Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising

We chat with lead AI designer Clive Lindop.

After so many years in development hell, it's refreshing to see one of gaming's great enigmas finally come out of hiding. Due for release sometime in spring next year, Codemasters has decided that the time is now right to start taking the wraps off Operation Flashpoint 2 - arguably the most ambitious military shooter simulation to date.

The game's lead AI designer and senior designer, Clive Lindop, recently presented the game to the press behind closed doors and briefly showed it running in real time. (Read last week's preview to find out what we thought of it.) Afterwards, we had time to chat about several other elements of the game, and grilled Codemasters' military AI guru about the AI, the tech, the save system and how they're going to implement that perennial bugbear - a health system.

Eurogamer: When's Operation Flashpoint 2 actually coming out?

Clive Lindrop: Spring 2009 on PC, 360 and PS3.

Eurogamer: Has the parallel development of all three versions affected the design?

Clive Lindrop: It's always been a relatively convenient excuse for the games industry to look at consoles and go, 'Ah, they make games more stupid.' It's simply not true, if you design intelligently and develop your technology, it's the only way you could have built OFP2.

Eurogamer: How was OFP2's tech developed?

'Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising' Screenshot 1

Clive Lindrop: Rather than taking a pre-existing engine and updating it to be "next-gen" we've had to build our own technology, because you need to be able to start from streaming the most basic of assets. So that when you're looking at, say, the console user's experience versus the PC user's experience, if you design the gameplay and mechanics the right way they will fundamentally have the same experience.

One of the things in OFP2 which primarily achieves that is the AI and the UI. The original OFP had a really unhelpful UI. You had 12 guys on F keys who you couldn't group properly. You can still have a complex command system and go to a map and lay out your own plan that can last the whole mission.

If you don't want to do that and just want to give out quick orders... Say you're in the middle of a firefight, you're pinned down and you want someone to flank right. You can just look at a piece of scenery, select the guy you want to talk to - because they're now grouped in proper echelons like fireteam squad - you know, "Go!" and they'll do it. The reason for that, of course, is because the AI can interpret this, such as how it's going to flank, what terrain it's going to use, what cover it's going to use.

Eurogamer: Do you have to spend time issuing commands as well as controlling it like a normal shooter?

'Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising' Screenshot 2

Clive Lindrop: No, the player doesn't have to micro-manage everything the AI does, but if you want to micro-manage, you can. If you don't want to, you don't have to. It's possible for the player to never give an order, ever, in the entire campaign because the AI will just do it itself.

It'll follow you if you're in charge, but if you don't do anything, it'll find its own cover, its own target, he has his own simulated morale and expression. He could even abandon you. If he thinks you're a nutter because you keep running at machine gun posts, he'll stop following you. He'll tell you that. He'll tell you, 'I think you're losing it', and then the next thing you know you're on your own because they've left you.

You don't want a situation where you go, actually, these guys are a pain in the arse, not only are they useless, but they keep getting killed, so I'm going to leave them here and come back for them at the end of the mission. We want them to almost be better than you - good soldiers that you can rely on.

Eurogamer: What's the learning curve going to be like?

Clive Lindrop: It's a complex game, and we didn't want to simplify it. It's always tempting for a publisher to go, 'Well, the original game had a hardcore audience so we'll simplify it.' We don't have to. If you make the learning curve literally visual, so that when you start the game you start as a private. I'm in command of an AI officer, and if you watch him fight, his tactics, and how he gives orders and what kinds of things he does, the player will naturally learn how to fight. So all this visual stuff has a practical aim.

Eurogamer: Can you describe the health system?

Clive Lindrop: If a 50 cal round hits you, you vaporise, and your arms come off! So health system-wise, you're dead! There's no hiding behind something while a ticker goes up. We have something called a Catastrophic Body Damage System - but there's a purpose to it. When somebody gets hit by a bullet, it hurts, and it does catastrophic damage to the body.

Quite often you'll hear people talking about OFP2 almost as an anti-war game. The experience you come out of it with is an appreciation of what absolutely massive balls the guys in Afghanistan must have, because it's a frightening experience but also shows how horrific war is.

If you get hit by a small round, say like a 9mm or a 5.56, and you've got body armour on and you get a wound, you can be stabilised - but you might suffer. You might get a limp. But there's no healing you up to full health again. Once you're hurt, you're hurt for the rest of the mission, so there is value in not getting shot.

'Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising' Screenshot 3

That's what drives that adrenaline rush. If you sprint across a street, you know if you take one round you could be a dead man. So I've got to get my guy to lay down suppressing fire to keep the enemy's head down, and then I'm going to rush across. And when you make it across and kick the door down and you're in cover again, there's much more of a sense of imminent danger at all times.

