RTCM - Reviews-Interviews - The TNT Team Interview

TNT TEAM Interview 6-01-2026 Release 3 © RTCM Corvin

INTRODUCTION

Interview (4-25-2004):	The TNT Team (Know years later as Reactor4, as modders of other games)
Designed:	Platoon; August 1997 (NAM, WWIIGI)
Mod Authors:	Tuomo Korva aka Tuco - Mod Leader Heikki aka Bad Karma - Fellow Leader Lado Crnologar aka IceBreaker - Joined the TNT Team near the end of Platoon development.

This is an interview originally completed on 4-25-2004 with the TNT Team, makers of the Platoon TC, we will explore some of there work prior to Platoon as well as during Platoons development. We'll end it with word on NAM.

The Platoon TC is a total conversion for Duke Nukem 3D with a Vietnam War theme. One of the main ideas behind Platoon was to create a authentic atmosphere for the game. This was achieved by making believable jungle maps and good sound effects to back it up.

Back then I was hoping to interview them for NAM and WWIIGI within a few months of this interview. Unfortunately it never happened, due to me not following up.

INTERVIEW

BUILD Beginnings....

Corvin:	What where your teams first BUILD projects? and How did these come about?
TNT:	Tuco: At first we did some simple maps and weapon additions for Duke3D. I remember one of our first maps being Mexico-themed with a bull-fighting arena, sleeping Mexicans and some angry flying and exploding suicide chickens chasing you. We also transformed the pigcops to Mexicans too who shot you with a shotgun. This thing was never released, though. I also did a winterwar map which was released on our initial TNT website. Heikki: Yeah, I also remember the Mexico map, it was really fun to make that. It was summer 1996 then and we had just started designing levels for Duke3D. Later that year I continued making the M-16 weapon mod, and the Beirut map for it. `{EDITOR NOTES: The Beirut Map Description: A ruined city at night. Dark alleys, abandoned and destroyed buildings, sandbag barriers, artillery bombarding the city... It's a great DukeMatch level designed especially for use with the M16 patch. Watch out for those snipers ! Look for the m16duke.zip and d3dguns11.zip files in the duke3d-cons download section}` About the beginning --- although the Duke3D engine was quite restricting from the mod makers point-of-view, BUILD gave us the possibility to create large outdoor areas for our maps, and we thought that was something really cool. The first Quake demo was released at the same time, and although it had the amazing new 3d engine, we preferred Duke3D, it was more fun. IceBreakR: At first I've started working on DM maps for Duke and soon they've become quite popular (if someone still remembers them): Mallice, ArabCity, Dang Street, CaveFear, House71, etc... I immediately signed up for my first Internet project around 1996. The project was a TC for Duke Nukem named "Aliens 3D". The leader of the project was Raul Aguilar, but due to copyright infringement rights 20th Century Fox forced us to cancel it. Then I've met Tuco and Heikki. `{EDITOR NOTES: This occurred near the end of platoons development. He did some graphic work.}`
Corvin:	Where you aware of the high popularity of the Beirut Map?
TNT:	Heikki: Not really. I remember that I spent quite a few hours making that map, but never thought that someone would really want to play it. Maybe the blocky map design appealed to some people :)
Corvin:	Is the old "Aliens 3D" conversion in some form available today?
TNT:	NOTE from Tuco, I haven't received an answer from Lado to this question yet... ...he did not give a straight reply. `{EDITOR NOTES: A partial Aliens 3D TC was made, and it was saved on GT's ftp server for a long while, I'd say several years. You can download it in the download section here.}`
Corvin:	How did things evolve into making a conversion for Duke3D, The Platoon TC? What type of plans where made?
TNT:	Tuco: In the previous maps and other small modifications we had done simple things which could be used in a TC about Vietnam. These included weapons and tests how to make jungle maps. After that it was all about putting things together and adding the final touch. Heikki: We had the theme decided early on, and started replacing the existing material of the Duke3D world with their Vietnam War counterparts. We never made any too specific plans for Platoon TC, we just tried to make it as fun and fresh as possible.
Corvin:	What where some of your resources for editing and enhancing the Duke3D game, like FAQs and tools used? Could you be specific?
TNT:	Tuco: There were con editing faqs and map making tutorials that we learned from when working on Platoon. However, there were also a lot of things that we simply had to do by trial and error type experimenting. Heikki: The tools we used... well, I think we used the good old DOS Edit for editing the .con files, also some DOS paint program for the graphics, and GoldWave for sounds. Simple programs. Heikki: It's been such a long time that we can't remember too many details. I think we learned the level editing basics from Jonah Bishop's MapFAQ and the .con basics from Joris Weimar's documents. And after we learned the basics we started experimenting Tuco: Oh yeah, I remember Jonah's MapFAQ as well, I think we had a printed version of it which we used when making maps. I think we also had some sample maps which showed how to use some of the tricks.
