Hey,

I have gotten the chance to get a few questions answered by Michael Condrey (Vice President of Sledge Hammer Games) on behalf of my website, for Modern Warfare 3. I thought I would give the chance for those who have any questions about the game, to have the chance to ask them. It can be about any aspect of the game (Spec-Ops, Multiplayer, possibly even about the development studio itself).

So yeah, fire away I guess.

A lot of good questions about MW3 are answered there.

@Sooty: har har har

:D

How many player in ze multiplayer?

@zaglis: "We aren't talking about that right now."

@EnchantedEcho

Softball, easy but interesting questions:

When your company was given this opportunity, you must have had some idea of what working on a COD title would involve, and you must have had some assumptions about the project. How are things different than you anticipated them?

How did Call of Duty XP differ from your expectations, and what was your favorite part of the event?

With less than a couple of months until the game ships, what aspects of the game are you currently working on? What's left to do?

Hardball question:

While it's great for PC gamers that there will be dedicated servers in the PC version of MW3, the same isn't true for the console version of MW3. With games such as Gears of War 3 starting to bring dedicated severs to console users, what was the reasoning behind going with a traditional peer to peer system, and why do you feel that it was the best fit for the console versions of MW3?

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I love to prepare interviews, so I'll likely be back to this thread with some more questions when I think of them. When is the interview, btw?

@SpaceInsomniac: Thanks for the questions, hard to know when I'll get answers back. It has to go through PR first to make sure he doesn't say something he isn't supposed to but, hopefully sometime next week.

@EnchantedEcho said:

@SpaceInsomniac: Thanks for the questions, hard to know when I'll get answers back. It has to go through PR first to make sure he doesn't say something he isn't supposed to but, hopefully sometime next week.

No, I meant when are you SENDING the questions. I don't want to post others that you can't use anymore.

It's my understanding that Sledgehammer was formed to work on a Call of Duty spinoff. That didn't take off, so now they've become an integral part of the development team for Modern Warfare 3. Since Call of Duty is basically a part of Sledgehammer's DNA, what role will they play in the future of the franchise? Will they continue to play support for Infinity Ward in their next endeavour, will they switch over to play assist for Treyarch in their next contribution, or will they become a third tier, perhaps developing their own Call of Duty game, thus giving Infinity Ward and Treyarch another year to refine the next generation of Call of Duty games?

@SpaceInsomniac: Thursday night, I live in Australia so thats about 58 hours from now.

@sonicrift: Thanks for the question, I'll add it in.

@sonicrift:

@SpaceInsomniac:

Here is the interview, the questions that were asked here are under 'Community Questions'.

@EnchantedEcho said:

@sonicrift:

@SpaceInsomniac:

Here is the interview, the questions that were asked here are under 'Community Questions'.

Thanks, but that link isn't working. Is there a typo or something?

@SpaceInsomniac: Does it work now? It should be this, just loaded the page http://www.digitalgaudium.com/2011/10/19/modern-warfare-3-interview/

@EnchantedEcho said:

@SpaceInsomniac: Does it work now? It should be this, just loaded the page http://www.digitalgaudium.com/2011/10/19/modern-warfare-3-interview/

No, it's still not working for me. Is it working for anyone else? Could you perhaps just copy/paste the interview into this thread?

@SpaceInsomniac:

A few days ago, Michael Condrey (Co-founder of Sledgehammer Games) was nice enough to take the time to answer both our and your Modern Warfare 3 questions.

Community Questions

Q: When your company was given this opportunity, you must have had some idea of what working on a COD title would involve, and you must have had some assumptions about the project. How are things different than you anticipated them?

MC: Sledgehammer Games was founded in July, 2009. There were a number of really compelling opportunities that were presented as a result of the critical success of Dead Space. None was more exciting than the chance to work on Activision’s flagship franchise, Call of Duty, with proven development teams like Infinity Ward and Treyarch. Initially, we set out to create a third person action shooter worthy of the Call of Duty name. We had something pretty special underway when the option was presented to join efforts with Infinity Ward to co-develop Modern Warfare 3. The rich legacy of the franchise, the deep fan base, and the chance to work with Infinity Ward, arguably the best FPS development team in the world, was an opportunity we couldn’t pass up.

Q: How did Call of Duty XP differ from your expectations, and what was your favorite part of the event?

A: CODXP was a remarkable event. The planning, attention to detail, and commitment to a flawless execution from the event planners at Activision was impressive. For a first-time live Call of Duty event, I think it went extremely well. The keynote was well received, the game surprised and thrilled, and the entertainment was world class.

My favorite part was getting the chance to interact with the fans. MW3 has been an interesting journey for us, as developers. The expectations are higher than ever, and for a long while we had maintained a low profile as the teams poured their hearts into the game. There was a lot of chatter and speculation, but at CODXP we finally revealed multiplayer by putting it in the hands of our fans. Their validation was beyond rewarding.

