The subject of bomb disposal is largely ignored by the gaming industry. And that’s why I was immediately attracted to the title Shockwave: Land of The Blind, in which the player becomes a pyrotechnician, fighting in an area full of enemies with explosives. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to speak with Bnayat Games lead designer Alan and it was worth it, as you can read below.
How did you come up with the idea to make a game about a sapper/military pyrotechnician? It’s not really a general gaming theme.
After I met Jamal, we started talking about making a bomb disposal game. A few months later, we met up with some of his SWAT buddies, and that’s when things started to take off. The guys painted a bewitching picture of bomb disposal – stress, quirks and oddities of work, mind games, the value of knowing the enemy. The pyrotechnician against the salvage specialists in the area is like a silent arms race, but also a meeting of minds. It’s like a chess match where one side can’t make a single mistake, while the other side can change pieces at will.
In what country does your story take place?
This is Syria! Jamal’s country of origin. The way he spoke about this country and the city of Aleppo initially attracted me to this project. His view is very different from what we in Europe think of the Middle East – it is full of local customs and legends ripe for cultural syncretism. It’s amazing how many influences have mixed in this city over the centuries.
What types of bombs can you expect in Shockwave: Land of The Blind? Do we find complex mechanisms in them, or can most of them be rendered harmless by simply cutting the cable?
We try to cover all possible types of IEDs that you might encounter in the wild, from simple decoy wires and pressure plates to complex devices with conditional triggering.
What is the probability that the action will go wrong? Can the main character survive a possible explosion? In the footage, the explosion looks really impressive.
It depends on the hardware! Some paths require you to equip heavy armor and eat a few shards, others rely on agility and evasive maneuvers. However, there is no such thing as surviving a direct hit from an IED at close range – that’s in the realm of fantasy.
Explosions in Shockwave: Land of The Blind are supposed to have multiple stages. Can you give us a little description of what the stages will be?
We model a pre-explosion pressure wave followed by a thermal explosion. In the simulation, explosions in enclosed spaces propagate via nodes, just like a wave of water goes around a hole. There’s also a bounce mechanic where a blast wave can bounce off a surface at an angle and kill you from around the corner – and yes, it does happen.
If the bomb cannot be safely defused, can the buildings be saved?
If you find that the bomb cannot be disarmed, you must remove it from the building. For this, a hook and a robot are used. In real life, this is the preferred way to dispose of bombs: you remove them from the site and detonate them in a safe place. However, in an active war zone, this is often not possible.
How does Shockwave: Land of the Blind deal with enemies? Can they be eliminated during the game, or can you just sneak around? Can you elaborate a little on how they work?
The game forces you to rely on stealth. Even if you have a weapon at your disposal – it would be foolish to send our protagonist into a war zone without one – there simply isn’t enough ammo to kill them all. And enemy fighters have overwhelming firepower, so direct combat is always a bad idea. We are trying to avoid a situation that I didn’t really like in games like Deus Ex or Dishonored – where, with minimal player skills, it is enough to clear the map of enemies and calmly complete tasks. It just deprives us of tension. I feel like the Thief series handled it better.
In your job description, you claim that Shockwave: Land of The Blind will be close to Deus Ex and Thief in terms of level design. What will this mean in practice?
Oh yes, that brings us straight to the point. I just love the level design in these games – big, layered maps where you have to find paths, hotspots, and tricky ways to get past obstacles. This spatial design is just incredibly immersive – much more than classic linear games or open world games.
How many alternative paths will the levels you designed offer?
Our goal is to offer at least 3 different main routes that can be combined.
Last last question. Do you know any Czech games? If yes, how do you feel about them?
Of course! Kingdom Come: Deliverance is a recently released game that I really enjoyed – most of my life I’ve been a swordsman and blacksmith, I was born in a small village… learning this game is like seeing my youth on a screen. But KC:D is just recent and big.
I can think of many other Czech games: military simulations from Bohemia Interactive, I mean ARMA and the old Op Flashpoint. I think Mafia was mostly made in the Czech Republic… and there was an old RTS, Original War, that I really liked. I would play an Original War remake anytime!
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— Shockwave (@ShockwaveBnayat) September 9, 2022
Source :Indian TV
