{"id":21945,"date":"2019-07-31T13:27:07","date_gmt":"2019-07-31T13:27:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.prod.gmgfarm.net\/?p=21945"},"modified":"2019-07-31T13:27:07","modified_gmt":"2019-07-31T13:27:07","slug":"how-wolfenstein-youngblood-freshens-up-the-franchises-formula","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/vpce-0921aaf1c67156043-4t1vg0wq.vpce-svc-0cf8d5d00172470c2.us-east-1.vpce.amazonaws.com\/how-wolfenstein-youngblood-freshens-up-the-franchises-formula\/","title":{"rendered":"How Wolfenstein: Youngblood Freshens Up the Franchise\u2019s Formula"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Game developers don\u2019t like standing still, and with good reason too. In an ever-changing industry, refusing to adapt and offer something unique and fresh to gamers is almost like sounding your own death knell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For MachineGames, Wolfenstein: Youngblood<\/a> is the literal embodiment of the phrase \u2018Out with the old, in with the new\u2019. Gone is the single-player mode only mantra, overreliance on ageing Nazi-killer extraordinaire B.J. Blazkowicz, and core focus on the first-person shooter genre that previous entries depended on. In their place is a co-op title centered around B.J\u2019s twin daughters Jess and Sophie, laced with soft RPG elements, and expansive levels that encourage exploration and new ways to strategically approach combat scenarios.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new game, a new challenge<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Ripping up parts of the development manual that you\u2019ve relied on so heavily could be a recipe for disaster but, for senior game designer Andreas Ojerfors, it was a necessity to prevent MachineGames from becoming too comfortable in their own skin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely been a challenge, but I think the team was ready to try some new things,\u201d Ojerfors told us at QuakeCon Europe. \u201cWe wanted to play around with the format a bit because we had The New Order, The Old Blood, and The New Colossus, so this was going to be our fourth Wolfenstein, so we wanted to give ourselves some new challenges in the studio.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The where and when…<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Wolfenstein: Youngblood takes place two decades after the events of The New Colossus. B.J. has gone missing in Nazi-occupied Paris and, as either Jess or Sophie, players are tasked with finding their dad – in Da\u2019at Yichud power suits no less – and ridding France of its unwelcome overlords.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Youngblood isn\u2019t a complete departure from MachineGames\u2019 well-trodden path. It retains the humor, heart, and heaps of violence that the series has become renowned for. In stepping out of their comfort zone and making a game aimed at two players instead of one, however, MachineGames had to overcome numerous obstacles. Chief among their concerns was their pre-programmed AI that, according to Ojerfors, struggled with an extra playable character to contend with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs soon as we threw in another player, the AI became super stupid,\u201d Ojerfors amusingly revealed. \u201cThey bounced between the two players and didn\u2019t know how to deal with them because everything we built, when it comes to our AI, is geared towards the enemy trying to understand and respond to one player. So we spent a ton of work on making sure that our AI works well with two players. I\u2019d say we did a really good job there and I\u2019m really happy with it because I think our enemy AI is now more responsive and more dangerous than before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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