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It´s been about two weeks since I found out about Campfire Games American Civil War FPS multiplayer game “War of Rights“. And during that time “War of Rights” has collected £32,000 out of £70,000 on Kickstarter. So we thought that it would be a good idea to do a Q and A interview with Campfire Games about the past, present and the future. And this is what Mads Støjko Larsen (co-founder of Campfire Games) had to say to us:

Robin TGG
Was there a particular reason behind the decision to make a multiplayer FPS game that´s set in the American Civil war? (the Maryland Campaign of September, 1862 to be exact). Are you hardcore fans of the American Civil War? Or was it simply because there are very few FPS games that take place during that historic era? (my guess would be a combo of both).

Mads Støjko Larsen – Campfire Games
I’ve always been fascinated by the American Civil War. One of my earliest movie memories is watching “Gettysburg” with my father as a kid and it’s just always stuck with me ever since. The other co-founder of the company is very interested in muskets in general so it wasn’t a hard sell to him regarding picking the period for the game. We were both tired of the endless modern military shooters flooding the market so a historical setting seemed like an obvious choice.

It´s General Robert E. Lee (the Confederate Army) and General George Meade (the United States army), from the strategy game “Ultimate General: Gettysburg”.

Robin TGG
I don´t know if you guys remember this, but back in June this year. There were quite a lot of controversies over the Confederate Flag. And an American Civil War game called “Ultimate General: Gettysburg” even got pulled from Apple´s app store (the game is still available on Steam and GOG though). So my question would be this. Is this something that Campfire Games have thought about? That there “might” be a backlash due to “War of Rights” historic nature?

Mads Støjko Larsen – Campfire Games
We have talked about it both internally and with our community and we all agree to not cut the flag. We’re here for historical accuracy so if the CSA battle flags was present during the battle, it’ll be in our game as well.

Robin TGG
How historic correct is “War of Rights” on a scale 1-10? As the game has been described as “War of Rights is the Most Accurate Civil War FPS “, because if I´m not wrong now. You did bring in a historical advisor (Clark Morningstar) for the game?

Mads Støjko Larsen – Campfire Games
It’s impossible for me to place it on a scale. Every single thing featured in our game has passed by our historical advisor in the process of development. Our maps are highly authentic with accurate placements of fields, buildings, hills, forests, roads, etc. All of the in-game objectives are based off of their real world counterparts which were objectives for the soldiers fighting there more than 150 years ago.

Not only does the battles look very beautiful in “War of Rights”, but so does everything else as well (it´s thanks to the Cryengine).

Robin TGG
One of our readers had a really good point when he/she was rather curious about how you will be able to create such a beautiful game (the Cryengine has done wonders to the game for sure) like “War of Rights,” on a £70,000 budget? As the game project seems to be far too complex and technical advanced to be completed on a £70K budget. But maybe you have already finished much of the development?

Mads Støjko Larsen – Campfire Games
Thank you! I wouldn’t say it’s ALL thanks to our engine though (but CRYENGINE sure has been great for our game!). The team has been working hard for free for the past three years in their spare time to get to where we currently are, and it is time now to secure the funds needed for the final push to alpha, beta and the eventual retail release for War of Rights.

Robin TGG
Is it correct that Campfire Games is a Danish studio? If so, is it just me or has the Danish indie game scene expanded quite a lot as of lately? Or simply put, what has changed in Denmark when it comes to indie game development?

Mads Støjko Larsen – Campfire Games
We are indeed based in Denmark. There are several schools in Denmark with a high focus on game development as well as game incubators that help newly founded game dev companies. I think that’s the main reason for the expansion of the scene.

There will be plenty of guns in “War of Rights”. No matter if you have joined the Confederate Army, or the United States army.

Robin TGG
Today I heard that “War of Rights” has been in post-production for over three years time, is that true? If so, how much of the game has been completed at this very time? (1-100%).

Mads Støjko Larsen – Campfire Games
It is, yes. That however covers the entirety of the project, from us being completely green upstarters to building a great team of people willing to work for in their spare time to get us to where we are to launching the Kickstarter campaign to get the funding we need to make War of Rights just like we want it. We’re at a fairly well-developed stage now and we estimate that the first playable version (that would be the one for our Closed Alpha, available exclusively as a reward for Kickstarter backers who pledge at the Captain or higher reward tiers) should be out within six months from when the Kickstarter is over if we manage to fund.

