Opposing Fronts Is In Stores Early!
Interview with Josh Mosqueira - September 25, 2007
Some people might have noticed my confusion over the discovery that Opposing Fronts was launching before November. For many people it was a case of “That’s awesome! I get the game early!” for those of us battling connection and balance issues in the beta it was more of a “Wait a second, this game’s not done yet! Why is Relic releasing this now? It must be THQ head office!”.
Well, luckily enough, I know some people who know some people. I got a chance to ask Relic directly in the hopes it would put my fears to rest. Josh Mosqueira, a long time Relic Dev, Lead Designer on Relic’s Homeworld 2, and Company of Heroes got the joy of answering my questions via this email “Interview”.
Me: With the perception out there that the Release date was November 2007 (as advertised in the Multiplayer Beta), why is the game shipping “early”? I know it’s silly, but people seem confused by this seemingly “early” shipping of the game. For me at least it’s a sense of “This is too good to be true, what’s the catch?” with the catch being that multiplayer connectivity and functionality is not up to snuff.
Josh: And now you see what so many games have a “when it’s done” ship date :-)
To understand OF’s “early” ship date let me see if I can explain how we go about finishing a game.
Most games are released to manufacture (RTM) anywhere from 4 to 8 weeks before shipping. This is the time it takes for the DVDs to be manufactured, put into boxes and shipped to retailers. Now sometimes it’s possible to RTM a few weeks away from a street date but not always. Generally you want at least 3 weeks.
Things get even more complicated when you add a world-wide simultaneous ship date for your game. The lead-time from RTM to ship needs to accommodate different localized-builds of the game (which take time since they can only do the final transitions once the game is RTM) plus different distribution channels across multiple counties. All this complication means your RTM date needs to be at least 6 to 8 weeks from shipping.
Opposing Fronts RTM date was always slated to be around the 15th of September which is where the November “ship” date comes from: September 15th plus 8 weeks.
Technically Opposing Fronts was not finished early it is merely shipping early.
Why did we fast-track the manufacturing of the game?
First it was critical for us to have a world-wide simultaneous ship. Not having one could have delayed the RTM date of Opposing Fronts but this was not a call we wanted to make. Why, piracy.
Not having a world-wide launch of OF means more opportunities for illegal copies of OF to flood the internet. Looking at the data that we have, piracy hurt the sales of CoH especially in regions that shipped CoH after the main release of the game.
We did not want the same to happen with OF so the decision to simultaneous ship was made. This is why the September 15th RTM existed in the first place - we wanted to give localization and operations enough time to wrap up so this is where the November ship date came from.
However, in late August it became apparent that we could simultaneous ship on the 24th of September so after some deliberation it was decided to ship on that date.
Just to belie any fears, no corners were cut. The game that’s shipping today is the same game that would have shipped in November. I know it’s hard to believe but after the 15th only patch work was slated and that is continuing as we speak. If you’ve been on the beta you would have noticed an increased pace at which we release patches and this is an example of the type of support you can expect from Relic for Opposing Fronts.
Me: You’re going up against some big releases now! Gamers have Enemy Territory Quake Wars, Halo 3, and World in Conflict coming shortly with Hellgate London in another month. What would make you want to try and compete for attention now?
Josh: With all the high-profile releases this fall we wanted to make sure that OF was on the shelf for as long as possible. First we believe that the follow-up to 2006 PC Game of the Year could go toe-to-toe with the heavy hitters. But we’re also content with having a long shelf-presence backed up by marketing and PR. Personally, I rather be on store shelves for 2 months before Xmas than to get lost in the chaos of last minute holiday shopping.
Me: People in the Multiplayer Beta and those primarily excited about the multiplayer portion of the game seem to believe there’s still work to be done on, and obviously patches are still coming for the beta. What can you do to help put aside their fears about the gold version’s Multiplayer?
Josh: First we would not have shipped if we did not feel OF was ready for prime-time. I know the initial beta was problematic, but that’s why we have betas - to help us find issues and so that we can fix them and I think our track record as of late with the beta has shown our commitment to OF and the community.
Doubt not :-)
Me: With the Arranged Teams automatch being moved from Release to a patch, can you explain why this happened? That was a feature that people remember as being “promised” for original CoH (in a patch), then “promised” to be in Opposing Fronts. Now we’re being told it’ll be in a patch for Opposing Fronts. Obviously connectivity takes priority over automatch, but is there anything more you can tell us?
Josh: Short answer is that circumstances out of our control meant we needed to make a hard decision in July and that was to move Team Automatch from release and into a patch. It was a hard decision (especially for me and Allie since we both put our necks on the chopping block and promised the feature for ship) but it was one that had to be made. I do know that work is being done and Team Automatch will see the light of day. If not I take on whatever challenge Relicnews can throw my way as penance.
Me: With the understanding that you’re still working on the game, what can we expect for a zero day patch? How much of the patch will be single Player related? How much Multiplayer? Can we expect further patches after the zero day patch? As a gamer, do you believe publishers should allow products to ship that require a zero day patch?
Josh: Ahh, gotta love those Zero-Day Patches. The intent for the Zero-Day Patch was to incorporate as much balance data from the Beta which is still on-going. It was always in the plans to release a Zero-Day patch given our long lead time between RTM and ship. In terms of future patch plans, again the Beta is a good indication of what is going to come. You can expect regular patches plus the possibility of a Beta-Patch Server where we can test out balance fixes with the top players before releasing patches.
Me: What can players expect from the Single Player game? Obviously it’s two campaigns, but how many missions for each? How much game play compared to Original CoH? How many maps (skirmish and multiplayer) are shipping with the game?
Josh: OF weighs in at 17 missions compared to the 15 from CoH, plus 2 new tutorial chapters to cover the new gameplay for the Brits and Panzer Elite. Players can expect a trilling and cinematic single-player experience across two campaigns. The Liberation of Caen campaign has 9 missions that see the 3rd Battalion fight in Operation Epsom, Charwood and Goodwood. With Operation Market Garden’s 8 missions players take command of Kampfgruppe Lehr and defend against the largest airborne operation in history.
Me: Is there anything else you’d like to tell us about Opposing Fronts?
Josh: Josh: The whole team is extremely proud of the work that’s gone into OF and we hope that you guys like what we have done. OF’s goal was to enhance and make CoH the definitive WW2 RTS. But it’s not an end point for us, for Relic OF is very much a starting point and we’re very excited about where CoH is going
The Eselschreck is just the beginning…
Thanks Josh! I look forward to my copy coming in to EB on October 23rd! (Silly EB Games still thinks it’s shipping on October 23rd)
Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts is in stores now!