Vietnam War -- an in-depth grunt simulator

[Skoop]

This sounds crazy, I'll have to get it for 15 bucks...why not.

[DesertFox]

First time "in country", I'm greeted to a black Loading screen.  After a few seconds, a message about an NVA attack appears at the top of the screen in red, followed a few seconds later by the sounds of explosions all around me.  The message disappears before I have a chance to read it.

The loading screen clears and it looks like I'm climbing up a beach at first then I realize I'm climbing out of a rice paddy but my POV feels stuck about a foot above the ground (like I'm prone maybe).  There are villagers walking around and everything looks calm, then all of a sudden a tank comes rolling through and people start scattering all over the place and total chaos erupts.  All of the janky animations made it a real comedy.  One guy was swimming in-place at hyper speed in a rice paddy. I realized I didn't seem to have a weapon out so I ran for cover and madly hit the number keys that seemed to show I had guns but nothing seemed to work, then I got shot.

I woke up next to a cot with a "You survived" message at the top of the screen and the sound of firefights in every direction.  I start heading towards a group of helicopters on the ground while an "Infantry unit in battle" message pops up at the top of the screen.  I see a line of soldiers that seem to be going somewhere so I decide to join up with them while still fighting the number keys trying to pull out a weapon.

I finally feel like I've got a shotgun out but it looks like it's down by my hip so I click to try and bring it up then watch in horror as me and the two guys in front of me get blown to pieces when it turns out to be a grenade launcher that I just shot off. 

This is the most hilarious fun I've had in awhile, but underneath it all you can see something that is significant and different.  There are a lot of systems and because they are in varying states of development, the results are often pretty funny...  but this could also turn into one of the greatest games ever.  I hope development of this continues, and I can't wait to explore more of it.

I took this screenshot right before quitting to come type this up and I think it sums up the game pretty well.  It reminds me of something I read a long time ago about Francis Ford Coppola saying Apocalypse Now "was" the Vietnam war.  You could kinda say that about this game too in some ways.

[al_infierno]

It reminds me of something I read a long time ago about Francis Ford Coppola saying Apocalypse Now "was" the Vietnam war.  You could kinda say that about this game too in some ways.

[DesertFox]

Even though I've never been in the military, I have the feeling this game is also (unintentionally or not) an effective FNG simulator.  I have no idea what I'm doing, I'm around all this lethal hardware, bumbling around blowing shit up on both sides (most of the time accidentally), jumping at every noise, getting myself killed, etc...

[Jarhead0331]

Even though I've never been in the military, I have the feeling this game is also (unintentionally or not) an effective FNG simulator.  I have no idea what I'm doing, I'm around all this lethal hardware, bumbling around blowing shit up on both sides (most of the time accidentally), jumping at every noise, getting myself killed, etc...

It's not really like that in the military. 

[DesertFox]

Haha yeah and I also almost followed that up with a disclaimer that I obviously know this is nothing like the actual military, just the sense of confusion and being in a totally different world where you don't know the rules (ie my Hollywood-influenced version of an FNG).

[DesertFox]

I just jumped in a puddle jumper aircraft (think it's a Pilatus), just managed to make it over the trees on takeoff (the plane started accelerating straight forward as soon as I hit "up" and I never made it onto the runway), then got stabilized and brought up the map.

It looks like you no joke can fly from one end of Vietnam to the other.  I'm not sure what the scale is but the map is HUGE.

I hopped in a chopper and flew around awhile until I was sufficiently lost, started taking fire from the jungle, lost control and crashed in a fiery explosion, then woke up next to that same cot with a message saying "You survived, light injuries".   

I freaking love this game.

[DesertFox]

Is there any base building aspects to this game similar to the Vietnam War mod for Arma 3?

There does seem to be some sort of upgrade mechanic that you can do when you are around villages.  I've run across areas that have a flag that I guess are points to contest and nearby there was a radio.  When I hit the use button near the radio there were options for calling in reinforcements and maybe upgrading defenses or something?  Since I am currently just playing an Army grunt, the options are all disabled.

Man this game is janky but damn is it fun!

ETA:  I'm not sure how the mechanic works in Arma 3, but it also looks like there's some sort of pacification value associated with a village.  I noticed a percent value above a flag at one of the capture points that referred to pacification.  There also was a civilian woman walking through that town and once I passed by her she turned around and shot me.  I'm assuming that value may be correlated with how often things like that happen...?   A manual would be really helpful lol.

[DesertFox]

Made it to corporal in the Marines today, so I guess I'm doing something right!   

I don't really know how to describe my strange fascination with this game but there's something about it that has me playing it over titles that cost millions of dollars to create (and like $70 of my own money).

[al_infierno]

Made it to corporal in the Marines today, so I guess I'm doing something right!   

I don't really know how to describe my strange fascination with this game but there's something about it that has me playing it over titles that cost millions of dollars to create (and like $70 of my own money).

Yep, something about the total completeness of the vision is extremely compelling, and despite all the jank, it is really cool as hell to walk around a simulated jungle while actual combat rages around you.  Not just color made up by a game dev to fill out the background of the scene, but actual units romping around, lobbing explosives at each other, and so on.

I do wish the death system was a little more robust, at the moment there doesn't appear to be any way to permanently die, which can be just a tad bit immersion breaking.

[DesertFox]

I do wish the death system was a little more robust, at the moment there doesn't appear to be any way to permanently die, which can be just a tad bit immersion breaking.

Yeah that would add a ton to the immersion/intensity if part of the goal was to try and actually survive your full tour!

[al_infierno]

Caught Apocalypse Now: The Final Cut in theaters tonight, and it filled me with the overwhelming urge to fire up this game, make a brand new MACV-SOG guy, and start him out in Saigon before heading up the river on some special assignment in Cambodia.  Maybe establish a cool little base and become my own Kurtz.

"Saigon.... shit. I'm still only in Saigon."

EDIT - Having just been fully immersed in the surreal horror of Apocalypse Now, there's something I love about your AI teammates randomly whispering into your ears.  "Look out..." "What was that?"  Really adds to the paranoia and insanity

[DesertFox]

I am kinda jealous you got to see Apocalypse on the big screen... that's one thing I have yet to do.  I bet that opening scene with The Doors playing when the treeline goes up is something to see.

That is also a great idea about role-playing the whole Kurtz scenario!  I am pretty much looking for any excuse to jump into this game - I am really happy you made this thread because I never would have even heard of this otherwise!

[DesertFox]

At lunchtime I jumped in as an Army grunt at a random base.  I grabbed a Huey and started flying around and hey, look - it's the US Embassy in Saigon!  I tried to land on the roof but destroyed the chopper in the process.  Got out and looks like Saigon's under attack.  I ran around for a few minutes and got a few kills defending the city.

Not bad for a quick lunch.  This dev is insane.

[al_infierno]

I am kinda jealous you got to see Apocalypse on the big screen... that's one thing I have yet to do.  I bet that opening scene with The Doors playing when the treeline goes up is something to see.

That is also a great idea about role-playing the whole Kurtz scenario!  I am pretty much looking for any excuse to jump into this game - I am really happy you made this thread because I never would have even heard of this otherwise!

It was actually my second time seeing the Final Cut on the big screen.  Not to derail the thread, but I actually prefer the Theatrical Cut over all the others.... I don't really think the extra scenes add much, and they mostly just screw up the pacing of the film.  The French plantation scene is particularly stupid because they go right back to seeming high-strung like they've been on the river for days, not like they just had a nice meal and a good bed and (in Willard's case) a hot lay.  This is the rare case where the director is wrong, and the theatrical cut was for the best, IMO.