DTF Games was founded in July 2003 as an
independent branch of one of the oldest Russian game sites . We have always been interested in gaming industry, we
wanted to know what, how, and why was happening in this business the
way it did and not some other way; we were interested in becoming
part of the process ourselves, to go beyond just reviewing games.
That's why back in 2001 we launched Russia's first industrial
website for game developers , which has been gathering the cream of
the crops of the Russian gaming industry at its forums for three
years now. The people visited DEV.DTF.RU, talked shop; the community
around DEV.DTF.RU was growing, and we watched the process and got
ourselves ready to step in to this business. In 2003, we organized
first (also known as KRI). And the same year we
decided to start developing games on our own.
What is "Stalingrad"?
"Stalingrad" is
a real-time strategy based on modified version of the “Blitzkrieg”
engine, initially developed by Nival Interactive. The plot of the
game covers the period between July 1942 through January 1943 and
describes the events of one of the most dramatic episodes of WW2.
Within the framework of two detailed campaigns, player will first
command the offensive of the German troops to Stalingrad and the
following assault on the city. After that he will take command over
the Red Army troops, liberate the Soviet fortress from nazis and
fully obliterate the 6th army of Wehrmacht. Unlike other games of
the same setting, each mission of "Stalingrad" is based on authentic
historical realities and is connected to the authentic WW2 events
both in time and in place. Moreover, some of the combat tasks are
organized in such a way so as to ensure that the campaigns
themselves provide a realistic description of the actual
developments in the battle-ground at the time.
Is there going to be a demo version of
Stalingrad?
This question is still being
discussed.
When will the game appear on
shelves?
Approximately in Q4 2004. As soon as we know
exact date we will let you know – check official site for
updates.
What are the system
requirements?
For the time being, system requirements for
the game are as follows:
Windows 98 / Me / 2000 / XP;
Microsoft DirectX 8.1;
Pentium II 366 MHz (Pentium III 600 MHz recommended);
RAM 64 MB (128 MB recommended);
Riva TNT, 8 MB (GeForce256, 32 ��
recommended);
Game Process
How much does Stalingrad differ
from the original Blitzkrieg?
The ideology of the game is
somewhat different, some of the Blitzkrieg's elements have not been
used in Stalingrad, and many have been considerably altered. In
short the game is much more connected to actual historical
realities, here the player is not controlling abstract detachments,
but rather certain units and forces, which participated in the
Battle of Stalingrad. When creating the game script we had to dig
through a mass of historical materials, some of them were hard to
find, which is why the game process here is much closer to what
happened in reality. The maps for Stalingrad are created based on
the aero-photo-shots and authentic war tactical maps, details on
that to follow. In addition to that a large scope of work was
completed in correcting the infantry/ordnance parameters, as well as
game-world constants. Add new interface, new soundtrack, and new
videos and you will get an approximate picture of the difference
between Blitzkrieg and Stalingrad games.
Why are you using the Blitzkrieg's engine and
what upgrades were introduced for Stalingrad?
In our
opinion Blitzkrieg is one of the first successful Russian attempts
to create an open-architecture engine that can be used by teams of
other developers. Among the strong sides of the engine are immense
opportunities on altering the game constants in accordance with your
needs as well as a simplistic system of exporting the models from
Maya directly into the game. Setbacks on the other hand would
include certain limitations of the engine – such as for instance the
authenticity of models' behavior on the game field. Nonetheless we
are very grateful to Nival for giving us the opportunity to use
their initial efforts. This allowed us to concentrate more on the
design of the game, without thinking about writing our own engine
for Stalingrad. The upgrades that we have already introduced to the
original engine are more concerned about the realistic depicturing
of combat action.
Does the name of the
game presuppose that all of the action in Stalingrad will happen
within the city limits?
No, the game does not limit the
action to the city, as one could have thought judging by the title.
As the player proceeds to Stalingrad with the German forces he will
see a number of places located both in Stalingrad and nearby. Out of
the city districts the most detailed would be the Stalingrad-1
railway station, the famous Mamayev Kurgan, Square of the Perished
Fighters, the Red October plant, and the airfield. In the course of
the operation on encircling the German forces the player will
perform combat tasks in various different localities of the
Stalingrad region – collective farms, villages, Cossack settlements,
etc.
