How did Battlefield 1943 begin? When was it decided to be a digital download title?

Patrick Liu: Actually it didn’t start as a grand plan, it just happened. We were toying around with ideas after I was done with my part on Battlefield Bad Company, among other people our Creative Director Lars Gustafsson (who was involved in the original BF1942). So we had this great engine, Frostbite that BFBC is based on, and we all love BF1942, so why not try to recreate a level from it? It was really an experiment, and it turned out great, too good not to release. DICE has also always been about trying out new things, and we haven’t done small downloadable game only before, so we want to try it out and reach new fans with it. And so Battlefield 1943 came about, trying to recreate the spirit of BF1942.

You've streamlined the classes and the maps, but what about the online system? Do you split the games in between ranked and player matches? Can you join a game already in progress on consoles?

PL: When you play public there’s only one alternative, and that’s ranked matches using matchmaking, you can jump in and out of it at your leisure. But then for all the more professional and clan players, we will have support for Private Matches where you can pick and choose people and place them in teams manually. We are still looking into other solutions for the PC version, something more familiar to PC gamers.

Battlefield 1943 will be the first Battlefield game with regenerative health. Why make the change? Is this something we could start seeing in all Battlefield titles?

PL: This is not a grand plan to implement in all future games, but again something we think is suitable for this game in particular. It’s feels like a modern game mechanic that’s very common in many shooters nowadays, and one of the goals here has to make it more accessible to more players. It really changes the pacing in this game, to the better we think. We’re not necessarily making it less deep, but it’s just another kind of depth, you’ll have to manage your health in another way.

With Battlefield: Bad Company 2 announced and Battlefield Heroes currently in Beta, where does Battlefield 1943 fit into the overall scheme of things. Who is it for?

PL: A big part of BFBC2 is single player, and it’s a really grand and epic game. Heroes is Free4Play, 3rd person, PC-only game. I’d like to believe that BF1943 is disruptive in the sense that it’s not easy to place it in known niches.

There aren’t any small games out there that at the same time have the depth of a full game and only smaller in scope. I don’t see BF1943 competing with other retail shooters. So imagine that your usual shooter (whatever you’re currently playing) is your car. You invest a lot of time in it, and drive it basically every day. It costs more and requires a lot more time. BF1943 would then be your motorcycle, which you can drive when you feel like having more fun, may be on weekends. It’s really a game in between other games, when you don’t want the seriousness, but just jump-in jump-out fun.

Another comparison: so when I was younger I could invest like 8 hrs a day in a game. Now I’ve grown up. You have a day job, maybe a family, and less time to spend on games. But you’re still a real gamer at heart and want a proper shooter! In comes BF1943, which you don’t have to invest 10 hrs to unlock the competitive weapons and perks. All that matters is your skill. So if you’re into shooters, you can be competitive here without investing a ton of time, just jump in and play a real shooter with smaller scope. With that said you will still be able to rank up and earn awards for bragging rights!

I also think it’s a great entry-level shooter. So if you want to try a full proper shooter, you don’t buy a $50 game that’s super hard to get into. It’s a lot easier to buy a $15 game which is more accessible at start and then experience the depth and skill that’s required with a proper shooter.

Why call the game Battlefield 1943? Why not keep it under the 1942 moniker with a subtitle?

PL: It would be misleading to call the game BF1942 since we have moved on and reworked the maps, game play etc. If we were to call it 1942: something people might think it was a remake of the three original BF1942 maps, and it is not.

Most Xbox Live Arcade titles have to adhere to a filesize limit, with only a few exceptions, like Portal: Still Alive. Have you also been granted an expanded filesize, or does Battlefield 1943 fit within the 350MB limit?

PL: We will be a lot smaller than you’d think, thanks to clever engineering. We have been aiming at 350 Mb, but I’m confident we can work out something with Microsoft on expanding the file size should we need it.

Xbox Live Arcade titles have always required some sort of single player component to their games. Does Battlefield 1943 include bots or some sort of campaign?

PL: No, we don’t really support any single player mode. We will have a tutorial sandbox level where we teach the basics of the game and where you can just fool around.

Battlefield Bad Company expanded on the games original modes with Conquest and four free additional maps. Can we expect post-release support for Battlefield 1943 or should we consider this more of a stand alone experience?

PL: The current plan is just a nice and neat stand-alone package. If it proves really successful we can surely look into supporting it with new content.

When can we expect the game to be released?

PL: Summer 2009.

Thank you for your time.

The official Battlefield 1943 website can be reached at battlefield1943.com. Once again thanks to Patrick for taking the time to speak with us.