Beta ToO No1 Chapter No1: Plei Me

[Pyros]

Soon the beta of ToO1/Chapter1:PleiMe will begin.
So far the playtesting of this chapter is very encouraging.
The new techniques work very nice and the general impression/feeling from the gameplay is appropriate with the Vietnam kind of experience.

The best part of it is the replayability factor which gives almost different games each time a player restart the chapter.

As soon as I will complete the Alpha stage of this chapter I will provide you with the files for your feedback/comments/corrections, and I will start the Chapter No2 of ToO No1.

cheers,
Pyros

[Pyros]

Ok,

Here is some info for chapter No1: Plei Me

The player at the start will play a one-turn scenario (divisional base) in which he will make a choice between the types of support he wishes to use during the chapter.
Either he will choose a regimental fast response support (quicker response time but lighter), or he will request support from the division (delay in response but heavier assets).
The path/scenario result of either choice will lead to marginal victory or decisive victory and the player will make use of the assets during all the missions of the chapter.

Note: At this point, the player will have to take into consideration (plan) the overall tactics that he will use through out the chapter.

The story begins like this:

It is October 1965 and your company has just arrived in Vietnam. The first assignment is to make a night (training/reconnaissance) patrol inside the jungle in order to get familiarized with the jungle special conditions.
Everything was happening as planned but suddenly (9 p.m) the division HQ has informed us that the Plei me SP base was under attack and the only available force within reach was us. We have been ordered to march ASAP to the base in order to assist them in the defense (3 hours march).
During the march our road crossed a village (suspected Vietcong base) and our scouts have informed you that the NVA regimental artillery was there (unprepared).
This is a fine opportunity to destroy the regimental artillery of the enemy forces but at a cost of a delay.
Should we deal with that artillery denying this way its presence during the main battle, or should we continue undisturbed towards our main objective?)
This is our second choice during this chapter� If you destroy the artillery you will arrive later in the Plei Me camp and the enemy will have broken the first layer of defenses, and if you ignore the artillery camp you will arrive on time but the enemy will make use of this regimental artillery.

Other tactical notes:
1. Your enemy is coming after you with an NVA company.
2. Inside the village there are hidden many Vietcong, ready to surprise you.
3. The enemy artillery assets have limited ammo for the moment but enemy ammo supply is on the way.
4. An NVA company is heading towards the arty park in order to protect it.
5. There are 2 roads; the one is passing through the village.
6. You must secure the bridges.

Ok, this is some info for the secondary mission,
Soon I will post more.

p.s speaking of decisions; if the player has chosen the fast response regimental artillery as the support assets during the chapter, then he may take the risk to fulfill the objectives of the secondary mission and delay this way his entrance in the primary mission. But if he has made the choice of the divisional support then the delay in conjunction with the slow response time of the divisional artillery may create problems in the successful completion of the primary mission.

Cheers,
Pyros

[wulfir]

Pyros said:
The player at the start will play a one-turn scenario (divisional base) in which he will make a choice between the types of support he wishes to use during the chapter.
Either he will choose a regimental fast response support (quicker response time but lighter), or he will request support from the division (delay in response but heavier assets).
The path/scenario result of either choice will lead to marginal victory or decisive victory and the player will make use of the assets during all the missions of the chapter.

Yo Pyros!
Great to see some progress is being made!

I've got a question though, the use of minor or decisive victory to provide the player with a choice of forces, is it intended for the entire campaign or just the initial battle(s)...?

[Pyros]

Hi Ulf,
the choice of support elements concerns only the first scenario of each ToO or Chapter.

This way you may put at the start of a ToO or Chapter the choice of support elements (its up to you but the best is to put one at the start of the ToO.

Soon the Beta will be available and you will see all these things.
From the Alpha stage, I can say that the game is very nice and with these new elements it has a unique blend.

