Battletest 2 (BT2) was one of the most astounding balance achievements in the history of the RTS genre. As many of us know, the task was taken on by many of the dedicated, well-known, and skilled players in the RTS world. It was a project that took exactly "two months and fifteen days" says
MaDDoX. It took many hours of coding, playing, and brainstorming, as well as many different minds all led by the mastermind of the project, MaDDoX, to create the patch.
Battletest 2 was going to be an incredibly long, dragging, complicated process with almost "one thousand different balance entries." Before the actual testing and balancing had even started, MaDDoX needed to create from scratch a "great software application" which would help him in "working out a better forum structuring so the process per se would flow faster and more efficiently." This software MaDDoX named
BSR, and it took him FOUR months to create!
In the actual Battletesting, they had five regular patch iterations (A, B, C, D, and E). These were five release candidates that MaDDoX has to "send back and forth to Electronic Arts during the revision and Q&A/CQC approval process." For the Battletesters, there was a specific forum for every faction, and within that were sub-divisions for specific winning match ups, i.e Goblins winning against Mordor. There was also a discussion forum so that all the testers could talk about balance and different bugs. The project was extended due to the fact that MaDDoX had begun to go through some serious real life issues, including his girlfriend's serious health problems.
The objective was to "make 1.05 an
overall more refined gameplay experience,
in terms of intra-balance (need to mix
units), hero usage, multiple leadership
interactions, and faction uniqueness."
So what was the purpose of this large BT2 project? It actually is not what most people would say when they think about a "balance" patch. Quite the contrary, the objective was to "make 1.05 an overall more refined gameplay experience, in terms of intra-balance (need to mix units), hero usage, multiple leadership interactions, and faction uniqueness."
BFME2's 1.04 patch was a very fast paced patch that was very micro intensive, making game last somewhere between
seven to fifteen minutes. The "pro" ClanWars players adored the patch because they felt they were able to play as many games as possible in a short period of time. However, although the game was very fast paced, it was lacking in some areas. Several of the game's units were unusable because one strategy seemed to be superior to all others, making for a repetitive game from time to time.
EA had requested for a patch that had the scope of
BFME 1.03 in mind. With this in mind, MaDDoX knew that this would be a "game-changing adventure" and that "it'd be impossible to predict what the balance would become after all the new systems were in place." With the extensive changes taking place it was "obvious that we wouldn't always move ahead in terms of inter-faction balance." When you try to add diversity to six factions, you are bound to have to have different balance problems. However, in the case of
BFME2, "the pros far surpassed the cons."
As stated above, there were many people that were involved in this process. The original "BattleTesters" were all handpicked by
HERO. Only the best and most experienced players were chosen which is why "HERO was really strict about not calling very young players." Around a month later, HERO left the project and MaDDoX had to add more players to fill the gap. Of course, there were other notable Battletesters in the process, such as
Ch3m1c4l,
CowGoMoo, and
Locke, all with their own specific talents that they brought to the table.
CowGoMoo and Ch3mic4l played an incredible amount of games and were able to talk about the game from experience. They both had a multitude of ideas that they wanted to add to the patch, and many of them were indeed added. Among them was the new creeping system in
BFME2, as well as the change in the counter system. They helped to change the face of the game.
Locke, on the other hand, was not a hardcore gamer like the other two. Instead, he was more of the thinking type, whom MaDDoX could always "talk about the deeper balance inter-relations that escaped the understanding of most people."
Patch 1.05 was released and as expected it had its imbalances, but, for the most part, was a solid addition to
BFME2. It changed the face of the game, adding a great amount of depth. After the initial release of patch 1.05, MaDDoX began what he liked to call
BattleTest 2 Directors Cut (DC) which was a public BattleTest. MaDDoX stated that it was "not a totally new movie, but a refined and extended revision of what the director really wanted to achieve, but time constraints didn't allow." What MaDDoX really wanted to do in this director's cut was to eliminate as many bugs as possible, as well as work on the AI and Create-A-Hero (CAH) feature. With the help of
Gansnudel,
What MaDDoX really wanted to do in this
director's cut was to eliminate as many
as many bugs as possible, as well as work
on the AI and Create-A-Hero (CAH) feature.
a top Quick Match player, community modder, and a very knowledgeable coder, they were able to fix some of those issues. There were also two other coders and modders in the process,
Khe and crashdoc. Between the four of them they "got really well covered in the coding and bugfixes department."
MaDDoX and his team did not finish there. He still had one more issue that he wanted to address. That was "inherent flaw in
BFME2 gameplay - lack of economic control points." The economy system in
BFME2 was very simple, allowing you to build anywhere, anytime. MaDDoX wanted to give
BFME2 a "sense of map control on average sized and large maps, and gameplay boils down to a big arm-wrestling of
MaDDoX wanted to give BFME2 a
"sense of map control on average sized
and large maps, and gameplay boils
down to a big arm-wrestling of armies
with little strategic decision involved."
armies with little strategic decision involved." To do this MaDDoX decided to resurrect the "implicit resources" system found in
BFME1, where different structures would give discounts to different units. By doing this it forced players to "suit your build orders to your strategy." To go a step further, MaDDoX wanted players to go after and capture certain locations based on their strategy. In this mod, Slaughterhouses, Farms and other resource buildings came to be used as secondary economic structures whose main job was to increase your Command Point limit. In exchange, there were three main capture points created. The
Aitheons give slightly more cash per second than the other two, and discounted the price of infantry.
Vardarins, give a discount to the cost of monsters, cavalry, and resource buildings. Finally,
Workpits discounted the price of upgrades. Through all of these concepts came the birth of
BFME2's final mode, which has come to be known as
Conquest Mode. Although Conquest Mode never became popular, the rest of the mod has been so successful that it has become widely accepted as the typical ClanWars version in
BFME2.
Battletest 2 and patch 1.05 caused a great amount of controversy in the community. Many players felt that it tried to do too much and was the death of
BFME2. Others praise it for its new depth and balance. It depends on which side of the fence you are on. Whether you prefer a game with depth that requires thinking and planning your moves, or a game like
BFME2 1.04 or
Rise of the Witch-king, which lacks those aspects. According to MaDDoX, "Battletest 2 was a huge success, however, as always, things can be improved." Battletest 2 actually ended up being a break through for balancing projects. It proved that "two-stage balancing (private and public)" can
"'If today was perfect, there
would be no need for tomorrow,'
and Battletest 2 was no different."
be very profitable. As MaDDoX had once read, "If today was perfect, there would be no need for tomorrow," and Battletest 2 was no different.