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RTS Syrian Warfare - Destructive environment is not Dead?

mikaelis

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So gayz, there is this game called Syrian Warfare that just got released. I cannot be arsed to try it now - Fallout 4 won't play itself, y'know (LOL just joking :lol:), but maybe some other nice soul will try it and give us some impressions.
It is from Russkie developers called Cats Who Play. Obviously it may not look too dandy and shiny, but the fact that it tells about very modern conflict immediately got me intrigued.

Also it seems there is DESTRUCTION OF ENVIRONMENT!!! (fi-fucking-nally in 2017, but also kind of expected from Russians :incline:).

Anyone?:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/485980/
 

mikaelis

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Also, it is already stirring some serious butthurt around :lol:

upload_2017-2-22_0-4-24.png
 

Jimmious

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Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
It is slightly disturbing to get games out of an ongoing war to be honest... But we live in disturbing times anyways
 

mikaelis

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It is slightly disturbing to get games out of an ongoing war to be honest... But we live in disturbing times anyways

I never fully got this. We got movies and books from recent conflicts, no? And I don't want to jump to the discussion between gaming and movie media and how different they are (you know movies CAN BE ART and gAMEZ CANNOT!).

You can make a shit movie that everyone will bash due to its immaturity and lack of knowledge of what the conflict is really about/missing the point/only scratching surface/misinterpretation blablabla (the examples in cinema department are a plenty). Thing is, you also have a good ones. With games it should be the same, but the proportions are reversed. Good and successful games that try to touch and handle "disturbing" or controversial topics in a more mature way, are rarity or non-existent.

There are some games that wants to tell you the story and reflect on the subject rather than kill as many enemies as possible. You can have games like "This War of Mine" that approach the subject in more mature way. And the background for the game is relatively recent conflict from Balkan wars in the 90ties. I haven't played the game, but I also haven't noticed "disturbing" reception of it in the press. I guess, it is not much about the subject of recent conflict being taboo (witnesses of Balkan war atrocities are still alive and I am pretty sure that your average-Joe Serb will have different opinion about the conflict than your average-Joe Croat or Bosnian), but how it is handled.

I suppose what you mean by "disturbing" is that for the very recent conflicts, it is the media narration that fortify your stance on the conflict, and of course, media narration will be different depending where you live and receive the broadcast. Any narrative that clashes with this stance is perceived as "disturbing".

It is like if you show "9th Company" Russian movie to some Afghan war veteran only to find out he is a fan of "Rambo 3" :lol:.

Now, with RTS it (can) be interesting because you can have two side of conflict described in two separate campaigns in a more like "documentary and historical" style, where you are put in the position of one or the other side of the conflict and have to go from that. But of course it will be biased depending who made it and which subjective "truth" was used as an "objective truth".

But that's the same for any movies/books/other media outlets and whatnot that discuss the recent conflicts. Why to feel "disturbed" about RTS games?

EDIT:::

I still remember "Six Says in Fallujah" game that never got released due to "disturbing" content. In the end, I doubt it was the real reason as they could have just rename it to "Twelve Days: Hallelujah - Middle East Warfare" and be done with political-correctness.
 
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Jimmious

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Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
We are talking about a conflict in which people are dying as we speak. It's not recent, it's ongoing.
Everything you describe is about recent incidents but never about ongoing.
Imagine if you are living in a country that is in war, and you see your neighborhood in a game where someone can bomb it or do whatever for his entertainment.

So the point is , as you also mention multiple times, the word recent , not ongoing
 

mikaelis

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I am fairly sure I would have more important things to do than playing games if my neighborhood is bombed. Recently or ongoing.

Anyway, not to derail the (off)-topic, I think I will bite the bullet and buy the game. Though not sure when I can try it.
 

Spectacle

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We are talking about a conflict in which people are dying as we speak. It's not recent, it's ongoing.
Everything you describe is about recent incidents but never about ongoing.
Imagine if you are living in a country that is in war, and you see your neighborhood in a game where someone can bomb it or do whatever for his entertainment.

So the point is , as you also mention multiple times, the word recent , not ongoing
And if you want to, you can head over to youtube and entertain yourself by watching actual combat footage from Syria posted by all sides involved in the fighting. I don't get how watching imaginary death and destruction in a vidya gaem is worse than seeing the real thing on video.
 

Galdred

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Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
We are talking about a conflict in which people are dying as we speak. It's not recent, it's ongoing.
Everything you describe is about recent incidents but never about ongoing.
Imagine if you are living in a country that is in war, and you see your neighborhood in a game where someone can bomb it or do whatever for his entertainment.

So the point is , as you also mention multiple times, the word recent , not ongoing
I'd be quite happy it is in a game and not in a drone control software actually!
But more seriously, a recent conflict is as bad:
You have a greater chance to have someone who was traumatized by the conflict in contact with the game than with and ongoing conflict, as he would be busy trying not to die.
I would have more problem with the total lack of perspective, but as long as the game remains "neutral", and only focuses on the operations, that could work.
 

