Re: Project Reality on a german gaming magazine
Posted: 2017-05-19 16:53
by Frontliner
Host: Johannes Rohe - J
Player: Nils - N
J: You guys are back for another episode of "my favourite game" and today we're talking about a mod, which is at the verge of outliving the main game it was created for. Joining me is our guest Nils, hello.
N: Hi.
J: Then, please, tell us what is your favourite game, what is it called?
N: I believe the majority will know because of the title, it's Project Reality.
J: Project Reality - which was, as I said, back then developed as a mod for BF2.
N: Right.
J: How long has it been since then, it's been an eternity, has it not?
N: Correct. BF2 was released in Germany in, I believe, 2005, and Project Reality has been launched directly afterwards or before that as a minimod, changes back then were a decreased HUD and higher weapon damage, stuff like that, nothing major. Over the years it has been continually developed, growing larger, getting better, and the last patched was released just a few days ago.
J: So it's in development to this day and it's not even a mod anymore, it's its own game(he's referring to PR being standalone) and additionally it's free to play.
N: That's right, PR is 100% free of charge. You can donate if you want to, if you want to support the game you should, honestly. But, you can go to the page and just download it, it's - I'm not sure - 8 or 9 gigabyte using a torrent, you install it, plug in your microphone and you're good to go.
J: Alright, so you said it started back then as a mod with a few balance changes, a few tweaks; of course the name suggests that it is about bringing a bit of realism into it, just how much of Battlefield is left in it, does it still contain the old Battlefield gameplay ala conquest with two teams or how does it play out today?
N: Well, the outlining principles are still there, yes, for example if you want to reconstruct a house, you'll leave the exterior walls standing but inside it's looking all different, that's one way to grasp it.
J: What does that mean specifically, explain what it is you do in the primarily played game mode.
N: Well, it is an alternate version of Conquest, it's called Advance and Secure. You have flag points just like in BF2, but they are not set, instead every map has different lanes on which the flags can spawn, some a predetermined, others are randomised. Often there are two to four lanes per map, that way the game play is renewed each time you play, and you have to think about it this way: you have to take over the flags in a specific order, for example one team starts East, the other West, eventually you'll meet each other BUT the flags can only be taken in order, you cannot jump from A to D and then simply take over D, that doesn't work.
J: That focuses the battles a bit.(Right) What happened to the class system, does that still exist like it used to?
N: The class system, as opposed to BF2(I believe he meant to say "in comparison") was not only preserved but was lead ad absurdum, so many classes exist.
J: Ok, so there are a lot of special classes, can you give us some examples?
N: There are standard classes available in the spawn menu, for example the rifleman, the light anti-tank man(eks dee), the grenadier, the medic, the light machine gunner, the regular types of troops you'll find in a regular unit.(get's cut off here, unfortunately)
J: And do vehicles exist? I mean, I'm certain vehicles exist but surely they've increased the variety as well?
N: Yes. You'll have to differentiate between regular military forces and insurgent factions, the regular military forces field, for example, an IFV, a Tank and everything, Jets and Helicopters included, whereas the Insurgents have, as we've seen from the news, only a pick up with a machine gun mounted on it.
J: Toyota pick ups with a machine gun on their backs.
N: Yeah, those.
J: You said before the interview that special classes exist for these, it's not possible as it was in BF2 back then to simply run up to it and jump in.
N: Yup. To use a vehicle you'll have to request a so-called crewman kit from supply crates or IFVs, you'll run up to these, press T, select crewman, and then you pick it up like back in the day with G, as some may remember, and then you can enter. However, if you join a server, just take the kit and run off with the vehicle you'll get kicked.
J: You'll get into trouble, right?(Yes). - We will go back on the teamwork in a bit - The increase in complexity doesn't stop with the classes, of which a few were added, I believe you can now also construct your own structures like sandbags, how does that work?
N: Well, as said before you need Ammo Crates, which you can request and then a helicopter, flown by a teammate, will show up, or you go ahead and take a logistics truck.
J: So there also is a supply system, which you'll have to do.
