observer mode

[poesel]

With the upcoming battle vs. the devs in mind: every 3D multiplayer game I know has an observer mode except for DT. Why is that so?

One could say that if an observer sees everything he can give away all secrrets to the other side. Well, you can do that right now by changing teams for a minute and come back again. So theres no difference.

Upon entering a game, you should be given the choice on which side you want to play: blood, water or observer (the beer side )

Observers could make nice videos of a game...(hint, hint)

[aittam]

ok i've set up my webcam and i got plenty of beers in the fridge, i know i should play more but i'm busy and TC:E is taking all my spare time, but just 'cause is new

[Alexander SquidLord Williams]

It'd be easy to deal with Oberservers giving away tactical info by simply delaying the Observer images a few minutes. Guild Wars does so with their ongoing PvP environment to good effect. I don't see any reason it couldn't be done with the same mechanisms Clay was thinking of earlier regarding a playback mode.

I totally agree the system needs a "login choice" interface for choosing sides before you get dropped in. It should be a relatively straightforward piece of coding. The hard part may be implimenting the sequencing and look of the interface.

[poesel]

Delaying the images might be compicated as you had to buffer all that happened in this time. Also an observer thus couldn't participate in the after game chat (when there is one...).

It would be easier to put a delay on joining any side (except observer) after the deployment phase.