Tactland.- Hi Marek. Firstly, thank you very much for kind attention. Please, though many players will know you quite well, introduce yourself and your team.  
Marek Spanel.- Hi. I am leader of the team behind Operation Flashpoint and I am also director and co-founder of Bohemia Interactive Studio, the company that developed the game.
 
Tactland.- Let?s go What led you to become a game maker? Why videogames?
 
Marek Spanel.-As I remember, I liked computer game very much from the day I saw first Russian pong clone game on television sometimes in early 80s. In 1985, we've got a first home computer that our oldest brother bought and with Ondrej, lead programmer in Bohemia Interactive, we just wanted to play games and we immediately started to work on some simple games in BASIC language even if we were just kids. Our vision of computer game that we would like to create was growing with us and after more than 15 years, there was Operation Flashpoint as result of it.
 
 
Tactland.- What can make a developing group to become a unique and successful one? Your success with OF has been almost absolute so, what has the experience taught you and what would you recommend to those teams already beginning these days?
 
 
Marek Spanel.-It's very hard to establish on the game market as a new development team and it's probably harder and harder every year as game development requires more staff and time if you want to be competitive with best games available.
 
I really don't have any formula for making a successful game. We worked hard for many years for very little money, we never gave up even if everything looked hopeless and we developed the game as we wanted it to have but we were still very opened to feedback from our early fans or various publisher's evaluators and designers that had the chance to play early versions of the game. So maybe the formula could be: work hard on your game, play hard your game and listen, what other people say about your game but always do only things you really like yourself.
 
 
Tactland.- Could you please tell us what are your thoughts about present and future state of games developing? Are you afraid developing teams will accommodate to sequels as a real trend?  
Marek Spanel.-Sequels were always popular and this trend will probably continue. It's very difficult to come with something really new and innovative and to be successful with it. You can see many examples in history when great and original games didn't make real commercial success. Our team is working on a sequel now but we don't want to be stuck with Operation Flashpoint only forever or we don't want to stay in tactical and military games only at all
for future. I am not sure what other teams will do in future but we'll definitely try to come with something innovative again in years to come. But there's also one aspect in it you should understand: development of fresh new game types takes long time.
 
Tactland.- Talking about OF. Would you share with Tactland readers what were your feelings when the game success began to be so blasting? Do you think players of all around the world really matched with your vision of a war FPS shooter and what you and your team aimed to achieve with it?
 
 
Marek Spanel.-We're really happy that so many people around the world understand the complexity of our game. I remember when all big game publishers were saying
there's almost no space on the market left for new original games that are not sequel and for new teams. Players probably matched with our vision well ? otherwise they wouldn't buy and play the game. In future, we hope to
make more impact on the multiplayer field, as the level of realism of Operation Flashpoint still seems not to be adopted enough there. Operation Flashpoint offers really different gaming experience to usual fps games and it was very risky direction for us ? luckily, the game was a real winner almost everywhere so we can continue in development of our next games.
 
 
Tactland.- We know you will not reveal any detail until E3 , but even vaguely, could you tell our readers if OF2 engine will be more capable inside buildings and houses (indoors) or it will just maintain the level at outdoors? To what extent experience from first title has influenced the development of OF2?
 
Marek Spanel.-For our game play, outdoor is more important than indoor. However, we're improving the engine to be more capable as well in indoor environments, especially to have better collision detection there.
 
 
Tactland.- May you tell us if nowadays-international situation (terrorism, Iraq war, etc) has really affected the game development in any way?
 
Marek Spanel.-It influences everyone and especially developers of tactical combat games. We had to postpone announcement of Operation Flashpoint 2 due to strike on
Iraq but the most important is how it changes our emotional involvement in a game that show horror of war on computer screen. It makes you consider even harder how serious it is to show war and struggle of people in a game.
 
 
Tactland.- OF 2 is just an evolution, or are you willing to shake players expectations? To what extent do you think they will feel surprised with the game?
 
Marek Spanel.-It's hard to tell. We want to keep game play style similar to the original game but we still want to introduce some never seen game play element. We
also want to introduce second generation Flashpoint Engine that would allow larger and more detailed environments, using many new techniques and some significant optimised algorithms. We want to offer more freedom but on the other hand we want to make controls more polished and intuitive. There's definitely a lot surprises to come but it wouldn't be surprise anymore if I am going to tell you about it now, would it? ;)
 
 
Tactland.- Hmmm, ok... ;) Imagine Marek you are in E3 and a young player is watching your game. What would you honestly wish this young boy feel when playing OF? There are today many controversial articles talking about influence of war games on children education, you know, and many politicians wishing to demonstrate videogames really are negative for them?
 
Marek Spanel.-We hope the young boy may eventually find out that there are always given limits and you really have to think first before doing something. We try to come very close to real life (even the fact we limited save games quite significantly makes whole experience more real as you really can loose a lot of time end effort just by one single mistake. We're not glorifying violence or war; we're just trying to show the reality. Also, it would be much better world without war but evil is often very strong in this world and there's sometimes no other choice than to try to stop it with weapons.
 
 
Tactland.- Finally Marek, what are your real expectations for OF2 facing the tremendous array of titles awaiting their turn this year and the ones coming next in 2004? And, is there anything else beyond OF series for a mid future?
 
Marek Spanel.-We believe Operation Flashpoint is different to most of existing games and we will keep the experience of the game different in OF2. We believe there
will be always a lot of players that would like to play game with more realism and freedom. We simply want to continue in what OF does the best and we also work hard to improve and optimise the engine and to deliver the best visual and audio experience possible using latest computer technologies. OF2 will be also mature gaming engine including multiplayer component which may
eventually bring more players interested in the OF series than ever before.
 
Yes, there's something beyond OF series but it's too early to reveal anything about it. OF2 is our real goal at the moment and we focus towards it. However, we keep on mind where we want to be in, let's say, 5 years from now and we already progress towards our next new big game. The only thing I can tell you is that it's not going to be a military game.
 
Thank you and I hope all of our readers have enjoyed as much as myself. Best of lucks for Marek and his team. Oh, yes, keeping contact.  
 
Enjoy.