Corvin:	The version of Duke3D your team used was 1.3D, which at the time was the most available version to players. Despite the lesser version your team was able to produce unique special effects, it shows how cunning you can be with a minor version of the game. What where some of the effects you worked on in Platoon?
TNT:	Tuco: One of the things I remember working on was airstrikes which proved to be a very good feature for Platoon. This feature was also something that did not exist in the original game so we had to implement it by trying again and again different ways to pull if off. And finally we did succeed in making a good looking airstrike having moving planes on the sky and huge explosions on the ground from the dropped bombs. `<>{EDITORS NOTE: These bombs where actually dropped, they existed visually as they fell}` Heikki: The airstrikes were really fun to make. I also remember the landmines, artillery...I think there was something else too but can't remember right now. `<>{EDITORS NOTE: The F-4 Phantom Fighter that dropped bombs used the Duke3D's Trashcan as a host}`
Corvin:	How long did it take for you to complete the majority of the special effects you did?
TNT:	Tuco: In about a month or two. We did not have that many features in Platoon so that's why the development time was so short.
Corvin:	How long did it take to finish each of your jobs?
TNT:	Tuco: Platoon was done very fast, maybe in just 3-4 months. Heikki: I think we started working on it sometime in May 1997, and got it finished early August.
Corvin:	Having a TC being completed in such a short amount of time and still being successful was unheard of back then in '97. Did you have second thoughts about releasing it so soon? and if so why?
TNT:	Tuco: No, we didn't have any second thoughts about releasing. We didn't have a strict deadline so we worked with "release when it's finished" mentality. After finishing building the maps, we had a solid package and there wasn't a need to improve it any further. We thought we could always make a second release with more content if people liked the first version.
Corvin:	Did you and how did you do research for Platoons environment, the world?
TNT:	Tuco: I remember watching most of the Nam movies like Platoon, Full Metal Jacket and Apocalypse Now. Also the movie Predator had some good jungle fights which gave us a lot of good ideas. We also checked out all the Internet sites about Nam. These sites mostly provided us information about weapons and tactics used in the war. Heikki: We didn't do too much research, I think we got most of the ideas from war films as Tuco said. Just so that the weapons and everything else was correct, and the general atmosphere would be captivating enough.
Corvin:	How difficult was it to make the decent weapon artwork? and What methods did you take to produce the artwork?
TNT:	Tuco: There weren't any decent 3d modeling programs around at the time that we could get so the weapon models were hand drawn by Heikki mostly, if I remember correctly. Heikki: Oh yes, there was a lot of pixel tweaking going on with those weapons. I had some reference images but everything had to be created from scratch. And at the time I had very little experience from making any sort of graphics. I just did the best I could do then. And luckily the graphics became good enough that they didn't bother the game experience too much.
Corvin:	How where the sound effects chosen? Was there sound editing?
TNT:	Tuco: Well, basically we used what we could get and there weren't many to choose from. Sound editing was quite minimal as we our programs were limited. Heikki: On the contrary I think we put a lot of effort to the audio design. We digitized sounds from different sources, from war films and sound effect CDs and edited them.
Corvin:	How did you help keep your team together? and How was team management handled?
TNT:	Tuco: The team size was very small, just 3 people, so it was easy to communicate. For most time of the project we used just one computer in turns and the person on the break was constantly looking over the other's shoulders to see what he was doing. Not because of control, but because it was just so exciting to see what new things the other one was doing. We did not have a designated project leader, but all acted as designers, mappers, sound guys and graphic artists. The main motive behind our work was to just have fun.
Corvin:	The maps in Platoon where filled with action. How was this coordinated with the design?
TNT:	Tuco: Our design method was testing, modifying and testing again if it worked better that the previous time. We used this method of prototyping in all aspects of the game from game features like the workings of mines to the layout of maps and placement of enemies. We just played those maps through many times and tweaked them until they were good.
Corvin:	The map tunnel designs gave the current situation a boost in realism. How did you feel about the tunnels? and Do you see those as a success point?
TNT:	Tuco: I think the tunnels brought a nice change to the game from the usual jungle fighting. A change of pace, you could call them. Heikki: Maybe it was good that we didn't overuse the tunnel theme - I think there was only one level in Platoon which had them, and that gave certain edge to that map.
