You've heard about it and read about it, now it's time for more! I've conducted an interview with Matt "utopia" Blessing, Project Coordinator/Mapper of Operation Overlord. Here it is: twisted: What specific level locations have you come up with? If none, what environments do you plan on creating? utopia: So far we've been getting a few ideas thrown around the team. We're definetely doing a Normandy Beach Invasion style of map, it should be the heart of the mod. We're also doing some Kosovo style maps, with a lot of street/urban fighting. We're also doing a Jungle/Vietnam style map as well. These three maps will probably be released in the first public beta we have planned. We will add more if we get them done, but right now those three are our priority for the beta release. twisted: Obviously, Operation Overlord is one of the most popular mods around right now, have you received a lot of emails with people giving suggestions and input, if so, can you share them? utopia: We've gotten a ton of emails, and I do mean tons. A lot of people's suggestions is to make new weapons. I just want to let everyone know that we will be doing that. The first public beta release will have the original weapons from Soldier of Fortune, but the later releases will gradually add our own new weapons. We also have comments on map ideas, and voice commands which we are already looking into. twisted: Some say that your mod is team fortress rip-off, how would you defend your mod is essence of deviating from mods like TF and CTF? utopia: Well yes, it's like those two, of course, but it hasn't been done for SoF YET, so we want to be the first to incorporate those things in the game, and give it our own, unique treatment. We've got some interesting things in store, so you'll just have to wait and see :-) twisted: One of your team members has already finished an awesome looking sniper skin, how close do you think your team will be to releasing a beta version of Operation Overlord? utopia: Icarus is quite the master of skins, isn't he? Our team is nearing a beta stage sometime in early/middle June I would think at the latest. We've already got the first two maps under construction and they are looking great. We are getting the programming started in a few days which is a pretty easy task. After we get what we want to be in the beta, we'll have a closed beta test for a weekend and play it through for bugs, and other things. After we fix any bugs we see, we'll put out the public beta for download. After listening to feedback, etc. We'll be developing our own set of new weapons for the mod, and then releasing the final version. But it won't stop there either. twisted: Operation Overlord states that it is a team based multiplayer mod for SoF. Do you intend to make maps that can hold a huge amount of players or do you want to make them for a small amount. utopia: Our maps will probably be suitable for 8 vs 8 and more. I wouldn't recommend playing with less than 6 players total, because like I said, this is a team based mod, meaning you will actually need a team to play the mod. Unlike Team Fortress where one person can run the flag. twisted: Does your team intend on adding some kind of voice/text communication system like that of Team Fortress 2/Quake 3 Arena CTF? utopia: Sure do, it's a lot more fun to have preset voice commands than it is to type everything. We'll cover most of the voice communication we'll think is necessary, and have the radio speech pack to download with the beta. twisted: Most importantly, are you guys still in need of staff members to get the project moving faster? utopia: We can use a modeler or two, and a coder. Anyone who does levels should feel free to send us an email with a reference of your work. We'd be glad to have you! [Back to the top]