Commonwealth and other forces in RS?

[reptilianhuman]

Before I start this topic, I just want to say that I understand the Developers have a lot of stuff to worry about before releasing and this should be the last thing for them to think about. I did do a quick search through the forums and nothing came up about the topic sooner than 2011 (I searched Australian) so sorry if there is something more recent. I just felt that it would be better to create a new thread.

With that all said and done, onto what I'm here to talk about. It's no secret that the United States was not the only country to take place in the Pacific on the Allied side. In no way am I trying to denounce the part they played but there were other important countries that helped turn the tide in the war. So I suggest the idea of adding the Commonwealth forces. This means including Australia and the UK (Sorry guys, no Canada here. I'm sure they did something but I'm not exactly fresh on the part they played.) I believe that adding the Commonwealth could help to add some really interesting gameplay into Rising Storm. The role of the Commonwealth is often overshadowed and forgotten because of the role the Americans played. Of course, there are even more overshadowed countries like China. Even the Soviets played a part although it was rather minimal compared to other countries.

So why not have the Commonwealth and Chinese forces in the game? I think they could add some really interesting gameplay like the Australians fighting in New Guinea and the British and Indians in Burma. Who knows? Maybe some people would learn things they never knew about the war. If you went to ask people about what the Second Sino-Japanese war was, they would probably have a confused look on their face. This part of the war is practically uncovered in gaming especially in FPS gaming. The only example I have seen is in Battlegroup 42 which is a mod for BF1942. Not very accurate by any stretch of the imagination so it would be great to them portrayed accurately in Red Orchestra 2 fashion. Not only new gameplay but new lead-spitting cutlery, new maps to battle on, and of course, new factions.

I think that the reason this isn't in the works at the moment with the Rising Storm developers is because they simply have too much to work on in the current RS to include anything more. I do understand the game is supposed to cover only the Island Hopping campaign the Americans took part in but maybe it's something that could be worth looking into when the game releases. Again, it's a lot of work. New character models, new gun models, new sounds, new animations, new maps, and a lot of research would be involved but seeing what has been done here, the end result would most likely be a fantastic product for what already feels like a fantastic game.

I leave with a question to you all. What do you think about this idea? Do you think they should add these new factions once the game releases? If so, please answer why you would want them included. I'd be interested to see what you guys think. Also, just on a side-note here, for those wanting the Western Front in Red Orchestra 2, this would bring you one step closer. Just putting that out there ;D

Edit: TL;DR Would be nice to see the Commonwealth and Chinese forces but won't be disappointed if it doesn't happen.

 

[Vapid]

tl;dr, add the Commonwealth?

 

[becks10]

Although our theatre was primarily Europe, it was against the Japanese, that Canadian soldiers first saw combat in WW2. At the same time the Japanese were attacking Pearl Harbour, two Canadian regiments were defending Hong Kong the battle lasted until Christmas when they were finally forced to surrender. Just thought I'd throw that out there .

 

[IvoryCoast]

Not to speak ill of anyone's countries or soldiers, but it's kind of the same thing as having the eastern front and including Romanian or Italian forces. Not to say I wouldn't enjoy it a lot, but it would be a LOT of work with modeling, balancing, making new maps, etc. Might be a possibility, but modders would be much more likely then Tripwire.

 

[reptilianhuman]

Not to speak ill of anyone's countries or soldiers, but it's kind of the same thing as having the eastern front and including Romanian or Italian forces. Not to say I wouldn't enjoy it a lot, but it would be a LOT of work with modeling, balancing, making new maps, etc. Might be a possibility, but modders would be much more likely then Tripwire.

It most certainly is and I would respect the decision if it was decided not to include them. It would still be a pretty interesting thing to see though.

 

[Rabid Penguin]

I would love an Australian v Jap mod, and I think a lot of non-Australians would thoroughly enjoy it as well. It would be quite different from Rising Storm - The sides would be more naturally balanced as both sides would be using bolt-action rifles, instead of bolt-actions vs Garands. It would be intense, close-quarters jungle fighting, with vegetation much thicker than your average RS map.

 

[Mazryonh]

It's no secret that the United States was not the only country to take place in the Pacific on the Allied side. In no way am I trying to denounce the part they played but there were other important countries that helped turn the tide in the war. So I suggest the idea of adding the Commonwealth forces.

Well, one thing that would be easy about the Commonwealth forces is that, being the British Commonwealth, they standardized their weapons loadout throughout. The problem is that many of these forces would require different skins (or at least one basic model with the British Uniform and many faces plus different heights for different ethnicities) and various voice sets to reflect the regional accents or languages, as appropriate for the specific Commonwealth country. That's a lot of work for just one faction.

