DFChicks interview with Kacha about DF2 mod for BHD

[SugarChick]

The following interview is with Kacha of FTW and discusses an upcoming DF2 mod for BHD that is being worked on.

Name: Kacha
Squad: FTW squad =FTW=
URL: www.ftwsquad.com, www.bhd-acc.com
Age: 35
Location: Ontario, Canada

What exactly are you working on?
In the simplest terms I am working on translating DF2 terrains (done) and DF2 objects from their original form to be compatible with BHD.

Why did you decide to take this project on?
FTW has a lot of DF2 vets and we basically cut our teeth and met in the DF2 realm. FTW squad council, Eaglewing, Antisocial and myself have been talking about this for some time. We have also been waiting quite some time for these tools to be made available to us.

Who's heading up this project?
Basically I am the lead on the project. Taking on figuring out how all the object and terrains need to work to be brought into the new environment.

How many people are working on this project?
Most of the FTW squad has been involved in one form or another since day one. We have guys working on object translation, P-R and beta testing. We also have Kinnes*DFMax* and NitroViper*A01*, who will be helping with map-making on some DF2 classics.

Do you think this mod will make avid DF2 players more likely to play BHD?
I hope so but it seems reactions have been mixed about this from the DF community. There have been those that were pretty keen as soon as the terrains were completed but then there were others who were almost immediately demanding all of the elements from DF2. This would be great but somewhat unrealistic, object and terrains are the main goals at this point. Getting the weapons of DF2 into BHD is not really worthwhile considering most of the weapons are available in one form or another. Besides to try and reconstruct the weapons with the proper physics may not be possible without actually doing some coding in the game.

If DF2 had BHD quality graphics would you prefer the gameplay of DF2 with the graphics of BHD or would you prefer BHD?
Well that is a good question. The gameplay in BHD is good you have a lot more flexibility than in DF2. There are some elements in DF2 that great though too, especially the grass. But it seems with every update BHD is changing for the worse.

Would you consider modding LW & TFD also?
I think I will take this one step at a time. See how far I get with this and how successful it is.

Will there be PSP's?
Yes, all BHD elements will be available in the maps people want to make. As for the maps that we will be providing with the mod though we won’t be putting PSP’s in them. We believe that would take away from the original playing style of the DF2 maps. However, this can be changed by anyone who wants to change their maps.

What's has been the most difficult part so far?
Well getting the methodology down for the object conversion was difficult from the beginning. But it seemed whenever I got stuck I would hit the df-community and get answers. Guys like Servant, SalUK at DFArena and Eagle Eye and Anoshi from DFBarracks have been really helpful. So now it is just a time factor.

What has been the easiest?
Re-making maps and terrains have probably been the easiest. Compared to the object conversion.

Is there anyway to get a sneak peek?
Well we did have a test server up for the terrains. I hope to have a beta with a few maps by the beginning of next month.

When is it expected to be finished?
Due to the number of object involved there is still quite a bit to be done. I am thinking 3 or 4 months yet. I know this seems like a long time but we basically have to go in and touch every part of every object to make it work correctly and glitch free in BHD. The format of the DF2 objects and BHD objects is fairly different.


Thank you to Kacha for this interview, NítrøVípér(who is also working on the mod) for making me aware of this project, and to the whole team involved - you're going to make alot of DF2/BHD'ers day, thanks!!
- SugarChick

Current information on the progress of this project can be found at www.ftwsquad.com


Completed terrains/maps can be seen here:
http://www.ftwsquad.com/DF2_terrains.htm

[Hellfighter]

sounds great love to see it.