Easy ways to improve player-commander communicatio

humbaba

<div class="IPBDescription">Just hypothetical ideas.</div>I realize that there is already a mountain of ways to make communication between commander and player, but you cant have too much of a good thing. well , you can. However, I think that the commander should have the ability to place floating sprites, like waypoints, to indicate things like "Possible Ambush Area", "Suspected hive location", or "Emergency Rally Point". Anythign to convey what the commander is thinking more effectively to the players. I know its not a real significant thing (like H.E. six inch bullets). . . Cough. . but it doesnt sound too hard to implement if they've already got waypoints worked out. Would help players know what to do if the commander is being neglectful with direct order cause hes too busy. Any other ideas relating to improving commander-player interaction could also be posted here. <!--emo&;)--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'><!--endemo-->

Shuvit_Viper

i think this is unnecessary. Players will now what ambush spots are by playing a lot, and only for noobies or new maps that will be useful. hives are always on the same area, the goal is to find out wich of the three hive location it is set.

UnCritical

I like that idea, maybe you could ahve one generic sprite such as a '!' and then the commander can place this and type some text to attatch to it.
That way you can place anything at all and isnt restricted to having set icons.

Shuvit_Viper

that would be better... although players will now exactly how the map is, its more things as 'danger, defense line ends here' or something

Flayra

Definitely a cool idea.  It's quite a fine line between not having enough communication for the commander and having too many options for the commander (and complexity for the players).  

I was thinking about something along these lines, where every marine could have a warning level set that could either be green, yellow or red.  The commander could select some marines and set code yellow if he thought those players should be on alert.  If he gave a movement order and was quite sure there were no aliens there, he could set their status to "code green".  Players would always be able to see their current level so they could act appropriately (ie, check all corners, proceed very slowly, lay mines behind them, etc.).

These kind of ideas might get implemented once we see how the commander works in public play, but probably not before then.

pielemuis

Wow flayra that sounds cool!

Moleculor

Why not, instead of setting things like marines themselves, have a 'shift-click' option for green, and 'alt-click' for red, and just a normal click for yellow? For the move points.

Merkaba

What if the commander dragged a small order icon from a tray on the screen to the point he wants the marines to go?

Say have red green and yellow icons stacked on the left of the screen, and the commander uses the mouse to drag them onto the play area.

Moleculor

Definately like that. Tad hard to code, but I definately like that.

humbaba

The shift click, alt click, norma click sounds really good. Very intuitive. Could become a natural extension of the seasoned commanders thought process.

Shuvit_Viper

but... how could the commander know if there are aliens there or not? he can only see what the players have seen. And as a marine, entering a damaged ship with no communications or backup whatsoever, only your gun and a few mates, knowing there are Aliens everywhere, wouldn't you always be on your guard?

Merkaba

If the commander has a camera there, he will see if the coast is clear or not. If its uncharted territory, then the commander should set the priority to yellow. If he's asking the marines to pull back because some equipment has been destroyed, then it should be code red.

UnCritical

Plus the commander can hover over that area and could hear alien activity

Flayra

Actually, the commander can not hover over an area to hear it.  The commander hears sounds as the nearest marine hears sounds.

UnCritical

Ahh right, my bad, but in the mapping guidelines it says otherwise.

<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td><b>Quote</b> </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"><!--QuoteEBegin-->From the mapping guidelines, section 'Line of sight considerations'
The caveats with the line of sight computations: sounds and weapon effects are still played for the commander normally. This means the commander can still deduce information about an area that he can't see. If he's hovering over a ventilation shaft with a noisy alien inside, he'll be able to hear the alien if he's close enough. If the alien fires, the commander will see his weapon effect, but not the alien itself<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Moleculor

Oh! Well that's nice then! I always thought that somehow the commander would hear noises and see sprites/bullets that were originated by the aliens (such as any 'muzzle flash' the spike thrower might have.)

Scythe

I suggested an idea simalar to this a while ago on the old boards, I think the topic was "Commander Commands". Another thought, I sure hope there will be a communication alternative for voice comm. In CS, I can only recieve and not send voice. Also, when I recive voice, I lag horribly. I am on 56k BTW. Voice comm as an intergral part of team stratigy would be impossible for me and most 56kers.

--Scythe--
the_only_scythe@yahoo.co.uk

Trane

I know this a little late datewise, but anyway, could you afford to upgrade that 56k cause voice communication is going to be a vital part in strategy, unless you can type faster then the dickens i believe many situations are going to require voice.

Mart

I'm also stuck on a 56k without a microphone, I guess that the comms menu combined with a fast typing speed might be able to make up for it.

Or how about for us people stuck with typing there are pre-set codes, as in someone types '252 ahead' and those who had read the menu would understand that that means '2 class 4 types up ahead'... That sounds stupider now i've finished typing it...

