Questions:
What game is this for? Tactical Assault is a standalone game created on
Epic's Unreal Development Kit (UDK). This means that you will
not need a copy of UT3 to play and the game will be FREE for everyone to download.
But how can it be free, how does this work?In order to showcase their work and attract a larger player base and importantly potential developers, Epic decided that it shall be free for non-commercial use.
But what if you want to go retail and sell TA at a later stage?At the moment we have no intentions of selling TA, however for arguments sake if this was to happen or we made money from this game in any shape or form, TA would need to purchase Epic's $99 license (cheap) and then pay them royalties of 25% of any earnings after the first $5,000 made... not bad huh?
When is the BETA release?We have not yet set a definite release date since we are not yet at a stage where we can accurately estimate how long the rest of the development will take. There are many variables in the making of a game and we can't foresee all eventualities so the best thing is to keep an eye on the news and we will keep you updated. Of course there shall be plenty of warning before such a BETA release, so do not fear.
Is this Counter-Strike for UT3? Although this game is inspired by games like Tactical OPs, Counter-Strike and COD we want this to stand by itself as a game. We are influenced by what we have played before and it does certainly follow the general format of the above mentioned titles, but ultimately when you play it we want it to be a new experience in a familiar environment... just with an arcade action packed twist.
As TA is now based on the UDK engine, will it look graphically similar to UT3? There are certain aspects of the underlying engine that we are not changing; however as a standalone game on the UDK engine, we cannot use any assets from UT3, so everything previously made before we converted over from UT3 must be re-made from scratch. Almost all of the graphical elements of the game have been made by hand from, one big advantage of using the UDK engine is that it is quite scalable for different computer specifications and also enables us to support multiple platforms (consoles, different operating systems and so on...)... but that will shall feature at a much later stage.
Will the game have bot support to play offline? We are not looking to spend a large period of time developing bots for the first BETA release as we are focusing on the core game play. However, once the multiplayer side of the game is running well then we are going to spend more time developing the artificial intelligence of the bots and hostages for later patches and releases, to ensure those without an internet connection can still play and enjoy our game.
Single player aspect of the game has been debated, however this is a long time off and we have decided to concentrate on the multiplayer side for the moment.
Will the game release for the PS3? It is possible for TA to be compatible with several consoles such as the PS3 and other platforms, due to the UDK in which our game is created on.
However initially this is something we cannot invest much time into and are solely concentrating on PC market for our first BETA release, but rest assured we appreciate and are very much aware there is potentially a huge fan base out there on the PS3 alone, with more than 40million registered accounts worldwide.
Does the TA team plan to use destructible environments in the future? If so could this possibly lead to a new game type? We discussed this issue quite early on in the development of the game and we decided that we did not want to integrate large scale destructible environments into the game. The UDK engine does have complex support for physics cards but it would still require a substantial amount of work to implement into our game and we decided that since few people have dedicated physics cards it would be a small gain for so much work. With that said, we are positive there will be minor destructible assets in-game to bring an edge in our level designs and rival other developers.
When is the TA team projecting to have in-game footage? We still can't tell you yet, but we are getting closer to having some real game footage from a couple of maps to show off. You will just have to keep watching the news
What makes Tactical Assault different from other FPS games? As well as working on developing a game with good graphics we strongly believe in the importance of having good game play, so this is something that we have strongly focused on, to play a major role in our level designs; from concept through to construction. We will spend a lot of time beta testing the game thoroughly to ensure we deliver a well polished and bug-free game as possible. Unlike other big name games we also listen to our community and the feedback and suggestions that we get from our users to help shape the development of the game. Since we have an open release structure, over time with future releases the game will continue to evolve and improve.
How will the beta testing work?We have decided that we are going to operate a closed beta for TA since we feel that this will allow us to most efficiently and thoroughly collect feedback prior to release. We will of course keep you updated on the developments throughout the beta process. Please do not misuse our application page to send beta requests. When we need beta testers we will make an announcement.
Will my system be able to run Tactical Assault?We cannot give detailed specifications at this stage in the development but we know that the performance requirements will be approximately the same as UT3 and other high-end graphical games (COD, Gears of War etc...). If you can comfortably play them then it's a good bet that you will be fine with TA.
Can Mutators be added to TA, and about how long after the release of TA will Mutators be released?Yes, mutators can be implemented. Traditionally mutators have always been a community effort and we feel that it should stay like this, only you know what you want. We will focus on the development of the main game and the public community can make awesome mutators.
What will the download size of the game be?We honestly don't know at this stage... the size will depend on the number of maps we get out and the number of models for the initial Beta, which would inevitably grow during the development and further patches of the game. Remember there is always going to be that trade-off between the size of the game package and the detail of the game. We think that since the majority of people now have a reasonably fast internet connection we are going down the route high-detailed polished game.
Why don't you remake maps from TacticalOps, COD and CS?There is a simple answer for this, "Copyright". Since we have not paid a penny and this is being created on the UDK engine for free, we are not allowed to use, borrow or refer to any assets from other games, unless we want to pay mega bucks for the intellectual rights!
So if the TA team is not allowed to re-make maps and so forth, is the community?Strictly speaking, No... But as an individual you are allowed to do as you wish and since you have no ties to the TA Development team, we cannot stop you from making a bonus/map pack at a late stage with all your beloved remakes for non-commercial use.
Will the game play encourage camping? That's one thing I can't stand from "action games" such as CSS.This depends on how you determine a camper... TA will be fast paced and with our weapon and game setup those profound to sit in corners for long durations throughout a map shall not be at an advantage.
What advertisement is being done to showcase TA around the world?We are doing our very upmost to spread the word of TA verbally throughout the gaming communities, to ensure we see this through and give the game it's best possible chance of survival, we have created a dedicated Support Team solely tasked to keep our name "out there".
What about anti-cheat, will you be developing your own or outsourcing this?At the moment we have no intentions of creating our own anti-cheat system, simply due to the severe amount of work needed to build one from scratch and operate effectively. This does not rule out us implementing one later on in development or asking a 3rd party group to design and build one for us.
Is the map editor available for us to use and work on making our own levels before TA comes out?Yes... the UDK is completely free for anyone to download and use, fully packed with all of the tools needed within the power UnrealEd. Download:
http://udk.com/download .
What are the conversion units and dimensions so we can create our own assets, maps and characters?Conversion: 16 Units = 1 Foot Player Height = 96 Units ~ Approximate to 6 feet tall.
1 Foot = 16 Units
Player Step Height = 16 Units
Door Height = 160 /172 Units
Door Width = 96 Units
DisclaimerAll information in this FAQ is valid and most up to date at the time of printing, however the TA team reserves the right to retract a statement or change an answer at any time as we see fit, without notification.
