Tutorials

[ab067]

For a newbie the map and info is overwhelming in the tutorial.

Learning to play Vietnam and Afghanistan is easier.

Might I suggest....

Lesson one.......learn how to obtain and fly the helicopters to become familiar with the map. and city/bases location.

Maybe picking up wounded and bring them to hospital with other similar, simple activities such as recce and flying over fires, buses blowing up, etc.

Lesson two.....using police to move around the map.

By keeping to the KISS principle it is less overwhelming.

With the same idea.......provide links to see documentary footage of the helicopters or other units in operation.

In Vietnam/Afghanistan all the Military equipment used can be seen in some film or documentary and this provides greater immersion and understanding of how various units worked together.

[Every Single Soldier]

I agree, a tutorial system is the answer, just a tremendous amount of work 😅

Version 0.41 has the updated mini-tutorial, accessed from the menu.

[ab067]

I understand the tutorial is a lot of work.

I use a very simple system to learn the game and understand all the units.

For Vietnam'65 I start a new game and save it.

I then edit the file to have 365 turns (my Tour of Duty Mod) and change the players starting money from $10,000 to $999,000.

1........For my first game I use Green Berets,about 10 to scout and just watch where the enemy spawns and how they move.

I only use Huey's to drop supplies and take out wounded and only attack the enemy with Airpower ( which I edit to use every turn) on their bases.

I may use some ARVN, which I build next to the home base for visiting villages.

I do not use any other units.

2........When I tire of playing Green Beret and understand the limitations of the Hueys, I then add...... Apocolype Now and send in Hueys loaded with US troops supported by Gunships to clean out all the enemy I have seen.

Usually by turn 100+ I have gained sufficient experience to try something new.

3.......I then start a new game and play Platoon.

Similar to the Green Beret, but I only use US troops....no green Berets....Only Huey's and US troops.

4.....Another variation is called "We We Soldiers Once....and Young".

I let the enemy build for a bout 40 to 50 turns and then I use about 10 Hueys and only US troops to land midfield and try to to survive against the enemy.

I don't use any other forces or buy any other equipment.

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It is simple and I just vary what I want to learn.

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I will elaborate how I learn Afghanistan just using the tutorials available next.

[Every Single Soldier]

Nice 🫡

[harley9699]

@ab067
That's excellent, man. Never would've thought of it... ever.

[ab067]

Variation of other people's ideas.....

I usually have music from youtube or Huey's flying in the background to create more immersion.......

I will have highest settings for difficulty when learning to see the limitations..... eg Huey's only travel one hex at a time and only 2 X 9 hexes from a FOB.

They travel only one hex at time to avoid getting shot down by a second Rocket a couple of hexes down the route.

They also follow terrain where they can dump the passenger if a surprise rocket launcher hits them. ....eg roads, open terrain.

The soldier carries on foot and the damaged Huey returns via the exact path home that it was outbound on.

[ab067]

For Afghanistan I enjoy the Third tutorial ....Operation Anaconda and use it as my main training tutorial.

It is my boot camp.

I first play the tutorial as intended.

Then I edit the *.sav file to keep the Funds at 10,000 and try variations similar to what I did in Vietnam '65.

I use the Apache, Chinook and Blackhawk to do recce's over the whole map to become familiar with their operation and get comfortable with the map and location of towns.

Then build FOB with the Chinook far away and use the Special Forces to observe, etc.

When I play the other scenarios for the first time I don't feel like a Cherry on my initial tour.

[ab067]

I had printed and drawn some of the maps to find the optimum routes for movement to enable maximum, efficient coordination of resources into a single area.

Unfortunately, I did not know that with each new game Bases and roads change position.

So with each new game, on turn one, I make a print/draw of the base locations, roads and a position of where I will be using my helicopters and other resources to use the most efficient routes for coordination.

[Every Single Soldier]

The tutorials in A’11 took almost as much time to make as the actual coding of the game 😅

It is pretty difficult to control human input or even direct it, so much time is spent validating the player input and correcting it.

[ab067]

After 17 hours I still find this simulation most challenging to learn than Vietnam'65 and Afghanistan'11.

It is also necessary to read the manual many times because not everything is intuative.

To avoid being overwhelmed while learning, this how I keep my operations simple.

I keep only one main area of operations. That is the Antrim Sector.

So that I am not unindated by IRA/UVF activities in the other two sectors (Derry and Armargh), I will observe what they are doing, but I don't react.

Using just the helicopters I concentrate on just moving around the map, loading, unloading, refueling, repairing, takeoff and landing in the countryside, on roads, etc.

Once comfortable with the helicopter ops, I purchase ground vehicles.

The controls are basically the same for ground vehicles.

Because the highway between the Port and Antrim Base is only one short highway it is also easier to monitor for IRA/UVF activity while doing lorry supply deliveries.

In the Antrim sector I just concentrate on Lorry ground transport from the Port to Antrim to port and react to any IRA/UVF activity with helicopters/ground transport/UK troops.

I also send the Constables (RUC) into Antrim area.

The control panel for Staff officers I use constantly to keep abreast of all activities.

As well, the control panel is constantly in use, especially with Strategy/Tactical maps.

While getting comfortable with the initial basics of this simulation I end the game when all the British are recalled.

I then start on a new map and repeat, staying in the Antrim sector.

[plugger]

Hi,

That's exactly the approach I've taken! One sector only and that's Antrim.

The game is more dense than the previous ones although mechanically it's not that much different. Maybe it's the urban setting?

You've done well to get to the withdrawal phase as my games typically crash out well before then.

Which is, I suppose, a normal part of a Beta test.

I'm assuming that the game is sending automated reports back to base with stack traces, etc.?

Cheers,
Plugger

[Every Single Soldier]

Please send me details of any crashes along with saved file if available.

You are assuming we are a fully staffed studio 😅

Also please feel free to make any suggestions etc…

[Every Single Soldier]

“The game is more dense than the previous ones”

Good ‘dense’ or bad ‘dense’ ??

[ab067]

I am enjoying this simulation because it is challenging in a good way.

[Donald]

It's an unusual situation involving little conventional combat. I am pleased that it forces the player to think unconventionally as a result.

[Every Single Soldier]

It has been a very challenging bit of work adapting the COIN model to this conflict 🫡