Posted December 31, 1969 by Scott Parrino

Iron Grip: The Oppression is a total conversion mod for Half-Life 2. It combines RTS elements and FPS gameplay and puts players in a setting of a full-scale city war. In our interview with Vincent van Geel, Teamleader of the project, we learn more about this mod and it's unique style.

: I would like to first thank you for allowing us to interview you. To start it off, I’m sure our readers would like to know who you are and what you do.

Vincent van Geel: Well thank you for the opportunity! It’s our pleasure! Anyways, my name is Vincent van Geel and I am currently working on co-setting up Isotx. I just completed an Art-Game school in Holland. I started this project along with friends and contacts about 6 months after I finished the Art-Game bachelor’s degree. The goal was to attempt to create a modification which was "different" and "appealing" in design and gameplay in which gaming companies would hopefully pick us up. Currently we’re setting up a small company called Isotx with a group of investors.

: What is it like working with the mod team? Did you know any of them personally before hand?

Vincent: Yes! As a matter of fact some of them are real-life friends! Makes setting up a team all the more easy and we had the comfort of having real-life meetings often. Another plus was the fact that we all had mutual interests and shared vision on certain universe aspects, which makes it easier to motivate people. The only downside of a mod team is that everybody is there part-time, (and usually just for fun or as a hobby), which makes production and planning less effective. Nevertheless, working on mods with various teams is extremely fun and you learn a lot from each other.

: Tell us a little bit about Iron Grip: The Oppression. What is the story about and what kind of gameplay should players be looking forward to?

Vincent: Well, we wanted our own universe, so we would not be bound to existing designs, we also hoped for more uniqueness and exposure, but the design should not alienate or be to "weird" so only a certain crowd would be attracted to it. The downside of making your own universe is people don’t "easily" get interested in it, and you don’t get a fan base very easy. Nevertheless if it works, it gives you the possibility of expanding and creating more projects in that setting. The gameplay was our main objective. I had been thinking for a long time on how to combine cooperative gameplay, and the real "we are a special team" feeling to a multiplayer online game. Also board games attracted me a lot when I was younger, which inspired the RTS part of the gameplay. In classical board games 1 side is a group of human players with each their unique hero/character. The other side is 1 player controlling the bad-guys and laying down the adventure. In Iron Grip this side is the RTS player who builds and commands AI troops. He can build tanks and infantry making epic battlescenes like the end-battle of Saving Private Ryan inevitable!

: Why was the Half-Life 2 engine selected for Iron Grip: The Oppression? Were there any other game engines that the team considered for modding?

Vincent: Battlefield 2 was considered, but most of us were already familiar with modding Half Life 1, and considering we expected Half Life 2 to have a much bigger fanbase / modding scene the choice was made. Nevertheless, certain "aspects" of the engine made some simple things extremely hard. There are several things we assumed would be "trivial", which turned out to be almost "rocket science", haha. Ah well, in the end it still worked out so we’re glad we chose this engine.

: Were there any problems in the development of the mod?

Vincent: Well, as mentioned before the engine had its limitations, but we had several other problems as well. Certain people left, or went afk which slowed production. But compared to some teams I worked with in the past we have a strong dedicated team. So no real complaints there.



: Iron Grip: The Oppression consists of blending RTS and FPS gameplay. Was this tough to implement for a game engine that is originally for a first person shooter?

Vincent: Well, getting the view and basic RTS aspects in place wasn’t all to hard. But getting everything to actually "work" like a detailed RTS was. This includes GUI and the AI which gave us trouble at some points. You basically have to build this new game-system and test it a lot to get everything running smoothly like it’s supposed to be with actual RTS games.

: What kinds of units are created to implement balance in the gameplay?

Vincent: We looked at "strong units" concept-wise, which work very well in RTS games. We took the most interesting ones and made our own versions. We also included some new elements to the RTS gameplay (bomb diffusing etc). In the end, it’s a mass horde of units and armor. Each infantry unit is inferior to a Resistance player, but the RTS general needs to work with numbers and a good combination of vehicles and infantry. His overall strategy should be effective. Early tests have proven this to create REAL guerilla warfare, as the mass army bulks up and sweeps the city, the resistance hide in structures and throw Molotov cocktails! It gives the feeling: "guys, we must work together and stay of the main streets, lets try to ambush this incoming army".



: What influenced the creation of Iron Grip and its units and machines?

Vincent: The World Wars inspired a lot. Also how guerilla warfare can be effective against armies in cites and how this could be translated into not only the gameplay but also the universe setting. The industrial revolution and how the old world is slowly replaced by mass-production and new industry.

: What is the current timetable for Iron Grip? When do you believe it will be released?

Vincent: Well, a few more months are what we need to get a descent first version. Also partly because we’re redoing a lot of the visuals and we don’t want to release a buggy mod.

: The staff here at GamePlasma would like to once again thank you Vincent for being a part of our interview. As a final question, is there any surprise content that you'd like to release to us and our readers or any secrets or Easter eggs that players can look for in Iron Grip once it is released?

Vincent: We’re still thinking of nice Easter-Eggs to put in. There was talk about a secret bedroom "gimp"…. That’s all I can say, for its still in discussion.