Jump to content

Target Briefly Command


Recommended Posts

It would be good if the duration of the target briefly command could be increased in increments of 15 seconds up to 45 seconds, somewhat similar to the pause command.

(Although for now a workaround would be to give the tank a small move order after 15 seconds with another target briefly command to start after the move is finished).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Depends on exactly how it's implemented, but right now I see it being very useful for at least two things:

1) Recon by fire. It was a pretty common practice when searching for contact to put a few bullets into an house/treeline/clump of bushes, and see if anyone fired back. You can do this now, but it's kind of a pain as it requires the use of multiple waypoints and pause orders. The current way of doing things is also particularly inconvenient for units like MMG/HMGs, which you usually don't want to move once you've got them set up in a good firing position. A target briefly order will cut down on the micromanagement, making all this much easier.

2) Make it easier to use AFV main gun rounds efficiently. Often, with AFV main guns, you only want to put 1-2 HE rounds onto an enemy infantry team -- even if 1-2 rounds don't kill the team, they're usually enough to make it go "heads down", after which your own infantry can usually finish them off just fine. This is especially useful for AFVS that have a smaller ammo supply, like Stugs. This command will make it much easier to roll up an AFV, and fire just 1-2 shots into a known or suspected enemy location. Again, something that you *can* do currently with pause orders and multiple waypoints, but it's kind of a pain.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The most useful application would be the ability to spread the burst over several action squares in a single turn. Like sweeping a suspected enemy line behind a hedgerow.

It already spreads it over 3 (without counting under- and over-shoots). Spreading the suppressive effect any thinner would dilute it to unnoticeability at ranges longer than rock-throwing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What would be really great would be the ability to Target Briefly there for the 15 seconds, then pause for 15 seconds, then Target Briefly over different there for another 15 seconds in the same turn.

But I expect that's pushing the hope-bridge out a bit far ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This command is when you just want to lob a few main gun shells into a target. Right now you can do it by combining pause+time+move orders, but it is time consuming. Ideally there would be time increments, but at the moment, that is still on the drawing board. 15 seconds is the best compromise since most AFVs can fire 2-3 shells in that time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This new feature is a solid improvement over what CM players have had for the last 12+ years (including the infamous CMBO Beta Demo, it has been that long!). However, it isn't the ultimate solution to all tactical needs. Unfortunately we ran into structural UI coding limitations which prevented us from going fully forward with things like time specifications, specifying Smoke, etc. But not to worry... the coding limitations are slated to be overcome, through a bunch of grunt work, for Upgrade 3.0. And when we get there, well... there will be a lot more than just the ability to specify different times for this new Command :)

And don't ask what I mean by that! We have not even released Upgrade 2.0 yet, so needless to say we haven't put much thought into the specifics of Upgrade 3.0.

Steve

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Unfortunately we ran into structural UI coding limitations which prevented us from going fully forward with things like time specifications, specifying Smoke, etc. But not to worry... the coding limitations are slated to be overcome, through a bunch of grunt work, for Upgrade 3.0. And when we get there, well... there will be a lot more than just the ability to specify different times for this new Command :)

Steve

My thread has caught a monster fish......all hail me :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Obviously, we have not tried it yet, but I think giving the flexibility in the time allowed to target similar to how the pause works as noob suggest gives the player the greatest options. 15-second increments sounds good to me. We can do this now with small move orders, but I like the idea of the addition of this new command in its streamlining the process especially for RTS play.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

could you possibly have it assigned a key like the p for pause, and then when you hit target briefly it would light to say 15 and if you hit it again it would say 30 seconds, then again for 45, again for 60 then reset? increasing by 15 seconds with each key press or selection on the menu..

just a thought

Link to comment
Share on other sites

could you possibly have it assigned a key like the p for pause, and then when you hit target briefly it would light to say 15 and if you hit it again it would say 30 seconds, then again for 45, again for 60 then reset? increasing by 15 seconds with each key press or selection on the menu..

just a thought

I think you might want to read the thread to get your answer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, our testers already thought of mimicking the Pause time toggle. Short answer is it won't work. Pause is a state all on its own. There's no secondary input. You click on a unit, hit Pause and get a Pause. Hit Pause again and get a longer Pause. So on and so forth.

When you hit Target Briefly you have to click on something to specify a place to shoot at. If you hit Target Briefly again... well, either we index the time or we allow you to select a different something to Target Briefly. We can't have both. Since Target works a certain way it would be confusing (and probably messy in the code) to require a player to cancel the Target Briefly Command in order to switch targets.

It's going to stay the way it is now. Folks will just have to accept a very good improvement over a "perfect" solution. Remember, people who wait for everything to be perfect often wait a very, very, very long time. And usually perfect never comes anyway. Better to have "good enough" now instead of nothing.

Steve

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The perfect pause button would work something like this

I hit pause - the universe pauses allowing me to play CM all I want without worrying about getting the trash bin to the curb or dinner getting cold

unpause restores the world to it's previously scheduled stupidity

Can we have that for version 3.0?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's going to stay the way it is now. Folks will just have to accept a very good improvement over a "perfect" solution. Remember, people who wait for everything to be perfect often wait a very, very, very long time. And usually perfect never comes anyway. Better to have "good enough" now instead of nothing.

Steve

Well just having it suits me, and as i mentioned before, there is a workaround by using the pause/move/target waypoint functions, so for a longer burst than 15 secs, the firing unit is given a move order for a couple of meters paused to start in 15 seconds, then at the new waypoint it targets briefly again, so you could get a target briefly for 35 to 40 seconds, which would give your foot units 25 seconds to rush the suppressed area, so considering we never had it before i feel full.....burrrrrrrrrp !!!.......cheers BF.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The perfect pause button would work something like this

I hit pause - the universe pauses allowing me to play CM all I want without worrying about getting the trash bin to the curb or dinner getting cold

unpause restores the world to it's previously scheduled stupidity

Can we have that for version 3.0?

+1000

Michael

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...