N: Right. You need a big crate to create an FOB, on which you can spawn as well - you cannot spawn the way you could in BF2, instead you have to construct these to spawn, you need a crate, and you need a second crate to build other stuff like an HMG, an AA, a TOW, sandbags and the classic tank traps, the (Czech) hedgehogs.
J: All of this needs a lot of coordination, is the Commander still there?(Yes) So he has the command over everything?
N: Well, without him it's often chaos.(U fokin w0t m8?) If your doesn't have a good commander but the enemy has one, you've practially lost.(U fokin w0t m9?)
J: And the next level are the Squad Leaders I take it? Did the squad size increase as well?
N: Yes, I believe currently we're at 8 who make up a squad, previously it was 6. This was necessary because the server size was also increased from 64 to 100, so 50 vs. 50.
J: With the Squad Leader giving the orders. You said it previously with the headset, but voice comms is likely to be very important?
N: If you don't have a headset most servers will kick you.
J: So a lot of importance is placed on that. I believe the community in general.... I mean, you'll have to put effort into it,.... you touched upon it a few times, simply joining and playing is not met with favourable responses, you should look for a manual first.
N: You should play Co-Op first to get a feel for everything, every forum will tell you that you should join Co-Op; the bots are good, I have to say. You have to get a feel for the recoil and the controls, the whole behaviour.... and it's just not an online shooter like Call of Duty where you can simply join and run around on your own, it's nothing like that, it's the complete opposite.
J: The focus is on teamplay, at times you'll have to take over unpleasent roles, driving lorries, doing some supply runs and shoveling sandbags.
And if all this seems familiar to you, then you, for sure, you are aware of Squad, because Squad is, more or less, PR2. It's the same developers, they've started working on PR back then, switched over partially and are now doing Squad, which works very much like it, basically. The game mechanics work like they do in Squad, with those squads, having to coordinate, the construction system, the game mode, everything works in similar fashion. Question is: Why do you play PR if there is a newer, "better"(quotation marks by him) variant?
N: Newer, yes; better,... that's debateable.(Ok) I purchased Squad a while ago while it was in sale, I tried it... I can see the direction it wants to go, but in my opinion it's not there, and that's why I play PR, it's been actively developed since 2005, 2004, and that shows. For it being a pure community mod it is very polished.
J: That's what Squad is lacking currently, content is missing, a lot of polishing, how much content is in there, do you know how many maps there are?
N: More than 40.(woah, insane) And another thing, the biggest maps back then in BF2 were 2 square kms, there was a new minimod, so there exist minimods within project reality like Falklands which is 8 square kms large(....).
J: Insane, means you'll have a lot of space to do all sorts of things. If you have 100 players you require more space.
N: Additionally the jet combat will be much better... the large maps in PR are 4 square km big(ugh), it's ok for helos, but for jets? hm.
J: It's getting tight fast and you end up flying out of the area.(Yes) Yeah, very cool. So, bringing it to a close, what are you supposed to do when you're thinking: "I want to try this out, I want to get an impression of it", maybe it's because you want to purchase Squad later on and with PR you have a free variant of it or it's simply because you are up for BF2 with a mod, how can you approach it the best way, is there a forum, a help center you could point us to: "That's where you can find a guide on how to start."?
N: Well, I would suggest to watch some gameplay footage on youtube first. There you'll see if it's something for you, with its teamplay. You just type in: Project Reality Full Rounds. You need a certain level of English, it's not possible without, you don't have to be able to read Shakespeare, just rudimentary should suffice.
J: You'll have to grasp the orders of a sergeant.
N: Something like that. Yeah, I would just go to youtube and look around, and then google Project Reality to reach the page with its forum, download it, read a few pages in between, play a round or two of Co-Op, then go to a server, play infantry, tell them: "I'm new, sorry" ..... The biggest mistake you can make is to, not give it a look first, simply join a server, grab the nearest truck and run off.... no.
J: That's not how it goes, but if you do it correctly, you can have a lot of fun, I know from my personal Squad experience, and I will take a look into PR. If you guys out there also want to give it a try I wish you a lot of fun, thanks for tuning in - Nils, thank you for presenting the game to us, good bye.
.