THE TRENCH

Hello everybody

The first news is that the game has a new name. Prophecy Resurection Origine has officially become The Trench.
The second news is that we didn't release a beta as planned in October. The reason is simple. We changed lots of the gameplay mechanics.

But let s remind you what The Trench is:

The Trench

Is a first person shooter video game on PC taking place during the First World War. You assume the role of a French foot soldier mobilized on the Verdun front.

Features:

- Being able to approach the scenario from different angles
- Melee combat system
- Cover system
- Infiltration system
- Dynamic terrain deformation
- Equipment & weapons
- Dynamic environment

Environment of the game

The Trench takes place on only one map composed of two trenches: a French and a German one separated by No Man s Land and its surrounding area comprising of forests and villages. Trenches are made of three lines connected by narrow communication galleries. You will find shelters, first aid posts, command posts, saps and so on. This environment is bound to climatic conditions (rain, snow, and storms) as well as the cycle of day and night.

Gameplay Mechanics

Different ways of approaching the battle

One of the main mechanics is that the game begins 3 days before the German assault on the 21st February 1916. These 3 days will always take place on the same map Firstly, this time will allow you to prepare for the future German assaults. You can request a 75 field gun battery on a precise zone, air support, "coups de main" in the German trench, position foot soldiers in strategic places and more, these 3 days will allow you to approach the battle from a different angle and prepare yourself against the future German attack. This offers the player an important level of replayability.

First Person Shooter

At the beginning of the development The Trench was 50% FPS / 50% RPG. The Trench is now mainly a FPS with a small part of RPG. The realistic mode is still there, it is now included in the 4 choices of difficulty (easy, normal, realistic and customized mode). The ability to infiltrate and cover will be developed as part of the FPS mode.

Role Playing Game

The RPG element of this game involves an inventory system to store your items, Being able to communicate with NPC s and also secondary missions, characteristics for the equipment as well as the customization of some weapons , for example : adding an APX scope to the Lebel, Placement of Filloux cannons etc..

Technology

Engine T3D

We are using the T3D Beta 1.1. We haven t migrated to the last version but have simply added the functionalities of beta 2 and 3 which seemed interesting for the game.Lastly we have guaranteed that you will have optimum performance in single player.

Facial expressions

Arguably this has been the biggest work. The characters are composed of two models, the body and the head. The head and the body are composed of a series of bones. The facial manipulations and deformation will be executed by the world editor of the T3D.

Deformation of the land and "Marmitage"

For the implementation of this feature we have developed a system of "Marmitage" (it was the name given to the heavy bombing of the shells by the French soldiers) interfaced with the middleware Game Mechanics Kit.
The "Marmitage" can be made to land on a defined zone, the explosions will be random or with markers showing the point of impact of the next shell. Each shell has its own properties, the particle effect, its range , the damage it creates, the deformation of the land, its penetration strength and even sound produced by it falling in the air and its explosion.

The shell markers will then be connected to an entity "ObusGestion" which represents the artillery piece. It is itself made of properties such as frequency of bombing, and so on...
For the land we use the classic "height maps" and the same technology (changed of course) used to deform the land in the world editor of the T3D. Its implementation is very specific, this only occurs in No Man s Land and must respect some conditions concerning the map.

Strategy

Beta release

The Trench is planned for 2011. We foresee a beta in the following months. We haven t decided yet if it will be private or public.

New Internet site

We have launched a site completely in English to help with the promotion of the Trench. You will find more information there on the games content (characters, arms, etc...) we will continue to update this during the next few months up until the release of the game.
We also have a Facebook account and a forum. Don t hesitate to leave feedback.

Support the war effort

You can support the development of the game, Pre-order it now and you will receive a 30% reduction in price.

Gameplay Footage & Teaser

Below you will find the first video of the trench which is a tiny part of the tutorial. You will see the system of "marmitage" working (the deformation of the land has been deactivated). I will soon be making a technical video to showcase this feature as well as the facial expressions system.

ScreenShots

The blog is shortly coming to an end

See you soon.