Evaluation of
Battlefield Vietnam
Presentation
Aaron Curley
(For Professor Bruce Maxim, CIS 487, Fall 07)
1
Basic Information - 1
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Game Title: Battlefield Vietnam
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Company & Author: Digital Illusions Creative
Entertainment (DICE)
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Players often refer to the game as BFV.
Released March 14, 2004.
Owned by Electronic Arts (EA).
Type of Game: First Person Shooter
Current Price: Approximately $10-$15 if purchased
online.
2
Basic Information - 2

Manufacturer Stated Hardware Requirements
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Processor: 933 Mhz CPU*
RAM: 256 MB*
Graphics Card: 3D accelerated GeForce3 64 MB or equivalent
DirectX9 compatible video card (cannot be integrated graphics).**
Hard disk space: 2 GB free hard drive space (additional space
required for Windows swap-file and DirectX)
DirectX Version: 9.0b
CD Rom: 16x CD-ROM drive
Sound Card: DirectX 9.0b Compatible Sound Card
Mouse: MS compatible mouse
Keyboard: Any standard keyboard
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* The manufacturer recommends a 1.2 Ghz CPU and 512 MB of RAM.
** For optimal performance, a Geforce 4 128 MB (Not MX) or
equivalent DirectX9 compatible video card is recommended along
with a 2.0 Ghz processor.
3
Basic Information - 3
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Actual Hardware Required
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Actual hardware required is not precisely known. Information
here is based off of a test machine’s ability to run the game.
The test machine had the following hardware specifications:
• Processor: Intel Pentium 4 processor 3.0 GHz (dual core)
• RAM: 512 MB DDR SDRAM
• Graphics Card:
ATI MOBILITY RADEON 9200
(64 MB
dedicated)
• Hard disk: 80 GB enhanced-IDE hard disk drive (4200 rpm)
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Required approximately 2.4 GB hard disk space
• More than stated by the manufacturer, but that figure included
the WW2 mod, patches, and extra tools.
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On lowest graphics detail, the game ran with respectable
performance.
• The presence of “jumps” in the graphics imply that the test
machine was just barely keeping up.
• Doubtful that it could run on a machine with 256 MB of ram.
4
Game Summary - Overview
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Successor for the game Battlefield 1942.
Based off of the Vietnam War.
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Greatly emphasizes the use of teamwork and strategy.
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Two teams: the U.S. and N.V.A.
Maps, weapons, and vehicles are modeled after real weapons
and vehicles at the time.
All maps have strategic “control points” that can be captured.
Captured “control points” are then used as bases for your
team.
Different maps have different strategies/rules.
Each team has a number of “tickets”. When a team’s
tickets reach zero, the other team wins.
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Tickets are lost when team members die.
If a certain number of “control points” are not maintained,
tickets slowly “bleed” (decrease).
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Game Summary –
Player Role / Storyline
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Player’s Role – A soldier fighting for either the United
States or the North Vietnamese in a battle during the
Vietnam War.
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Storyline – No storyline beyond the current “map”.
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User controls an anonymous soldier with no known history.
User switch sides easily and often.
Focus is only on winning the current map for your “team.”
• There is no overall “state” of the game - Winning a “map” does
not affect, for instance, the “state” of the war.
• Maps can be played in any order and with different settings.
• Maps can be repeated.
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Game Summary –
Installation - 1
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Initial Installation:
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Very easy. - Installer worked properly.
• Requires data from all 3 CDs. Installer prompts for the different
disks when they required.
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Can choose to install “extra” tools.
• MOD development toolkit.
• Map editor.
• Dedicated server manager.
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An anti-cheat tool called “PunkBuster” is required for most
servers online. Installation is easy and automatically
launched by the Battlefield Vietnam installer.
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Game Summary –
Installation - 2
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Patches:
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To play online, your game’s version must be 1.21.
Users who own the initial release version of the game (not the
“Battlefield Vietnam Redux” release) will have version 1.0 and will
need to patch.
It is recommended to also install the official WW2 MOD so it is
available to be played when desired.
Three patch files need to be downloaded. Two of the files are large:
• Vietnam version 1.2 patch.
• Vietnam incremental 1.2 to 1.21 patch.
• Battlefield Vietnam WW2 MOD.
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(295 MB)
(10 MB)
(298 MB)
The 1.2 update and WW2 MOD have a circular dependency problem.
