Through my life I was always keen on history, reading books, watching documentaries etc. and inevitably I got to play historically oriented PC games, and in 2003 all the rage was about BF franchise. One weekend in 2004, an idea came into my mind to add other historical battles to the games platform, soon other great friends joined, both from Israel and abroad – as far places as US and Australia, and I found myself, age 16, managing all these affairs.
This article was posted originally on June 2004, on an Israeli news site, and it introduces our work then.
Battlefield: Israel
Interview with the Israeli creators behind the IDF-FFI mod for the game Battlefield: Vietnam, which presents the Israeli wars from 1948 until today
Yoska Shemam, Vgames Posted: 20.06.04, 09:12
The Israeli wars are not properly represented in computer games. There was a strategy game or two that dealt with conflict in the Middle East, but as a small country with many and large wars, we would expect to see many more games dealing with local wars.
The truth is that until recently, computer games tried not to touch on sensitive issues, preferring to focus on ancient, futuristic or fictional wars. But as time goes on, you start to see more games dealing with real wars. There is no shortage of titles dealing with World War II and the Vietnam War. One can even find some based on the recent Gulf War.
Why is the representation of the Israeli wars in the genre of first-person action not common? Turns out we are not the only ones who have thought about it. About two weeks ago we came across Maude’s website for Battlefield: Vietnam, called IDF-FFI. These acronyms are an abbreviation for the Israeli Defense Force – Fight For Independence, or in Hebrew – “IDF – The Battle for Independence”.
While browsing the site, it turned out that IDF-FFI is a rather ambitious mod, setting itself a goal to bring all of Israel’s wars to BF: V. According to the description on the website, at the end of the process – the War of Independence, Operation Kadesh, the Six Day War, the Yom Kippur War, the War of Attrition, the War of the Galilee Peace, and even the current intifada.
Since this is a rather ambitious mode that presents Israeli history from 1948 to the present, we decided to talk to Daniel Turchin (16), the project’s founder and head of the development team, Costa (15), the game designer and webmaster, Danny (15), the Modeler ( Creates models of characters, weapons and vehicles), and Oren (28), a professional 3D animator.
How did you get started?
Daniel: “We started the mod about two weeks ago. It was created by chance, after talking to Costa about a lack of games that include the Israeli arena, which I think is very central and important – no less than any other arena – historically. Our second goal is to show a different side of the IDF. “And the state, the aspect of the wars for the survival of the state – the wars that brought us here. Wars like the Six Days and Yom Kippur, operations and wars that represent Israeli heroism. “
“Another aspect of the mod is to show Israel’s weapons, which in my opinion are unique, the needs for which they were made and the situations in which they were used. The mod will reflect all Israeli wars in the most realistic way possible. Of course it will be within the existing limits of the game .
What is the pace of progress in working on the mod? When do you expect the first version to come out?
Daniel: “What we have done so far is perhaps 10 percent of what we aim to achieve for the first issue. The thing is at the moment, that a large part of our team is on vacation, so progress is relatively slow. I hope all matters are settled soon, and I expect work from now on. “Relatively, you could say that the mod came out towards August. Of course, this will be the first version out of many.”
How historically accurate is the mod, and should you expect famous battles?
Daniel: “We are limited in terms of the game on which we build our mod, so there will be inevitable deviations. In principle, it should be very accurate. The real problem will be in the maps. Minimizing a battle on the order of tens of square kilometers to a computer screen – this is quite a difficult task.”
Oren: “We still have to remember that at the end of the day it is still a game and it has its limitations. Apart from bringing the Israeli wars into play, an equally important part is to create a fun game. So if the map is not one hundred percent accurate, or smaller due to engine limitations The graphics, I’m sure the gameplay will remain fun. “
What are the unique weapons seen in Mod?
Daniel: “Among the weapons are the training versions of the Sherman tank, different and varied artillery versions such as the MAR series, the L33 and the 150mm M50 based Sherman and many others. In addition there will be the chariot 4; Aircraft of local aerospace industry, such as the Kfir, the Eagle and the Super Mister; Small arms such as the Galilee, the Tabor, and a variety of Uzi versions; And in the field of vessels you will sail with a storm to its versions, the bee, the bee and the writer bee. “
Your website says that one of the wars in which the mod will be concentrated at a later stage, is the current intifada. Is there no moral dilemma in presenting the conflict?
Daniel: “We receive many inquiries, which claim that building a mod on Israel’s wars and the intifada in particular is problematic. This is not the case. That means they can not fight against the IDF.
“When building the Palestinian forces in the later stages of the mod, we will consider their situation and not allow a situation of their negative presentation. The game will only present the war aspect of the conflict, and will try to ignore the political aspect.”
Do not engage in politics
Oren: “I think there is no problem here, because the mod does not concentrate on solving this or that problem of the Middle East. The mod concentrates on the fighting itself, which the game itself can be the fun part. For example, look at the Desert Combat mod, which was the most successful mod of the year “America is against Iraq, and no one has a problem playing on the Iraqi or American side.”
“When I play, I do not think I am fighting for the liberation of Iraq or the elimination of coalition forces, but I enjoy playing in the interesting situation. Although we are building the mood from the Israeli side of the map, we do not take a political position in the game. Even if in reality he is not like that. “
Apart from the moral aspect, what reactions did you receive regarding the development of the mood inside and outside Israel?
Costa: “From other sites a lot of people have entered the political section.” Danny: “Inside Israel we received very nice responses. Outside it as well. The main complaints were about small technical flaws.”
