Brother in Arms: Road to Hill 30 is the first game in Gearbox's first new franchise. It is a FPS set in WW2 Normandy, based on real events, but with fictional characters and story. It's hallmarks are camaraderie, squad tactics, and authenticity. Almost all of the locations in the game are based off real locations, and based on loads of reference images, videos, on-site research, and historical documentation. One of the main features in BiA is the ability to command squads around in real time. The squads can be given move, attack (suppress), or assault orders (rush enemy). It uses a modified Unreal Engine 2.
I was hired initially as a contractor for the multi-player team and helped flush out several missions there. As needs slowed down on MP but grew for SP, I moved to help out the team there. Soon I was hired full-time and working on several campaign missions. Duties involved creating missions based off reference and/or design documents, lighting, creating low poly versions of the world for skybox, placing all art assets in world, terrain painting, managing memory & performance, setting up AI infrastructure and combats, creating first-person cineractives as well as third person cinematics, and scripting gameplay.
Mission 01 - Rendezvous with Destiny
This is the first playable mission in the campaign. Initially it was joined with mission 02, but they had to be separated due to memory. Following the opening cinematic, the player (Matt Baker) and his squad have just parachuted into Normandy. Upon deployment of his parachute, a legbag can be seen flying off into the air, containing the player's weapons. The player lands in a tree unarmed, but is fortunate enough to free himself. Time to find the rest of his squad.
An allied plane like the one the player used to drop in is shot down by anti-aircraft weapons. Also visible is a German troop transport and squad passing by, as well as anti-aircraft tracers and searchlights. All of these elements combine for visual spectacle, and to make the world seem real and dangerous. Also in this downtime, there is some new player experience training on how to move, jump, crouch, and use the compass to navigate towards the objective.
A building burns at the end of a small pond. Along the wall is the player's commanding officer, Mac. It seems the squad are being dropped fairly far apart. This is where the player receives a pistol, and training on how to fire and reload it.
Mac and Baker encounter another paratrooper who dropped into a tree and was killed by Germans. Mac sneaks up to them and with the help of the player, makes quick work of them. Afterwards, Mac consults his map to try to figure out where they landed.
Mission 02 - Silence the Guns
This is the second half of the first mission, the player has an objective to take out some anti-aircraft guns that can be seen nearby, and then connect at Utah Beach.. Along the way, they run into another character, Leggett; a radioman. This mission (as well as the previous) is heavily scripted for general pacing and presentation reasons.
Some Germans are encountered in a field with a wrecked plane. The player is informed about a BiA system called Situational Awareness View (SAV). This system pauses the game, pulls the camera into the sky, and allows the player to assess the battlefield and make decisions about what to do next. The player is also informed about the game's ever-important "fire and move" tactics, so one unit can properly suppress the enemy, while another unit goes to flank and take the enemy out.
The squad encounters the enemy loading some crates into a convoy truck. This time, Mac and Leggett provide suppressing fire, while the player finds an ideal flanking route.
The first anti-aircraft cannon is in sight. The team approaches under the cover of the cannon firing. Mac orders his men to wait for his command when everyone is in position. After taking out the enemies, the player is instructed to place C4 on the gun to take care of it for good. A few more enemies enter the space, allowing access to the second gun. Upon clearing of the second area and destruction of the final gun, the player regroups and heads out.
Mission 10 - Fall of St. Come du Mont
Several missions later, we find ourselves in St. Come du Mont. This was the only mission I got to design from the ground up. It features machine gun nests, mortars, tanks, and unlike most of the game- a high density of buildings.
The squad is interrupted from having a break by incoming mortar fire. I scripted the mortar fire to land in lines of 5, that are randomly chosen between cover in the fields. This allows the player to feel connected to the action, but still be able to make rational decisions. All the while, the player is fighting German infantry en route to secure the town center.
Germans hold down a position under a building; a front that has pretty decent cover against the allies. This section highlights another scripting system in the game, which we call Situational Awareness. The system monitors the position of the player and his units, the position of enemy units, and the suppression state of the enemies (suppressed, or unsuppressed). Depending on current conditions, enemy units may or may not be ordered to counter-flank, providing an extra layer to combat complexity. This area has several flanking opportunities, so players can be sure to find one that fits their play style.
Leggett has received word over his radio that a tank is moving into the area and will fowl up allied procedure. Sure enough, upon entering the next area, a tank rolls in, along with several units of German infantry. This time, the player is encouraged to play defensively and hold their position. I scripted the tank to hold position and randomly pick one of three targets in the environment, or target the player. After all waves of infantry are killed, the tank enters the space to sniff the player out, allowing the player to sneak across the courtyard and use a supply of RPG's to take out the tank.
Mission 12 - Alternate Route
Alternate Route is a fictional mission that opens on a sour note. In the previous mission, Leggett was given command of two soldiers for the objective, and ends up getting both of them killed. However, war goes on, and Baker has to use one squad, and a Sherman tank to progress down the train wrecks to destroy a bridge used to transport enemy equipment. Along the way, they will encounter infantry, tanks, machine gun nests, and anti-tank weapons.
The above video is the opening for the mission. During the title screen, Baker explains how he feels about recent events. The squad is split on their feelings about the situation. I was responsible for the framing of the characters, timing of dialogue and animations, movement of the characters heads, and implementation of the scene dialogue and animation.
Enemy armor and infantry are encountered across a small cemetery. The player has to carefully use their infantry and tank units to take down the enemy with minimal casualties. Tanks are less armored on the side, and hardly armored on the rear, so there are additional strategies for a quick takedown. In the background, train cars have crashed along the tracks, where the player encounters another tank. They must use cat and mouse tactics to emerge victorious.
Infantry across a destroyed bridge provides a distraction, while an anti-tank weapon hides behind a hedgerow, waiting to pick off unsuspecting armor. This serves as a reminder for players to value their tank and scout the area prior to sending it ahead.
At the end of the map, a bridge believed to transport enemy armor is visible. The player's objective is to find a way to take it out. However, the bridge is guarded by anti-tank weapons and a machine gun nest, so a smart player will take cover behind the armor as it advances across the bridge. The player then activates a detonator that is connected to explosives on the bridge.
Mission 13 - Purple Heart Lane
This mission is based off a real location and events in Carentan, France. It has a causeway running along marshlands, and was particularly dangerous for allied troops crossing under German fire as there was not much cover. Robert Cole is a historical figure present in the map, who bravely commands the player and his squad across the causeway under pressure.
German snipers use the marshland to their advantage to blend in. The scene opens shortly after another of Baker's men is shot in the neck by a sniper. The player has to use their squads, and snipe enemies to make sure no more men are lost.
Baker's squad lays down suppressing fire while moving down the causeway, amidst a hail of bullets. The area features heavy use of scripting that proves relentless if the enemies are not suppressed before moving across the open. The player has to lay it on the enemies to keep them suppressed, while leapfrogging their units and themselves to safety at the end of the causeway.
Once at the end of the causeway, a machine gun opens up on the exhausted soldiers. During this final combat, players sweep the remaining area of enemies before returning to the causeway to progress. In the background are skybox landmarks of future missions. To the right, a farmhouse that will serve as command post for the next two missions, and a church tower on the left will serve as a vantage point for a later mission.
All content copyright Gearbox Software and Ubisoft.
+ design . brothers in arms: road to hill 30