Jimmious

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Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
We are talking about a conflict in which people are dying as we speak. It's not recent, it's ongoing.
Everything you describe is about recent incidents but never about ongoing.
Imagine if you are living in a country that is in war, and you see your neighborhood in a game where someone can bomb it or do whatever for his entertainment.

So the point is , as you also mention multiple times, the word recent , not ongoing
And if you want to, you can head over to youtube and entertain yourself by watching actual combat footage from Syria posted by all sides involved in the fighting. I don't get how watching imaginary death and destruction in a vidya gaem is worse than seeing the real thing on video.

Guys I'm not telling you how to think, I stated my opinion. I personally, find it a bit disturbing - possibly a bit more coming from Russians (who participate in the war).
I'm not saying I'm shocked or that you should boycott it or whatever, it's just something I wouldn't do
 

Burning Bridges

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It really depends. I personally think there is not suddenly a point of where a game about a conflict is suddenly ok. And there are always people who want to play ISIS, Al Qaida, Taliban etc in thoise games not because they support them, but because games are ideal vessels to get into the other perspectives and understand what's going on. Yes people, that's why people play games, not only computer games, in the first place and that's also why it is not a moral crime to make a game if it does not glorify war or any of the sides involved, but just shows people what the war is about.
 

Burning Bridges

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Also the really important question is, is the game good? I have a long time stopped hoping for another good game like Close Combat but there is always this remote chance that someone, somewhere makes one.
 

Alienman

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Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Codex Year of the Donut Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
Looks cool. There is a moment in the video when a tank run down some walls, the destruction there looks really good, like it's truly dynamic. I just wish for a different setting, not because it is current - middle east combat scenarios don't just interest me that much.
 
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I was on the fence with this game, but between the game looking ok (it's a lot like Men of War), being not too expensive and featuring armies other than the usual I ended up buying it.

The faggots throwing a hissy fit in the game's Steam discussions also helped.

Sent from my SM-A500FU using Tapatalk
 

Alienman

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I was on the fence with this game, but between the game looking ok (it's a lot like Men of War), being not too expensive and featuring armies other than the usual I ended up buying it.

The faggots throwing a hissy fit in the game's Steam discussions also helped.

Sent from my SM-A500FU using Tapatalk

So, how is it? :) If it is anything like Men of War I will probably love it.
 
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Ok, I've completed the first mission. My first impressions:

It's not actually like Men of War: you don't micromanage individual soldiers, you just order squads around. Those squads have an array of weaponry according to their type (so a rifle squad will be 4 guys with pistols, rifles, grenades and smoke grenades, each with their own separate count of ammo, an RPG squad will have rifles, pistols, grenades and both frag and HEAT RPG rounds, etc.), but you don't order them to use each weapon; you just order them to attack (or they'll attack automatically) and they'll use each weapon as suitable (so they won't use HEAT rounds against soft targets, for example). You can order them to pop smoke, in which case accuracy will decrease on anything trying to fire through the cloud, but it comes in handy when having squads cross a street or storm a building (which is not the same as firing at the building, it is a separate command, and not all troops are equally good at doing it). Infantry units do not have a health bar; instead there are casualties, which will decrease the fighting capability of the unit.

Vehicles also do not have a health bar, instead they have damage modules, which can be repaired with spare parts (which come in limited amounts), and the vehicle's functionality may be impaired depending on the hit module. The crew can get injured and die (for example, if the driver dies the vehicle will be immobile until the passenger manages to get behind the wheel), or can panic and bail out, or the vehicle can catch fire (in which case they'll bail out), or the gun may be damaged and become unable to fire. Regarding the pathfinding for vehicles, anthough it's weird at times (especially when dealing with convoys) most of the time it's a result of the player double right-clicking on the destination, which does not make the vehicle go faster but it does change the facing, which is useful with armoured vehicles. Also, any vehicle can be commandeered in this game, although smaller vehicles cannot accommodate a full-sized squad, but it's useful for ferrying sniper squads or vehicle crews across the map. By the way, cars and trucks can be driven by anyone, but tracked vehicles require vehicle crews.

The environment is fully destructible as far as I've seen - at one point during the first mission you get a BMP-1 with a squad of sappers, who have an amount of mines and demolition charges, which you can use to set up fougasses or blow up buildings (which come in 3 strengths - strong, medium and weak, in relation of the damage they can take and the cover they provide), which can be useful when clearing a field of fire (if you have a small building in the way that's creating a dead zone, for example).

Also, the villain has a British accent. Maybe it's that SOHR guy from his t-shirt shop.

All in all, it's a pleasant surprise!
 
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