Platoon (Windows)

Platoon
Developer: Digital Reality Publishers: Monte Cristo (EU/US), Strategy First (US), Noviy Disk (RU), Sunsoft (JP) Platform: Windows Released in JP: October 31, 2003 Released in US: November 5, 2002 Released in RU: January 23, 2003 This game has unused areas. This game has unused playable characters. This game has unused code. This game has unused graphics. This game has unused sounds. This game has debugging material. This game has a prototype article

This article is a work in progress. ...Well, all the articles here are, in a way. But this one moreso, and the article may contain incomplete information and editor's notes.

This page sucks. If you could make it suck less, that would be awesome. Specifically: Seriously, is 77Pacer gonna be the ONLY person working on this article? Come on people, help the guy out!

Platoon has you play as Sargent Martin Lionsdale (later Lieutenant Lionsdale), who has to lead his troops through the jungles of Vietnam to take out the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong, or "Charlie" as the US soldiers would address them.

To do: PLEASE join in the search through this game for unused content, 77Pacer certainly isn't the only person in the world who owns this game, so if there's anyone else on TCRF who has this game, PLEASE pitch in and help! Thank you very much!

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Prototype Info

Unused Audio Sounds that go unused due to a programming error or oversights in the game level timing.

Unused Graphics

Unused Squad Icons

The US Transport truck was originally going to be available as a playable unit, as there's unused unit icons for it. In the final game, the truck only appears as a vehicle that soldiers can mount in.

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  Truck.tga

In addition to this, US soldiers were originally going to utilize the VC's AK47, MAT-49 SMG, and RPG. Icons that correspond to the troops wielding these weapons exist in the files. Though not confirmed as of yet, it could be speculated that judging by the graphics of the sqad icon for these US units being the only remnants of them. If the Editor Mode could be fully figured out, one might be able to "restore" these US units.

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  AK47.tga

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  SMG.tga

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  RPG.tga

There are also Hero of the M60 Machine gun and Grenadier units which are never normally seen in-game, unlike their grunt counterparts. Speaking of grunts, there's icons for non-heroic versions of the Commando and the Sniper.

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  Herogeppuska.tga (M60 Machinegun)

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  Herogrenadier.tga

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  Kommando.tga

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  Sniper.tga

Unused Squad Commands

Here are some command icons that were cut from the game. Each command icon consists of 3 layers for different selection indication. Bright green is selected, dark green is selected, and grey is untouched. Most of these commands were cut because they seemed to have the exact same functions as the commands that are seen in the final game.

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  Aknale.tga (Placing down VC Mine, probably made redundant by the "Place Claymore" command.)

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  Aknale2.tga

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  Aknale3.tga

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  Artill.tga (Calling in Artillery, was originally used by Lionsdale earlier in development, was replaced by the Air Strike.)

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  Artill2.tga

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  Artill3.tga

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  Assault.tga (Assault, has the exact same function as the Fire command, hence it's redundancy.)

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  Assault2.tga

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  Assault3.tga

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  Assaultank.tga (Assault an enemy tank, not necessary for the game to utilize this since armored vehicles count as units)

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  Assaultank2.tga

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  Assaultank3.tga

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  Guard.tga (Guard, could've been used in Level 4 to defend the bridge against the VCs, but again, the Fire command does all the dirty work, so it's not needed!)

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  Guard2.tga

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  Guard3.tga

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  Hide.tga (Hide, could be useful if you're trying to stay concealed from an enemy patrol.)

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  Hide2.tga

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  Hide3.tga

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  Reqsmoke.tga (Request smoke, probably to call for a helicopter to drop a Care Package, something that would actually be done in the Multiplayer mode 8 years later in Call of Duty: Black Ops.)

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  Reqsmoke2.tga

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  Reqsmoke3.tga

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  Rsmoke.tga (Alternate Request Smoke command icon.)

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  Rsmoke2.tga

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  Rsmoke3.tga

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  Throwsatchel.tga (Throw Satchel, not used in game because it does what the Throw Grenade command does already.)

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  Throwsatchel2.tga

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  Throwsatchel3.tga

Debugging

In the .WORLD file for each level, the Debug mode is set to 0 by default, but can be activated by changing this to 1. Activating the debug mode shows information about things like the cursor coordinates, the frame rate, and the current music file playing in the background. In addition to this, there are other options that can be turned on or off in these .WORLD files including the following:

Option Name (Default Setting)	Change Setting to	Effect
GodMode (0)	1	All your units become immortal.
EmperorMode (0)	1	Allows for the player to take control of every single unit in the level, even enemies and civilians.
NoDamage (0)	1	Nobody EVER receives damage!
StaminaDisabled (0)	1	Stamina decreases, allowing for infinite running, crawling, etc.
FOWEnabled (1)	0	Allows for the entire level detail to be drawn at once.
ShowWayPoints (0)	1	Enable showing of all waypoints for units.
DrawBorder (0)	1	Enables the level border's visibility.

Editor Mode

Editor Mode Tutorials The contents of all 4 Word documents that explain the game's Editor Mode.

There's remnants of a so-called "Editor Mode" hidden within the game's coding. While there's a tutorial that can be downloaded from an archived version of Monte Cristo's website (dated November 20, 2002). This tutorial comes in the form of 4 Word documents that explain how a level can be created/edited. The prototype article for this game has all the details about the Editor Mode, as well as instructions for reenabling it.

