Project Reality Forums

The JDAM stuff is all good so dont change it. but look i dont think that it takes an army 20 mins to reload thier mortars. lets limit the amount of mortar barrages that can be used in a map but also let the commander use then when ever he wants (of course their would be a 3 or 4 min. reload time between each barrage and a warm up time when the round starts).

Yeah I believe what ma21212 said would be a good solution. It would give the commander more to do while not requiring more players to be off of the battlefield.

In addition I think a smoke barrage, like what they implemented in POE2 would be an interesting idea. It could be a life-saver for squads needing to fall back from a tough situation.

If you expect people to act as the mortar crew then it has to be fun for them, in BFV, you where provided with a camera so you could watch where you round where going rewarding the player for using them. but seeming that goes basically against every thing PR stands for i think if Mortar where to be implemented it would be best if it was just all Automatic.

RHYS4190 wrote:If you expect people to act as the mortar crew then it has to be fun for them, in BFV, you where provided with a camera so you could watch where you round where going rewarding the player for using them. but seeming that goes basically against every thing PR stands for i think if Mortar where to be implemented it would be best if it was just all Automatic.

Well, you needed somebody to start that camera, so why not give that role to the sniper/SL, so that they could use their laser designator or something to be that camera.
After all, I think some armies use a camera as part of the equipment, at least on some of the soldiers.
Or you could mount a camera to the LB, for the commander/co-pilot to use, so he can scan the area, and give feedback to the mortar-team, making the LB even more of a scout-heli
That would include the commander in a much greater way as well, giving him more to do.
And of course, the LB wold have to be the best option (zoom, + advantage of elevation), encouraging people to be the commander.

Oh i wouldn´t mind sitting in a mortar pit all round long firing shells at coördinates provided by other squads, hearing the explosions and firefights in the distance, knowing that for someone out there me and my beloved mortar are being a real pain in the (virtual) @ss. Would be cool if some sort of (semi) realistic range and gradient finding method could be implemented for the mortars to aim beyond visual range or over view blocking obstacles such as buildings, hills or forests. (which will be the case most of the times).

You don't need to see the mortar strike necessarily to enjoy playing as a mortar team. Playing in a jet and simply dropping a bomb means you don't get to have a visual on the aftermath, unless you're suicidal.

Adriaan wrote:Oh i wouldn´t mind sitting in a mortar pit all round long firing shells at coördinates provided by other squads, hearing the explosions and firefights in the distance, knowing that for someone out there me and my beloved mortar are being a real pain in the (virtual) @ss. Would be cool if some sort of (semi) realistic range and gradient finding method could be implemented for the mortars to aim beyond visual range or over view blocking obstacles such as buildings, hills or forests. (which will be the case most of the times).

+1 That would be really fun actually. Just the knowledge that you're hindering enemy movement.

The idea is good. Perhaps a small howitzer or mortar could be set up at main. The squad would mark their location with a marker, and one person would use the given compass heading. Another person would have special binocs (a request Mortar kit) that would translate angle-height to distance. This would ensure quick teamwork, so nubs would get frustrated over the process of loading the mortar.

I think we should do this for INS too, especially Taliban. it would be quite useful at clearing out (perhaps not destroying) enemy firebases. Of course there would be a reload time -- each barrage gets perhaps 5-10 shells, and then there is a reload time (sort of like with the AA missiles where there is the subscript stating how many rounds are left, but the reload would take longer, maybe 2-3 minutes). It's a good idea, given the long time it takes to reload JDAM. This could be a smaller scale asset. Even better would be a portable mortar, where the person with the mortar kit (1 per team) would take the kit, get in a truck, and drive to a secure firebase and fire from there. As of the the firing into main problem (if the team ever got close enough), I think it is realistic to fire into mains, but if it became a problem, the person firing into the main would be banned for a day or two.

Sadly I'm a little late to jump onto this topic (the subject has been bugging me for a while, and have been wondering how to bring the subject up).