Fam

There is no need to spend all that extra cash on broadband unless it is really needed, and IMHO voice communications are not a good enough reason on theiur own to warrent this. A good team of experienced players could always understand threats and messages from other players. I find it a lot easier and quicker to type 6 letters that my teammates understand than speak a whole sentence that may lag out some of the players.

TFC was a prime example, despite not having the most skilled players in the world, my clan did alright solely because we played very well as a team. Codes such as 2h f (2 heavy classes incoming via the front door) were a breeze both to understand and use. And this was all before Voice Comms, which I feel are too unreliable and not widely used enough to promote full team play. It all depends on both who you are playing with (Public servers use Voice Comms), (LPB teams mainly use Roger Wilco or BattleCom) and 56K teams use the ol' favourite of typing.

Getting back to the topic, i think that the coded command system is a great idea, but not one thats integral to the gameplay. Id love to see it, but id much rather see NS come out a bit quicker <!--emo&:)--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'><!--endemo-->

Tzarcon

This is definitly a great Idea. I think there should be some kind of list on the right side of the screen or something like that, and on the list is all the different kinds of waypoints the commander can set, the selected one would be highlighted, and whichever is highlighted would be placed when the commander gives a group of marines a waypoint. In the list would be a whole bunch of different ones, and they would appear on both the commander and marine mini-map. when he gives some marines a waypoint, an icon the bottom right corner of the marine hud would show what kind of waypoint the marines are moving towards. The different waypoints could include:

-Defend and Hold This Position, Code Yellow
-Defend and Hold This Position at All Costs, Code Red
-Get here ASAP, Code Yellow
-Get here ASAP, Code Red
-Alien Encounter, Code Yellow
-Alien Encounter, Code Red
-Alien Hive, Code Red
-Path/Area is Clear, Code Green

The default waypoint would be "Path/Area is clear", which is allways a Code Green. Each situation (Defend and Hold, Get here ASAP, Alien Encounter, Path/Area is clear, Alien Give) has different Codes. If you give a Code Green waypoint, it means the situation is ok, and any trouble is unlikely. Any situation givin a Code Yellow means you'll likely get some trouble, but it's important you follow the orders. Any Code red situation means You'll likely get lots of trouble, sustain some big injurys, but it is imperative that the orders are followed.

This could give a VERY large boost to Commander-Player communication, and it could help the marines better understand the commander's orders ALOT. Flayra, I think that if the marines are to communicate properly with the commander at all, it is imperative that this idea be in the first release. Please.

Biomechanoid

I like that method Tzarcon: if a commander were able to set the color of the waypoints, independant of type, then somoene could accidentally give an alien encounter-red a code green by mistake, and a marine not paying attention to the order, so much as the color, would waltz in there thinking everything is okay, and suddenly get pounced by 6 Bobs.

Kassinger

/me wonders what he should do.

Same post/topic discussed in two threads.  <!--emo&???--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt='???'><!--endemo-->

Gasfiend

see, i have a slight problem with this entire communications thread.  While i strongly am in favor of increased communications and the ideas that have been posted here so far, my only problem comes from the fear of general human nature.  If you look at all of the multiplayer team oriented games, you always have the option to communicate, and in theory, everyone will use it to act as a single coordinated group capable of dealing out far for damage than the lone individual.  However, if you havn't noticed, people generally tend to disregard communications technology.  Tribes is a wonderful example of this, as people as for something, and if they're lucky, someone might actually read it, lead alone act upon that request.  In my opinion, having mroe options for communictions is better than having too few.  I say that in this regard, if nothing else, you should include everything and the kitchen sink, and the bathroon sink, and outhose sink, and every sink you can find...hmmm.....i got it!  In tribes, people said shazbot whenever they wanted to cuss, in NS we can say "SINK!" whenever we get fragged!!!!  ermmm...yes, right.....
Gasfiend
Brave Adventurer of Mindless Insanity and Unconciousness Inducing Brainwaves!

Jacius

I think that a signpost method would be easiest -- have a big yellow triangle with an exclamation mark in the middle, a stop sign, so on. From what I've seen, the yellow exclamation mark means "Caution!" in a lot of places around the world, so you'd place a virtual Caution! sign where you suspect there might be alien activity. You get the idea.

I think there should only be 2 or 3 "signs" in addition to the regular waypoint, ones that are simple enough that you dont have to stop and think what the commander is trying to say "A purple rubber ducky? Uh oh, I think he means we should run around in circles while squad B moves in!" <!--emo&;)--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'><!--endemo-->

I personally don't use Voice Comm because I'm not especially fond of my voice, but communication is definitely a good thing. I've played many casual CS games where the difference between winning and losing was clearly communication -- I once won a game flat out because everyone on the team would send a radio command every few seconds "Area clear" "Enemy spotted" etc.

Ignorance is only bliss until you find Bob gnawing your ear off.

-Jacius

humbaba

Thats what I had in mind, yeah. And they shoudl be visible through walls. Maybe you could do somethign as simple as color the waypoint sprite a different color and have the commander be able to set the color to tell the urgency or danger of the message.