Q&A: Glory Days 2

The idea of simulating the flying of aircraft in games is almost as old as video gaming itself, but there aren't many that have made the leap to the Nintendo DS platform. Glory Days 2 is unusual then in that it's a DS-only title, so to find out more We spoke to Olivier Denis, the director of the project.

GameSpot UK: Glory Days 2 is an action strategy mix for the Nintendo DS. Tell us a bit about how the game will work.

Olivier Denis: Glory Days 2 is an action and strategy game in real time. Players fly various aircraft--plane, helicopter, V2 rocket, or Drone. To win the battle, a player must deploy his ground army and send it to the enemy command centre located at the opposite end of the map. The enemy reacts much in the same way as you would but their strategic deployment and actions can differ and can often be seen in the way they set up their air strikes. By controlling the airspace, players will learn to master the dogfight above the battlefield.

The fun part is in the multiple actions--control the airspace, rescue civilians, create and deploy units, protect them, control the bunkers, gain accuracy points, and use special weapons. But ultimately, you cannot do everything at the same time, so it's necessary to make key decisions, and throughout all of this the opponent will be looking for you to make a bad mistake and pounce.

Thanks to the 2D design, you always know where you are. In Glory Days 2 the fun is not in "Where is my enemy?" but in "How could I destroy the enemy troops of my best friend and frustrate and defeat him!" Only constant attention to what takes place on the battlefield can win you victory…but a situation can quickly change. You can win either through expert flying, or because you are a good strategist, but the big reward is always the same--satisfaction and fun!

GSUK: The previous Glory Days title wasn't available in the UK, so why release the sequel?

OD: Glory Days AGB was available in Europe except in UK and I can't say anything else except that it wasn't a good thing. The main reason was that our publisher wasn't present in the UK market, so we had to do without it.

GSUK: What does the DS platform allow you to do that's unique to the genre?

OD: We mainly selected two specifications of the DS--the touch screen and the second screen. In the first Glory Days, the lack of information on the battlefields was sometimes very marked. The second screen on the DS was a clear answer to this problem. This screen enables you to deploy your army, to follow the progress of your troops and your allied pilots; to notify of an important event like a bomber presence, to follow your heat missile trajectory etc. With this new screen, you are always in the heart of the battlefield.

If you look more precisely at the screenshots, you can see a difference between the two radars drawn on each screen. Basically the upper screen is the action screen, so upper radar indicates the most advanced units of each side. You will determine very quickly where the danger is and how near from the enemy command centre your tanks are. The lower screen is used more for the tactical aspect, so when you have some time, you could evaluate precisely what is on the battlefield. The synergy between the two screens really is a defining factor.

GSUK: Has the touch screen been implemented for unit control? Are any other DS functions used, such as the microphone to issue orders?

OD: In fact players can fly all aircraft with the touch screen--helicopters, planes, v2 rocket, drone. Simply put the pen on the touch screen and you will be in touch screen control mode, if not, you stay with the pad control mode. Actually in less than a few minutes you will be able to control your helicopter. These controls are very new and instinctive--the cursor acts like a magnet. It's not a question of going up or to going down to attain a position. It is a question of indicating a position and the helicopter follows it with the constraint of physics and weather conditions.

With the touch screen, you can also send your special weapon as bomber, paratrooper, and sharpshooter, and obviously you can deploy your army with it. In touch screen mode, Glory Days 2 uses only two buttons.

In normal play, you can buy and deploy more than 300 units, and we have been convinced not to use the microphone. Believe me, after saying "soldier" 100 times, I'm sure of the player reaction, and it will not be good. Also we have thought about using the microphone to activate special weapons such as bomber or paratrooper, but in this case you need precision, and here this hardware feature would disturb the flow of the game.

GSUK: There are units such as tanks, helicopters, V2s, drones, bombers, and paratroopers in the game. What's the difference between these different units?

OD: Basically, planes are useful to control air space. They are fast and are well armed. Moreover they can very quickly reduce a column of tanks. Slower, but more agile, helicopters are very efficient to transport soldiers (and capture bunkers) and to rescue civilians present on the battlefield. The control of the bunkers and the rescuing of civilians are two ways to increase your resources.

