First, Tripwire thank you for making a Red Orchestra 2. Despite all the technical problems, you've got a solid foundation to work on now.
I don't think any resonable person can fault a developer for trying to include the (disturbingly) popular unlock system in their game. I also don't think any resonable person could continue to try to defend the system as it exists in Red Orchestra 2 now. Opinions on the severity and depth of the problems with it vary, but there's nearly universal agreement that it's broken. No shame in trying, it just didn't work right. Now lets fix it!
What I am suggesting below is drawn from a somewhat recurring theme of cosmetic-only unlockables. As such it's meant as an alternative to what's in game now, not a supplement to it. The weapon/class leveling as it exists now should be tossed in favor of the fixed class loadouts (set by the mapper) as in Red Orchestra: Ost. Establish whatever the baseline for any given weapon is going to be and set its values at that (reload time, recoil, time to ADS, etc). Remove leveling perks related to weapon handling and selection entirely. If two players have the same weapon, player skill should be the only difference between them.
I tried to pick unlocks that would require a minimum of work. Medals seemed the natural choice. As cool as trophy overcoats or whatnot would be, that means a *lot* of work to get the model up to the standard of the animations currently in game. Not a light task (but definitely one we'd like to see, I think!). Medals should be able to be modelled and 'stuck' to a character, or alternatively drawn onto existing skins and the appropriate skin called up depending on player rank. I'm not saying it'll be easy because I honestly don't know how easy or hard it is, but it should at least be modular once it's figured out.
I tried to select medals that avoided the darker side of the ideologies represented by these two regimes. I believe I've picked the most generic awards possible for each at each level. That said, it is nigh impossible to avoid Nazi and Soviet symolism in their awards.
As it stands now there are four ranks, with unlocks on two (frontline soldier), three (veteran), and four (hero). So keeping with that format, here are three alternatives for each side, and a bit of my thought process in why I decided on those. I'm not an expert in anything except screwing up and accidental TKs, so if someone has academic insight to share please feel free. My numbers are pulled from wikipedia, links provided.
Soviet unlocks:
Holy cow. It seems like the soviet awards come in two major classes: Either minted and turned out like candy so nearly everyone has one, in the true socialist spirit, or created to serve as a propaganda piece towards a specific goal. There are of course the handful of political-favor awards common to both regimes. My personal favorite is Heroine Mother, awarded for bearing and raising ten or more children. Keep our great socialist empire filled, mothers of Russia! Too bad it wouldn't make much sense in game
The Order of the Great Patriotic war was not created until 1942, so it's perhaps a little late for the game's purpose but it fits so nicely as a foil to the Iron Cross that it's worth overlooking that. It's not hard to imagine many of these being thrown around with grand proclamaitions to try and raise morale in the final months of the defense of Stalingrad.
The Gold Star for the Hero of the Soviet Union award is a shoe in IMO given the title hero being already in game. The numbers are also pretty close to the Knight's Cross.
There is a 'Defense of Stalingrad' award, but it was given out in larger numbers than the Gold Star and the Knight's Cross. It also has no counterpart on the German side (there's no 'I Fought at Stalingrad and all I got was this lousy frostbite' medal).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Patriotic_War
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero_of_the_Soviet_Union
Frontline Soldier: Order of the Patriotic War 2nd class. Represented in game by the ribbon only. Approximately 1 million were awarded.*
Veteran: Order of the Patriotic War 1rst class. Represented in game by the medal worn on the right breast pocket. Approximately 400 thousand were awarded.*
Hero: Hero of the Soviet Union. In game, a large gold star ribbon with medal centered upper-left breast, to be above all other awards. About twelve thousand awarded.
*pre 1985 40th anniversary numbers. The wiki article explains it.
German unlocks:
Much like the soviets, the reich was all about tossing shiny things around to try and prove how awesome they were. Instead of creating a few different one-size-fits all, however, the awards seem to be much more narrowly tailored. There are lots of specific decorations for campaigns and branches of service. And of course, a large number of politically motivated propaganda badges. There are a lot more similarities between the Third Reich and Soviet Union than there were differences, it seems!
The Iron Cross however was awarded across the entire military, and coresponds nicely to the Order of the Patriotic War in that there were two primary ranks for it.
The Knights Cross is a third tier Iron Cross, and has several divisions of merit to itself, but the fancier levels of it were rarely awarded. As such the basic Knight's Cross serves admirably for the purpose of a cosmetic in-game reward.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_cross#Second_World_War
Frontline Soldier: Iron Cross 2nd class, to be represented in game by the button-hole ribbon. The medal for second class would not be worn except as part of a dress uniform. Approximately 4.5 million were awarded.
Veteran: Iron Cross 1rst class, represented by the button-hole ribbon and a large medal pinned on the left breast pocket. Approximately 300 thousand were awarded.
Hero: Knight of the Iron Cross, represented in game by the ribboned medal worn around the neck under the colar (the cross itself visible at the neckline). Approximately seven thousand were awarded.