WW2 MOD requires at least v1.1, but the 1.2 update says to install
the WW2 MOD first.
• To patch, you have to install the 1.2 update, WW2 MOD, re-install the 1.2
update, and then finally install the 1.21 incremental patch.
• Takes quite a while to do this because of the large patch file sizes.
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Game Summary –
User Interface - 1
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There are two “sections” of Battlefield Vietnam’s user interface:
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The “configuration” user interface.
• This is used to start a game, join a game, or change settings.
• The menu structure used can be confusing for new users; it is not initially
obvious which items are “sub choices” of the currently selected menu item.
• The game does have a good lobby design; it is very easy to locate a game
with the desired settings.
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The “in-game” user interface.
• This is used while actually playing the game.
• Uses the mouse to face in a certain direction. Clicking fires the current
weapon.
• Uses the left hand on the keyboard to walk/move.
• Other keyboard buttons perform actions such as crouching, opening a
parachute, or chatting.
• The default controls may be changed easily to suit any user’s preferences.
• Is this standard first person shooter set up?
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Game Summary –
User Interface - 2
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It’s not intuitive
that the second
group of choices
are sub-items of
the “options”
choice.
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Here, these
choices are subitems of the
“controls” item.
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It’s easy to
forget to press
the “save”
button after
changing the
controls. A
“would you like
to save changes”
message would
be nice…
The so-called “configuration” user interface:
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Game Summary –
User Interface - 3
The user interface in the game:
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Use the mouse
to aim and
fire.
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The keyboard
makes you
walk.
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Game Summary –
Game Play
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Battlefield Vietnam’s game play focuses on providing a
realistic battle experience to the user:
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“Real” physics and effects.
“Real” weapons and vehicles from the era.
Some compromises were made during design to make the
game more interesting:
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Vehicles are not “exactly” the same as “real life” versions to
avoid having a vehicle that has too much of an advantage.
• Ex: Helicopter rockets require a delay between firing.
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Weapon packs
• Each player can choose from a variety of weapon packs.
• Each pack has advantages and disadvantages.
• Players can steal weapons left by a dead soldier, but they have to
swap the entire weapon pack, not individual weapons.
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Players respawn at “control points” that are currently owned.
Many different strategies can be used.
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Game Summary –
Scoring
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The “ticket” system is used to determine the team that
wins.
Each player is scored individually based on his own
actions:
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Number
Number
Number
Number
of
of
of
of
kills.
“control point” captures.
deaths.
team kills.
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Game Summary –
Artwork
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Artwork is pretty good; graphical effects are decent.
Don’t expect things to be up to today’s standards.
Remember, we’re talking about a 64 MB graphics card
here.
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Game Summary –
Sound & Music
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Game has 3D sound effects:
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Nice to hear from which direction shots are coming from.
Music is excellent:
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Songs are classics from the Vietnam era.
Music plays on menu and while game is loading.
Some vehicles have radios in them to play music in the game.
What’s really cool is hearing the Doppler effect as a helicopter
flies by with music playing loudly.
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Game Summary –
Special Features
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A number of support tools are included with Battlefield
Vietnam.
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Dedicated server program
• Included on CD.
• Free to download; no purchase necessary.
• Can get Linux version from the Internet.
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Map editor
• New maps can add a lot to the game.
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MOD development toolkit
• For instance, DICE created a WW2 MOD for Battlefield Vietnam,
allowing containing three of the original 1942 maps.
• Other MODs made by other people are available.
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“PunkBuster”
• Prevents cheating.
• Can be annoying when it doesn’t work properly.
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Game Summary –
Manual
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No electronic manual could be located.
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Some parts of the official strategy guide located online.
It is impossible to be sure if a printed manual came with
the game. The game was purchased a while ago and the
manual could have been lost.
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However, it’s likely that no manual was included.
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Game Summary –
Bugs - 1
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A crash to the desktop.
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Occurs when anything goes wrong.
• Annoying because it is difficult to say what went wrong.
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Activating the 3D map feature in certain non-official maps causes the
game to crash immediately in this way.
Maps that experience the 3D map crash are large and complex maps
that are made by a third party.
• Likely that the bug is triggered by large resource requirements of the map.
• Could be an issue with the map, and not the game.
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The “stupid reload bug.”
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If the player is injured while reloading a weapon, the reload
procedure starts over abruptly.