The strong points are the following :

1. Interactive support assets
2. Many low probability enemy reinforcements that make the game unpredictable and gives a very high replayability
3. Interactive point allocation depending the victory level of the player

I think that in 3-4 days I will post th beta of ToO No1 chapter No1. For the moment, all I can say is that the campaign is unique.

cheers,
Pyros

[wulfir]

Pyros said:
Hi Ulf,
the choice of support elements concerns only the first scenario of each ToO or Chapter.

I understand how the branching of the campaign will be used to provide the player with a choice of support units. It'll make the size of the campaign large(r) but I doubt that is much of a problem for most players - for us though, will we need to think ahead when it comes to the campaign end result? If the player always chooses the support option that use minor victory to advance him forward he will end up with a number of minor victories at the end, right...? In addition to the actual battle results that is...

[Pyros]

In the one-turn special scenario the result is balancing between marginal victory and Decisive victory, so the loss of points is not a problem.
In addition, in every ToO there should be 2 or 3 chapters giving a total of 5-8 battles, so a marginal victory instead of decisive, won't make the difference.
Also take into consideration that the same mechanism should be applied in the secondary battle.
The technique works as following:
The decisive victory leads to a certain path and every other level of victory leads to the other path.
To achieve a decisive victory the player should complete the main objective rather than killing the enemy forces.

But Ulf, you will see those technicalities after 3-4 days when I will post the beta.
Then we will discuss on a solid base.
The only thing I can tell you for the moment is that the feeling is unique!

cheers,
Pyros

p.s Also the size is very big...but the workload is minimal because you only need to calibrate/balance the modified (by support) alternative missions.

[wulfir]

Pyros said:
In addition, in every ToO there should be 2 or 3 chapters giving a total of 5-8 battles, so a marginal victory instead of decisive, won't make the difference.

Ok.

Except in the campaign summary after every played scenario it'll say minor victory instead of decisive victory - I don't know if players really care about this, I certainly don't give it much thought when playing a campaign...?

Pyros said:p.s Also the size is very big...but the workload is minimal because you only need to calibrate/balance the modified (by support) alternative missions.

Yeah, I understand that. As long as you can keep your eyes on the ball it won't be a problem. Dial up people might groan some though...

[Pyros]

Ulf,
in 2-3 days you will see the very first form of a chapter.
After that we may examine and discusss the details of the scenario.

Again i wish to express my first impressions for that kind of campaign: Unique

***for the records: there are more than 40 units that enter the battlefield from multiple directions with a probability between 10-40% at an interval of turn1 to turn30.
You understand that this create a game which has very big replay-ability.
Also the choice of support dictate different tactical approaches.

cheers,
Pyros

[wulfir]

Pyros said:
Ulf,
in 2-3 days you will see the very first form of a chapter.
After that we may examine and discusss the details of the scenario.

Cool

...though the details of the actual scenario(s) isn't what I'm trying to point out.

It is this;

the player who opts to use the support units that come with a decisive victory branching will gain more campaign victory points (the points that decide the players end result of the campaign) than the player who uses the minor victory path. Choose a support package that comes with a decisive victory result and you'll get the points for a decisive victory so to speak for free.

Would it be an option to use decisive defeat, minor defeat or draw instead* - these results will not provide the player with any campaign points IIRC...?

*For the branching of the campaign according to the wishes of the player when it comes to support elements...

[Pyros]

Everything comes with a cost!!!

The support assets that gives you a decisive have an penalty (delay of 5 turns) in their reinforcement turn and a small advantage (heavier).
But we will have the chance to discuss further these issues after the first testing.

you will see that victory levels are not the case in that campaign, because the player will have to fight to preserv his core force; the best results the toughest the game becomes...

cheers,
Pyros

p.s the player who wins the primary with a decisive then instead of the start of the next chapter he plays a penalty scenario (without replacement points) where he is ambushed by the enemy. The opposite is happening for the player who suffers a decisive loss (bonus scenario)