of course. There will be 9 heroes so called leaders with their own unique abilities. As a matter of fact, leaders, I mean, heroes, will be people with their own abilities.

GGMania: How will resource management be handled in the game?

Yaroslav Shklyar: There are resource points, basically gold mines, on the map. When you capture them, they bear you resources which you need to buy new forces, improvements, extra detachments. Thus, you'll need gold all the time during the whole game.

GGMania: How is combat handled in Jagged Farm?

Yaroslav Shklyar: We'll handle all the combat operations in a completely 3D animated world. 90 per cent of our time we'll devote to military actions. An army is formed before a mission that consists of different detachments, such as a goat troop, mole and penguin troops and many others. We enter the mission with this very army. If the detachment loses a soldier, we can order reinforcements in case we have enough resources. As a matter of fact, this system reminds the one you know from such games as Company of heroes and Warhammer 40 k. Otherwise, if the detachment is completely destroyed, we have nothing to replenish. Thus, our task is to look after the troops and try not to lose them during the mission.

GGMania: Will A.I. have enough power to put the veteran players into a decent challenge? How strong will it be?

Yaroslav Shklyar: An A.I., opposed to the player, will keep the player amused during the whole game.

GGMania: What other gameplay elements in the game do you consider to be important and/or unique? Will there be anything new that we've never seen before?

Yaroslav Shklyar: We are not claiming to come up with something unique or unseen before. This is a simple game. In fact, it's all about fun, amusement, humor and very simple gameplay.

GGMania: Can you give us an example of specific missions in the game?

Yaroslav Shklyar: I'll keep it a secret for the time being.

GGMania: What can you tell us about the engine that is being used for the game?

Yaroslav Shklyar: Jagged Farm: Birth of a Hero is based on the engine of our game Officers that was developed taking into consideration all modern trends. It features dynamic shadows and self-shadowing, dynamic clouds, weather effects, per pixel lighting, particle systems, destructible objects and many other effects.

GGMania: What kind of hardware should players have in order to experience good game performance?

Yaroslav Shklyar: Well, mid-end will do for it :-) You won't need to upgrade your computer immediately.

GGMania: What can you tell us about the multiplayer portion of Jagged Farm?

Yaroslav Shklyar: The game offers one campaign that consists of 9 missions, connected with a storyline. The campaign is based on the plot. At the moment we're working over a single-mode game in the form of a campaign. As for multiplayer, we're not ready yet to talk about it.

GGMania: What's the current status of the project, and what remains to be done? When will it be released? Are there specific plans to release the game in the US?

Yaroslav Shklyar: The development is in full swing. The release is planned for Q2, 2007 both in Russia and the USA. At the moment we're just looking for a western publisher.

GGMania: Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions. Finally, is there anything else you'd like to add about Jagged Farm?

Yaroslav Shklyar: ou're welcome. Thank you for the interesting questrions. We hope, strategy fans will enjoy the game and we, in our turn, we'll try to do our best to keep them amused.