Eurogamer: Will the game support quicksave or checkpoint progress?

Clive Lindrop: One of the things the first game was quite famous for was that you could play it for two hours, and if you died, it was a case of, 'Sorry dude, start the mission again.' What? Did you save me anywhere? No! So, part of the difficulty setting allows you to be as masochistic as you want to be with yourself.

If you want that experience, which some guys do, it's one of those games where, like the first generation of MMOs where you had permadeath - some guys kind of like that brutality, and like the fact the game is very hard on you.

But in the sequel, rather than forcing the player to do one thing, if you just give them the choice and just want the experience of going through the campaign, don't do the hardcore mode. You can still have that sense of imminent danger, even if it's a bit more forgiving in terms of save slots. It's much more about giving the player that choice.

'Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising' Screenshot 4

It's based on a real situation happening in the present day. There is a massive oil field underneath the island. It's something which could happen tomorrow - we really wanted to find something that's believable in the sense that if you wanted to read up about it online, you'll see it. We want that realistic documentary feel.

Eurogamer: Is there going to be a demo?

Clive Lindrop: I don't know actually. I'm pretty sure we'd like to do one. It's really about trying to design a mission that allows us to do that. I'm pretty sure we will, because it's something that the original did very well, so I see no reason why we wouldn't - it's just not something I've seen on the schedule yet.

Because people have been waiting for so long we want something that shows, no seriously, not only is it real, but it does all the things that we're saying it does. GRID had very much the same arc... After three years of my life, it's going to do it!

Check back in the coming months for our first hands-on coverage of Operation Flashpoint 2. The game will be published by Codemasters in Spring 2009 and is coming to Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

Comments (37) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • yupyupno #1 3 years ago

    ooooohh, i may be first :)
  • guernican #2 3 years ago

    "The experience you come out of it with is an appreciation of what absolutely massive balls the guys in Afghanistan must have"

    I quite agree. Those Taliban have some serious cojones.
  • FWB #3 3 years ago

    Sounds good. Nice to see the original health system maintained too.
  • El_MUERkO #4 3 years ago

    with each, preview, interview, screenshot and video i have a little more hope that codemasters might actually pull it off and not give us some watered down battlefield clone
  • rufus_the_stunt_bum #5 3 years ago

    @El_MUERkO

    Battlefield came out (10th Sept 2002) after Operation Flashpoint (22nd June 2001) so in fact Battlefield is actually the clone.

  • FWB #6 3 years ago

    I think he's referring to the style of gameplay. BF1942 was very much an arcade game and didn't really copy OFP.
  • frostcircus #7 3 years ago

    Catastrophic Damage System = instant purchase

    In fact catastrophic ANYTHING system = instant purchase
  • RedPanda #8 3 years ago

    Post deleted at 14:31:59 28-01-2012
  • ChaK #9 3 years ago

    n°1 in my wishlist, spring is toooo faaaaaar awayyyyyy
  • frostcircus #10 3 years ago

    I hope it means that the word CATASTROPHY appears on-screen at appropriate times
  • tinni2k #11 3 years ago

  • BobsUncle #12 3 years ago

    Well if the .50 cal rounds will vaporise you a grenade must destroy the universe.
  • crozon #13 3 years ago

    preordered :) can't wait
  • secombe #14 3 years ago

    Here's hoping. Not liking the references to GRID that keep cropping up all over the place, that WAS a watered down experience if ever there was one and pretty much left the TOCA fans behind.
  • YeOldeGamer #15 3 years ago

    I want this game so bad.
    The original was pure gaming crack for me (and still is).
    This game is what 2009 is all about.
  • glaeken #16 3 years ago

    Spring does not seem that far off seeing as how little we have really seen of the game. I am thinking slipage is likely.
  • SpyroViper #17 3 years ago

    Glad to see they are not dumbing it down. I loved the first game and that 12 year old children couldn't play a proper FPS, take out the kids and bring in the men!
  • degville #18 3 years ago

    I worry about codemasters they tend to over time ruin good IP for me, however I'm hopeful Op Flash will remain true to it's ancestry tbh if it's 80% with next gen gfx then its a buy from me I loved that game the ai was pretty good for the time and certainly didn't allow gun and run.
  • TessaTickle #19 3 years ago

    @guernican

    brilliant remark. Whatever you think of the Taliban or whoever we're at war with, taking on a super modern western force with a few AK-47s takes balls.
  • mkreku #20 3 years ago

    I don't want to be vaporized by a .50 cal!! :(
  • Siberian_Khatru #21 3 years ago

    I'm not convinced. The game looks like a fairly conventional FPS. Watch the gamespot interviews: no proper aim simulation, small field of view, etc.

