Game Spotlight & Download: Black Hawk Down

[Scott]

As posted on nVidia.com:

The failed 1993 U.S. military mission in Mogadishu, Somalia, lasted less than a day, but the conflict cost the lives of 18 U.S. soldiers, injured 84 more and killed hundreds of Somalis (soldiers and civilians). The operation-as part of the larger relief effort to reopen food lines to the region-was intended to capture key Somalian military leaders as prisoners and quickly hustle them out of the city. Within minutes of the mission's start, however, two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down in an ambush, crashing into the streets of Mogadishu. What began as a get-in, get-out surgical strike quickly turned into an every-man-for-himself fight for survival amid flying bullets and rocket-fired grenades, but also to recover the bodies of their fallen comrades.
In the years that have since passed, this event has left a lasting mark on history. It's also been recounted extensively in the media, including a Philadelphia Inquirer series (and subsequent book), a CNN news report and, most recently, in a 2002 movie, Black Hawk Down.

Now, NovaLogic has taken on the task of re-creating "Operation Restore Hope" as an action-packed Delta Force computer game. Delta Force-Black Hawk Down-which benefits from the guidance of Special Operations Forces advisors to keep it accurate-offers a detailed opportunity for the player to get the feel for what it was like in Mogadishu that day. It's filled with faithfully crafted weapons, vehicles and other craft; comes equipped with high-quality artificial intelligence (AI) that guides the enemy and your computer-controlled teammates to perform realistically; and its advanced game engine replicates the hot and dusty streets of the region in stunning 3-D imagery.

To get more information on the game-what it's about, how it will play and how it was constructed-we spoke to NovaLogic's Wes Eckert, the game's producer, and Mark Davis, the developer/publisher's chief scientist.

nVidia download locations: nVidia.com

Click to read the interview!

[Scott]

NVIDIA: Tell us about Delta Force-Black Hawk Down-what's the storyline and what can the player expect when they play it?
Wes Eckert: U.S. Special Operations Forces spent ten extraordinary months in Somalia. Just 48 hours of their story was documented in a best-selling book and an award-winning movie. Delta Force-Black Hawk Down allows players to participate in missions similar to those encountered by these soldiers, including daring raids on hostile militias and the climactic battle of Mogadishu.

In late 1992, the United Nations launched a humanitarian mission in Somalia dubbed Operation Restore Hope in an effort to bring food to an impoverished nation. Warring clans, most notably one led by Mohamed Farrah Aidid, impeded the relief effort. In August 1993, the United States responded with Task Force Ranger. Made up of Delta Force, Army Rangers, 160th SOAR, with support from the 10th Mountain Division, their mission was essentially to bring down Aidid.

The player gets both the traditional long-range Delta Force engagements, as well as newer Close Quarters Battle encounters. CQB is accelerated during a variety of missions within the maze-like streets of Mogadishu. These urban missions also provide some great opportunities for rooftop snipers. Mission topics range from hostage rescue to protecting U.N. food shipments to intercepting enemy communications to defending civilians to capturing warlords. Infiltrations occur from land, sea and air, utilizing Humvees, Black Hawk helicopters and "Little Bird" gunships. Players can to open fire from machine guns mounted on both Humvees and Black Hawks.

A few features completely new to the Delta Force series have also been added. The player can issue a number of key commands to teammates. This is particularly useful during room takedowns, allowing the AI to toss in a flash-bang grenade and then clear the room of enemies. The AI will "leave no man behind," calling in a Combat Search And Rescue (CSAR) team to rescue injured teammates. The game includes over 25 accurately modeled weapons, plus authentic combat tactics and scenarios provided to our development team by former Special Operations soldiers.

The main thing we did was to bring in several former Special Forces soldiers, including two former members of Task Force Ranger who lived through the events in Somalia, circa 1992-1993. They related their memories of the events, along with anecdotes from fellow soldiers. Their impact on DF-BHD gameplay is immeasurable, affecting the way AI clears a room, the way a player holds a weapon, reloading sequences, sniper scopes and more. It was a truly unique and rewarding experience to spend time with these men who have protected our country.

NVIDIA: Tell us about one of the more exciting missions.
WE: There's a mission in the game called Russian Underground. In this mission, the player is a Delta Force operative going into the former Russian Embassy compound to capture some bad guys who are using it as a base of operations. The compound is walled off, so the player and his teammates insert by Black Hawk (MH-60 helicopter).

Once on the roof, the team has to work its way down through the building, eliminating resistance while searching for the key personnel to capture. As the player reaches the sub-basement, he finds the old bunker complex, which contains a weapons cache that must be destroyed. In the process of searching the complex and destroying the weapons, the player sees his targets escape through a small tunnel. This tunnel works its way down and out to the coast. The player must chase the bad guys through the escape tunnel, and secure them once back on the surface.

