Operation: Vietnam – Lead Artist and Designer Q & A – Part II

Here is the final part of our exclusive Q & A with Dugan Jackson (lead artist) and Michael Traquair (lead designer) of Operation: Vietnam. You can read part I here.

TAG: Do you think it would translate well to the PSP?

DJ: It’s certainly a possibility if the demand was there, we would have to sit down and have a think about what elements would best suit the PSP. I’m not a fan of straight game ports – you rarely get the best result for either the consumer or developer.

TAG: What was the toughest challenge as far as the art was concerned?

DJ: Well there was a lot of art to make, that was a challenge. We ended up with over 450 different large 3D world tiles that make up our levels and over 300 unique 3D objects – then add into that all the detailed character and creature animations / particle, weapon and environment effects / menus and HUD etc, there’s a lot in there.

TAG: Is it easy to extract the most out of the DS graphics wise? Or is there still a lot more to come from the DS?

DJ: I think there’s still more to squeeze from the DS. We have a lot of polys shifting about onscreen in our game I’m sure we could push it further in a sequel.
Developers will always be pushing games hardware to make it do things that surprise people. This is the case with any console/computer, from the Spectrum to the PS2.

TAG: Talking more about game graphics, what has impressed you recently on the DS?

DJ: A few recent Square-Enix games like Heroes of Mana and Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings have really stood out visually on the DS, the upcoming FF tactics too.
Brothers in Arms was technically impressive, although let down by frame rate drops at times. Hopefully they’ll be able to fix that in a sequel.

TAG: Which part or feature of the game are you particularly proud of?

MT: It’s not something I would say I’m proud of, but I do love the map that charts your progress at the start of each mission (think Ghosts and Goblins). It’s proper old school and I think it’s pretty cool every time I see it.

TAG: Are there any plans for a sequel?

MT: Well, I don’t think we’d do a straight sequel, but we’re definitely discussing some sort of follow up that builds upon the existing engine. If we did do a follow up game the introduction of vehicles the player can jump in and use would be high up on our wish list. We also had a few cool ideas regarding the use of the DS touch screen and how we could use it to help immerse the player in the game world.

DJ: Yes, we have a few good ideas bouncing around at the moment.

TAG: Finally, describe Operation Vietnam in 5 words or less

MT: You can shoot cows – yahtzee!

DJ: DS Squad based explosive action!

Screenshot:

Operation: Vietnam is out now in the US and released in the UK in October.

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