Corvin:	Where the mines used in the game an early item to be implemented? and How did you decide where to place them in the maps?
TNT:	Tuco: I think we placed most of the mines on slower paced parts of the map which didn't have that many enemies. And of course on grass where if would be harder to spot them. I think we implemented the mines near the end of the project.
Corvin:	One advanced effect, that since has been improved on. Is the "Character Class" rooms, where you pick the type of weapon load out you want. During the time of Platoon this was seen as something wonderful. How did this come about? and Why?
TNT:	Heikki: Can't really remember why we did those. It just seemed like a nice feature then that player could choose his weapons. Tuco: Yep, the idea to be able to play the game with different load outs was the main reason for this feature.
Corvin:	Why was it required that almost every SINGLE door was 'Locked'? and yes everyone did check them. ;o)
TNT:	Tuco: There are a couple of reasons to this. First, the build engine did not support making true 3d buildings so it was almost impossible to make a building which could be entered and which had a roof to walk on. Also it would have taken much more time to develop the game if had done interiors to most of the buildings. So we decided to put locked doors almost everywhere. Hopefully no-one was looking for the keys. Heikki: "Lock all the doors", I think that was in our internal production manual :)
Corvin:	The airstrikes where a revolutionary effect and still is. Do you see this effect of importance to Platoons success? and How?
TNT:	Tuco: Yes, I think airstrikes definitely were one of the key features contributing to Platoon's success. It was a very powerful effect both visually and sound wise. And it was something new at the time which other games did not have, at least not in the same scale as we did. The use of radio and then the approaching loud jetfighter sounds with huge explosions is always fun to watch. People also knew how airstrikes worked thanks to movies like Platoon and Apocalypse Now so when airstrikes were executed on maps, people knew what they were.
Corvin:	The Radios that called for airstrikes, bombing runs and napalm runs where a fun factor. The excitement with the real radio voices made it that much better. How did you see the manual operation of using the already impressive airstrikes as an additional success point?
TNT:	Tuco: The radio chatter used to call airstrikes was building the atmosphere as most people had watched some Platoon war movies and knew about the radio voices. So including it in the game so that you could actually talk to a radio and call in airstrike was very natural choice. And also the fact that the player could control when the airstrikes are executed made the player feel very powerful. There was also a tactical decision to be made, when to call in the strike that made the most damage and helped to advance in the map.
Corvin:	What were some of the limitations of the Game/BUILD engine you had to deal with, or live with in the end? and given the BUILD portion of the game, What would you have had added or changed?
TNT:	Tuco: The weapons were hard to make, you basically had to invent a weapon for each slot that had the same characteristics as the same weapon in Duke3d. So Duke's rocket launcher became bazooka and pistol became M16. We also managed so sneak in a sniper rifle made out of the freeze gun which took some time to pull off. The fact that the engine wasn't real 3d caused some problems, you couldn't make a house with a proper roof and which you could enter. But compared to the other engines we thought about using like Quake, the lack of true 3d was compensated with huge outdoor areas that could have lots of trees and bushes. I also remember that the enemy AI was not very good in the game. They just started shooting when seeing the player. We would have wanted to make the AI better but the engine simply did not allow this. So I would have added a more configurable weapon system and more functionality for the enemy AI to the Build engine.
Corvin:	Despite the games limitations after Platoons release your team began work on Platoon II, How long did the team take leave from the Mod before beginning the new work? and What where the plans?
TNT:	Tuco: We had vacation for about a month. During this time we tried to stay away from the computer and do some other things, but just had to check the emails and download counts daily. I remember the feedback being very positive and we kept receiving it daily for quite a long time. The positive feedback and reviews were important factors when we were thinking about doing a sequel to Platoon. Finally the decision was made and we started working on the sequel. We didn't have any bigger development plans at this time so we just started trying out new things and map ideas.
Corvin:	How far along into Platoon II did you get contacted by a commercial publisher? and How where they led onto TNTs work?
TNT:	Tuco: We had only worked for about a month when a publisher contacted us about the possibility to publish the sequel we were working on. I don't remember exactly how they found us but I suspect Platoon's review on the Avault gaming site might have done the job. The review is still online on that site in case you want to look at it. [It was done in August 1997] `{EDITORS NOTE: This review is in the download section}.`

