Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood, was originally an expansion for Road to Hill 30. However, the project grew and had enough content, quality, and value to become a true sequel. Earned in Blood would use the same engine as it's predecessor (Unreal Engine 2), and much of the same content. This was largely due to it's development cycle being only about six months long. This time around, players would command a different soldier, Joe Hartsock, who was in the same unit as the player from the first game, Matt Baker. Through this different perspective, returning players would experience new scenarios, as well as revisit familiar ones with different tasks. It featured new weapons, vehicles, missions, and story.
Having just completed the first title, the team was well experienced with the capabilities of our tools, and were ready to go full steam ahead. Initial design documents had been started as Road to Hill 30 neared completion to give an extra head start. I owned the first mission entirely, and shared the remainder of the missions listed below with one other designer; where my task was mainly to work on cinematics and story related elements. Throughout all the missions, my tasks involved roughing out missions based off reference material and design documents, creating low poly versions of the mission for the skybox, propagating the mission with art content, painting terrain, managing memory & performance, creating strings for localization, implementing new player training, setting up AI infrastructure and combats, and creating cinematics.
mission 01 - roses all the way
Once again I find myself in charge of the first mission! The mission opens with the player looking up at their parachute snagged in a tree. Upon looking down, a German is aiming his weapon right at the player. With the help of another stranded soldier, Doyle, the player is freed and they move out to link up with more allied forces. I was responsible for setting up just about everything in this mission.
Doyle and the player can only stay low and wait as another paratrooper lands exposed in a field, and is gunned down by the enemy. Allied presence is greatly expanded in EiB to make the player feel more immersed, and remind them that they are not the only soldier dropping into battle. As the player progresses, they are trained how to use new features such as receiving ammo from squad mates, weapons usage, commanding units, and using situational awareness view.
Hartsock and Doyle run into another allied soldier, Paddock. He makes a grand entrance by sneaking up on a German anti-aircraft unit, lobbing a grenade at them, and then spraying the area with bullets. This scene showcases the continued display of allied presence, and realtime character introductions.
After running into another allied unit, a soldier reports hearing a horse convoy approaching. After scouting the area, there are indeed several horse convoys on the road, with a few units of German infantry and a machine gunner.
mission 02 - action at st. martin
Action at St. Martin is based almost exactly off a real location, due to the large supply of videos and photos on hand. After the drop and the first night, the player wakes up in a ditch, and is escorted by Doyle to a temporary command post, to discover a group of wounded soldiers in need of medical supplies. Fortunately, allies have intel that the Germans have supplies nearby inside a church. The mission layout is dense with buildings, and allows for lots of combat mobility.
The above video shows the intro to the mission. I set up the timing of all the dialogue, implementation of all animations in the cinematic, control of the character's facing direction and head targeting, and framing of characters.
A German soldier drinks coffee while on patrol. The team made sure to convey that the Germans were also just people serving their country, and not some kind of mortal enemy. Combat distances vary quite a bit in this mission, and players who do not suppress the enemy may find themselves dealing with the same squad in multiple locations.
Hartsock's squad holds down the main road in St. Martin. Most of the buildings and walls in this shot are exactly like this in the real world, and naturally provide an interesting space for tactical combat. Players and squads traveling down long alleys may find themselves exposed to an enemy ambush, yet there always seems to be an escape route nearby.
The church believed to contain medical supplies looms in the background. Skirmishes continue through the village and around the church. This mission features the increased use of vertical space in the combats; something that I felt was often lacking in the previous title. Players have to think tactically of when to scout ahead and how to use their squads to achieve victory.
mission 03 - three patrol action
This is another mission based heavily off reference materials. It is the first mission where the player has two squads to command, and myself and another designer intended to challenge the player in ways they hadn't in the first title. Previously, enemy units would enter the combat space and remain in position until players or the player's unit flanked them. Taking this to the next step, enemies would now see they are being flanked, and try to fall back to a safe position. Sometimes this would happen several times if the player did not use their squads effectively.
After getting the mission briefing, the squads cross a road into the village and are immediately attacked by enemy infantry and machine gun units. Alleys and additional open fields allow players to adapt to the situation and plan their next move. Some flanking routes are not so obvious, and may require the player to really think about solving a combat.
This image showcases the AI adapting to the player's squad movements. The AI have been flushed out of their position deep inside the field on the left, and may fall back to a point where they have cornered themselves, given the opportunity.
A character from the first game, Mac, makes a return in EiB, this time by mowing down enemies in a field with a machine gun. Shortly after, a halftrack rolls onto the field with infantry units and a machine gun, sending everyone to cover. Artillery is also present, making the situation even more dangerous. Here, I set up Mac's presentation elements and his target enemies, and set up the artillery scripting to randomly target either the player, one of the player's squads, or Mac, in series of 3 shots.
mission 05 - chateau columbieres
Some reference photos showcased this really neat looking chateau location, and we knew right away it had to become a mission in the game. The player is given one squad and sent in to see if they can clear it out for use as an aid station. The surrounding area is badly damaged swampland that is on largely fire, giving a strong feeling of unease and tension.
Inside the chateau courtyard, a battle rages on. As rushing a building with enemies facing outwards is generally a bad idea, players need to think fast on how to draw them out into the open. There are lots of side routes for players to explore and use to their advantage.
A brief battle inside the chateau takes place. There are very few interior battles in the game, as it is difficult to fit so many units inside while maintaining visibility of them as to make wise choices about commands. After clearing out the interior and passing through the other side, an allied tank rolls into the scene and marks the first time the player has used a tank in EiB. I scripted the introduction of the tank, and the training on how to command and use the tank unit.
The player returns to the front of the chateau after making a sweep around it, to find the enemy has brought in additional troops, tanks, and artillery units to try to regain control. With the player's prior experience in the area and addition of a tank unit, it challenges the player to use the same space differently.
mission 12 & 13 - the all americans
The All Americans was another instance of a mission that was too large to fit in memory, and had to be split into two missions fairly late in development. This marks the end of the road for the player's orders, and upon clearing the city of St. Sauveur, should put the allies in a strong position. This mission was interesting to work on, given I had not worked on such an urban environment before on this franchise, and had to do so using a set number of assets. My role on this mission was mainly to handle the opening and closing cinematics, but also offered help on the combats and other gameplay as necessary.
The squads are beat up and exhausted, but rush into battle for the final effort. The environment also shares some of the character of defeat and fatigue that the allies show. The urban environment offered unique challenges on cover opportunities and general layouts of the space. On the right is the perimeter wall of the city's castle.
Things are about to go from bad to worse as bombers fly over an expansive city center, already full of infantry, machine gun nests, tanks, and anti-tank cannons. This is a really intense combat where players have to be cautious from enemies on all sides. The mixture of enemy types also challenges players to use their skills differently for one last effort.
Doyle and another soldier, Paige, catch up with Hartsock in the city, but are caught in the open by a German tank. Doyle is killed instantly in the blast, and the player is knocked back. Paige drags the player out of harms way, only to succumb to his wounds. Afterwards, the player must pull themselves together and make sure no other men are lost by clearing the few remaining enemies. This scene was a challenge because it all had to happen in real time and come to a shock as the player. I set up all of the events for the moment, and worked with animation, the writer, and FX to make sure it was hitting those notes.
All content copyright Gearbox Software and Ubisoft.
+ design . brothers in arms: earned in blood
