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Interview with Rod Fung,
01.05.2000
Q: Rod, can you take a minute to introduce yourself and explain your involvement in creating Swat 3?
A: I am the producer for the SWAT series of games here at Sierra On-Line. The producer is responsible for all aspects of the game's development. I've been at Sierra going on 10 years now, first starting at the Oakhurst/Yosemite division in California.
Q: Let's talk about some gameplay decisions. Can you explain the differences between the primary weapons in Swat 3 and different situations that you would recommend each for? What went behind the decision to include such a small amount of weapons?
A: In SWAT 3 our goal was to stay as close to real life as possible, so we decided to include only the firearms that LAPD SWAT carries, or would carry in the year 2005 which of course includes the Heckler & Koch MP5 and MP5SD models. The MP5's are 'the' primary close-quarter battle weapons as they are short, accurate, and most important of all, reliable. Since both HK's are 9mm, in the game it would be best to use them in situations where suspects are not wearing body armor, and limited ballistic penetration is desired (such as in many indoor situations). In the game another primary weapon that you can equip yourself with is the M4A1 Carbine. The M4A1 is currently very popular with law enforcement and military special operations teams. The M4A1 is considered the pinnacle of development in the AR15/M16 family lineup. The M4A1 is a .223 caliber firearm that is capable of penetrating level 3 body armor, so it would be the best choice when encountering suspects with body armor. They only disadvantage in using an M4A1 indoors is that if you happen to miss your suspect, your bullets could potentially penetrate interior walls and injury a fellow officer or hostage. The final primary weapon that you can equip your officer with is a Benelli Super-90 14-inch Entry model. The primary ammunition load for the Benelli shotgun is 00 9-pellet buckshot. The shotgun is a good choice for some situations as it is very lethal when you can place all of your nine 00 buckshot pellets on target, and it is especially lethal within the 7 yards. This is the really advantage of the shotgun, placing maximum ordinance on target. As for secondary firearms, we gave our LAPD SWAT officers the only choice that they would consider, the 1911 .45acp. The 1911 is an icon for LAPD SWAT. SWAT currently issues three 1911 pistols to each officer, and they will continue to issue them in 2005 (when the game takes place) as well. The great advantage of the 1911 is that it is a single-action automatic pistol that can be carried 'cocked and locked' (hammer back, thumb safety on) which allows a very short, light trigger pull for an accurate first shot. This is extremely important that operators have this level of first shot accuracy in hostage rescue situations. In addition to the primary ammunition in most firearms, each firearm in the game has secondary ammunition as well. In most cases the primary ammunition is a jacket hollow point round, while the secondary ammunition are full metal jacket rounds. The Benelli's primary load is 9 pellet 00 buckshot and the secondary load is a frangible breaching round. The M4A1's secondary load is a less than lethal bean bag round which you can use to assist in gaining compliance on a suspect if they refuse to give up.
Q: We keep hearing various information on this multiplayer/mission pack in development. What exactly are you guys working on and what kind of timeframe are you talking about?
A: Yes, my team is busy at work on SWAT 3 multiplayer and an add-on pack. We have other things in the work as well. The SWAT 3 multiplayer add-on pack should be available in early Spring 2000.
Q: Should we expect any new improvements such as EAX or A3d 3d positional sound support in the future?
A: Possibly, both companies have been lobbying to have us support their cards
Q: The SWAT series from Sierra has evolved from a cinematic game to a strategy game and now a first-person shooter. What does the future of the Swat series hold?
A: We think we have a pretty good thing with SWAT 3. I think you'll see the SWAT series continue in the direction that we went with SWAT 3.
Q: Are there any plans to see versions of Swat 3 on different platforms such as console systems or even the Mac?
A: I really can't say at this time
Q: It has been said that the Swat 3 levels were created using a version of Worldcraft. Knowing how many experienced gamers there at Worldcraft with the numerous user created Half-Life levels out there, are we going to see the ability to create new levels for Swat 3?
A: I really hope so! SWAT 3 levels are extremely complicated to create, but I'm sure that there are many level designers out there who would like to take on the task and my hopes are that we can provide them with something to create their own levels.
Q: One of the most amazing things I've seen in SWAT3 is the randomness of the location of the terrorists. Even if you replay missions a dozen times over, the positions of the terrorists seem to vary every single time! This is leaps and bounds beyond other FPS tactical sims; can you share with us some of the programming tricks you used to pull this off?
A: I'm glad you like the "random' start points. From the initial conception of Tammy Dargan's design, we knew we had to build an engine that supported this feature. This is a good example of why developers need a solid game design before they start developing the game engine, and the game. Tammy had a central vision from the start as to what she wanted to see in SWAT 3. The team's goal was to bring Tammy's vision to life in the game. As far as adding the various start points in the game, it really was pretty easy once we had the engine up and running and the levels complete. We are able to put an almost unlimited number of start points for each character…just wait for SWAT 4!
Q: Do you have any comments on why SWAT 3 was given an ESRB rating of "Mature," while similar games, such as Rogue Spear, which depict similar levels of animated violence, received less severe ratings? How has this affected the distribution and sales of SWAT 3?
A: I can't speak for the ESRB board, but I'm pretty sure that the reason we received a 'mature' rating is because of the realism in our game. It hasn't affected our distribution or sales at all. I'm happy to say that SWAT 3 is all over the place.
Q: Why doesn't glass break in SWAT 3 when you shoot it?
A: I'm sorry, glass really doesn't break when you shoot through it…really. I've had the opportunity to shoot through a number of types of glass (in training). Many times, bullets put a nice hole through the glass with some shatter right around the bullet hole.. that's about it. A really cool feature that I'd love to add in a future game would be the effect that glass has on the trajectory of the bullet depending on its entry angle to the glass..now that would be something to see in a game!
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