telling friend from foe

[waturi]

I'm having a real hard time with this...anyone have any advice? I know if you hold the crosshairs over the target & they're friendly it'll pop up with their name after a few seconds, but often times i'll do that, get no name, start firing and get a friendly fire warning.

So far I've been playing medic alot just so I won't be expected to shoot much...but I'm so bad at target recognition, I've had times when a friendly and an enemy are dead next to one another and I don't even know which one I should revive. The textures and models look pretty much identical to me.

Also, does the "check your fire" message automatically trigger if you fire at friendlies, or does the player use the comm rose to say it?

[Cheditor]

If you hit a friendly it automatically says cease fire. Also all you need to do is look at your compass and get the direction then just check your map, i generally go if there are any blues in that direction then i will wait for more information. Also ask your SL (or do it yourself if your SL) to put a marker on the enemy then check map to see if markers on friendly.

[GrimSoldier]

Check the uniforms, you can see the difference from your teams and theirs. Also if the uniforms/clothes are not helping then check the map to see if their are friendlies in that area. Also put your scope or aim whatever on a person and wait couple seconds and see if a blue name comes up to see if its friendly or not.

[Anguin]

i felt exactly the same as you the first week i played pr. 'wtfx this is retarded how am i ever gonna get any good if all i do is tk all the time' then when you get used to how the enemy behaves, ie: were they are gonna be at what stage of the game. when you get more used to the models and textures, basiclly time and practice. now i usually know if its an enemy before i scope up, and i will definitely know before my weapon settles. sometimes battle stress leads me to shoot my own guys occasionally, but target acquisition is a definitely a skill practice will develop.

[acCA[NL]]

in addition to checking uniforms, also check the map often. then you will have a rough a idea where your troops are and gives you a quick idea if what you are looking at are friends or foes.

[PFunk]

In time you pretty much get a sense of who is and isn't an enemy. I almost never shoot at a friendly, let alone hit one, because I've gotten used to figuring it out. It'll come with time, especially as you get familiar with the factions and their appearances.

[badmojo420]

Another great way to prevent firing at friendlies is (assuming you have a decent squad) call it out to the rest of your squad over voip. Just say something like "Movement 330 on the hill, is that friendly?" this has the added bonus that if they are enemy you now have up to 6 guns firing at them.

Also, it might just be me, but i always like to keep tabs on the friendlies around me. When i'm in combat and have a second, I'll check the map and observe where the blue dots are. Often they'll be grouped together, so it's easy to remember that you have blues to the north, east and NW for example, so then anything coming from south is an enemy. Sometimes checking your map after seeing a target is all the time it takes for them to kill you.

[GrimSoldier]

Yea basically you will get used to the uniforms and always call out movement to your squad to confirm that is always a great bonus.

[Threedroogs]

check the map before the action starts. know where your friendlies are and in which directions you can fire at anything moving. remind the squad of this information and check frequently.

another way to reduce friendly fire is to stay together as a squad. when you get too far from your SL it confuses the situation, especially if the rest of the squad is sticking with the SL. you want a clear cone of fire for the whole squad to engage freely. when people start charging toward the enemy positions it really screws things up. when this happens in my squads and it's a really hot situation, i will tell the person who charged forward to 'get behind cover so we cant hit you' and then tell the rest of my guys to open up on anything moving. rambos not only cause TKs, they also make it much easier on the enemy.

[goguapsy]

check the map before the action starts. know where your friendlies are and in which directions you can fire at anything moving. remind the squad of this information and check frequently.

another way to reduce friendly fire is to stay together as a squad. when you get too far from your SL it confuses the situation, especially if the rest of the squad is sticking with the SL. you want a clear cone of fire for the whole squad to engage freely. when people start charging toward the enemy positions it really screws things up. when this happens in my squads and it's a really hot situation, i will tell the person who charged forward to 'get behind cover so we cant hit you' and then tell the rest of my guys to open up on anything moving. rambos not only cause TKs, they also make it much easier on the enemy.

oh, so rambo tked a lot... makes sense///

[Threedroogs]

oh, so rambo tked a lot... makes sense///

rambos dont necessary TK people, they cause themselves to be TK'd. in other words, they charge into enemy positions, confuse the situation and often times get shot by friendly fire (or cause the friendlies to stop firing cause they dont want to hit a friendly, which endangers everyone as the enemy is no longer being supressed).