How much will the game process be
affected by the fact that the action will only span
1942-1943?
Of course the already stated historical
authenticity in Stalingrad will to a certain extent affect the game
process. For instance we were forced to refuse from any interactive
elements, that is we will not allow the player to change the actual
results of a battle. However by successfully accomplishing certain
missions, the players will be able to access a number of secret
missions, demonstrating unknown facts from the history of the
Stalingrad battle. Also the model range was considerably altered
compared to the original Blitzkrieg, since we had to demonstrate the
ordnance used for only 7 months rather than throughout the five
years of war. I.e. we will positively not include German "Panther"
and Soviet "IS" tanks into the game, since at the time they simply
did not exist. However, on the other hand, we will demonstrate other
ordnance units, which had not earlier been featured in any of
historical war strategies. Such as for instance the German
Panzerselbstfahrlafette V "Sturer Emil" howitzer only two copies of
which existed in reality. That is, the limited time frames of
Stalingrad presuppose a number of setbacks, but also provide a
number of entirely unexpected bonuses.
How many types of weaponry will we see in
Stalingrad?
Overall there is over 150 different types of
infantry and ordnance units in Stalingrad, which are built in strict
accordance with the actual prototypes. These, as we mentioned above,
would include units that have not yet been featured in historical
military strategies: i.e., for instance, the experimental SAU
Panzerselbstfahrlafette V "Sturer Emil", PZB-41/28 AT gun, Red Army
heavy assault infantry and others.
Are
there any differences in the characteristics of combat units of
Wehrmacht infantry and Red Army units in Stalingrad?
Yes
there’re differences, moreover they directly influence the game
process. For instance the German tanks have a better sight due to
better optics and thus are better prepared for long-distance duels.
On the other hand, the Soviet machines have better speed,
cross-country capabilities and are larger in numbers. In close
combat they will be a good match to the German panzers. The German
infantry is also better equipped, has an abundance of rifle
grenade-launchers and automatic weapons, but the Soviet battalions
are larger, and as the "fresh" guard and motorized detachments step
into the scene the differences are effectively removed. In the
course of the battle for the city the German troops, initially
having a quantitative advantage, get worn out in battles and loser
combat ability, the Red Army on the other hand will get better
weapons and reinforcements. All of this makes the game process quite
diverse and does not allow the player to come up with any universal
tactics, which would provide a guaranteed victory in a
mission.
Strategy and Tactics
What types of infantry formations
will be available in Stalingrad?
As of present the
working version of Stalingrad features four types of basic
formations: the mob (attack mode, "despite all losses"), unfolded
line (the detachment advances in a line with slightly folded
flanks), defense (a semicircle with machine-gunners on the flanks),
and march (column by three).
Will
Stalingrad feature normal tank combat: in particular did you change
the range of the guns as well as armor parameters?
The
range of the guns on average has been doubled. If in Blitzkrieg that
was 25-35 tiles (note: one Stalingrad tile is approx 2.5 meters)
than we have 50-60. This is why we have quite authentic looking tank
duels, when the opponents are standing at a certain distance from
each other (as opposed to barrel-fencing) and exchanging rounds
until complete annihilation of either of the two. The armor of the
tanks has been changed in accordance with table data. The life-level
bar remains there, but "health points" have been recalculated
according to our own matrix and represent the actual life of a tank
in battle.
Is the artillery range in
proportion with tank guns?
Certainly, the artillery has a
range of its own. From 360 tile for an average mortar (i.e. it
covers an average-size map) to 900 tiles for the RGK artillery. And
before you ask, this will be compensated with: a) a realistic
scatter of shots for the artillery; b) ammo allowance limited by the
table data. For instance, the 105mm LeFH-18 howitzer can have no
more than 12 rounds on-board; replenishments are to be picked up at
the battery storage.
Will it be
possible to crush artillery units with tanks in
Stalingrad?
No. Unfortunate as it is, the Blitzkrieg
engine does not allow this feature. Then again there will not be
that many situations when the artillery would allow the tanks to
approach that near due to the firing radius that is larger than in
the original. As of the results of the tests we can say that cannons
would normally be destroyed in one to two rounds after exposure. As
it in fact happened in WW2.
How is the
aerial support realized in Stalingrad?
