Vehicle black boxes

[starstriker1]

Basic premise of the idea: Important vehicle assets, like tanks and helicopters, allow players from either side to retrieve a "black box" from the destroyed vehicle. Returning the black box to a command post results in a ticket gain for the team.

While there's a number of ways this could be implemented, one way is to have the destruction of an important asset (helicopter, plane, or tank) result in an immediate ticket loss for the team (lets say, 5 tickets for a transport chopper for the sake of illustration). After that, players on foot have an easy way to retrieve the black box... say, touching the downed chopper, or being in the radius for x seconds. The player with the box then returns to base and regains the 5 tickets the team lost, mitigating the loss of the chopper... or, in the case of the enemy team, they deny the enemy the ability to retrieve it or even capture it for themselves to double the sting that the other team feels.

This would have quite a few implications for gameplay. Using expensive assets in hostile territory without backup could result in noticable ticket loss for the team, for starters. It also makes the downed vehicles interesting points on the map to be controlled or secured (especially true if the other team is not allowed to capture the black box... all they'd be able to do is keep an eye on it and deny the enemy a chance to retrieve it). Finally, it adds an interesting strategic decision: is the retrieval operation, including any vehicles that are needed to do it, worth the tickets lost? If the black box is in a hot area, helicopter evac is out of the question, and even sending someone with a supply truck could be impossible or dangerous.

If nothing else, it might give transport players something to do between dropoffs and supply runs. I figured I'd throw it out there.

[Spec]

I'd rather wait for the new gamemode the dev's are working on.

Also, i want to be able to use a tank wreck as cover without being forced to return to the base with some silly black box.

[Razick]

Dont wanna sound rude but why would there be a black box in a military vehicle. It isnt a FAA "simulator". Like the enthusiasm but it sounds kinda whacky for a realism mod. Besides extraction is the same as your describing but instead of the corky "black box" your recovering a real live player. There is a scenario mode in the works, there is a search function for suggestions, and welcome to the forums

[Rhino]

ehhh, you have lost me on the first few lines...

afaik there are no "black boxes" in military vehicles, there may be stuff that you dont want the enemy to get hold of, ie, technology but all is done then is the wreck is destroyed.

the reason why aircraft etc have black boxes is to determine how they crashed by a mechanical failure or w/e, so it can be fixed, thats really it...

[starstriker1]

Perhaps the term "black box" wasn't appropriate then. It was really the only term that came to mind. What I meant for was a mechanic that approximated the need to recover destroyed vehicles, pick up their crew, stop the enemy from capturing the materiel, etc. That's the fundamental idea I was trying to communicate, my crappy choice of terminology notwithstanding.

@Razick:
Yes, I used the search function. "Black box" comes up empty... probably because nobody else is stupid enough to use the term, but still!

@ Spec_Operator:
The retrieval mechanics are completely up in the air. I won't bother to suggest any (more) because they're highly dependant on gameplay tweaks and engine limitations. Thats a valid point, but the retrieval could be implemented in any multitude of ways.