    Also, this: "difficulty setting allows you to be as masochistic as you want"
    realism = masochism, huh? Realism is what you're supposed to strive for, if you want to compete with ARMA 2, which is set for roughly the same release date.

    "It's based on a real situation happening in the present day"
    The premise is completely bonkers. I can't wait to hear it spoken in a deep american voice over the game's intro.
  • FWB #22 3 years ago

    It's not really based on a real situation. Russia and Japan havea dispute over those northern islands (the fictional island in the game is located amongst them). Russia occupied them at the end of WW2 and has since refused to give them back. China plays no part and if it were to invade I couldn't see the west coming to the rescue of the occupying Russkies since they don't belong to them anyway.
  • Siberian_Khatru #23 3 years ago

    @FWB

    It's the other way around. Ruskies discovered the island, Japs occupied it, now it belongs to the Yanks. Chinks have nothing to do with it.

    Damn, it's hard to be a racist, I had to look up half of the terms.
  • FWB #24 3 years ago

    In the game or in reality?

    I'm referring to reality. The northern territories are under Russian occupation at the moment. They seized them towards the end of WW2. Hence Japan still hasn't signed a peace treaty with Russia.

    My understanding in the game was that it's occupied by the Russians and the Chinese invade. America comes to the rescue of Russia. The island itself doesn't actually exist, but it's been placed within the Northern Territories. That's about as close to reality as the game gets.

    Still it's going to kick arse.
    Edited by 2 at 24/09/08 @ 15:27
  • Siberian_Khatru #25 3 years ago

    The OFP2 island is modelled after Kiska. That's why I wrote that the premise makes no sense.
  • BobsUncle #26 3 years ago

    "America comes to the rescue of Russia."

    WHAT!?
  • Bleh #27 3 years ago

    The game start to sounds better and better. Hopefully they can keep it up.
  • El_MUERkO #28 3 years ago

    @rufus_the_stunt_bum

    What i was worried about was the quality of OFP2 now that it's in Codemasters hands and not BISs. OFP is one of my favourite games of all time for its realism and attention to detail. When i heard of OFP2s multi-platform development i feared Codemasters would make some sort of BF2 clone but as i said that's looking less like the case every day :)
  • FWB #29 3 years ago

    The OFP2 island is modelled after Kiska. That's why I wrote that the premise makes no sense.

    Looking at it, so it is, but the trailer has them zooming out of what is the Northern Territories.

    "America comes to the rescue of Russia."

    WHAT!?


    Pretty sure that's what I read.
  • hiddenranbir #30 3 years ago

    I hope the AI impresses.
  • Anthony_UK #31 3 years ago

    Looks amazing, but I don't like the sound of the console multiplayer filling the game up with AI squads for you to control.........Would much prefer dedicated servers for this! If Kaos can do 50 plyaer with Frontlines, codemasters have no excuse!
  • Snooz #32 3 years ago

    I kinda want to believe, but much of this sounds and looks too good to be true. Here's hoping..
  • Emth #33 3 years ago

    I enjoyed the first game and the fact that this appears to be more of the same with a more streamlined AI can only be a good thing.
  • Bluetooth #34 3 years ago

    I'm seeing a gradual move away in games from killing brown people, now it's the turn of those slanty eyed people.
  • Grendel #35 3 years ago

    OF was and probably is the best sim-war games ever for PC, even the XBOX version was brilliant, forget about arcade stuff like CoD, MoH or even Ghost Recon series, none of those can compare with OF, the game is so open for all kind of play styles and strategies, I remember the feeling of tension and fear was simply amazing.

    I can't wait to play this one on a big TV, really.
  • metalangel #36 3 years ago

    Dear Codebastards:

    Are you going to do a proper dynamic campaign (as seen in the MFCTI mod for the original) or are you going to create this huge island and huge amount of weapons and equipment... and then piss it all away on a tedious linear scripted campaign for the sake of a half-baked story nobody gives a toss about?*

    My prediction: Yes.

    *as per the original game
    Edited by 1 at 27/09/08 @ 15:26
  • DeanosBeano #37 3 years ago

    What a shame that Bis must air there dirty linen like this in public, i hope the gamers dont suffer.
    after all is it really worth it ? just because one chap put on his linkedin profile that he independently worked on ofp:cwc and a magazine writer miss interprets it, if this little thing warrants the CEO of BIS and there Community manager to write all this ,it begs the question why they didnt with the Darwars Ambush problem like this then maybe i could see the consistency and true loyalty to there fans.
    thank the lord i removed that i have worked on ofp and arma for the last 8 years independently lol ;)
    oh wait a minute , because i am only doing it for free and i am doing it independently it means nothing.
    what an insult.

    good luck to both games and software house,i think i will pass on both neither of you deserve my money for varying reasons.

    DB