Mind you, I'd really like to use an SMLE rifle or Sten SMG in RO2. But the best bet for Commonwealth forces to get into RO2 would be for an expansion focussing on the British efforts on the WWII Western front before they were forced off the European continent. That's not a frequently-visited setting for games, and the German skins, animations, and weapons for that setting exist already in RO2: HoS.

 

[Cpt-Praxius]

As a Canadian living in Australia, I'd like to see both Australians and Canadians (.... and even the British ) being represented in more games.

Mare Nostrum wasn't too bad for the Australians, but never caught on and died a quick death for a game/mod.

Darkest Hour had Canadian Forces represented, but it was basically the British Models with American voice overs.... pretty half a*sed if you ask me..... and most maps that were voted for were US, so I don't even count DH in that regard.

There's a lot of very big and historic battles between the British, Canadian and Australian Forces that I feel are constantly over shadowed in order to cater to the US market.

No offense to the people in the US..... I'd just prefer to see a bit more variety..... it's one of the main reasons why I liked RO in the first place.

I'd love to play a game using a decently modeled Bren, Sten MK II, Sten MK IV, Lee Enfield, PIAT, etc.

I've played them in the original Day of Defeat and a bit in Darkest Hour, but I'd prefer something towards RO2 / RS standards..... not some decade-old crosshair based model or botched perspective/scaled Mod quality model with horrible sights you can't use.

 

[Giuliano]

It would be nice to play as something other than the Muricans from time to time. I wouldn't be surprised if there will be a mod adding the Commonwealth forces to RS one day.

I go on about this a lot when ever these subjects are discussed, but the one mod I want to see above all is a Sino-Japanese war mod. Its a forgotten war which saw the deaths of millions of people. The fighting was brutal and took place in so many different environments. The Chinese had so much variety, what with there being two armies both of which were armed and uniformed differently.

 

[IvoryCoast]

It would be nice to play as something other than the Muricans from time to time. I wouldn't be surprised if there will be a mod adding the Commonwealth forces to RS one day.

I go on about this a lot when ever these subjects are discussed, but the one mod I want to see above all is a Sino-Japanese war mod. Its a forgotten war which saw the deaths of millions of people. The fighting was brutal and took place in so many different environments. The Chinese had so much variety, what with there being two armies both of which were armed and uniformed differently.

Yes a sadly forgotten conflict. What I would really like to see is the Chinese civil war afterwards.

 

[Deleted member 52760]

It would be amazing if we got Commonwealth, as far as I know the British had declared war against Japan before the U.S. .

 

[lazerBAR]

I remember seeing a post by one of the devs a while back that said they would consider adding the commonwealth sometime after release, but they aren't sure. i think.

 

[reptilianhuman]

It would be nice to play as something other than the Muricans from time to time. I wouldn't be surprised if there will be a mod adding the Commonwealth forces to RS one day.

I go on about this a lot when ever these subjects are discussed, but the one mod I want to see above all is a Sino-Japanese war mod. Its a forgotten war which saw the deaths of millions of people. The fighting was brutal and took place in so many different environments. The Chinese had so much variety, what with there being two armies both of which were armed and uniformed differently.

Hence the reason I said that Chinese forces would be nice I think the problem with the view of the war is that when people think of it (when they know what it is), they think of Nanking and nothing else. I think people know the potential for it but they're worried about tackling it on because of the controversy it may or may not cause.

 

[Deleted member 52760]

To be honest, it seems like the British and the Japanese seem much more balanced when you think about it .

 

[Higgs]

It would be a fair bit of work to include the Commonwealth as they would require their own voice-overs and maps. But as far as weapons go, most of the main Commonwealth arsenal could be implemented by re-texturing existing weapons.


Lee Enfield No.1 Mk.III* & No4 Mk.I Rifles- New texture for the Mosin Nagant with the reload mechanism of the G41(W).

Enfield Pattern 1914 No.3 Mk.I* T(A) Sniper Rifle - New texture for the Springfield sniper rifle.

Thompson M1928A1 SMG- already present in RS.

Webley MK.IV Revolver - New texture for the Nagant revolver.

Colt M1911A1 Pistol- Already present in RS.

Bren Mk.I - New texture for the Type 99 LMG.

M1 Carbine - (commonly used in Burma by the Chindits) already present in RS.

Vickers Mk.I MG - New texture for the Maxim MG or Browning M1917A1 MG with some minor changes to animation.

No.36 Grenade - New texture for the Mk.2 Grenade.

No.77 Smoke Grenade - New texture for the AN-M8 with some minor changes to animation.

That would leave only the Owen MK.I SMG for the Aussies, and perhaps the Sten Mk.2 (although I don't think it was a very common weapon in the Pacific so it wouldn't really be worth it IMO).