This wasn’t in the original game. This bug was introduced by a
patch.
Collision detection issues.
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Mid-air collisions are often not registered.
Helicopters can be flown through small doorways into the building on
occasion.
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Game Summary –
Bugs - 2
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Network de-sync issues.
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Might not be considered
a “bug.”
User clicks “fire”, game
lags, no rocket is
displayed, but target
explodes.
The server registers a
“hit” when the client
shows a clean miss.
• For instance,
sometimes an obvious
miss such as this rocket
going past an enemy
helicopter still registers
a “hit” on the server
due to slight de-sync of
server and client.
Other times, hits are
not counted.
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Game Review –
What Makes It Fun? - 1
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The presence of a large number of different weapons
and vehicles. These allow invention of new strategies
and the use of weapons in new ways:
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Using C4 (plastic explosives) to time the destruction of a base’s
tower.
Flying up extremely high, bailing out, and dropping dynamite on
enemy players from above.
Theft of an enemy troop transport and use of it as an
ammunition supply for your troops and bases.
• (Will provide infinite ammo for a base’s defensive turret.)
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Flying a weaponless transport helicopter at an enemy tank and
bailing out, using the helicopter as a missile.
Stealing the enemy “weapon pack” that contains the item that
can carry the enemy’s mobile spawn point and stealing the
enemy spawn point. This eliminates the use of the spawn point
by the enemy.
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Game Review –
What Makes It Fun? - 2
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The ability to use any unoccupied vehicle nearby.
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Allows the “theft” of enemy vehicles from enemy bases.
Allows “vehicle hopping” where players jump into a vehicle, use
it, and then jump to another vehicle once the current one is
damaged.
The fact that each “weapon pack” and vehicle type has
advantages and disadvantages.
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Users must weigh the pros and cons.
Allows combination of weapons and vehicles.
• Choose the “weapon pack” with the wrench and fly a helicopter. After
taking damage, land in an obscure location, use the wrench, and take
off in your now-repaired Huey.
• Setting up a mortar next to an ammo box to get infinite shots.
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The force of explosions acting upon nearby objects.
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Being thrown in the air by an exploding jeep and parachuting
down.
When a jeep with enemy soldiers around it explodes, the
soldiers fly into the air in every direction.
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Game Review –
What Makes It Fun? - 3
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Game Review –
What Makes It Fun? - 3
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Helicopters!
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Teamwork element of the game.
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One of the most fun and challenging vehicles.
Tricky for even pros to fly.
Powerful rockets but weaker armor.
Various types.
Filling a transport helicopter and quickly taking a control point as
“control points” are taken faster with more allied units in range.
One person shooting with a tank while the other hides behind it
and continuously makes repairs.
Person at the front line “spots” for the guy at the mortar.
Many vehicles have “gunner” positions where a second or third
person can shoot while the other drives.
Some...amusing…unrealistic behaviors in the game.
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Allied units riding on the helicopter rotors, firing heat-seeking
weapons at enemy helicopters.
Landing helicopters upside down on repair pads.
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Game Review –
What Makes It Not Fun? - 1
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Unbalanced Maps
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The fact that a stolen enemy main base does not
usually respawn vehicles.
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For instance, once the enemy’s main base has been captured
and it’s helicopters destroyed, they do not respawn for your use.
This is likely caused by the settings embedded in the built-in
maps, because custom made maps do not have this issue.
The presence of a dominant strategy in some maps.
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Many maps give an unfair advantage to one team or another.
On these maps, if teams are evenly matched with skill, one team
will nearly always win.
A level where the NVA team always destroys all US towers right
away, causing there to be no competition.
Some wide-open-field levels with no vehicles or cover.
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Annoying because there is not much strategy other than “shoot
like heck and die”.
Simple Fix: Just don’t play these, and play the others instead.
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Game Review –
What Makes It Not Fun? - 2
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Allied “bots” (computer players)
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The bots on your team seem to be oblivious to you.
They often hamper your efforts:
• Stealing your parked vehicles
• Driving you into the enemy line when you want to use the turret at a
safe distance.
• Taking off with all the helicopters and flying aimlessly around, leaving
you left with no vehicles.
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Killing them when they annoy you causes you to be punished for
team killing.
It’s best to play without bots on your own team.
Invincible fences and “sandbag” walls
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Tanks and other large vehicles cannot drive over extremely short
fences and tiny rows of sandbags along the ground.