How to Reenable the Editor Mode

To do: While the final version seems to be more stable than the Demo version, it still has a tendency to crash under certain circumstances, most notably when attempting to use the normal "File-Open" file method to open a Level file. Find out why this happens despite the Editor in the Final game being more stable than its Demo counterpart. Are there any files missing or corrupted? Is there a way this instability problem can be fixed? Are there any files in the Demo version that can help fix problems that are present in the Final version?

To begin with, in the file "Inf\program.inf" of the demo version of Platoon, there's more details compared to what's available than the "Inf\program.inf" that's found in the final version of the game: "Editor Mode", "Debug Mode", "FmvOn", and "Level". By default, all these are set to "0", except for "Level", which has " "" " instead of "0".

Demo

Final

[Default] { DrawModelBoxes = 0 DrawModelSpheres = 0 DrawObjectBoxes = 0 DrawObjectSpheres = 0 EditorMode = 0 DebugMode = 0 FmvOn = 0 Level = "" Language = English PreloadParticles = 1 } [Screen] { FullScreen = 1 SkipStartScreen = 0 XResolution = 800 YResolution = 600 } [Sound] { MusicVolume = 0 } [Messages] { Subtitles=1 } [Log] { ProgLogDebug = 0 ProgLogRelease = 0 MultiLogDebug = 0 MultiLogRelease = 0 SystemLogDebug = 0 SystemLogRelease= 0 ErrorLogDebug = 0 ErrorLogRelease = 0 InfoLogDebug = 0 InfoLogRelease = 0 WantToDebugInReleaseMode = 0 }

#include "GlobalIncludes.inf" [Default] { DrawModelBoxes = 0 DrawModelSpheres = 0 DrawObjectBoxes = 0 DrawObjectSpheres = 0 Language = English PreloadParticles = 1 } [Screen] { FullScreen = 1 SkipStartScreen = 0 } [Sound] { MusicVolume = 100 } [Messages] { Subtitles=1 } [Log] { ProgLogDebug = 0 ProgLogRelease = 0 MultiLogDebug = 0 MultiLogRelease = 0 SystemLogDebug = 0 SystemLogRelease= 0 ErrorLogDebug = 0 ErrorLogRelease = 0 InfoLogDebug = 0 InfoLogRelease = 0 WantToDebugInReleaseMode = 0 }

To reenable the Editor Mode, all that needs to be done is to copy the "Editor Mode" part of the "program.inf" file, then going into the "program.inf" file of the final version of the game and pasting the copied text underneath "DrawObjectSpheres" and "Language". Unfortunately, the Editor seems to be very unstable, and is prone to crashing, especially in the demo, as attempting to start the game with the Editor Mode reenabled will just simply crash the game, probably due to the lack of some required files. Luckily, all the functions of the Editor Mode are still in the final, and the removed options can be restored in the "Inf\program.inf" of the final game to reenable it. While the final game can be opened with the Editor Mode reenabled, attempting to use the File-Open method of accessing a game level will crash the game, indicating that it's still not a stable editor despite not being as unstable as the Editor in the demo. However, there is a way to get around this problem:
1. Go to the top menu, click the "Game" button, and select "Switch to Game".
2. Once in Game Mode, hit the Escape key and click "Quit to Main Menu".
3. Once at the Main Menu, click "Scenario", and select the level that you wish to edit.
4. Once the level has finished loading, hit the Multiply ("*") key on the Numpad to switch back to Editor Mode.
NOTE: The "Editor Mode" value in the "Inf\program.inf" file must be set to "1" in order to be able to access it; leaving it at "0" will disable its function.

Unused Characters

To do: Find a way to edit the original level files (now that we know how to restore the Editor Mode's functionality in the final version of the game) and replace any of the used characters with the unused ones. One other thing to do is to try to find out how to add/remove units (both US and VC) in the Editor Mode.

Evers

There's remnants of a Hero M60 Machinegunner in the files known by the name as Stephen Evers, who happens to be voiced by the same voice actor as the grunt Grenadier that only appears in the third mission "Shiny Bayonet". Unfortunately, Evers is nowhere to be found in the final game.

Elias

A hero unit who has no voice lines at all, suggesting that he was cut from the game before Evers was. His name suggests that he would've been Sergeant Elias, a character in the 1986 movie.

Unused Vehicles

BTR 152

While the BTR-152 does appear in the campaign as a static object, there are files suggesting that it was originally planned to appear in a level as a working enemy vehicle.

PT-76

The PT-76 is another tank that the VCs would've deployed against the US soldiers but is never seen anywhere in the game. It seems that the PT-76 was cut earlier in development than the BTR 152, as it can't be loaded into he game due to the lack of a model. The only VC tank that is ever encountered in the final game is the T-54. Perhaps the PT-76 was scrapped so the VC T-54 vs. the US M48 was an even tank duel?

CH47

While there are two CH-47 Chinook helicopters that appears in the 11th Level "A Religious Task", the file used for this CH-47 in the directory "Inf\Prototypes" is actually "us_UH1_Level12_sq.inf". It's essentially a UH1-Huey Helicopter that utilizes the model of the CH-47("Gfx\Objects\Vehicles\USA\CH47.bmod")! Despite this, the CH-47 has an .inf file of its own in the "Inf\Prototypes" directory ("us_CH47_sq.inf"). For this reason, the used CH-47 Chinooks and the UH1 Huey share the same engine sound file, while the unused CH-47 Chinook has an engine sound file of its own.

Scrapped Levels

While the single-player campaign has 12 levels, the game's internal numbering labels the last three ("Armored Assault", "A Religious Task", and "Airborne Assault") as being the 11th, 12th, and 15th levels.

The message text for the cut levels is present in text/english/messages.txt, and available below:

Transcript for Level 10

Transcript for Level 13

Transcript for Level 14