Project Reality Forums

Okay, first off I would like to state that I am fully aware that this suggestion is in most probability very unrealistic in regards to do ability, however I still feel the urge to share it with the community due to the lack of realism concerning the artillery system which is implemented in Project reality.
Also I realize that the bf2 engine provides modders with very little flexebility which renders many wanted features either impossible to implement, or it creates more work than it is worth the effort.

NOTE: I would also like to add that this is not really an original idea by me, but rather a spin-off thing inspired by the Chain of Command: Unified Artillery AddOn for Operation Flashpoint.


So, right now the artillery fire mission is very simplistic and not very realistc, is a simpel matter of Point-Request-Granted-BOOM!
In my oppinion this is very simplistic and therefore not very rewarding due to the lack of complexity (others may disagree), that's why I suggest adding a forward observer class to the mod which will have the abillity to call in a more dynamic artillery strike which could be specified to the target at hand, I.E. snipers hiding on a ridge could be taken with a light barrage of mortars saving ammuition, enemy armor can be targeted with heavier cannons or airstrikes, on nightmaps (if introduced to PR) enemy positions could be illuminated with flares revealing their exact position, then targeted with a leathal barrage and so on.


Forward Observer

Features:

Lightly armed, possibly with something like an SMG or just a pistol.
Field Dressing.
Binoculars.
Fire Mission Interface PDA. <-----The important bit.

Purpose:

To call in more flexible artillery strikes in a (sort of) more realistic manner enabling more complexity to the game which again gives the feeling of success, reward and enhances the FUN factor.


How to use:

The forward observers most important tools would be his brain, binoculars and the Fire Mission Interface PDA which I have created a sketch of illustrating what it should contain.

Bear in mind this is just a sketch made by a talentless guy (me) so I'm pretty sure that if something like this were to be added to the mod, the dev's would more than likely make a more attractive one.


As you can see, here the forward observer has a lot more options to customize his artillery strike for the a specific situation giving him the abillity to avoid unnecessary over use and collateral damage.


Usefull?


As of right now where considering that the main game mode PR uses is AASv2 where the gameplay is erratic and fast paced a basic answer would probably be: No not really.

However, let's imagine that we are quite a few versions ahead like say... v1.0 or possible even PR on another platform where a scenario mode is introduced and gameplay has a reduced pace, maybe then this could be an interesting feature.

Scenario:

Okay so how could this be used under ideal conditions with good players?
Let's imagine us a scenario that takes place at night where we have a friendly squad pinned by snipers in a vally behind very little cover and moving would result in certain death for the squad.
What do they do?
The SL would radio the commander and brief him on the current situation and request imidiate backup, however all other squads have their hands completely full and are not avilable to support at the moment, so the commander decides to order a forward observer to within visual range of the pinned squad and briefs him on the current situation.

Forward observer arrives shortly to within 150 meters south west of the squad and gets visual on them, all he knows from what the commander has briefed him is that squad is taking enemy sniper fire from the north top of the valley.
The forward observer scans the terrain from what little he can see and decides that he has a pretty good idea where the snipers are located.
Now he must decide what to do, he has a variety of choices, he could order a smoke barrage for the friendly squad to slip away in, but decides to seek out the sniper poisitions and take them out.

So now he picks up his PDA interface and chooses

Type: Mortar.

Rounds: 2.

Angle: Indirect (which would be locked for mortars since they only fire at high angle)

Projectile: White Flare.

Fuze: Airburst I guess or whatever is default for flares

Then he scrolls in on the map featured in his interface and selects a grid coordinate which is somewhere above the enemy snipers and requests the fire mission.
Commander grants request on fire mission, then the forward observer calls for it to take effect.
Mortars fire for effect, forward observer takes out his binos and observes suspected position.
Flare arrive and lights up the ground... VISUAL!
Okay so now knows exactly where the are, then he must select the correct coordinate and make a new fire mission with lethal rounds, arty fire again and kills sniper, blue guys saved.

FO feels proud of his accomplishment.




Now I want to hear your oppinions on such a system for PR ( bearing in mind that it's NOT very likely to be implemented anytime soon or even at all)

PS: Forgive me for shitty grammar and spelling.

Perhaps somehow if you dont drop a flare for windage, ect. then there is lower accuracy?

good idea thou.

AWESOME! TRUELY AWESOME!

Great suggestion!

Would be great.. especially as the current arty is pretty much only useful for killing a few infantry and useless against anything armored.

Probably not possible...

But I LOVE IT!

I say, give the FO a rifle with a few magazines or an SMG, not just a pistol. I'd play that class all day.

Great post guerra!

Very well thought trough, i like it ...a lot!

Not sure how to implement it though

Keep those ideas coming!

hobbs wrote:Keep those ideas coming!

Well it wasn't really HIS idea. It was his suggestion, but the idea came from the artillery module for OFP. Just wanted to clear that up.

I wish this were possible with BF2, but it's probably not. Great OFP inspired request though. I would like the SLX(?) configs from OFP to work in BF2... AI dragging wounded soldiers to safe zones and patching them up. It was so amazing and immersive. Though BF2 AI is a far cry from OFP's.

excellent idea. but only useful if gameplay is slowed down some more. currently PR is still a bit fast paced.

