Underwater Wars. press

Could you tell us why you decided to proceed with underwater subject matter?

We already declared that we plan to expand the theme of the products of underwater and underwater-like subject matter as much as possible. Moreover, the theme itself is quite original and new – we got used to spectacular shooters where the action takes place on the land or in the air. But the underwater wars story still remains completely hidden. By combining the genre which many gamers already caught the fancy of with absolutely new locations we can present the gamers the unusual experience of the action in several areas at once!

In Underwater Wars the players will be able to go out to land. How often will we be allowed to wander overland?

I would like to note that each mission includes the combat action both overland and underwater. The events and battles which develop overland take almost the greater part of the game time at that. In general the most diverse locations will be present in the game – underwater bases, docks for the submarine stands, overland areas, various stations, classified objects and many other interesting things.

Will the gamers have any freedom of action or at least the variability during the tasks fulfillment?

Of course, all such things are provided for in the game. In different situations the player will be to make decision on his own, the way he should act because the further action development will depend from that, which means the operation success or failure.

Will the gamers be able to use some above-water, overland or air machinery besides underwater machinery?

Of course. Both real kinds of transport as well as advanced products will be available in the game, and we hope they will be implemented till 2012 =).

The player will be able to use war machinery, helicopters and tanks overland. The transporters and mini-submarines will be available underwater.

I would like to make special mention of one of the key features of our heroes' equipment. The people are used to call such accelerator the "rocket backpack". It is fastened on the back like a backpack. For the first time we saw it in American comic books or in a movie about James Bond. By means of this thing Bond could fly up into the air and rush along quickly above the ground. Such equipment at that time seemed more like a science fiction object than a real thing. But few people now that the American intelligence services got interested in the idea of the "rocket backpack" and they invested millions of dollars into the development and the implementation of this equipment over a period of many years. However, in 90th it was officially decided to stop the project financing. Why should such seemingly brilliant idea be destined to come to end in nothing? Not everything is so simple here as it may seem – the development was never ceased, it was just that the project was classified back then. We presented in our game the most state-of-the-art "rocket backpack-transporter" which is able to lift a man in the air and move with incredible speed both overland and underwater. We won't lay claim to the detailed authenticity of our model but we can assure the players that our «rocket backpack» is developed according to the prototypes of the latest real developed products which we managed to get to now about.

How does this device work? For the lifting and the subsequent movement of a man in the air a powerful engine is required which is at the same time not too cumbersome and heavy. The solution of the problem was the invention of absolutely new kind of fuel which is based on the mixture of hydrogen peroxide, nitrogen, silver nitrate and some other elements. Due to catalysts which are inside the system the "rocket backpack" has the greater power and relatively small fuel consumption. On each side it is supplied with powerful pipes through which the emission is produced and which serve an original rudder for the main character.

According to the website description generally we'll be taking part in some covert operations. Does this mean that at certain moments the game won't look like a common "carnage with lots of gore" and really acquire some traits of the espionage action game?

There will be some missions when it's better to avoid open battle and obtain the required thing quietly and without any witnesses. But then again it is left at the discretion of the player – whether to subject his life to evident danger or to play as a "scout". But we must bear in mind that Underwater Wars game is in the first place a striking and spectacular action, that's why there will be not many "espionage" missions.

Is the game Underwater Wars played in the first person view or in the third person view? Will there be an option to change the viewing camera? And which kind of view do you prefer yourself and consider it to be the most convenient one?

Both view modes will be implemented in the game - the first person view, as well as the third person view. There will also be an option to change the viewing camera at any moment. As for me, I prefer first person view.

The game action takes place in the near future. It follows from it that some fantastic weapon will be used in the fight with bad guys?

In the process of the combat arsenal creation we used prototypes of the modern weapon. I'll be frank to say that we prepared a surprise for our players. Among the usual weapon we'll offer them something absolutely special – such models which are now only prepared for the development and are marked with "top secret" stamp. That's why we may call a weapon fantastic only provided that the people cannot even think how far the human thought went in the creation of the battle equipment.

According to the game, the main aggressor is China. Did Crysis inspire you to that?

