Joint Task Force Developer Diary – Part 3

“Even though the heroes in JTF lack enormous muscles, super-stamina or spandex-tights, their skills and abilities can make or break a game.”

The real-time strategy genre is rather crowded and in order for a title to stand out, it must provide a unique experience in some regards. Joint Task Force is throwing its hat into that ring with many elements that should have RTS gamers sitting up and taking notice.

Joint Task Force is from Most Wanted Entertainment and will be published by Vivendi Universal Games. The title is, according to the press release, “the real-time strategy game where you command the frontline forces in tomorrow’s most hazardous conflicts. Lead twenty dramatic missions in explosive war-zones including the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Balkans. Experience the evolution of warfare firsthand as you bring superior tactics and military technology to bear against dangerous and unconventional forces. No game has been so gritty or immediate. Use the principle of combined arms to your maximum advantage. All battlefield units — including infantry, tanks, artillery, reconnaissance and helicopters — are strongest when used together. Your men’s lives depend on your level-headed strategy.”

GameZone.com got a preview look at the title prior to E3 2006, but now we get to take an inside look at the title with a series of developer diaries.

For the first two parts of these developer diaries, please see Part 1 and Part 2

Exclusive Screenshot

Developer Diary 3
by Kristoffer Waardahl, Designer Joint Task Force

No capes, please!

That’s right – it is hero time in the dev diaries! Even though the heroes in JTF lack enormous muscles, super-stamina or spandex-tights, their skills and abilities can make or break a game. Let’s find out how…

AN OFFICER AND GENTLEMAN

Well, officers at least – there’s no place for gentlemen in the trenches. All heroes start out as regular servicemen from their branch, be it Rangers, Commandos or Pilots. Once they get going in the game and start fighting, they’ll earn Experience Points for getting kills, assists and completing mission objectives. At the end of each mission, the top soldiers of all service branches will be presented, and you get to pick one of them for promotion. Once promoted into an officer (effectively a hero), these guys will stay with you throughout the campaign – until they find themselves staring down at the wrong end of a barrel somewhere in the field. That’s right – they are still human, and still fragile. However, they get a bunch of nifty abilities with their promotion, and if you keep them alive, they’ll develop further.

SKILLS & ABILITIES

Your officers will gain access to a skill tree inherent to their unit type. Every level they gain as heroes enables them to proceed down one of the branches of the skill tree, thereby endowing them with a new ability. There are over 30 different officer skills and abilities in the game from assault skills to sensors specialists so you’re really spoiled for choice there. Not all skills are combat-oriented, indeed far from it.

Ranger officers usually specialize in tactical skills giving bonuses to nearby troops, such as “Assault specialist” – increasing the accuracy and volume of fire of troops, or “Tactical specialist,” which enables nearby troops to use every inch of ground as cover. Their mastery of gunnery skills also lets them use weapons installations and AT weapons to maximum effect. Commandos are a different matter; their “Spec Ops training” enables them to operate virtually unseen, and their “Weapons mastery” skills give them the edge in any fire close-range firefight. Of course, the sniper officers are unmatched when it comes to killing; their “Precise shot” skills enable them to pick off exposed tank crews and enemy leaders with shocking ease.

Medics are the other end of the bargain, specializing in setting up first-aid stations, rapid treatment and supply drops. Vehicle crews have their own specialists, experts in heavy gunnery, tank hunting, airspace coordination and more.

Exclusive Screenshot

SUPPORT

One of the most important officer abilities are the support abilities, which either enable them to reinforce their squads by calling in reinforcements, or to radio for air strikes, satellite reconnaissance and UAV help. The supporting forces can have a decisive effect on the game if employed correctly.

The A-10 tank killer aircraft can be called in to stave off a group of tanks with its Maverick missiles and Avenger cannon, and the F-117 can drop a few cluster bombs which annihilate all infantry and light vehicles (friend or foe alike, so watch out).

All of these supporting abilities cost further resources though, so they are not to be called in lightly. Sometimes it’s better to deploy a tank then using a quick air raid to momentarily solve a problem.

COMBINATIONS

Even though these bonuses might seem weaker than the armor and firepower of an Abrams tank, when you combine the skills of several heroes, group them in custom equipped squads and send them into battle, the difference shows.

In one session of testing, four heroes and a few snipers managed to take out an entire platoon of Afghan T-55 tanks and dozens of Taliban by maneuvering carefully and choosing where to fight. The bliss unfortunately ended when the AI had enough and called in an air strike right on top of the group. So remember – spread out, and duck n´ cover until next time!

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