I have felt for a while that PR needed a "on field" mortar for a while, as they are reasonably short range compared to Arty or JDAM/Fast Air. In both regular and irregular (insurgency) warfare, mortars are (according to the British Army Special Weapons School for Mortars) the most important infantry support asset in the field. This was in particular reference to the way the war is fought in A'stan.



The way I felt would work best would be for the Commander to have a Controllable Mortar Pit (1-3, depending on map size, 60/81mm Mortars firing as one) that would be at the Main base. They would fire HE and Smoke shells (same as the M203) and have a ammo count of 3 HE and 5 Smoke, these would respawn 1 shell/(shell for all three mortars) every 4-6 mins (game balance TBD). This would give the commander more of an active role on almost all maps + make commanders on public servers less rare than Rocking Horse terds.

For the INS the would get 1-2 Mortar Truck (again map size dependent) with a 20min respawn time if destroyed. Each truck would be able to deploy 1 Mortar each, these would 3 HE rounds and 3 smoke. After the ammo has been used (and not before to make the BLUFOR team hunt down and capture the mortar tubes) the mortar becomes destroyed. The truck could then go back to its main and re-arm (5 mins?).

My opinion is that Arty and JDAMs should remain as they are, due to the assets being behind the main line of combat.

I understand a some of what I suggested may be hardcoded (but I cant see what would be) and may not work on due to balancing issues.

My 2 cents, feed back is appreciated (but be nice.)

Abbadon101

On the topic of Artillery on maps like Muttrah:
I think the Huey should be able to drop off a special drop(containing an M777 that needs to be setup). Then the SQL sets it up like part of a FOB. The M777 gets on the Huey from a Selection Menu(Like kits) inside the Huey. The M777 should have a 20 minute respawn time.

JDMT wrote:On the topic of Artillery on maps like Muttrah:
I think the Huey should be able to drop off a special drop(containing an M777 that needs to be setup). Then the SQL sets it up like part of a FOB. The M777 gets on the Huey from a Selection Menu(Like kits) inside the Huey. The M777 should have a 20 minute respawn time.

Win

I'd like it, only if there were like 1-3 people doing it, so it wouldn't take a whole squad off the frontlines.

First for the comment above, a standard station arty only needs 2 men to get a shell in the air, more for to speed up the process.

I personally think mannable artillery is a good idea except instead of limited ammunition it should be like a regular reloading situation. Maybe you have 5 rounds then you have to wait a few minutes for another 5. I also think that it should be based on coordinate skills in aiming rather than point and click.

I was trying to comment on the MLRS or mobile artillery idea but the mods move in on closing topics like SWAT teams. I understand this is suppose to potray realism. I saw comments about the range of fire that MLRS's have.

You can still keep realism with a MLRS even after toning down its firing range. I don't see why that would be a issue to limit its maximum range to fit with the games map size. Hey im in the military, two tours one in iraq and one if afghanistan. If I were to login and see a MLRS with a range that only fits resonably, I wouldn't jump of the forums and complain its not real MLRS range. I will leave that to the couch soldiers who pretend to know what we know.

Also take note that I am only regarding it's effective firing range, I ask that anything other than that which I have stated and would be considered negative reply, not be directed towards me. Just a opinion.

sorry, for double-post.

Adriaan wrote:Oh i wouldn´t mind sitting in a mortar pit all round long firing shells at coördinates provided by other squads, hearing the explosions and firefights in the distance, knowing that for someone out there me and my beloved mortar are being a real pain in the (virtual) @ss. Would be cool if some sort of (semi) realistic range and gradient finding method could be implemented for the mortars to aim beyond visual range or over view blocking obstacles such as buildings, hills or forests. (which will be the case most of the times).

I like this idea. But I also like the idea of giving the commander something more to do (as it is now, the commander isn't really required, also as many squads won't listen to the commanders orders anyway) and I'd prefer the mortar to not be a static asset.

