The self-funded indie studio BlackFoot Studios recently announced their debut title, Ground Branch, and launched a Kickstarter initiative in the hope of gathering both community interest and funding for their ambitious project. But simply creating a website and a crowd funding campaign would never be enough to encourage the potential audience to dig deep into their wallets, and so BlackFoot Studios has taken the time to talk with Electronic Theatre about the finer points of Ground Branch.
“The game is being developed by former Red Storm Entertainment and Valve Software employees – in conjunction with US Special Operations Veterans – who saw a need to create a new type of online experience, for 
those who felt disenfranchised by the direction of modern online shooters. We offer a fresh take on the genre, not seen since the original Ghost Recon title, released for PC and Mac in 2001, but with the added bonus of removing the class restrictions found in that title.” States John Sonedecker, Founder of BlackFoot Studios. “Being an original member of Red Storm Entertainment was a true pleasure and honour for me. Those ‘classic’ realistic tactical games are my personal favourites, and I have always loved making them, just as much as I loved playing them. This genre is my motivation; my driving force to be in this industry. Since leaving Red Storm, I have dreamt of one day revisiting that classic style of gameplay that is so close to my heart. Today is that day.”
Ground Branch is a first-person, realism-oriented online experience that places players in the roles of elite CIA Paramilitary Operators of the Special Activities Division. The Special Activities Division carries out deniable covert operations on foreign soil and often goes into a situation before anyone else, before Army Special Forces, before the Navy SEALs. Sonedecker is keen to emphasise the tactical element of the videogame, with the suggestion that in-game decisions have real consequences.
“There are a lot of first-person shooters out there that focus on fast-paced arcade gameplay with unrealistic damage models, or action movie-style movement and shooting mechanics. Other games focus on “authentic” representation of gear, but fall far short on gameplay. People who like a more slow-paced, realistic
and calculated experience, are mostly left out by mainstream developers. To me, Ground Branch is for those people.” Explains Sonedecker.
In Ground Branch players are encouraged to completely customise their experience and maintain finite control over their gear and weapon choices, right down to the types of ammo carried and the accessories mounted on their weapons. The only carrying limitations are those imposed by the actual gear and by physics. This robust level of customisation is entirely unique to the genre, and not only allows teams to develop unique strategies, but helps to cut back on unsightly problems such as team killing or harassment when competing for a weapon. There are no unlocks, so every player starts with the ability to use every weapon and every piece of gear in the videogame.
Players are also able to perform functions not found in other titles such as ammunition and weapon trading and interrupting reload cycles. The videogame also features body awareness by offering inertia, a physical sound 
profile, independent head movement from the torso, body weight and realistic feedback to player actions to increase immersion. The design relies on realistically-defined rule sets such as bullet lethality (health is not regenerative), and all of the in-game motions and animations are motion captured from actual Operators.
Ground Branch is currently supporting a Kickstarter initiative, which you can get more information on at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/670743543/ground-branch. Should all go well, Ground Branch is currently expected to be available as a PC and Mac release in summer 2013, and Electronic Theatre will keep you updated with all the latest details on this and other forthcoming projects from BlackFoot Studios.
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