With this resource, players must deploy their ground army to fulfil their first goal: to destroy the enemy command centre. The functions of these units are quickly apparent--tanks are powerful with other enemy units, soldiers capture bunkers, jeeps fire missile on aircraft, trucks supply weapon to player aircrafts, and the artillery easily pulverises any resistance. Once deployed, all ground units are autonomous and could do what they have to do without player assistance.

Some special weapons like V2 rocket, drone, bomber, paratroopers are available and can be earned with the accuracy points. The more accurate your missiles or planes are the more special weapons you'll have. Paratroopers are also very useful in capturing bunkers when you fly with a plane, and the V2 is very useful to destroy distant enemy troops.

GSUK: What different game modes will be available--will there be a long-term career mode as well as single skirmishes?

OD: First let's talk of the campaign. The story evolves through the life of three pilots, plunged into three different wars. John, the first pilot, gives a true meaning to the words duty and pride. Twenty years later, we meet Bill-- my favourite pilot. At the beginning, he's a very sympathetic guy, pretty funny, but quickly his good humour is carried off by the war flow. Twenty more years pass and Ben is the last pilot. He is John's grandson. Reserved, he keeps his distances with his conflict. He just wants to be a professional but when the war threatens his family, it's the redemption hour.

You can also construct your own battle with the technologies and environment unlocked in the campaign mode. Just select the battle mode and construct your conflict with more than 20 pre-selected parameters.

GSUK: What multiplayer features will be available in Glory Days 2, and will there be online play?

OD: The game uses wireless for multiplayer. Up to eight players can play together. At the start, players choose gameplay type--action, tactical, or strategic. In action mode, the AI general builds all units, whereas players can only deploy soldiers. In strategic mode, the player should deploy all the units of his army. Several options such as friendly fire and maximum time play, are also presented. With the second screen, the player then chooses from the eight environments and weather. After that players select their technologies and side. To support co-operative mode, players can add up to 12 AI pilots and as the game can carry up to 250 units in real time, things could become pretty intense.

GSUK: How many players will the game support with one cartridge over local Wi-Fi?

OD: Because we have decided to use streamed music, each player must have his cartridge. But you'll be very charmed by the intensity of the music composed by Raphael Gesqua, a well-known musician who worked on prestigious title as Motoracer, Fade to Black, and Flashback.

GSUK: Let's talk about the different environments on offer--how many playable levels are there and what conditions will they feature?

OD: There are eight environments. With each environment, you can choose between three different graphical variations, and three different weathers. By example, with the first environment, your can choose between day, sunset, and cloudy. Then you could change the weather to sunny, rainy, or very rainy. Weather conditions as you would expect changes the aircraft physics thus snowstorms will make your aircrafts heavier, sometimes leaving them in very perilous situations.

The size of the battlefield and the strategic elements (bunker, fixed DCA, civil DCA) are specific to each environment. Let's take a very tactical map like the one called "city". All bunkers, fixed DCA, and civilians are localised in the centre of this map, far from the command centre. Here victory will be earned by controlling this entire space while respecting civilian lives. Bombardments should be proscribed and players have to gradually reinforce their position in a succession of small skirmishes without ever letting their adversary settle in.

The first map met in the campaign is small, offering very fast air strikes; bunkers and civilians are located close to the heliport and it provides good incomes. On this map, it can be useful to wait peacefully, to launch some long range missiles to slow down the enemy troops, and when the resources are enough, to launch a huge ground offensive.

GSUK: The game is set to ship with 3D glasses, a first on the DS system. What will this add to the game?

OD: Firstly it works pretty well and it is optional. There is no need to wear them if you don't wish to. In fact, the glasses increase the depth perception of the backgrounds. Concerning the physical principles, Glory Days 2 uses a system different than the famous red/blue glasses that many will know about. It is not as 'destructive' for the colours, and the game remains the same if you to play with or without the 3D glasses. It uses some neurological aspect of the brain to trick it and recreates relief where obviously there is not.

The 3D glasses are included in the pack and I'm sure that people do not always play with them. It's not the core of the game. Nevertheless gamers will like to have it, because it's something fresh and new.

GSUK: Thank you for your time.