NVIDIA: How about multiplayer elements?
WE: Multiplayer is an important feature of every NovaLogic title, and Delta Force-Black Hawk Down is no exception. Up to 32 players can play over NovaWorld, 16 via a player-hosted or LAN game. Current game types are Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Search and Destroy, Capture the Flag, Attack and Defend, Flagball and Team King of the Hill. Progressive Spawn Points (PSPs) are a great new multiplayer feature. These allow teams to capture the opponents' spawn points, allowing closer access to the opposing team's base. Additionally, you can communicate with your teammates, or taunt other players, using a variety of emotes (hand signals).

NVIDIA: How does this game vary from previous titles in the Delta Force series?
WE: Delta Force-Black Hawk Down improves upon the past Delta Force games in the areas of AI and graphics, while also adding some new gameplay elements. An incredibly updated engine allows for the detailed buildings, characters and terrain. At the same time, a brand new AI system based on a system of nodes, was implemented. This resulted in enemy AI that relentlessly attack you using in a very tactical fashion.

The main gameplay differences come from the extensive use of vehicles and the numerous opportunities for intense Close Quarters Combat. Players can man machine guns in Black Hawks, resulting in devastating air attacks. Conversely, they can sneak through cities where enemies may be hiding around every corner and behind any door.

NVIDIA: NovaLogic has always been known for cutting-edge graphics, going back to its start in the mid-'80s. It was one of the pioneers in 3-D technology, using actual satellite data and "voxel" graphics to create realistic in-game terrain. What new ground will DF-BHD cover visually?
Mark Davis: Starting with the character models, we have implemented a proprietary Normal Mapping system that allows for low polygon count, yet high detail in our characters, especially in regard to facial textures and animations. This is especially noticeable on your teammates in single player and enemies in multiplayer. Normal mapping is also demonstrated on the first-person weapons that are fully lit by the surrounding environment using a specularity surface effect.

Special effects, such as particle and water effects, have been cranked up a notch. The particle effects produce some outstanding explosions throughout the game. The water effects are even more beautiful, reflective and reactive than those seen in our Comanche 4 game.

NovaLogic has always been known for rendering seemingly endless miles of terrain, but in DF-BHD, we are also rendering a ton of buildings, all at the same time. Essentially, we are allowing the player to view the entire city of Mogadishu from the air or by pulling back the camera while on the ground.

As is common for a Delta Force game, we are pushing a tremendous number of polys in all facets of the terrain.

NVIDIA: How did NVIDIA help you optimize the graphics?
MD: The implementation of pixel and vertex shaders opens the door to easier creation of more realistic imagery. Certainly, in the development of a computer game, you want it to fully immerse the player in the world you've constructed. In the case of DF-BHD, when you're re-creating a real-world event and location, you want the player to stay connected to the environment as if they were there. If there are graphic glitches or rendering weaknesses, it'll pull the player right out of the experience and remind them they're "just playing a game." Shaders help us create graphics faster and with higher quality.

We used pixel shaders extensively throughout the game. In the weapons, we used pixel shaders to produce bump mapping with a specularity surface effect. The process not only enables us to create realistically modeled weapon, but it also enhances the realism by allowing light to reflect off the weapon in a natural way. The player's character and his teammates have high-resolution faces rendered via pixel shaders, which enables the production of extremely high detail with per-pixel lighting and specularity. We also generate realistic lighting effects through pixel shaders, with lit areas of terrain (such as around fires and other point light sources) being bump mapped.

Pixel shaders also gave us some flexibility to enhance elements that would have been more difficult or even impossible to render with earlier 3-D technology. For instance, the water in DF-BHD is rendered with complex reflections as a result of using pixel shaders and dynamic normal mapping. It also helped us create what we think is the best night-vision effect of any game yet, with pixel shaders used to render luminance bleeding, persistence and chroma effects.

The vertex shaders are used for setting up most of the pixel shader effects and in rendering the soft-skinned character models.

NVIDIA: Any hints of what's coming up beyond DF-BHD in the Delta Force universe?
WE: While we do have new titles in the pipeline, at the moment, we are concentrating on finishing up DF-BHD. Visit www.novalogic.com for updates and new announcements.

nVidia download locations: nVidia.com

[Ice Cannon]

I got it, played it, loved it

I miss my sniper rifles tho.... cant wait till DC makes an addon for this

The swimming is great, and hardly and BDOD....

[heifer41]

NVIDIA: Any hints of what's coming up beyond DF-BHD in the Delta Force universe?
WE: While we do have new titles in the pipeline...

guess that means DF6 huh.

[Ice Cannon]

lol

[heifer41]