[Gamemode]Improved AAS

[Tartantyco]

-As the OP is a text wall I'll try to compress the general idea into a few lines here to explain the game mode. For more details just check out the OP.



-My proposal is that the entire map is divided into basically a grid of flag radii(1), and teams can cap any territory that is adjacent to another territory they control and is linked to the team's main(2). Ticket bleed would start once a team holds more than 50% of the map and increase in 10% increments(Or 5%, or 20%), starting with a very minor bleed to begin with and ending with a large bleed at 90%+. Capping time for flags would be drastically reduces, perhaps to mere seconds, to combat the pervasive "must cap flag" mentality. These changes will at once make maps more playable, open up a wealth of strategic and tactical opportunities, and make the entire map usable. Here's an illustration:



-Each of these grids would contain a flag whose cap radius would extend to the edge of the respective grid. Note that this is an example and any grid would be subject to the demands of the map and some modifications around main bases.

-Each team would start with the main base(Preferably uncappable) and could then cap any grid adjacent to it. From there any grid adjacent to a capped grid with an unbroken chain back to the team's main would be cappable(2). Another illustration:



-As you can see here all the flags controlled by each team have an unbroken chain back to the main base. You can also see how the capping rules function.



(1) - When it comes to a flag radius I am unsure whether it is limited to a circle. If it could be shaped in relation to the grid that would be best.

(2) - Using the second illustration as an example I'll explain the capping rules in a little more detail:

The basic capping rule is "You can cap any grid that is adjacent to a controlled grid that is linked to the main through an unbroken chain of controlled grids". Any grid adjacent to the main base is of course cappable at all times.

If the grid is horizontal then from any grid meeting these requirements can cap any grid to the North, South, East, and West. If the grid is diagonal then grids to the Northwest, Northeast, Southwest, and Southeast are cappable.

If the chain from a team's main base is broken then the unlinked grid or grids will go neutral. In the above illustration, if MEC pushes from the center grid and cap the grids Northwest of it(Neutral and top left corner US grids) then the two US grids just north of the MEC main will go neutral(As an alternative, it might just disable capping from those grids for the US).

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-Now for some re-iteration of the advantages of this game mode:

The entire map is opened up
Maps are more re-playable
No more "flag capped, lets head for the next one on the other side of the map" stuff
Multiple options end the linear gameplay of current AAS
Terrain regains its intrinsic value
Defense becomes a feasible and necessary strategy
Retreating becomes feasible
Many more strategic and tactical options available
Deployable assets become more important and useful
Logistics actually becomes important
And loooooooooooots more

[cyberzomby]

Would be cool as a new game-mode for sure! Very company of heroes style gameplay I can see this being fun for Commanders as well.

[Tim270]

Would be cool. but I think your example has a few to many flags on it..

[Tartantyco]

Would be cool. but I think your example has a few to many flags on it..

-In my opinion it is the amount of flags that makes it function. The more territory a single flag occupies the narrower the strategic options become. The bare minimum would be 3x3 + main bases for a total of 11 flags, which would be fine for smaller maps, but the bigger the map and the greater amount of territory covered by a flag the less important the area itself becomes as more and more terrain features are conflated into a single point. To me it's just a matter of any engine limitations and the eventual wall you hit when the size of the territory simply encompassed by a flag becomes silly.

-However, as I've mentioned previously somewhere in this thread, there really needs to be a shift in how you see the battlefield from the current view of it as an irrelevant mass of terrain between singular points strewn across it that you have to take and control into viewing the map itself as the objective and the flags themselves simply as markers simply "keeping score" so to speak. This I think is a bit of a stumbling block in the way people view this proposal; they think "oh, so many flags to cap" instead of simply understanding that "we need to maintain control of the majority of the map". You simply have to advance across the map, you don't have to run from flag to flag in order to cap them.

-Some things that I neglected to mention was that capping time would be drastically reduced, perhaps to mere seconds, in order for to combat the "must cap flag" mentality that is very pervasive currently and instead focus on territory control.

[Zimmer]

WHat if there are enemies in the cap radius is there are ratio Friendly/enemy you need to overcome or do you need to erase the enemy completely?

[Tartantyco]

WHat if there are enemies in the cap radius is there are ratio Friendly/enemy you need to overcome or do you need to erase the enemy completely?

-Same as it is now(Not sure on the exact ratio but it's balanced well I think).

[Laki]

Nice idea but the number of flags needs to be low cause we only have 32players on each side.

[SkaterCrush]

No point in going far into the corners of the desert for tiny pieces of land. Also make flags at the main larger like I (sort of) showed, that way theres less confusion. Everything else +1

[Tartantyco]

Nice idea but the number of flags needs to be low cause we only have 32players on each side.

-That's kinda the point of the concept, you have to utilize the terrain in order to defend large areas with less amounts of people, make actual strategic decisions when it comes to attacking and defending instead of having just a couple of flags and piling on the entire team there. Squads will have to be positioned with care, emplacements will be vital to defending areas, logistics will become important in terms of transporting troops and supplies throughout the game, and asymmetric teams will be allowed to utilize their assets properly. And I'd have a lot more flags on a map the size of Kashan.

-And once again, I think the "must cap flag" mindset is in play here. As I said, cap times will be minimal, allowing a team to drive from the center right grid to the south village grid in a humvee without stopping and still capping it all, provided there's no enemies in any of those grids. And to further combat this all flags could be divided already at the start of the game, so the teams don't have to drive around the entire map to get control of their side before moving to the front.

It is an interesting concept yes. And what comes to amount of flags, I think they are all needed for this to work properly. Though, they could be scattered around strategic locations and have some free space or different distances in between the zones. It doesn't need to be chess.

-I agree to some extent. Cap radii should fill the entire map as much as possible because if not it starts becoming a "must cap flag" kind of thing again and a lot of the benefits of this game mode would be negated by going back, but it doesn't have to be chess as you said, grids could be made to fit the terrain and so on.

What makes it interesting is that the choice is in players hands, not in some pre-selected pattern you need to obey.

However I can see problems and frustration on defending these zones...

-It might become frustrating if people think they have to sit on each flag at the front line instead of using the terrain to cover larger areas and defending a larger part of the front than the part they're physically in.

No point in going far into the corners of the desert for tiny pieces of land. Also make flags at the main larger like I (sort of) showed, that way theres less confusion. Everything else +1

-Every part of the map is important and cutting down on the amount of area in play also cuts down on the benefits of this game mode. As for the mains I agree, that's why the flag is on the red line at those locations.