Spectating Feature Brainstormage
Bacillus
Join Date: 2006-11-02 Member: 58241Members
Join Date: 2006-11-02 Member: 58241Members
Recording the game is not a top priority at this point of development, but I'd still like to get some discussion going. I felt that the lack of easily usable methods of capturing certain parts of game made NS a lot more difficult to explain and learn. This thread is general brainstormage for both ingame spectating and the possible future HLTV-like spectating broadcast system. Some kind of replay system could also help the balance discussion quite a bit, as separating the flaws of overall balance and the flaws of individual player becomes much easier.
What kind of features would you like to see? What kind of features other games have implemented recently?
I'll post some of my top priorities:
<b>
The Commander:</b> Give the spectator the same information as the commander has. I want the birdeye perspective working fluently both on spectating and the recorded demos shouldn't have any graphical issues they have right now. The HLTV feature should also give all the information the players have. Right now you can't for example see the marine res count, which really takes away from the ability to understand the game.
<b>
Better playback features:</b> Right now demos are rather vulnerable to all kinds of bugs while trying to navigate in them. The player status changes mess up the timeline easily. For example a player leaving in the middle of a replay is still missing if you rewind back to a moment when he's still around. Skipping the part where a player joins the server also causes the same effect. It's also difficult to navigate the demo since it has only rather noninformative timestamp system. You can't for example skip to the moment when the round starts or finishes.
<b>Readable demos:</b> In RTS games many programs are able to interpret the demo file and provide interesting statistics of it. For example in Starcraft you can see every player action and frequency and see crucial information like building and upgrade timings. In NS2 such feature could for example display the marine opening strategies as an easily readable map drawing.
<b>Better introduction to the replay browsing</b>: Right now there's no proper introduction to the world of demos. You'll just have to know the commands to open a demo and the interface is difficult to modify as bindings and such aren't avaible in the game options menu properly. NS2 could at least have "View Replay" option in the game menu so that people become aware of the possibility.
Anything else you'd like to see in NS2?
What kind of features would you like to see? What kind of features other games have implemented recently?
I'll post some of my top priorities:
<b>
The Commander:</b> Give the spectator the same information as the commander has. I want the birdeye perspective working fluently both on spectating and the recorded demos shouldn't have any graphical issues they have right now. The HLTV feature should also give all the information the players have. Right now you can't for example see the marine res count, which really takes away from the ability to understand the game.
<b>
Better playback features:</b> Right now demos are rather vulnerable to all kinds of bugs while trying to navigate in them. The player status changes mess up the timeline easily. For example a player leaving in the middle of a replay is still missing if you rewind back to a moment when he's still around. Skipping the part where a player joins the server also causes the same effect. It's also difficult to navigate the demo since it has only rather noninformative timestamp system. You can't for example skip to the moment when the round starts or finishes.
<b>Readable demos:</b> In RTS games many programs are able to interpret the demo file and provide interesting statistics of it. For example in Starcraft you can see every player action and frequency and see crucial information like building and upgrade timings. In NS2 such feature could for example display the marine opening strategies as an easily readable map drawing.
<b>Better introduction to the replay browsing</b>: Right now there's no proper introduction to the world of demos. You'll just have to know the commands to open a demo and the interface is difficult to modify as bindings and such aren't avaible in the game options menu properly. NS2 could at least have "View Replay" option in the game menu so that people become aware of the possibility.
Anything else you'd like to see in NS2?
Comments
Yes please!
Good job Bacillius btw.
Basicly someone starts the demo as server and the other clanmembers connect.
Commands/controls apply to everyone watching so you can stop the demo for everyone to discuss positioning for example.
In addition being able to set markers, paint on the minimap, etc. would also help to be able to show the others your suggestions in a particular scene.
Yeah, I just though the I&S was looking even more quiet than usual and decided to start some discussion. It's nice to have some brainstorming now to get people remotely thinking the idea. It might contribute to the ideas once the mass spectating gets into to-do list later on.
Obviously HLTV style recording is also needed, with working minimaps & etc. and not just first person.
Readable demos would be very nice. An out of engine app that could be used to analyse them, showing a map and locations of players, buildings and other important features at certain times as well as other info like upgrades and so on.
A proper in-game spectator UI: Players for each team on screen at all times, what class they are, current health, resources, weapon etc. Similar to the recent TF2 spec UIs. Similarly, a little overlay like you see in Starcraft 2 battle reports with what each team is currently building or upgrading. A proper working minimap function that can be quickly switched on or off. Ability to quickly choose who to spec or free-view.