No, we were inspired quite on our own. The problem is topical. China really became overwhelming recently.

Our protagonist is American. Why USA of all the countries?

We simply didn't dare to deprive USA of the exclusive right to interfere in any conflicts in order to save the world.

To what extent will the armament of the main character be better than the enemies' one? Will there be any possibility to pick up and use the "orphaned" :) weapon?

There are various units and squads among the main character's enemies. The player is a member of a top-secret elite squad which dictates some certain level of his equipment. It is natural that our heroes will be equipped much better than the common enemy units. Though, failing quality, the enemy will gain an advantage by means of quantity. However the enemies also have some special elite unit which doesn't yield an inch to our players and it is, perhaps, one of the gravest enemies.

Concerning the "orphaned" weapon, well, yes. The player will be able to use everything that he'll manage to win over, taka away or find.

The action will also take place in Russia, but which side will the people of our country take against the two antagonistic nations?

We really are the patriots, that's why we cannot allow our compatriots to perish. Russia is a wise country, and one may say that it is the scales of justice and balance. While blaming the guilty of the conflict it won't interfere some other countries' war however.

Judging from the basic features we'll be given the right of choice: either to play for Him or for Her. Are there any differences between them besides constitution and appearance?

I would like to immediately specify that the character choice will be offered to the players only at some appointed moments of the game. Concerning the distinctions, we may say here that of course, each character is individual and each has his/her own specialization. Besides, some temper peculiarities will dictate the conduct of the player in various situations. For example the main female character feels confident and calmly only when she holds a three-barrel shotgun in her delicate and strong hands.

And what does "the game composed of a fighting four" mean?

It means that our main character acts in the squad which consists of four people and is a commander of this squad. Leading his squad he'll have to coordinate its actions by giving orders and commands.

I also noticed such a peculiar item in the specifications: "the reconstruction of the underwater weapon which had been classified earlier". Where did you get to know about it from? Or will it be some fictional weapon based on the real info?

We have some very good advisers. We cannot reveal any names due to understandable reasons. But the weapon which will be shown in the game is real. Due to our intelligencers we were able to simulate practically exact copies of the battle equipment which is used by the underwater special mission units.

What multiplayer modes will be available in the game? Will there be anything new?

The following features will be presented in the game:

– Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch

– Vehicle CTF

– Duel

– Campaign

Full Xbox Live support.

Will there be any possibility to play online with Xbox 360 users?

Yes.

Judging from the website images the game is developed not only for the PC, but also for the X360 console. But Playstation 3 is also mentioned in the engine specifications. It looks like the Underwater Wars will be available only for PC and new Xbox owners?

For the time being, yes. Let's not give any false promises to the PS3 users, though we are working in that direction at present.

The versions for two mentioned gaming platforms are developed independently from each other or the PC version will be ported from Xbox?

The rendering (image output) glue code is developed independently from each other. More visual effects and extra levels for the image quality will be available in the PC version. It goes without saying that full DirectX 10 support is planned.

I also noticed that the game will support the PhysX physical accelerator. What exactly will the product from AGEIA accelerate?

What special effects will be implemented in UW?

The product from AGEIA will surprisingly accelerate physics calculations. Generally all those special effects which are used in the state-of-the-art high-tech shooters will be implemented in the game. To be more concrete, these special effects will be: the objects damage system, full environment interactivity, physical particles, fabric simulation, softbody, underwater explosions, full dynamic lighting for the characters' environment, caustic surface, godrace, depoffield (DOF), HDR, bloom etc.

Please specify the approximate system requirements for the PC owners.

Pentium 4, 2 MHz, GeForce 7600 GT, 1Gb RAM.

The better the hardware, the higher will be the details level.

Will there be any optimization for the low-level machines?

Yes, surely. We'll try to make the game accessible even for those gamers whose computers are relatively weak as much as possible.

Will the game content of the version for Russian-speaking countries differ from all the other versions?

No, all the game versions will be identical.

Do you plan to release the public demo closer to the date of the final release?

Yes, surely.

Could you tell us how many per cent (approximately) of the game is already finished?

The game is finished approximately 15 per cent for the time being.