Q: With less than a couple of months until the game ships, what aspects of the game are you currently working on? What’s left to do?

A: We are just weeks away from 11-8-11. We couldn’t be more excited for the day we get to share MW3 with the millions of fans and every day between now and then will be devoted to getting the game out to every corner of the globe for launch day. Besides that, we are consistently play-testing MP between and amongst the studios. To be honest, we are mostly just playing. The experience is rock-solid, and it’s a ton of fun. Even after all of time in development, the teams still love playing for fun. That’s rare in this industry, and a good sign for the game, I assure you.

Q: It’s my understanding that Sledgehammer was formed to work on a Call of Duty spinoff. That didn’t take off, so now they’ve become an integral part of the development team for Modern Warfare 3. Since Call of Duty is basically a part of Sledgehammer’s DNA, what role will they play in the future of the franchise? Will they continue to play support for Infinity Ward in their next endeavour, will they switch over to play assist for Treyarch in their next contribution, or will they become a third tier, perhaps developing their own Call of Duty game, thus giving Infinity Ward and Treyarch another year to refine the next generation of Call of Duty games?

A: Sledgehammer Games was founded with a singular goal: achieve excellence in everything we do. This co-development effort with Infinity Ward was a unique opportunity. Supported development, in the form of external development or outsourcing, is relatively common in the software industry today. Rarely, though, will you see two AAA teams combine into a unified, collaborative virtual studio. I am confident that MW3 will speak well for both teams. At Sledgehammer Games, we are as focused on achieving excellence as ever. We are excited to continue that journey on our own, or partnered with an equally passionate studio in a co-development effort that gives both studios equally opportunity to contribute, drive, and own the decisions in the best interest of achieving that goal.

Our Questions

Q: What lessons were learned from Modern Warfare 2 that have affected the development of Modern Warfare 3?

A: Call of Duty has the best fans in the world; a passionate group of gamers about 30 Million strong and growing. We have made profound changes and additions to Modern Warfare 3 because of that dialog with our fans. The addition of the Support Strike Package and Specialist Strike Package to our Point Streak System, new modes like Kill: Confirmed, Weapon Proficiencies, refined map design, finely-tuned weapon balancing, and so much more… all as a result of our pursuit of innovation, and the refinement from lessons learned from previous games. Lessons like no more shotguns as secondary weapons, the frustration of the Commando perk, or the negative implications of Last Stand. In addition, we’ve re-focused on the narrative of the single player campaign to offer a deep, and emotionally impactful storyline, and the expansion of Spec Ops into a deep, rich offering on par with single player and multiplayer.

Q: What was the core development mentality behind Modern Warfare 3, was it just ‘bigger and better’ or something else?

A: The core development values in Modern Warfare 3 are based on a few simple, yet profound and unwavering principles;

• It has to be fun and it has to be fast. Gun-on-gun, smooth responsive gameplay is core to every decision made.
• Authenticity and believability in the depiction of the hero’s modern war conflict is a core design pillar.
• Good enough isn’t. We never settle. If we can’t reach an incredible level of polish, it doesn’t go in the game. Period.
• Exceed expectations, and always leave the player wanting more. Everything the player experiences in Modern Warfare 3 is meticulously scrutinised. If it doesn’t make the grade, it’s left on the editing room floor.

In Modern Warfare 3, we wanted to continue the single player campaign with the heroes we’ve all known and loved on an epic scale never experienced before in Modern Warfare. We also wanted to innovate in Spec Ops and truly pay-off that mode of the game as being equal in depth and fun as the SP and MP modes. Of course, we wanted to continue to deliver best in class multiplayer with new innovations, better tuning, and more options tailored to the player’s style.

Q: In recent years there has been a growing sentiment among gamers, that the Call of Duty franchise is growing stale. What would you say to these detractors and what have you done to alley these fears?

A: As a gamer, I don’t want to waste my time or money on a lackluster experience anymore than the next gamer. The depth and breadth of MW3 is stunning. Our singleplayer campaign is an epic journey with new weapons, new mechanics, amazing new global locations… it truly is the interactive blockbuster movie experience of 2011. Spec Ops, with the return of Mission Mode and the introduction of the brand new Survival Mode, offers gamers a fantastic co-op experience that is just as rich as the single player and multiplayer offerings. Multiplayer is bigger, better, and more balanced than ever. With the addition of the social integration into MW3 with Elite’s features like Facebook, Clans, Groups, Leaderboards, and more. In all, Modern Warfare 3 offers more innovation, commitment to quality, and replay value than ever.

We want to once again, thank Michael for his time. We will have something of our own to say as we creep closer to the 8th of November, in the meantime feel free to check out our MW3 Gamescom Preview.

@EnchantedEcho:

Thank you for posting that. It was a nice read, but he ignored that first question a little more than I would have liked. At any rate, thanks for the opportunity.