Alan's latest can be found below:
No, I wouldn't do that to you Actually, I would, but it would probably back-fire badly as some moron grabs a really bad joke from me and runs with it.
We're busy burning the weekend oil right now. A whole bunch of scripting going on for voice work. And no, don't worry - I am NOT going to be doing any voice acting! Today, we (Bill and I) are concentrating on the whole "battle chatter" piece, for Russians and Germans. This deals with both the vocalisations of commands issued by the player, as well as a whole bunch of scripting related to the AI. As with everything else, there will be a lot of fine-tuning on how it is used over the next few months, but it should add a lot of immersion.
Working on the training as well, although I think that is driving Keith (the LD building the relevant levels) slowly to drink. We're scripting up all the stuff that people need to learn, but of course, the systems aren't all completely finalized. It has to both cover the new systems/changes for old RO hands, as well as make sure that new players get to know the base systems.
The whole SP campaign (both sides) is actually built, but it will undergo repeated balance passes as core game systems finalize/lock down. Obviously that includes the AI, as the way that performs makes a big difference - as the AI learns to crew tanks properly and fully, how to operate as a squad and all of that. We've now got 2 campaigns, set up on a chronological basis, showcasing various small-unit actions across the city.
For those who don't know - no, we aren't doing the big character-based, movie-style, rail-shooter monster. For one, that costs a ridiculous amount of money to do - and for another, we're not always too fond of those things. Not a lot of replay value, usually. Perhaps one day, when we have $40million to burn, we might go that route, but not this time! So we'll leave the huge budget movie style to others - think of this as theater instead of the movies Small units (squads/platoons) trying to do their job, in various locations in the middle of the huge meat-grinder that is Stalingrad - and trying not to get everyone killed in the process.
And if I don't get this script stuff done, I'm going to have to commit seppuku - so a short missive this week, back to work for me!