Any opionions and thoughts are welcome. What do you folks think?
I don't think any resonable person can fault a developer for trying to include the (disturbingly) popular unlock system in their game. I also don't think any resonable person could continue to try to defend the system as it exists in Red Orchestra 2 now. Opinions on the severity and depth of the problems with it vary, but there's nearly universal agreement that it's broken. No shame in trying, it just didn't work right. Now lets fix it!
What I am suggesting below is drawn from a somewhat recurring theme of cosmetic-only unlockables. As such it's meant as an alternative to what's in game now, not a supplement to it. The weapon/class leveling as it exists now should be tossed in favor of the fixed class loadouts (set by the mapper) as in Red Orchestra: Ost. Establish whatever the baseline for any given weapon is going to be and set its values at that (reload time, recoil, time to ADS, etc). Remove leveling perks related to weapon handling and selection entirely. If two players have the same weapon, player skill should be the only difference between them.
I tried to pick unlocks that would require a minimum of work. Medals seemed the natural choice. As cool as trophy overcoats or whatnot would be, that means a *lot* of work to get the model up to the standard of the animations currently in game. Not a light task (but definitely one we'd like to see, I think!
). Medals should be able to be modelled and 'stuck' to a character, or alternatively drawn onto existing skins and the appropriate skin called up depending on player rank. I'm not saying it'll be easy because I honestly don't know how easy or hard it is, but it should at least be modular once it's figured out.I tried to select medals that avoided the darker side of the ideologies represented by these two regimes. I believe I've picked the most generic awards possible for each at each level. That said, it is nigh impossible to avoid Nazi and Soviet symolism in their awards.
As it stands now there are four ranks, with unlocks on two (frontline soldier), three (veteran), and four (hero). So keeping with that format, here are three alternatives for each side, and a bit of my thought process in why I decided on those. I'm not an expert in anything except screwing up and accidental TKs, so if someone has academic insight to share please feel free. My numbers are pulled from wikipedia, links provided.
Soviet unlocks:
Holy cow. It seems like the soviet awards come in two major classes: Either minted and turned out like candy so nearly everyone has one, in the true socialist spirit, or created to serve as a propaganda piece towards a specific goal. There are of course the handful of political-favor awards common to both regimes. My personal favorite is Heroine Mother, awarded for bearing and raising ten or more children. Keep our great socialist empire filled, mothers of Russia! Too bad it wouldn't make much sense in game
The Order of the Great Patriotic war was not created until 1942, so it's perhaps a little late for the game's purpose but it fits so nicely as a foil to the Iron Cross that it's worth overlooking that. It's not hard to imagine many of these being thrown around with grand proclamaitions to try and raise morale in the final months of the defense of Stalingrad.
The Gold Star for the Hero of the Soviet Union award is a shoe in IMO given the title hero being already in game. The numbers are also pretty close to the Knight's Cross.
There is a 'Defense of Stalingrad' award, but it was given out in larger numbers than the Gold Star and the Knight's Cross. It also has no counterpart on the German side (there's no 'I Fought at Stalingrad and all I got was this lousy frostbite' medal).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Patriotic_War
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero_of_the_Soviet_Union
Frontline Soldier: Order of the Patriotic War 2nd class. Represented in game by the ribbon only. Approximately 1 million were awarded.*
Veteran: Order of the Patriotic War 1rst class. Represented in game by the medal worn on the right breast pocket. Approximately 400 thousand were awarded.*
Hero: Hero of the Soviet Union. In game, a large gold star ribbon with medal centered upper-left breast, to be above all other awards. About twelve thousand awarded.
*pre 1985 40th anniversary numbers. The wiki article explains it.
German unlocks:
Much like the soviets, the reich was all about tossing shiny things around to try and prove how awesome they were. Instead of creating a few different one-size-fits all, however, the awards seem to be much more narrowly tailored. There are lots of specific decorations for campaigns and branches of service. And of course, a large number of politically motivated propaganda badges. There are a lot more similarities between the Third Reich and Soviet Union than there were differences, it seems!
The Iron Cross however was awarded across the entire military, and coresponds nicely to the Order of the Patriotic War in that there were two primary ranks for it.
The Knights Cross is a third tier Iron Cross, and has several divisions of merit to itself, but the fancier levels of it were rarely awarded. As such the basic Knight's Cross serves admirably for the purpose of a cosmetic in-game reward.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_cross#Second_World_War
Frontline Soldier: Iron Cross 2nd class, to be represented in game by the button-hole ribbon. The medal for second class would not be worn except as part of a dress uniform. Approximately 4.5 million were awarded.
Veteran: Iron Cross 1rst class, represented by the button-hole ribbon and a large medal pinned on the left breast pocket. Approximately 300 thousand were awarded.
Hero: Knight of the Iron Cross, represented in game by the ribboned medal worn around the neck under the colar (the cross itself visible at the neckline). Approximately seven thousand were awarded.
Any opionions and thoughts are welcome. What do you folks think?
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