WW2 Armored Recon - Discussion

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This story is epic. I’m a history nerd and I know all about the WW2 as well. I’m also impressed by your detailed technical writing. There are very good stories and very skilled writing here. But this story is the one for me. Can’t wait for the updates. But I have some questions about the upcoming chapters:

  • If the crew performs really well can they upgrade to an another tank ? (I really would like a Sherman)

  • I’m also curious about the scavenging options and how much can we modify the tank.

  • Are you planning to add romance ? It doesn’t really important for me just curious. (I liked the romance in the ‘United We Stand’)

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Just asking/confirming, it’d be a live video?

I ask cause the people who watch this could give coding feedback (perhaps amongst other feedback) to assist you, if that’s ok with you. Just a food for thought moment that crossed my mind.

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Lol that casablanca reference

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@Eiwynn - It certainly won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. In fact, it may be terribly repulsive to see how things are made. There is an outline, there are notes, but it is boring to watch a writer sort through those things, so that has to go… at least during the recorded portion.

@TheGhost - Thanks.It won’t be like writing Tin Star though. There is no way to reproduce those fevered hours spent at the keyboard. And it would have been boring to watch besides, consisting of me staring at the screen, typing away, and occasionally cursing to myself when things go awry.

@EmirAli -A tank upgrade… probably not. For logistical reasons (me not wanting to double the writing load) the PC will be commanding a light tank through the months of combat they’ll see in North Africa. If there is a sequel (shouldn’t even think about that yet) then yes, probably the Sherman would be in service by then. Or if it is still in North Africa then a Grant or another medium tank with… interesting flaws would be interesting.

The reason the M3 Light (Stuart) was chosen is that it is a recon unit often tasked with doing interesting things in strange places, having enough armor to get out of a little trouble, enough speed to engage or escape most enemies, and carrying enough firepower to swing a battle if employed skillfully.

How much can you modify the tank? A lot. The model the PC has is somewhat outdated, but it can be retrofitted with a gryrostabilizer, telescopic sights, rubber baffles to quiet the treads somewhat, additional armor (probably covering a single location), improvements to the receive-only radio, and so on.

Romance… that’s a tricky question. The action is too fluid (hmm, bad pun waiting there) in the desert to readily allow for it. Possible though. Maybe not on the first pass. I’ll build in some segments where it could be placed, if there is time and it fits the story.

@MIGSey - A live video? That’s something to chew on. I’ve found it hard enough to be creative without anyone else in the room when recording a few other things. Doing it live before an audience would require me to up my skill to… well, it isn’t there yet. Something to strive for perhaps.

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@AllenGies, with regards to romance: while I do think that the setting makes romance options impractical, because we’re in a war, may I suggest that the romance option be someone back home?

If I recall correctly, irl, some male soldiers were married when they signed up for the armed forces during WW2. Perhaps this hypothetical romance option could be one of them? And instead of the conventional scenes where the player interacts with the RO, we get a scene where we write the RO a letter?

Ultimately, I’d rather the game focus entirely on the war, on our tank, and our fellow soldiers. And getting fuel (I’m joking). I understand an RO, though. A lot of players do look at that sort of thing.

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@NJG - Hmm. That is an interesting idea. The romance would have to be entirely through letters. Tricky to write, but hey, why are we here? :slight_smile:

This would require a little research. How was mail to North Africa handled during that part of the war? There was a good system in place by 1944, but 1942…What were the letters from home like? What did the censors allow?

Perhaps we’d let the player choose the relationship. Girlfriend/boyfriend, married without kids, married with kids, or just a really close friendship. Then there would be a little back and forth exchange of letters, writing, reading, and interpreting. A story-line of some sort develops, and possibly culminates in an emotional moment just before the climax.

Definitely taking ideas here from anyone who has a suggestion.

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For the record, I’d prefer no romance options. As I said before, we should focus on the war, on our fellow soldiers, and on our tank.

It seems to me that the setting (1942, North Africa, WW2-era soldier) restricts romance options. If that is to be implemented, the most realistic (to me) would be a romance option back home, just like a lot of real life WW2-era soldiers.

Just my two cents.

Edit: I’m fine for whatever the nature of the MC’s relationship would be (boy/girlfriend, married with or without children), if that would be implemented.

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I wouldn’t consider romance to be integral to the plot, but it would make for a great side story thread. In addition, as you said. the romances could be of different flavors (also, working in same-sex romance, which was taboo at the time, would be interesting), and actions could be taken with the intent of seeing the romantic partner again.

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There was the romance thread earlier with the author writing a similar type of story, and my input is the same as what I posted there. If you feel like the romance would fit in without overtaking the story, do it! I felt that Tin Star’s romances were enjoyable on top of the main plot but the main plot was still wonderful if everyone were the best friends (or victims in an evil playthrough) of the Marshal.

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Just my two cents but there could room for fleeting romance in your game. Perhaps there could be A side story where are our brave tanker could romance an army nurse, war correspondent, an aide to a visiting congressman, or a USO entertainer.

Not that it would change the adventure or the course of battle but the MC reflecting years later while having a drink somewhere in Middle America sighs and thinks what might have been.

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@TheGhost - Yeah, definitely side story. Anything more would feel forced. See Pauly51’s able suggestions.