We removed the
fighter planes since it is not possible to show a realistic
dog-fight in such scale. Other types of planes have increased speed
and a realistic turn radius. In addition to that the bomb scattering
is such that when you work on the edge you’d have a fair chance of
hitting your own troops.
How will the
player replenish ammo and repair?
Same as in Blitzkrieg
at storages. Although there will be much less of those in
Stalingrad. Largely the locations of the storages will be quite
logical: they will be deployed near the artillery positions, railway
stations, in the center of key defense positions, in the
settlements. Also the player will not always have access to a
storage right from the start. At times he will be forced to first
capture a certain Whatever railway station, to get access to the
storage, receive reinforcements, and continue attacking. Repair
units/trucks also appear as reinforcements – at times there would be
plenty of them.
Will the player be able
to replenish the infantry in the course of the game "free of charge"
same as it has been in Blitzkrieg?
No, no such infantry
replenishments. We refused from that out of ideology. There is a
sufficient number of infantry reinforcements. In fact the
tank/infantry ratio we have is much more realistic than in the
original "Blitzkrieg". And its much more diverse, by the
way.
Will the infantry be equipped with
heavy weaponry?
Of course. We even have special heavy
platoons, which are used to enforce staff infantry platoons. These
feature a pair of grenade throwers (soldiers with a bag of
grenades), rifle grenade launchers, a more combat able manpower, and
an officer with binoculars.
What type
of terrain relief will we see in Stalingrad? Are you going to have
heights?
The terrain relief in the Stalingrad missions is
created in accordance with historical realities. Out of the bigger
heights we are going to have the Mamayev Kurgan, but mostly it will
be smaller hills and gorges. By the way, our Map designer spent
quite some time with the Mamayev Kurgan but now it looks quite
nicely.
Does the distance of detecting
an object (infantry/ordnance) comply with the view distance? As it
is known, the smaller the silhouette/size of an object the shorter
the distance at which it can be detected with other conditions
similar.
In Stalingrad infantry and some of the ordnance
units (such as for instance AT artillery) have a very high level of
camouflage. In reality this leads to the realization of the "eight
of first shot" for a cannon. That is it can only be detected after
the first shot, after which the tanks can destroy it. Such units
cannot be seen through binoculars either. Thus the distance of view
and detection are pretty much two different things for us.
Are there any terrain camouflage coefficients,
which allow to conceal ordnance, reduce the distance from which it
will be detected?
Yes. There are positions at which
cannons/tanks can only be seen if you come right close to
them.
Is there going to be heavy
artillery in the game such as ML-20 or A-19?
Yes, of
course. Moreover, Stalingrad will also feature the less known
artillery units such as the 203mm B-4 Soviet howitzer.
How is the experience gaining system implemented
in Stalingrad?
The system of gaining and transferring
experience points in Stalingrad is simply unnecessary - ordnance and
infantry are not moved from one mission into another. However there
is a certain "equivalent" of gaining experience for the troops under
your command - based on the same historical authenticity towards
which we strive. For instance, as you proceed through the German
campaign you will find that there is less and less soldiers in a
platoon (due to losses in action), however there would be more and
more "veteran" type soldiers (infantry with improved characteristics
and own weaponry – a German veteran may have a trophy PPSh
submachine gun).
Will it be possible
for two infantry squads to hide in different houses and shoot at
each other from the cover?
Yes.
Will Stalingrad feature sniper
duels?
Theoretically yes, but for that it will be
necessary for two snipers to appear in one and the same map sector,
and provided that nobody impedes their actions. In practice this
happens very rarely. Possibly there will be a separate mission where
the player will be able to use you snipers against the enemy
snipers.
Will engineers in Stalingrad
be able to mine a building against
infantry?
No.
Will there be
fires? If so will they be passable for infantry?
No fires
per se. We have however considerably increased the longevity of the
burning effect - this had been necessary exactly for us to be able
to receive a picture with a city on fire. The new version of smoke
will be shown on screenshots, which we are planning to publish
shortly.
Will there be wounded in the
game and if so, will the player receive bonuses for salvaging them
from the battlefield?
The wounded in the game will be
soldiers with reduced characteristics - they will also become
objectives in some of the missions. The player will not be able to
heal his soldiers during a
mission.
