Codex Interview Silent Storm interview

[Vault Dweller]

Tags: Dmitry Zakharov; Nival Interactive; Silent Storm

Dmitry Zakharov of Nival Interactive has taken time to answer our questions about Silent Storm, turn-based tactical RPG.

2. Silent Storm has many interesting and rarely seen these days features: turn-based combat, role-playing, non-linear campaign structure, multiple paths to complete missions, and interactive environment. Please tell us why each option was chosen, i.e. turn based instead of real time, non-linear instead of linear, etc.

The ultimate goal for all these improvements and concept key-points was to provide players with maximum freedom at every level of gameplay. Thus, for Silent Storm we've chosen the turn-based genre as it offers full control over the tactical situation and every operative in your squad. It enables players to make the best use of equipment, weapons, combat patterns and so on. It allows you to immerse into your mission, step into the boots of your squaddies, scrutinize details or apply group strategy whenever needed, at your own choice.

Yet again, non-linear campaign structure means more freedom, flexibility and replayability for the game. Every time you start the game, special randomizer mixes up campaign missions, clues, sensitive information and other game evidence that drives you throughout and uncovers the plot. As you proceed and find these clues, new missions and objectives open up on the global map. This is where you decide which mission to take and in what direction you want to investigate and impose your subversive activity.

Appearance of multiple paths to complete missions was inevitable with the introduction of totally destructible environment and powerful graphical engine in Silent Storm, unseen in the games of its genre before. It lets you collapse buildings, crush through doors, shoot enemies through ceiling by the sound of their footsteps. So, for instance, you can blow a wall with a pack of TNT anywhere you please and distract enemy guards while doing silent killing on the side of the lab. This permits you to fully use your tactical thinking and equipment at hand to accomplish the mission in the best way possible or in your own style. That's why we've chosen it.​

Ok, I'm sold, from now on I'm playing only turn-based non-linear games!

 

[Jinxed]

This game puts the JA2: Wildfire expansion to shame.

I really like S², the main reason is that nothing came close to being as good as JA2, for a long, long time.

But, there are a couple of things wrong with the game, (as with any game) those include:

It's not really worth to use the entire squad at the start of the game. The ones on the roster improve a lot more than the ones used in action. There really isn't enough situations to boost up engineering skill to 60.
Starting off with 2 soldiers, around half of the game behind me, my shooting and sniping skill is still a lot lower than the soldiers that are in the base, and they are 3-4 levels lower.

Some missions don't make a lot of sense. Enemies spawn in the middle of the battlefield, inside buildings in the faces of guards. Although without it, some missions would be too easy.

The destruction of the environment seems a little too exaggerated at times.

I'm not totally satisfied with shooting behind cover. I have yet to figure out exactly how that works.

And finally, it's too damn hard to die. When the VPs of a soldier are down to 0 or minus, he can still be saved. I need to start playing on hard and up.

 

[Sol Invictus]

Play it on Impossible.

As for the destruction of environment, I do not consider it to be unrealistic. Have you ever seen a real grenade explosion? If the structure is weak, even a flashbang is enough to cause a wall to collapse.

While grenades don't bring down the house in Silent Storm, specific targeting of weak points in a house may very well cause sections of it to collapse. It's not as if wooden floors in houses are resistant to explosives. I just don't see what you're getting at with the 'exaggeratedness'

 

[Jinxed]

Ok, two examples. first off, the sniper guard tower, shoot the floor with one bullet and the guard falls down and dies. Takes away from the entire point of being up there doesn't it?

Second, I'll present you with a screenshot. 3 fuel barrels did that. That's 5 floors total (I think) and the roof which I didn't include to make the pic more revealing.
You're probably wondering where the barrels where located, the answer is the first floor of the basement.

screenshot

I'm not saying that OMG1 IT TEH SUX, it's just a little wee more than I think it should be. Bear in mind, the basement floors were reinforced, the 3 floors above ground level were regular. I don't think this thing could create such destruction, much less blow the roof off the top. It almost killed my soldier who was very near the edge on the top level, as well as a civilian one floor down.

Edit: Here's another one. I'm no construction engineer, but it does strike me odd that a couple of low caliber bullets would take down the entire wall. (mind you, it's not made out of paper but solid bricks)

 

[Sol Invictus]

You'd be surprised at how effective explosives are in a packed space.

As for the bullets, yeah that does seem odd but I've never had that happen to me in any of my games. I've only managed to destroy huge chunks of wall with the high caliber machine guns but never with the SMGs. I'm not sure how you managed to do that.

 

[Azael]

There are two flaws with the game that keeps it from becoming as good as Jagged Alliance 2, one is the skill progression which I agree is messed up, the other is the end of the game which is too rushed and comes across as an anticlimax.

 

[HanoverF]

I've had a problem a few times where flights of stairs appear to be made of balsa wood or termite infested and as few as two hits from a smg or pistol would bring them down like a house of cards.

My only real complaint is how unbalanced the armor/lasers are

 

[Azael]

OK, make that three things. The ending is the only thing that can't be fixed with some tweaking though, hopefully Nival will do, or some modder. I really hope this game can get the same active modding community as Jagged Alliance 2.