MaverickFM
Pathfinder Games
As the founder of Traction Wars (TWs), what made you decide to take on such a challenge?
“I had worked on a couple of mod teams prior to founding Traction Wars but none of them were exactly what I wanted to create. The scale of the task was only something I really grasped later on...”
What have you learnt from working on TWs?
“It’s hard to say really. I have ended up working on anything no-one else wanted (or could) work on so I’ve ended up learning a huge amount about CRYENGINE, scripting, programming, web-design & management. It has also been a learning curve managing such a big project with an evolving team that is miles apart.”
What are your favourite parts of being involved with TWs?
“Not to be cliche but the truth is it's the comradery of the team and the supportiveness of the community.”
What was your initial vision?
“For me I have always loved WW2 games but I never quite found what I was looking for. I wanted to play a WW2 game which was historically accurate & realistic but a faster pace than the realism games of the time. I didn’t want to find myself miles from my teammates with a long walk back to the action. In my naivety I thought if I can’t find it.. why not make it?”
Have you expanded or reduced it much?
“The vision for the game has remained largely unchanged since its inception. Since day one we have planned on releasing the game in a series of chapters, a format which naturally lends itself to progressively increasing the complexity and size of the game. Over time our ambitions for OVERLORD grew and what originally had been planned as “TW-lite” developed into a fully fledge first release.”
What were the major changes and why?
“At the beginning of this year we went back to basics and drew up a release plan which is achievable in the 18-24 months release target we announced last month. Some of those decisions were harder to make than others.”
What were the hardest things to cut?
“Settling for a 32-player player cap and leaving out vehicles were definitely the toughest choices we had to make. At the end of the day though there is a limit to what we can get done in the time frame we set ourselves. Increasing the player cap beyond 32-players would have meant dramatically more work in level design (as they’re bigger!) and a lot of time in ensuring the game ran smoothly with more players. Similarly, vehicles are something we are keen to include but we want to do the job properly, so they will have to wait for another Chapter.”
Why WW2 for a topic?
“The Second World War has always fascinated me and even though there have been many many WW2 computer games over the years there have not been a huge number which featured the British Army. It was almost inevitable that I ended up working on a WW2 game featuring the British when I look back.”
What exactly do you do day-to-day?
“Ultimately my role is in leading and coordinating the team but I also work on a wide range of technical areas for the project. Logistically, creating a game like Traction Wars is extremely complex and it isn’t any easier when everyone is working in different places across several time zones. Trying to keep everything running smoothly keeps me pretty busy.
On the actual development side of things, I have worked on most areas of the game over the years but probably my largest contributions are in the game design, technical rigging and scripting. I also used to do the tanks and vehicle implementations prior to them being pushed back from OVERLORD.”
Do you have a favourite cookie?
“Vanilla with white chocolate chips.”
What is your favourite memory from working on TWs?
“I don’t think I have a single favourite memory on the team. Accidentally making a Pz.IV fly and pretty much every media creation of [TWDEV] Calgoblin deserve special mention though.
What is the most rewarding part of working on TWs?
“The process of development for me is extremely rewarding. Just seeing how far we have come since our beginnings (just compare the screenshots!) and seeing ideas go from paper to something working in-game are hard to beat.”
What can we expect over the next few months?
“Well more updates for a start! I won’t spoil all the surprises but at least one of the updates will include eye candy for the German fans in the community along with some more technical blogs on how we are making Traction Wars come to life!”
That's all for our first developer interview. Our next update will be on 25th September but in the meantime you can find us on social media from the links below.
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