Fun/weird idea for commanders

internetexplorer

<div class="IPBDescription">Voting on stuff!</div>I just noticed in the keybinds menu that the eject commander button is called "vote menu"

Are there plans to add more voting options?

It might be a good way to help the commander-player interaction without forcing tons of voice/chat communication.

For instance, in the Half-Life mod <a href="http://www.moddb.com/mods/science-and-industry" target="_blank">Science & Industry</a> (from the same era as NS1, a very good mod that didn't get the same following as this) each member of each team votes on the next tech to be researched. For the whole duration of the game, the players can vote on what direction the team's resources should go. So, when I saw the menu name 'vote menu' it got me thinking...

<!--sizeo:5--><span style="font-size:18pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->Here's how we can apply this to NS2 for a nice end result:<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
<ul><li>Each player has a vote menu</li><li>The vote menu is tiered, according to what the commander could spend Tres on - armory items, observatory tech, "build x at my location!", crag upgrades and so on</li><li>The vote menu does not force commanders to make any choices. Rather, it draws a little<a href="http://mytestbook.com/images/Grade3/Math/149_1434_tally-drink.gif" target="_blank"> tally </a>marker on the commander UI logos for different things. If 3 people want phase tech, there will be a little 'III' on the phase tech button. You could use regular numerals ('3') as well, but there are tradeoffs and all that..I'm no expert.</li><li>Alternatively, there could be a tooltip to show the vote count on each UI item when the commander scrolls over them. If the commander scrolls over 'proto lab' and sees that lots of people want it, it might be something to consider.</li></ul>

<!--sizeo:5--><span style="font-size:18pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->What does this do for the game?<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
<ul><li>Players can communicate their ideas to their commander at any time, with a really quick sequence of keystrokes. Just like I know z-4 is "need orders" in NS2, and z-1 is "Medic!" in TF2, I would eventually memorize that z1-2-3 is "research mines on the armory!"</li><li>Gives new players a way to know what options the commander has without being in the chair, giving another way to learn the game while playing it (who reads manuals anymore? boooring!)</li><li>It's a mechanic that skilled players can use to free up communication lines, and new players can use to figure out 'how NS works' as a game more quickly. </li><li>Allows experienced players to help new commanders without stopping to type for a long time, or speak over long sections of their gameplay (hampering their ability to play)</li><li>It does all this without adding too much new stuff on-screen, no new sounds etc</li><li>Not a significant potential for griefing (since commanders can always just ignore the vote counts, as if they aren't there, like in builds 1 through 201)</li></ul>


So what do you think?

JuCCi

I feel leave the commanding to him, and let the players play. It would be good for none mic players, but if you have a mic you should use it imo. But i would like to see more voting as in, kick someone , changemap , next map etc.

internetexplorer

Yeah it could be used for that stuff too. One thing that always bugs me is how you need the players to make mods in order to vote for maps and stuff (in games like TF2, CS etc). I always giggle when somebody in ns2 types !stuck or timeleft, and sees nothing happen..

crypt

The only thing I see this working is for the decision if the commander is going for HA or JP/GL or Flamethrower first. The rest is pretty straight forward imo and thus shouldnt really be debated.

Imbalanxd

I duunoooo. I can see something like this being extremely useful for beginner or novice comms. Quite often I see new comms asking people what upgrades they want, and it becomes quite a big debacle over voice chat, so this would definitely help in those situations. What would unfortunately be the case is that this would only work if the players the novice commander was commanding were in turn quite good. What would tend to happen in a team of new players is everyone would instantly vote for weapons 1 and shotguns, then weapons 2 and grenade launchers, then flamethrowers ect ect. I think its quite difficult for new players to understand the bigger picture. I certainly can't imagine one voting for phase tech.

On the other side of the coin, highly skilled and experienced comms typically have a game strategy that none of the players know. The nice thing about NS is that the other players don't need to know, they need only follow the commanders orders and the strategy will be fulfilled as best as possible. If the comm is planning on rapid territory expansion and the whole team votes for an upgraded armoury, I think they will be sorely disappointed.

With aliens it can also be a case of certain player's votes unfortunately counting more. If you have 4 lerk players flying around doing hit and run who want regen, but 2 fade players doing major defending and attacking who want carapace, carapace would tend to be the better choice for the team, though it would not appear to be so.

I think the problem (not really a problem, probably one of the best aspects) with NS is that the game is so complex, no part of it can simply be put down to a vote. Good communication is vital in almost every major decision that needs to be made.

assbda

I generally just play with what the commander does and change my style accordingly if i can. Its easier that way cause in the end people just want to play the game, anyone who wants to throw a tantrum over his commander not doing what he wanted him to do can just get f**ked.

Like this one game i had the commander as marine got armor 2 before any weapon level upgrades. As much as i disagreed with the style i knew i was safe to just charge into skulks rather than try keep my distance.
I believe to have better defense you need better offense tho, so i always go wep upgrades over armor. But then players may not agree with my logic either :/

Leave the thinking to the commander i reckon and just focus on your own game, if the commander wants his teams opinion then he can just ask.

Master Blaster

First of all to the Original Poster:

I LOVE Science & Industry mod! Nice to see someone who remembers that one.

However, I don't think it will work well in NS.