Electronic warfare
Posted: 2005-08-10 20:31
One aspect of real war that's completely missing from BF2 is electronic warfare. Possessing the technology and techniques for eavesdropping on and interfering with enemy communications is incredibly valuable in real life. I know it's not going to be possible to accurately model real-world ECM etc., but in my opinion the game should at least pay lip service to it.
Some quick ideas that might not be too difficult to implement:
Commander has a rechargeable button (like for UAV, arty, etc) allowing him to eavesdrop on all enemy comms for, say, 30 secs.
Another button could activate 'AWACS', making all enemy aircraft visible to either the commander or the commander plus all friendly flyers.
Another button could jam the enemy comms, making the enemy unable to communicate for say 30 secs.
Soldiers could plant autonomous air alerting devices as far forward as possible, which will alert the commander if an enemy aircraft comes close.
Observation equipment would allow soldiers to see right across the map, help him pick out enemy soldiers, vehicles etc. for spotting.
I think it should be possible (but not easy) to shoot down the UAV. To prevent it becoming useless its duration could be dramatically increased so that the onus is on the enemy to put it out of action, rather than it running out of 'fuel' and having to leave after a few seconds. Also, can anyone tell me if there is a functioning example of a Combat UAV?
I'd also like to see artillery locating radar, but I guess that's only going to be useful if the arty can move around. Like it can in real life.
How about a localised EMP burst that the commander can activate? Are there any EMP weapons (apart from nuclear ones) around or in testing at the moment? I remember them dropping chaff on power lines in the last Gulf war, I guess that's not quite the same though. Anyway, EMP would inactivate all enemy electronics in the area for a short time - useful if your team is ready at the jumping off point for an assault on their position!
Most of these would make the role of the commander more fun, and also more important, which I think is a good idea as at the moment I think his role is undervalued by many people.
Some quick ideas that might not be too difficult to implement:
Commander has a rechargeable button (like for UAV, arty, etc) allowing him to eavesdrop on all enemy comms for, say, 30 secs.
Another button could activate 'AWACS', making all enemy aircraft visible to either the commander or the commander plus all friendly flyers.
Another button could jam the enemy comms, making the enemy unable to communicate for say 30 secs.
Soldiers could plant autonomous air alerting devices as far forward as possible, which will alert the commander if an enemy aircraft comes close.
Observation equipment would allow soldiers to see right across the map, help him pick out enemy soldiers, vehicles etc. for spotting.
I think it should be possible (but not easy) to shoot down the UAV. To prevent it becoming useless its duration could be dramatically increased so that the onus is on the enemy to put it out of action, rather than it running out of 'fuel' and having to leave after a few seconds. Also, can anyone tell me if there is a functioning example of a Combat UAV?
I'd also like to see artillery locating radar, but I guess that's only going to be useful if the arty can move around. Like it can in real life.
How about a localised EMP burst that the commander can activate? Are there any EMP weapons (apart from nuclear ones) around or in testing at the moment? I remember them dropping chaff on power lines in the last Gulf war, I guess that's not quite the same though. Anyway, EMP would inactivate all enemy electronics in the area for a short time - useful if your team is ready at the jumping off point for an assault on their position!
Most of these would make the role of the commander more fun, and also more important, which I think is a good idea as at the moment I think his role is undervalued by many people.