Interview with Lead Game Designer Quinn Duffy

Interview with Quinn Duffy, Relic's Lead Designer on
Company of Heroes 2

12azor and Quinn

Quinn Duffy : I'm hoping for feedback on the mechanics. We want a good pass from the players on how the mechanics work, the feel of the game and the controls especially. We also want to ensure a good feedback system with the community, make sure it all flows properly and we can get the important information and act on it.

Obviously stability and the functionality of things like the match-making system are also important for us to test. We'll be looking for balance feedback too as there are still a lot of numbers that need adjusting and tweaking.

I suppose generally we want to get feedback on the overall package, see if we're on the right track. So far we've had positive feedback and hopefully that will continue.

Quinn Duffy : COH2 is not a game like Starcraft, it brings different things to the table. I have watched Starcraft II events, League of Legends or DotA events and I find it quite difficult to become involved and immersed in them. COH2 is totally different in that respect; it has a real story to it, the vibe, the intensity, the atmosphere. When you're watching COH2 being played it has a real depth to it that people can engage in. I think that is what COH2 will bring to the E-Sports arena that other games just haven't had.

Quinn Duffy : I am really happy with it. Obviously as a designer you're never completely pleased, you always want to add more and improve on things but I really feel we've captured the Eastern Front's intensity in COH2. When we're playing it in the office I really feel engaged as a player and so do the rest of the team.

Quinn Duffy : There are some things we haven't been able to implement in multiplayer that we did want to. We've struggled with a way to make Order 227 work in multiplayer in some manner but we just haven't found a way to make it work.

We also wanted to potentially include some kind of asymmetrical aspect to the weather, where the Russians would fight better in the cold or hold up better than the Ostheer but it created a lot of balance issues. Oh and mud, we could not get mud to work as a terrain type no matter how hard we tried.

Quinn Duffy : The upkeep system in COH1 is quite complicated and a lot of people struggle to understand it and how it works. For example the U.S. get a certain number of upkeep free units and then the algorithms for each unit are individual and in some cases quite strange. In COH2 we will have a very basic system with a cost to upkeep ratio so that both factions have a more fair and balanced system.

Quinn Duffy : In some cases they certainly are influenced by it, not all cases but certainly in some. Personally I never liked the concept of a unit being able to cloak in the middle of a road, it seemed fairly silly and I think a lot of people thought the same. Despite what some people may think, we do look at feedback and collect a lot of information from the community from a variety of sources and try to improve the game for everyone based on that feedback.

Quinn Duffy : It hasn't been an issue in the office so far. The styles and textures of the units are fairly distinct, especially the difference between Russian and German designs. I don't think it will be an issue as normally the model size and shape will be distinctive enough for players to recognise.

Quinn Duffy : The 'Intel Bulletins' are intended more as a flavourful aspect of the game and there are over one hundred of them, I think about 110 at the moment. It will probably take a lot of players a long time to unlock them all but I don't think they'll have a major impact on multiplayer play. The numbers involved are fairly small, for example the Anti-Tank Gun upgrade can be a 10% penetration bonus against heavy armour and you can only choose 3 of the 'Intel Bulletins' out of the 110 possible.

Obviously we're testing these extensively and making sure we don't have any that can stack on top of each other to make 'super units' or cause a big swing in numbers. I think given the small numbers we're dealing with, it will be relatively easy to tweak things when necessary and I don't think they'll make or break any multiplayer experience.

Quinn Duffy : It will be enabled initially in the BETA and it is something we'll want feedback on. We're unsure what the eventual decision will be on mirror matches yet but we may have them possible in custom games and disabled in automatch or some other system like that.

Quinn Duffy : Yes I believe we do intend to release those tools, although it will probably happen after retail release, similar to how we managed it with COH1.

Quinn Duffy : Mortars. I've always loved Mortars, I like the feel of them, the noise and explosions they make. Graphically, they're amazing. I really like the Soviet 120mm heavy Mortar because it has such a deep rich sound and makes a huge bang.

I also like the SU-76 and any vehicle with an exposed crew. I love the graphical interactions with exposed crews when the vehicle is flying around.

Quinn Duffy : I've seen some of the dailies from it but we've been fairly hands-off on it. I've been impressed by the production facilities these guys have and how good they can make things look. Will I watch it? I imagine I'll have to see it at some point!