For a game released in 2004, it’s understandable that all
buildings and terrain elements cannot be destroyed; however,
tanks should be able to drive over minor obstacles instead of
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getting “stuck.”
Game Review – Comparison
to Similar Games - 1
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Compared to other games of the time, Battlefield
Vietnam was good competition to other games.
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It placed less emphasis on perfect graphics, sound effects, and
perfect physics.
It placed more emphasis on the ability to have many strategies
(in other words, making the game fun).
• Different vehicles – In fact, Battlefield 1942 was one of the first
games to allow a player to use empty vehicles in the game.
• Many weapons
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It placed very little emphasis on a storyline.
• When levels are loading, some historical facts are displayed while the
user is waiting.
• Nothing else in the game that remotely resembles a “storyline.”
• The game is primarily a multiplayer game.
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Game Review – Comparison
to Similar Games - 2
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Compared to today’s games, Battlefield Vietnam is
outdated in some areas, but other areas are still good.
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Graphics ability – When running at the highest graphics detail,
Battlefield Vietnam’s graphics are impressive, but do not rival
today’s newest game graphics.
Strategy – The ability to use so many different strategies in
Battlefield Vietnam still is a great attribute that entices people to
continue playing it, even when new games are available.
• Some people who played newer Battlefield games and went back to
playing Vietnam and 1942 because they did not like how certain fun
strategies in Vietnam and 1942 were prevented in the newer games.
• Battlefield Vietnam requires a mix of the intellect (to plan a strategy)
with technical skills (to carry out the strategy).
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Game Review – Comparison
to Similar Games - 3
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Overall, Battlefield Vietnam is better than a number of
other games of its time and even some modern games
today, not because of the game’s graphics, physics, or
sound effects; but rather because of the game’s
excellent design choices.
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Of course, this is a matter of what the game player prefers to
see in a game.
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Game Review –
Appropriate Audience
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Although not extremely violent, Battlefield Vietnam is
about killing the enemy players, and therefore is
probably appropriate for teenagers and adults who
will understand that the game is “just a game.”
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Furthermore, it should be understood that many other online
players use obscene language in their chat messages, and
therefore if the game is to be played online, swearing and
cursing will likely be encountered.
Players of Battlefield Vietnam should be willing to lose
if they are to play online.
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New players will die repeatedly until they get up to par with
other real players.
• It will take time.
• New players might practice in the single player mode for a while first.
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Even pros will lose often.
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Game Review –
Design Mistakes
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Battlefield Vietnam had some initial design mistakes
and imbalances that were changed by the patches.
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Certain “weapon pack” unbalances were corrected, namely, the
the American pack that had both an M60 and LAW weapon in it.
New vehicles added.
Damage ratios adjusted.
Some other design issues still exist that can be
annoying.
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Often, when you shoot someone directly in front of you in the
head, that person does not die, but rather only takes some
damage and then has a chance to kill you.
• Might be best to allow 1-hit-KO shots if the shooter is within a certain
distance and aims at the player’s head or heart.
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The supply of vehicle “respawns” is infinite.
• Destroyed parked vehicles quickly reappear with no penalty to the
team.
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Summary – Overall
Strengths and Weaknesses
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Strengths:
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The numerous types vehicles and weapons.
The “balanced” nature of the game.
• There is not a single dominant weapon or vehicle.
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The ability for players to “invent” new strategies and play the
game in numerous different ways.
The ability to install custom maps and MODs.
Weaknesses:
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Graphics not up to par with today’s standards.
Certain map imbalances.
• Weapons / vehicles are balanced well, but certain maps could use
some work.
• Maybe the designers wanted the maps to be historically accurate.
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The physics are not quite right in some cases.
Some annoying bugs:
• “The reload bug”.
• Collision detection.
• Network de-sync issues?
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Summary –
Is It Worth Purchasing?
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Is it worth purchasing? Yes!
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Definitely one to get a copy of, even if you have other games in
the Battlefield series.
Only $10 – $15, and you might even get it cheaper.
Buy the “Redux” release to avoid the annoying patch issue, if
possible.
• If not, make sure you have a fast Internet connection to download
the patches.
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Summary –
How Could it be Improved?
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Fix any bugs.
Better graphics/physics.
Improve computer player AI.
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The bots are incredibly stupid.
Balance the maps better.
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You can also do this yourself by downloading or making new
maps.
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