@Snowflower - Definitely needs to not distract from the story. A WW2 Romance story would better be served by a different venue. Paris, Berlin, Rome, etc.

@Pauly51 - Those are interesting options, and indeed there are two in there I hadn’t considered.

Army Nurse is only practical if the PC gets injured or has to return to a supply dump like Tebessa. That feels like it would detract from things perhaps a little to much. But certainly possible if the PC racks up a lot of injuries (Which I track). Of course, nurses knew better than to get attached to their patients, but as you indicated, it would entail a reflective moment later on.

War Correspondent. There were a few women war correspondents but they tended to move around quite a bit and rarely stayed long. The romance there would have to be built up over the course of an entire campaign.

Aide to a Visiting Congressman. Innovative. Hadn’t considered that option. But like the War Correspondent, they’d be here and then gone again.

USO Entertainer. Another interesting idea. USO shows were fairly infrequent early on, especially near the front. It’d just be a scene, at most.

But all of the above might be mentioned in the letters, perhaps with one party or another mentioning the options out there in a bantering way. When I research the correspondence that was sent overseas, I’ll have to keep that in mind.

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For women, at least, I’d consider throwing in a WAC member- they would definitely have more ability to stay in the same area as the MC, and wouldn’t be dependent on the MC getting injured.

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I have no idea how I missed this WIP!

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@AllenGies – No offence to you or @TheGhost but your consideration of the “romances” so far are “off” from the tone you set by allowing a female MC to be front and central in the game.

I know that it is hard to approach the subject of romance in a story/game like this but sometimes the vision that a story dictates is just not conductive towards shoehorning romance into it.

It would be very weird to experience a world where a female tank commander is considered a norm and integration accepted and then see that war correspondents are mostly men and that the women correspondents were not implemented or integrated the same way that men were. For example, WW2 was the first time correspondents were assigned long-term coverage, so this should be the case for both men and women … if it is earlier in this world than in our timeline, so be it.

Throwing in a WAC member is misguided here because the whole point is that WACs are not needed in this world, where things are more advanced in equality issues.

I really urge everyone to take a step back and refocus on the core important themes and plot points of this game’s vision and not break it trying to make it something it is not.

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True, true, the WAC suggestion was definitely something of a gaffe on my part, although even after going over the game again, I’m not exactly clear what the whole situation is in this timeline. Is it a Soviet thing, where women are originally auxiliaries and specialization who get pushed into general combat? Is there a court decision invoking equal rights? Did Roosevelt just say “f*ck it, we need manpower?

That being said, I’m of the opinion that more content is good content. Do I need romance? No. However, if someone throws out the idea that they’re thinking adding extra content to their game, then I’m definitely on the side of trying to help make that happen.

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Apologies if this has been reported already, but I found this one the morning before leaving for Casablanca (I added the line breaks to make it more noticable):

Bug

Nelson flicks the"little joe" auxiliary generator off standby and Owens runs through the start up routine, slowly cranking the engine through one complete cycle. As expected, the cold makes the Fury cough at first, but soon enough she settles into a nice purr.

Nelson flicks the"little joe" auxiliary generator off standby and Owens runs through the start up routine, slowly cranking the engine through one complete cycle. The cold makes the Fury cough at first, but soon enough she settles into a solid purr.

Nelson flicks the"little joe" auxiliary generator off standby and Owens runs through the start up routine, cranking the engine through one complete cycle. The cold makes the Fury cough until Nelson adjusts the mix. Then the engine settles into a steady purr.

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@Eiwynn - You’re right, of course. The romance will probably have to be restricted to a love interest back home. Less shoehorning that way and far, far more realistic.

@TheGhost - The American women on the front line concept comes from Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady and no slouch in the politics department. In this timeline, she pushed through a measure that opened up the combat arm of the armed services for a single woman in each role.

There would be a woman flying a fighter in combat (not just ferrying them across the Atlantic), commanding a B-17 (or 29), commanding a tank (this game), operating as a front-line Marine (Marine Raider), leading an army platoon, skippering a navy vessel, running anti-sub patrols for the coast guard, etc.

So, this isn’t for the same reason as the Soviets. IIRC, the Soviets accepted female volunteers for combat roles because those women were highly competent and motivated. Plenty of others worked in administrative or medical fields instead, almost a million all told. Probably more if you take into account Partisans. For most they worked in a factory or on a farm because those too were important for the war effort.

@FutbolDude21586 - New bug. Easy fix. I’ll take care of it. Thanks.

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Well I really didn’t think much about romance when I read the story and I was just curious. But after reading all the different and equally interesting ideas it seems everyone is curious about it too. Also as everyone said it is a rather hard one to include in the time line. When I think about possible ROs maybe there could be a local one. Volunteering in the French or British army as a nurse or a translator. I am not very knowledgeable about the local volunteers on the African front but it can be lore friendly and fun. Also if that’s possible when the campaign is finished maybe we can take them home. I don’t know just an idea.

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As promised, the first recording of a coding session for WW2 Armored Warfare. The quality isn’t great, and there is not doubt much that could be done to improve it, but we work with what we’ve got until we get better.

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Listened to the whole thing. It was really interesting for me to have a look at your methods and understand how you write.

On a separate note, could someone explain the Jersey joke for a non-American? I feel stupid for not getting it…

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