Christina Gonzalez interviewed Jan Kunt, Carrier Command’s Executive Producer, to find out what was behind rebooting the IP, how open the world is, what strategy gamers can expect, and more.

You can read the complete interview on the rtsguru.com website.


RTSGuru: For those who aren't familiar, can you give us an overview of Carrier Command: Gaea Mission and what it's all about?

Jan Kunt: I guess you could best describe Carrier Command: Gaea Mission’s gameplay as a blend of vehicular combat action with real-time strategy elements. As some might remember, the original Carrier Command was a popular, genre-defining game from the 80s, with a concept far ahead of its time. For those who don’t know it, the goal in the game is to capture islands, use these for mining, production and defense, and ultimately destroy the enemy carrier.
The game features two separate campaigns. There’s the story-driven Gaea Mission campaign, in which the player takes up the role of Lt. Myrik, a soldier for the United Earth Coalition, who has been deployed on planetoid Taurus. His mission is to capture an archipelago called the Dead Zone and defeat the Asian Pacific Alliance. Aside the tactical combat gameplay, the campaign also features a rich storyline, supported by cutscenes and even some on-foot FPS missions.

Next to the main campaign, we also included the Strategy Game mode. Here you start off by selecting starting parameters, like the number of islands, available resources and enemy strength. Due to these variables and the randomly generated island positions, the replayability of this mode is theoretically endless. I’d say this mode comes closest to the original Carrier Command, because of its pure focus on the core gameplay.

RTSGuru: Can you give us some insight on how the team is going about resurrecting the IP?

Jan Kunt: One of the main reasons we started this project was because both founders of Bohemia Interactive, Marek Španěl and his brother Ondrej Španěl, were huge fans of the original. It has influenced all of the Bohemia Interactive games, so when the opportunity arrived, we immediately jumped on board and set up a dev team consisting of Carrier Command fans as well as newcomers. Over the course of the project, we had to deal with challenges that inevitably come up when you’re doing a re-imagination, but in the end I think we managed to find a right balance between staying true to the original and implementing new ideas. I’m sure fans will recognize the original Carrier Command spirit, and together with people who are new to the game, they’ll have a lot to look forward to. The response, among which the high praise from a developer of the original game and the positive reception we got at trade shows like E3 and Gamescom, has been great so far.

RTSGuru: Can you give us an overview of the different units and how each of them works together?

Jan Kunt: The carrier itself serves as an armed mobile platform with a command base, hangars, repair bays and a flight deck. Via a translucent display inside the ship, the player is able to remotely operate three types of units: the aerial Manta, the amphibious Walrus and the scout and defense drones.
The Manta operates similar to a VTOL aircraft. With a basic chassis and two available armor upgrades, there are three variants in total: light, medium and heavy. Each variant has their own set of properties in terms of armor, agility and possible weapon and equipment loadouts. Examples of weapons are the Gatling and plasma gun, secondary weapons like rockets and missiles, and the more heavy weapons such as bombs and torpedoes. Additionally, you can rig the Manta with equipment like the shield and the skyhook, which can be used to sling load the amphibious Walrus ground unit.

Similar to the Manta, the Walrus also features a basic chassis, plus two armor upgrades. Its weapons range from machine guns, to AA cannons and laser guns. For non-combat objectives, like hacking and transport, the Walrus can be outfitted with various construction or hacking capsules, repair arms, ammo boxes and more.

Last but not least, you’ll have access to two drone types. The scout drone, as the name suggests, is perfect for island reconnaissance as you prepare your assault. Defense drones can be used to guard your carrier. Once deployed, they’ll form a perimeter around the ship and self-destruct in a sort of ‘kamikaze’ way when enemy units are near.

Overall, you have a great variety of choice where vehicle equipment is concerned, and things like the kinds of enemy opposition, available resources, environmental conditions, and not to forget your preferred play style, are most likely the deciding factors on how you will utilize the options offered.

RTSGuru: Lastly, can you give us an idea of the story and if it ties in at all to the original Carrier Command? Will fans of that 80s gem have anything to look forward to?

Jan Kunt: The inclusion of a story into the gameplay is actually new for Carrier Command. The original didn’t have a narrative. So to create an authentic sci-fi backstory, we teamed up with David Lagettie, the creator of the Gaea Universe, who together with the Australian writers duo P.D. Gilson imagined a compelling sci-fi setting, supported by a written trilogy. The first book, Beyond the Son, is already out and the second novel is due later this year. As for the tie in with the original Carrier Command’s setting, we made sure to stay with the familiar unit names like Manta and Walrus, plus there’ll be a cheeky reference here and there!

You can read the complete interview here.

Tags:Interview, Jan Kunt

 

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