The Vietnam War development thread

[techumseh]

Originally posted by Michael Daumen


The stats don't need to be better, but you have to make sure the roles are correct. The computer will ugrade air units to ground, for example, if the techs coincide.

Are you sure, MD? Stats don't matter, but I'm pretty sure that both and domain and role do.

[McMonkey]

So would the peplacement (US controlled) ARVN unit need to be in the tech-slot that rendered the American unit obsolete to replace it?

[Michael Daumen]

Originally posted by techumseh
Are you sure, MD? Stats don't matter, but I'm pretty sure that both and domain and role do.

I tried something last week and I thought Leo changed an air unit to a ground unit. But perhaps it was a unit with move 2 changing to move 1 that I am remembering.

[Michael Daumen]

Originally posted by Werd100
So would the peplacement (US controlled) ARVN unit need to be in the tech-slot that rendered the American unit obsolete to replace it?

No, the replacement can be in any unit slot you like; unit or tech.

[McMonkey]

Thanks MD

I will have an experiment with this when I get the tech tree finished which should be tommorow.
I have done the first half which is the US buildup from 1963 - 1967/8 and I now need to finish off the second half which is the US gradual withdrawal and Vietnamization. In this section the US will still get some smart units such as Cobra gunships and Hovercraft!

[Von Bert]

Cobra gunships and Hovercraft???
mmmhh... cant wait to use them !
If u ll need playtester.. just call when u ready...

[McMonkey]

Thanks for the offer sir, I will take you up on that. I am aiming to finish the tech-tree tonight and I now need to start testing the units to see what tweaking needs to be done to the stats (a lot!) and how the game starts to pan out so I can work out events to support the communist AI. One thing I need to work on it the whole Vietnamization thing, but as this happens later in the game it would not effect initial playtesting!

I only intend to ask for one or two playtesters as I want to keep some surprises for the games eventual release. There is only a small community here although my WWII game had had 250+ downloads at CFC so there must be more CivII Fanatics out there who are keeping quiet!

Thanks

[McMonkey]

Progress on this scenario had stalled slightly this week. I have pretty much finished the tech tree at work but was too tired when I came home to do any work on the game.

Today while replying to an e-mail from Von Bert I had a eureka moment about one of the major flaws in the game, the US player crossing the border with airborne troops and rampaging through Laos and Cambodia on the Ho Chi Minh trail (invisible RR).

I had intended to use a few NVA blocking units and make a house rule. My eureka moment came when I remembered the spare terrain square (all good generals keep a reserve!).

I will make this square look like normal jungle but it will be impassable like the border posts and laid along the Ho Chi Minh trail so only the Communists can travel along it! I will create a few breaks in this terrain in strategic areas or every other square so the US player can pass through it but not travel down the HCMT.

I am enthused again and ready to do some work on it this over the weekend

Thanks VB!

[McMonkey]

I have just added the impassable jungle squares along the length of the Ho Chi Minh trail and my great fear of the US player getting loose on a RR is a distant memory

At the moment you can make out the HCMT from space. just like the Great Wall of China , though when the game is ready the impassable terrain (orange dots), HCMT and, hex editing permitting, the initial locations of Communist base camps in Laos and Cambodia will be hidden!

Suddenly I feel new hope for this game. If this problem can be solved then anything is possible!

Quick question. To make the the turns into months do you input -12? When I did this and then calculated the number of turns until 1963 (ie 1963 x 12) the game still kept saying January 1963 - 2557 or something similar so I guess -12 is incorrect!

Right, time to finish the tech-tree finally and start planning the read me and text events for the early turns

[Patine]

-12 is 12 months per turn at a monthly rate (one year turns by month). You want -1 (1 month turns). The number after the negative sign is the number of months.

[McMonkey]

Thanks Patine

Funny how I can spend hours trying to work out something simple like!

It looks a lot better now when I test the game to see the proper date! My first (very early) test was a bit of a laugh. The Communists did a bit of a Tet Offencive c.1963 Half of south Vietnam fell on thurns 1-3 and Lang Vei, after a heroic defence, was flattened! At least the AI is acting agressively on such a big map. I think I need to prune some of the Communists offensive units and beef up the ARVN!!! Overall an encouraging start though.

Von Bert has been taking a look to give me some initial impressions and ideas. One thing that he suggested changing was the Jungle terrain and I think it has transformed the look of the game. The US and Communist tribe colours have been changed too to make their cities easier/harder to spot on the side map. I just wanted to post a screenshot of this new look as I am quite excited about it

Sorry if this is a blow by blow account of the development but I have never been very good at being mysterious!

[Boco]

Keep it coming! I enjoy reading this thread.

[McMonkey]

Not just for the atrocious spelling errors I hope!

[Boco]

Well, that's fun, too. IIRC, Case occasionally lapsed here, too, but his scenarios are a blast.

No, it's the airing of ideas that I like. Especially when the intricacies of AI behavior are mentioned. To me, one of the hallmarks during the early burst in scenario development for Civ2 were explorations in this area: what made MoveUnit work, etc.

[tanelorn]

Huey. Rotor blades from Fairline's Apache. Tried it with a single pair instead, looked silly. Too dark maybe?