Goooooooooood Morning, Taleworlds!
Yes, it is yet another super idea for a forum game. I have by accident found this video and it got me thinking: well, this could be actually a great idea for a forum game! So I was trying to figure out how to modify this experience and setting for a forum and do it by PMs. But then I remembered all the funny posts in the Vocaroo thread and it occurred to me:
Why won't we make a first ever voice-controlled forum game ever?
Essentially, instead of PMs and reports and orders, let's play a game that is played (almost) only by posting voice messages into a thread? This means that there is only very basic info to the players in text and everything is being done by radio messages. Of course, I would keep track of things happening, units on field etc. to enable the game to be played, and I would have the units respond to the orders and events, but the players themselves would do very little apart from issuing the orders and doing the, well, radio stuff.
A couple of principles:
1 ) It is a coop scenario where players play US officers in a scenario set in the Vietnam war. Objectives for the mission are set before, players should draw up a plan of the operation for the involved units before the game starts.
2 ) There is a map for the scenario, but apart from some notes at the start, it will not get updated in any way. All the information has to be relayed by radio communication and players must keep track of them. No PMs allowed at all.
3 ) If a player plays an officer that is actually present on the map, he will get reports regarding his character by PMs (the important one regarding status such as ammo, whether the unit is engaged etc. or very general info about surroundings, not DnD "there is a room with a chair and a table and on the table there is an extinguished cigarette"; unless the latter is provided for RP reasons), but is prohibited from sharing that info by means other than radio communication
4 ) Different units (infantry, recon teams, vehicles, Hueys) have different radios with different ranges. The range is modified by altitude and terrain, therefore certain units cannot be reached or, more commonly, cannot respond at certain times
5 ) Units (both NPC and player-controlled) need to obey orders. It is the military after all.
6 ) Combat micromanagement apart from "engage", "retreat", "orange smoke to mark your position" etc. does not exist; not even for units a Player is part of.
7 ) It is both coop-BoP and RP at the same time. VC and NVA units are on the map from the very start and have their own movement and communication rules. This means that they won't appear out of nowhere for pure RP or story reasons. However, certain events can happen due to story reasons (radio malfunctions, traps, miscommunication, friendly fire).
8 ) It is all about fun! And embarrassing-therefore-fun voice messages. Non-native speakers welcome, don't be afraid that your voice sounds nothing like the movies.
There would be turns (for example 1 turn = 30 minutes and I think one turn per 4 days should be okay). Communication between the players would happen in the thread itself, communication between the players and NPC units would happen in PM chains (not only because of situations in which not all the players have radio connection, but mainly to mitigate the non-real time nature of the gameplay) and would be posted into the main thread at the start of a next turn. In the end, the thread would consist almost entirely of radio messages between US military units.
As stated above, communication between players and NPCs would be unfolding in the PM chain.
Turn1:
Bravo squad (NPC): Lima 5, this is Bravo, we see like 10, no 15, gooks coming our direction. Please advise.
Player 1: Bravo, fall back to LZ Tango and prepare for extraction. ETA 1 hour.
Bravo squad (NPC): Lima 5, this is Bravo, moving to LZ Tango.
It is only after turn 1 is concluded that Player can talk to other players or NPCs regarding what happened in turn 1.
Turn 2:
[PMs] Player 1: Dragonfly, Lima 5, Bravo needs extraction from LZ Tango. Possible enemy presence in near vicinity.
[PMs] Dragonfly Hueys (NPC): Roger that, Lima 5, turning to LZ Tango. Will be there in 35 minutes. Have the boys mark the landing zone with yellow smoke.
[PMs] Bravo squad (NPC): We hear you, Dragonfly. Yellow smoke. Understood.
Alternatively, if Dragonfly is under command of another player:
[Main thread] Player 1: Lima 5 to base, our boys need a lift from LT Tango. Light enemy presence around the LZ.
[Main thread] Player 2: Lima 5, this is base, Dragonfly will be dispatched once it finishes refueling.
[PMs] Player 2: Dragonfly, this is base. Looks like you boys are needed down there. Bravo is heading for LZ Tango and needs a taxi. Possible small arms fire from around the LZ.
[PMs] Dragonfly Hueys (NPC): Roger that, base. Fuel hoses out, engines on. We are taking off.
The point is that player cannot issue orders reacting to turn 1 during the turn itself. Therefore, orders for the helicopters must be given in turn 2. After the turn is concluded, all the messages (with the exception of those that are unavaliable to all due to radio range problems) will be posted in chronological (game) order in the thread so they form a coherent chain
Bravo squad (NPC): Lima 5, this is Bravo, we see like 10, no 15, gooks coming our direction. Please advise.
Player 1: Bravo, fall back to LZ Tango and prepare for extraction. ETA 1 hour.
Bravo squad (NPC): Lima 5, this is Bravo, moving to LZ Tango.
It is only after turn 1 is concluded that Player can talk to other players or NPCs regarding what happened in turn 1.
Turn 2:
[PMs] Player 1: Dragonfly, Lima 5, Bravo needs extraction from LZ Tango. Possible enemy presence in near vicinity.
[PMs] Dragonfly Hueys (NPC): Roger that, Lima 5, turning to LZ Tango. Will be there in 35 minutes. Have the boys mark the landing zone with yellow smoke.
[PMs] Bravo squad (NPC): We hear you, Dragonfly. Yellow smoke. Understood.
Alternatively, if Dragonfly is under command of another player:
[Main thread] Player 1: Lima 5 to base, our boys need a lift from LT Tango. Light enemy presence around the LZ.
[Main thread] Player 2: Lima 5, this is base, Dragonfly will be dispatched once it finishes refueling.
[PMs] Player 2: Dragonfly, this is base. Looks like you boys are needed down there. Bravo is heading for LZ Tango and needs a taxi. Possible small arms fire from around the LZ.
[PMs] Dragonfly Hueys (NPC): Roger that, base. Fuel hoses out, engines on. We are taking off.
The point is that player cannot issue orders reacting to turn 1 during the turn itself. Therefore, orders for the helicopters must be given in turn 2. After the turn is concluded, all the messages (with the exception of those that are unavaliable to all due to radio range problems) will be posted in chronological (game) order in the thread so they form a coherent chain
Hence, the game does not actually demand anything of the players but posting voice messages. No long writing of orders, no long processing of them. Just pure radio. Oh, yeah!
In regards to radios, however, it is necessary to get some software that could turn your messages to radio-like sound. I myself, being a noob in all tech-related things, have found a way using TS3 plugins, recording TS and then uploading it to Vocaroo. It works fine and is really easy to set up, the only thing is that the files are a little too big (.wav) and have a slight pause before the record actually starts. If anyone has a better idea, feel free to advise.
And again: yes, (some of) the clips will sound lame. That is the purpose!
https://vocaroo.com/i/s0B29ZpGhG3T
https://vocaroo.com/i/s1AWwlWXfPRW
https://vocaroo.com/i/s0UvwANjFo0x
Take this thread as an interest check (this time it will hopefully work
). Those interested please comment below. All in all, 4 players is enough, anything above is doable. Once we have enough players, I will post a thread with slightly more elaboration on rules and also with the scenario.Feel free to post any suggestions or comments
