makaera

With all due respect to the developers, who in my opinion have created a great game, I fully agree that at some point the users (us) need to take more responsibility for improving and expanding the game in the areas of 1) Scenarios 2) Campaigns 3) Vehicles Based on the tools that have been provided, I almost think that the developers will be disappointed if the players do not take an active role in continuing the game design! I think that it would be very beneficial if we could start some threads to discuss what makes a scenario, campaign, vehicle, etc. "good." In other words, what does it take to make a scenario that is not just a challenge, but also fun to play? What is most important in a campaign: a compelling story, an engaging sequence of missions, or something else entirely? I also think that it would be really handy if we could create a clearinghouse for files (using FTP or some other file-sharing technique). This would allow designers to more easily swap files. It would also allow for some amount of specialization, e.g. certain people could specialize in terrain and others in textures. These are just some ideas that I have off the top of my head. I am definitely interested in working on creating game expansions. If anyone wants to contact me directly, I can be e-mailed at jrdankert _at_ hotmail (finish e-mail address in the usual fashion). Please put "dropteam" in the subject line to ensure that I read and respond quickly.

I think what would really help teamwork would be some sort of a lobby or chat area where tactics could be discussed before entering the game. Currently all you have is a two minute deployment period, after which everything must be done "on the fly." It would be much easier for ad hoc teams to form if they could do it outside the game interface. This way leaders could be chosen, tactics discussed, and subgroups formed to carry out particular tasks. (Sorry for digging up an old thread, but I've been in Mexico for the least week, so I haven't been keeping up.)

I don't think that the driver was dead. However, it wasn't until afterward that I thought about it. The really peculiar part was that I stayed at a constant speed for about 2 minutes, until I abandoned the vehicle. If the driver was dead shouldn't the vehicle lose acceleration and stop?

Last night I was driving a Shrike when an interesting thing happened. First, the left front wheel was shot out. From my experience I knew that I would still have some limited maneuverability, so I attempted to move toward cover. However, as I started to turn I lost control of the vehicle. That is, no commands worked, not the throttle (in either direction), brakes, or steering controls. As far as I could tell the only damage was to the wheel, yet here I was going round in circles at constant velocity. This was the part I thought was really peculiar, I never lost speed. I forget if I finally extracted or just committed suicide, either way I did not have any motion control. So if anybody saw a Shrike driving in circles in the Ice Base yesterday, it was me. And no, I was not doing it on purpose, I was out of control.

I second the idea for showing minefield coverage on the minimap. Particularly as a way of warning teammates where the mines are. Otherwise commanders have to resort to vauge sorts of "don't go over there" messages.

I agree about the teamplay aspect and the idea of team centric servers. I, for one, am just as happy when my team wins as when I get a lot of points. Just yesterday I was defending on a server that was mostly bots. I took a Shrike and went out hunting for the attackers. I "killed" a lot in the sense that I got a hit that destroyed the turret and then the bot committed suicide. I was only credited for a few kills, but I was able to keep the enemy back long enough that they never got close to the objective. Was I upset? No. I felt that I had made a valuable contribution to the team victory. However, it would be a lot more fulfilling if I was credited with killing those bots that committed suicide. Perhaps the points scheme should be modified in the following way: Award points for damage, not just for kill. This way the points associated with killing a vehicle could be split between team members and points would be awarded for vehicle that were abandoned. I think that this would be a much fairer way to award points. Especially in situations where multiple team members are attacking the same enemy and vehicles are abandoned via suicide before the final kill.

kapps, this was mentioned in another thread. You hit "esc" and then you can use the menu to promote yourself. See <a href ="http://www.battlefront.com/discuss/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=54;t=000050#000021">here.</a>

You need to run the updater by doing the following: "On Mac OS X, double click on the Update icon in /Applications." See <a href = "http://www.battlefront.com/discuss/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=54;t=000079">this</a> post.

Thanks. I probably should do a more in-depth read on the manual. It was only last night that I finally got a chance to start playing, so I just skimmed through the manual and jumped in. Maybe if I had actually read it I would know these things.

I agree that the Hurricane is very powerful, but from a philosophical standpoint I don't think it should be too much weaker. Just in shorter supply. It is reasonable to expect there to be really powerful units, however, they should be limited to 2 or 3 per team since they are probably more difficult to construct than the other types of units. Maybe team commanders could be given a point budget with which to select a mix of vehicles. Only these vehicles would be available for drop. By making the Hurricane expensive enough they would become precious (i.e. you wouldn't dare lose one, since it couldn't be replaced). If the drivers had to be more cautious it might add some balance. Personally, I am a Shrike driver. I will trade speed for armor any day. BTW, I only flip when I do stupid things, the driving interface has not really caused me any trouble. The ATGM is probably a little too powerful, however I would add more countermeasures rather than limiting the number. (This type of vehicle seems easier to fab than the Hurricane.) In fact, I would like to see the ability to program more attack patterns for the ATGM, i.e. different trajectories to reach the target. I would also like to see the ability to program the mouse wheel. I would like to use it to zoom, scroll up to zoom in and scroll down to zoom out. I do this in other games, so this is what feels natural to me. It doesn't have to be a continuous zoom, just a switch between zoom levels. Finally, what is the current re-loading mechanism. Lots of times I will fire 10 ATGM's and would really like a dropship to come be and re-supply. Is this possible? As it is I usually extract and re-deploy, is this the best way?