Players interested in understanding the tribulations of military life can look forward to Six Days in Fallujah. The upcoming tactical shooter by Victura and Highwire Games reimagines true stories from the Iraq War as told by marines, soldiers, and civilians. To faithfully recreate the Second Battle for Fallujah in 2004, the developer is implementing procedural technology for Six Days in Fallujah.
Many gamers will be familiar with procedural generation, as it is an increasingly popular mechanic in today's industry. Typically, it refers to how the game generates levels or areas on the fly rather than relying on static, handcrafted layouts. From roguelikes such as Hades to the upcoming Atropos planet in Housemarque's Returnal, development teams are finding new ways to implement this mechanic.
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Since Six Days in Fallujah has a basis in fact, the developers want to make a more believable experience. The Creative Director for the game, Jaime Griesemer, describes how marines never knew what was waiting behind the next door. Many shooters offer a collection of maps that fans consistently play and memorize the ins-and-outs. Procedural Architecture recreates the full battlefield every time, including building interiors and city blocks.
Marine squad leader Sgt. Adam Banotai, who fought through Fallujah, supports this idea. According to him, memorizing maps is purely fiction and nothing like real life. When it comes to unfamiliar territory, these soldiers never knew what to expect. To simulate this feeling for players, Highwire created a procedural technology that can also generate dynamic AI and sound systems. Though the objectives stick to true events, every playthrough will be unique to maintain that atmosphere of uncertainty felt by troops.
Bringing procedural generation to a shooter should help set Six Days in Fallujah apart from other games. Even major FPS titles like Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War or Apex Legends rely on signature maps like Kings Canyon. The feature supports providing gamers a more realistic experience, even though the title is far from the true experience. Victura CEO Peter Tamte suggests that fans will have to utilize military tactics to handle the ever changing landscape.
The thing is, procedural technology is the type of mechanic that is hit or miss. Some developers push the idea that procedural generation results in totally unique worlds each time. However, No Man's Sky's overwhelmingly negative launch show that the feature has limits. Even with endless possibilities, layouts can remain similar or AI can be predictable. That said, the focused concept for Six Days in Fallujah mixed with Procedural Architecture should lead to thrilling gameplay.
Six Days in Fallujah is expected to release late 2021 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.