{EDITORS NOTE: This was some text left over from the interview, added here on 11-25-2014. It is what IceBreakR wanted to mention:}

...Then I've met Tuco and Heikki and we've started making TC Platoon 2 for about half a year and then we got a couple of commercial offers for it. We accepted one of them - GT Interactive - The publisher of original Duke Nukem game! We signed the contracts, got the 3D engine and got the opportunity to create our very first game. We've renamed Platoon to "NAM" for copyright reasons. It has been an extreme honor for us that GT Interactive wanted to publish OUR game. We had a feeling they also trusted us and I would like to return thanks to GT Interactive and especially Dante Anderson for everything they did for us.

We were considered as a fine example that hard work and dedication brings the success and also fame. "Platoon" remained the best TC for Duke Nukem and NAM became very popular (especially in the USA).

Nam is my first commercial project in the gaming industry and I am very proud that hard work paid off. Game has been sold out by GT Interactive (now owned by Infogrames).

In the autumn of 1998, Tuco and I started working on a new game for GTi, named WW2GI. Heikki later came from a military service and joined the two of us.

On this project we also had some associates and we got most of the texture art and graphics from the >external< partners. The game was released in March of 1999 and this game is a plain example that the "playability" factor is most important besides graphics (aged Build 3D engine has been improved and updated, but the graphics couldn't match the 3D accelerate engines popping out on the market).
But its still a great game with incredible cooperative mode (which many today's game still lack!) up to 8 players, capture the flag multiplay and at last but not least the single player mode that is a great fun for all the WW2 enthusiasts!

Later Tuco and Heikki released the Vietnam free add-on called Platoon Leader. Then our work on Build stopped and we've started exploring other engines.

Platoon Review

A Platoon review/description done by RTCM highlighting on some design choices and issues.

Platoon is a Vietnam mod for Duke3D and Atomic. The mod alters the weapons the main character carries into the 1960's arsenal and all the enemies are a variation of the Viet Cong (VC) soldiers. The single player episode has six levels set up in linear missions. These six levels are also playable in CO-OP. These map vary from thin jungle, small villages, swamps, tunnels and a ruined city. The seven multiplier maps have a jungle, ruined city and tunnel themes.

You start the game and each mission off in your quarters. There's two exists, each one containing a small room with different weapon load outs, you have one choice to pick one of the rooms in effect giving you that specific load out. The type of weapons change slightly depending on your upcoming mission. Once you have the selected weapons you move on into a briefing room with your current orders chalked on a board. You read them and head outside where you board a chopper or truck and to reach your destination. The actual travel is simulated and instant.

Your weapons are a M16, a M60, Shotgun, Grenades, Rocket Launchers and a Flame-thrower, you'll even use a Sniper Rifle. Like some of the features in Platoon the weapons are restricted to Duke3D's limited engine but you learn to get past these just for the sake of the experience your having playing the game. The M16 seems to be the best all around weapon and the shotgun is a decent weapon vs. VC that surprise you. The M60 is fairly decent but it does use a lot of ammo to take an enemy out. The flame-thrower, something that was experimental in the early days of Duke hacking provides a somewhat primitive effect. The Sniper Rifle works but the reaction time for an enemy to go down is a little off since its using Dukes un-configurable shrinker weapon as host.

The type of gameplay you quickly discover after being fragged a few times isn't a run and gun situation. You must use cover such as rocks and bunkers to defend from. You face dozens of VC either coming at you or stationed in bunkers and hideouts, behind camouflage and cover. You will realize that this isn't Duke anymore but a real war vs real persons. The intelligence is different then say some dumb aliens. You have the standard AK-47 VC and RPD Machine gunners. You'll come across artillery/cannon soldiers placed in a gun pit that shoot rockets. Suicidal villagers/soldiers running up close to you and detonating there explosives. Then you have some variation in the standard soldier that are much more intense on gunning you down. Sometime you can get the upper hand by listening for distant VC radio chatter, the only thing is you have to figure out how far away its coming from and which direction since the VC sneak up on you from behind as well. There all around you and its you or them, someone must go.

The weapons and ammo are hard to find once your out there in the fight. You have to conserve ammo and make sure each shot counts or you'll end up kissing your arse goodbye. You do have some help from two different types of airstrikes, if you can find a Radio placement then you can call them in. They drop bombs and napalm upon the enemy, sometimes on you if you don't find cover quick enough after the call. Health, you won't find much and the developers where being nice to add some into the game since realism is a goal. You take a few hits and your going down.

The environment in Platoon is very atmospheric. The sounds of VC radios and voices including distant battle sounds, the action of random airstrikes from your side as well as there's. Mines hidden in swamps and vegetation. Un-exploded claymore traps. The new textures and sprites add to the atmosphere. The view and layout of the maps give you the feeling of being in the hazardous lands of Vietnam. Uneven ground, fast moving rivers and cliffs that pop out of no where. You'll even fall into the occasional hole that surprisingly brings you to the tunnels the enemy lives and plans there tactics in.

The mines in Platoon add a realistic feel to the game. If you happen to step on one you hear a click sound. Now if you stopped moving in time you'll have a 50% chance of deactivating the mine, you crouch down and hit the use button with your fingers crossed and hope the thing doesn't explode. Having experienced mine deactivation, you now know you need to watch where your steps are placed. Don't let the random airstrikes or multiple VC attacks confuse you, just get out of the mine field as fast as you can without stepping on a second one.

Overall Platoon gives you a taste of what everyone wanted back in the mid '90's. Some type of Viet-Cong war jungle war. This theme was popular during and after Platoons release making for perfect timing. Planning your mods theme around current events is always a good design factor that gives incredible results.

[END]