Hopefully a mod team will make this a reality in the future.

 

[lazerBAR]

Sorry but you cant just reskin stuff and expect it to be easy, they have to model and animate it from scratch, then texture it and implement it in-game. However I heard a dev say they might add them as additional content later after release.

 

[Higgs]

Oh, shows how much I know about game development.

If they do develop Commonwealth forces in the future, I think the Australian or Indian (perhaps with the commander role being filled by an Englishman to demonstrate the prevailing colonial mentality) contributions the Pacific theater would make for the more interesting content.

 

[Mazryonh]

Yes a sadly forgotten conflict. What I would really like to see is the Chinese civil war afterwards.

Some people in China are still sore about how the Chinese civil war turned out. You could go to Taiwan, and quite a few people there are angry that the Nationalists lost (as would anyone who lost family members to the Chinese Communist purges or famines). Places like Hong Kong (which has its own governance and currency separate from the Chinese mainland's) and Taiwan are growing uncomfortable now with the recent military buildup in China, given that nothing's really stopping China from simply marching on over and imposing its own government and laws in those locales.

It would be a fair bit of work to include the Commonwealth as they would require their own voice-overs and maps. But as far as weapons go, most of the main Commonwealth arsenal could be implemented by re-texturing existing weapons.

Lee Enfield No.1 Mk.III* & No4 Mk.I Rifles- New texture for the Mosin Nagant with the reload mechanism of the G41(W).

Not really; the reload animations for the G41(W) could work with the SMLE Mk. 3 and later, but because the SMLE is a bolt-action weapon, the cocking animation will have to be deleted and the Mosin Nagant's bolt-open-and-close animation will have to be composited into the reload animation. The SMLE also will likely need an entirely new model given how distinctive its shape is compared to the other bolt action rifles of WWII.

Webley MK.IV Revolver - New texture for the Nagant revolver.

Actually, no. The Nagant Revolver's cylinder could not moved so as to allow for reloading multiple chambers at once, so you had to use a swing-out push-rod under the barrel to unload each chamber individually, and then load each chamber individually through the loading gate on the right side of the weapon, at the back of the cylinder. The Webley Mk. IV was a top-break revolver, which allowed the user to pop it open between handle and the cylinder, along with an automatic extractor to eject any rounds inside the cylinder once it was fully opened, so it would need a different model entirely along with a unique reload animation. The top-break configuration is uncommon today given the propensity for revolver users to to use higher-pressure cartridges, since the configuration could burst open unintentionally if the cartridge's pressure was too high.

Colt M1911A1 Pistol- Already present in RS.

Sure, but will there be a need for "Lend-Lease" markings on the textures?

Bren Mk.I - New texture for the Type 99 LMG.

Close, but not quite. The Bren has a different buttstock and pistol grip, and also a slightly different magazine due to the fact that its rounds are differently shaped. The Bren could also use a 100-round top-feed pan magazine, like the older Lewis Gun, and no ability to mount a bayonet (unlike the Type 99).

M1 Carbine - (commonly used in Burma by the Chindits) already present in RS.

What are "Chindits" again?

In any case, Commonwealth forces will be a lot more work to implement than, say, South Korean forces in the Korean War (since they'll use American weapons, American uniforms and helmets, and just need different voice clips, different faces and adjusted heights for the character models).

 

[Higgs]

Yea...I didn't think through that earlier post all that well. It would not be a simple task to add the Commonwealth.

The Chindits were a sort of guerrilla-commando unit that operated in the jungles of Burma from 1943 to 45. It was comprised of troops from the UK, India, West Africa, Hong Kong and many other Commonwealth nations. The US later formed a similar unit called Merril's Marauders.

I don't think there were many Lend-Lease markings on the US weapons in British hands. The Brits purchased a large number of Tommy Guns and Colt pistols early in the war. M1911A1s were a very common sidearm for British commandos, airborne infantry and other special forces units. They did mark the Pattern 1917s and M1s they received with a red band in order to designate that the rifle used .30-06 not .303. However, the Home Guard received most if not all .30-06 weapons for logistical reasons.

 

[Mister_Virgo]

I would like to see this, but I don't think it will ever be official. The best we'll get, most likely, is a mod.

Now, I think it would be cool to see it as an official add-on to this game. Say, RS sells so well that the devs take time and money to make maps based on Austalian/Japanese battles, model texture and record sound for the new guns and character models and record new lines for the Aussies. Then it could be added to the map roster as part of the game as a whole.

I think it would especially keep the game from getting repetitive, since you would have more than just US-vs-Japs and playing an Commonwealth offensive after two or more US maps would change things around a bit. Just my two cents, anyway.