Robin TGG
There were quite a lot of different weapons involved in the Maryland Campaign of September, 1862. So my question would be this. How many weapons will “War of Rights” have in total? And will all the weapons be realistic and authentic? (I´ve been told that weapons can indeed break in the game due to over usage).

Mads Støjko Larsen – Campfire Games
I won’t be able to give you a n exact number right now, but there will be quite a lot of different ones available, yes. All weapons will be based upon which regiment you choose to join and what class you pick. We haven’t talked about weapons breaking, but they will get fouled by the messy process that is black powder ignition. They will, therefore, react differently the more you use them, increasing the reload times and the chance of a misfire here and there.

Robin TGG
If I´m not totally wrong now, “War of Rights” is only in the making for PC right? And it´s a full-blown multiplayer game as well? So I guess that there are no plans for a single player campaign at this time, nor a release to other formats? PS4 and Xbox One).

Campfire Games will not remove the confederate flag from “War of Rights”. As it´s an authentic part of our history.

Mads Støjko Larsen – Campfire Games
War of Rights is for PC only, yes. We do have some ideas as to further expand upon the educational value of the title in the means of adding single player battlefield tours with interactive flashbacks as well as other content, but that is still in the planning stages. As for consoles, we’re completely focused on releasing War of Rights on Windows because releasing on consoles would require a lot of extra time, resources and funds, but you never know!

Robin TGG
Will “War of Rights” offer an “Arma III” (one single bullet could kill you) or “Quake Live” (I´ve been hit? Ptt!) kind of realism when it comes to gun wounds? And how will “War of Rights” handle deaths and such? Will players be able to respawn? Or will you have to wait until the next round starts? (like in Counter Strike for example).

Mads Støjko Larsen – Campfire Games
One shot to the center of the body will be fatal in our game. We’ll offer both a one life hardcore mode as well as our normal respawn enabled mode. This will feature a specialized spawn sytem developed to make sure the players will be able to stay together in their regiment and fight throughout an entire match.

“One shot to the center of the body will be fatal in our game”. Yep, one single shoot could seal your doom.

Robin TGG
“If” “War of Rights” gets fully founded on Kickstarter, do you think that “War of Rights” could become a huge hit on the Esport scene? And are there any plans for LAN tournaments? I would also like to ask how likely it is for the game to be released in November next year?

Mads Støjko Larsen – Campfire Games
I doubt we’ll be popular on the Esport scene. We cater more to the historically-inclined crow and not so much the ultra competitive ones. If all the test phases go as planned, we’re aiming at a release for November 2016, and we’ll update our backers on the development milestones for War of Rights as we reach them.

Robin TGG
What are Campfire Games own dreams, hopes and expectations for “War of Rights”? And what do you think about your chances of becoming fully founded on Kickstarter?

Mads Støjko Larsen – Campfire Games
We can’t wait to begin testing with our backers in the early test builds and see how strategies evolve and how we find out backers are using tactics we never even thought of. We hope everyone will get as much a kick out of forming a line with their friends as we will. We’ve been pleasantly surprised about all of the support we’ve gotten on Kickstarter so far, so we’re definitely aiming at reaching our main goal before it is over. So far we’re 45% funded with 11 days already gone and 19 days to go, so we’re hopeful!

We also wanted to let your readers know that if they’re big American Civil War fans then they should pledge at the Major Physical tier, for which there are still some early bird slots available. This will allow them to save £ 20 in comparison to the regular Major Physical tier, and it will grant them access to the Closed Alpha, the Closed Beta, several weapons and uniforms that are only available as Kickstarter-exclusive rewards, as well as a physical box Collector’s Edition with a physical copy of the game, a physical soundtrack CD, a poster signed by the team, enlistment and office commander papers, and even an actual bullet from the American Civil War! Who doesn’t want a bullet from the American Civil War in their collection?

Robin “V-Act” Ek
The Gaming Ground
Twitter: @TheGamingGround