[Havoc134]

Here are my tips, the uniform colors are different for each faction

use your compass....

ask other people...

now these are the ones that i didnt see other people saying

the shape of the gun is really useful for long range identification. for example the US m4's are much shorter than the MEC's g3's

Use sound, each faction has its own speech commands, and each gun has its own distinct firing sound.

lastly, just watch what they are doing... if they are standing next to a friendly tank or a firebase, chances are they are friendlies

the more you play the better you get... enjoy the mod

[Mekakoopa]

I can sort of tell by the way they run, for example the MEC riflemen seem to have their weapon pointing near to the ground, where as the USMC look like they have the weapon to their shoulder the whole time... probably my imagination but I rarely seem to teamkill

[0blivi0us]

You can often distinquish friend from foe by simply looking at the shade of their uniform. but this'll prolly come to you when you play a bit longer.
For example:
Mec is more brown-Greenish compared to the light sand colour of Americas uniform.
Even without the kit being visable (IE: the helmet and backpack) you can tell them apart by the colour of the model itself.
Eventually you'll get more skill in this.

Though playing as medic will not give you this skill, Because it is a lot harder to identify a target with the naked - unzoomed - eye.

[wookimonsta]

checking the map is very useful, if they are standing near something that you can identify on the map (river, building, etc) then its easy to quickly check, if you have a squadleader on voip, he can drop a marker on em and you can check the map too. Its good to have someone in the squad check this while the others keep their eyes open.

[009783232]

I'm having a real hard time with this...anyone have any advice? I know if you hold the crosshairs over the target & they're friendly it'll pop up with their name after a few seconds, but often times i'll do that, get no name, start firing and get a friendly fire warning.

So far I've been playing medic alot just so I won't be expected to shoot much...but I'm so bad at target recognition, I've had times when a friendly and an enemy are dead next to one another and I don't even know which one I should revive. The textures and models look pretty much identical to me.

Also, does the "check your fire" message automatically trigger if you fire at friendlies, or does the player use the comm rose to say it?

Alot of the uniforms can be distinguished from their colour, even at a high range.

For example, for mec you're looking for a creamy yellow colour, for Americans you're looking for a grey, for insurgents you're looking for a white or black, for Russians you're for a green etc.

Just before you jump in to a match, notice what your team looks like and if possible the enemy side as well.

[mosinmatt]

In Red Orchestra it is REALLY hard telling friend from foe. Uniforms are similar in shade, and at distance it is even worse.
If you want a challenging game, go play that. it is great fun.

[Ca6e]

I figured out that the movement of US or INS are bit different, then i check scope, if i am not sure yet i check the map.
To see movement difference u must practice.
I notice that ins. run is little bit clumpsy( upstand runing), when US run slightly crouched.
Solute

[Bravo1six]

Generally I identify friend from foe by the weapon they have. Obviously this inst always reliable and checking the map should always be done if your not sure. To identify them by weapon from a long distance usually i go by length of barrel the g3 being longer than the m16 etc. With insurgents its pretty easy all it takes is a look at their heads usually.

[Cavazos]

How To Verify Your Targets

If you cannot tell if the contact is friendly or hostile, you can verify your target by:

• Binoculars
  • If you cannot tell if it is enemy or not, do take out your binoculars. It may take a few seconds but you want to get in the habit of not killing friendly soldiers.
• Map team icons
  • Say you are in a village surrounded by desert. Your dead smack in the middle of this village. To your north you know for a fact there are friendlies as that is where you base is, and you just drove by there seeing the friendlies yourself. Now that your in the village, you see specs of moving bodies on the horizon to the south. You do not know if it is friendly or not as you lack situational awareness of the south.
    
    Look at your map and look for and blue or green icons to the south of your location at the village. If there are no dots, they are enemies.

Remember, do not fire unless you are absolutely sure it is an enemy. If they fire back then you can shoot back. If it was a friendly shooting you and you killed them, they should congratulate you on your quick reflexes which are vital in virtual combat as well as real life combat, and kick themselves in the *** for NOT verifying their target as you will do.