On the one hand, a mortar kit would be something great and I also think it's more dynamic than a deployable mortar pit. A squad with a mortar kit, maybe a marksman and a few other guys would be able to lay some decent fire on an enemy positon while another squad could move in. The mortar would be a "small" one (sorry, I've got no idea of mortar specifications or precicse names of military equipment in general) that could be set up by the guy with the mortar kit and then used with manual aim (like turning it and ajusting the angle) and wouldn't have too much ammo. Also the possibility of indirect fire would possibly result in great teamplay. Of course, this maybe isn't possible with the BF2 engine, i wouldn't know.

On the other hand, like I already said, giving the commander some mortar asset (which probably is possible with the BF2 engine) would give him something more to do. But I suggest that the guiding of the mortar fire shouldn't be done with some fancy tool, but should also have some manual aspect to it (so it requires communication between the commander and let's say the SL guiding the mortar fire). Maybe something like beeing able to transfer the rough coordinates of the target to the commander (SOFLAM?) and then the SL would give the CO information over voice where the round are acutally hitting so the CO could "fine tune" the mortars (this could also simulate danger close fire because it would be possible that the commander shells your squad in his first attempt when you're too close to the target).

But then these ideas might already have been suggested/discussed/not possible/unrealistic/...

Adriaan wrote:Oh i wouldn´t mind sitting in a mortar pit all round long firing shells at coördinates provided by other squads, hearing the explosions and firefights in the distance, knowing that for someone out there me and my beloved mortar are being a real pain in the (virtual) @ss. Would be cool if some sort of (semi) realistic range and gradient finding method could be implemented for the mortars to aim beyond visual range or over view blocking obstacles such as buildings, hills or forests. (which will be the case most of the times).

Well your kind is rare in PR very few people would enjoy having to sit a base all round even if it helping the team.

infact we don't get many people who will willingly volunteer to go medic in this game how then are we supposed to get people to willingly sit at base manning a mortar peice pumping out shells all day.

in BFv the reward and incentive for manning the artillery pieces in game for me was watching the other team doing the lindy hop in a vain attempt at dodging all the shells i dropped on there heads.

so what would be the incentive and reward for being a mortar crew man in PR. There got to be some thing in it for the person manning it if it not fun no ones going to use it.

Why is everyone worrying about taking people of the frontline? Everyone is on it in the game.

Would I prefer an extra dude to my right who doesn´t particularly like being there or would I prefer some indirect fire support....

More variety = good.


In any case, think you would rather have an extra man on the front? Go ahead, don´t use it. Yeah, in a pub game it would most likely be taken, but that isn´t a reason not to have it.

Alex6714 wrote:Why is everyone worrying about taking people of the frontline? Everyone is on it in the game.

Would I prefer an extra dude to my right who doesn´t particularly like being there or would I prefer some indirect fire support....

More variety = good.


In any case, think you would rather have an extra man on the front? Go ahead, don´t use it. Yeah, in a pub game it would most likely be taken, but that isn´t a reason not to have it.

i don't have a problem with the idea im just concerned that no one else will willingly do it.

I often go medic in game because people don't care about there fellow and just want to get kills. i don't want this to be the same situation where people refuse to go use the mortar because they find it boring.

what im saying is that it needs to be made fun so people will volunteer to use it and people will enjoy using it. If the dev teams made it enjoyable then they have succeeded.

RHYS4190 wrote:i don't have a problem with the idea im just concerned that no one else will willingly do it.

I often go medic in game because people don't care about there fellow and just want to get kills. i don't want this to be the same situation where people refuse to go use the mortar because they find it boring.

what im saying is that it needs to be made fun so people will volunteer to use it and people will enjoy using it. If the dev teams made it enjoyable then they have succeeded.

If its anything like FH2 then I would take the mortar role of any other infantry role in pr. In fact even if it wasn´t.