You could probably use flash for the interface, or just use the same thing the spawn/commander menu has.

Brilliant explanation and i do love that menu - did you use pain or what???????

I have always wnated a system, where some player had the ability to plug co-ordinates into a PDA thiny to called arty and firesupport - more realistic and fun.
LIke all good ideas, including this one, you create a slightly more complex system that requires more skill to use, but gives the operater 10 times more power if he uses it right!!

About your precise details you made:

- I totaly agree about it being a seperate kit, and i would think it should also be limited (2/3 max per 32 man team).

- Again, great picture, and it really does help illustrate what the core system would look like and give an idea of how it woudl be operated. You have provided the user, in the example with alot of options, a good thing in many ways, but i would definitelly think there should be no more options than shown and possibly a few less.
Clean layout though, and drop downs boxs are vital, although on the co-ordiante reference, i think it shoudl be seperated in to 3/4 boxs, 1 for the D2 part, 1 for the A1 part and 1 for the E5 part - makes thigns simpilar.

- In your example you had the FO as a seperate guy, unconnected to a squad, but i think they should really only be used with in squads, and the kit limiting system would ensure this.
Communicating with SL then CO and then SL is to complicated and having him with in a squad would make communicating much simpilar.

- "FINALY" i think you make the calling and requesting side alittle to complex. IF the system works on the basis that all the firesupport is fires automatically (like present arty, does not require a player to operate the motor), then the FO should just request the firesupport and the CO grants or denies this request, same system as present arty. Last part where the FO calls it, seems uneccessary.

So overall, a great idea, hope the DEVs consider it carefully, although i am no more hopefull than you are, that it can be implamented.

That's a nice piece of work. However, I think something akin to this system is in the works using the Binoculars that come with the Officer kit.

Top _Cat the great wrote:Brilliant explanation and i do love that menu - did you use pain or what???????

Yeah, I'm not very competent with Photoshop :/

I have always wnated a system, where some player had the ability to plug co-ordinates into a PDA thiny to called arty and firesupport - more realistic and fun.

Yes, I think that the more complexity that is added, the feeling of success and accomplishment is increased when a certain task is executed well, also the lifespan interest is increased.

LIke all good ideas, including this one, you create a slightly more complex system that requires more skill to use, but gives the operater 10 times more power if he uses it right!!

Indeed.

- I totaly agree about it being a seperate kit, and i would think it should also be limited (2/3 max per 32 man team).

Personaly I think maybe just one kit per team as I think the team should benefit from a good and competent FO and suffer from the lack of a good one.

- Again, great picture, and it really does help illustrate what the core system would look like and give an idea of how it woudl be operated. You have provided the user, in the example with alot of options, a good thing in many ways, but i would definitelly think there should be no more options than shown and possibly a few less.

I could have made it way more complex, however that wouldn't work very well for obvious reasons, also I don't think it should simplified anymore as not all options are elementary.

Clean layout though, and drop downs boxs are vital, although on the co-ordiante reference, i think it shoudl be seperated in to 3/4 boxs, 1 for the D2 part, 1 for the A1 part and 1 for the E5 part - makes thigns simpilar.

Drop down boxes was on my mind but that's not very easy to illustrate with Paint
As for everything else in the layout, that would be up to the modders according to what would be most practical.

- In your example you had the FO as a seperate guy, unconnected to a squad, but i think they should really only be used with in squads, and the kit limiting system would ensure this.
Communicating with SL then CO and then SL is to complicated and having him with in a squad would make communicating much simpilar.

Yes it wasn't a very good example of how he would operate in conjunction with squads/commander etc. more give a basic idea of how he would be used.

- "FINALY" i think you make the calling and requesting side alittle to complex. IF the system works on the basis that all the firesupport is fires automatically (like present arty, does not require a player to operate the motor), then the FO should just request the firesupport and the CO grants or denies this request, same system as present arty. Last part where the FO calls it, seems uneccessary.

Well personaly I have expirienced situations where I would like to have an arty mission ready, but would like to hold if off for a while to further examine the situation, and other times I have experienced a desperate need to cancel a barrage.

So overall, a great idea, hope the DEVs consider it carefully, although i am no more hopefull than you are, that it can be implamented.

If such a system were to be added it would require a complete overhaul of the artillery, I can certainly see reasons NOT to add it caused by an extreme amount of work.

great idea, but I think you need a job.

::Major_Baker:: wrote:great idea, but I think you need a job.

I do have a job, but I still have way too much free time on my hands.

Nice map of Inishail in your little interface there Norte

ubiquitous wrote:Nice map of Inishail in your little interface there Norte

Yes, it was so purty I just had to use it, hope you don't mind

Not at all.

Nice idea BTW.

I also like the idea, in general, of artillery putting flares onto an enemy position on night maps so that just before an attack you can 'light em up' and pick them off from the cover of darkness.

Some nice ideas. We're initially focussing on Mortars as these are a more plausible element in conflicts the size of BF2 maps. We also hope to make a workable target designation system using the SIMRAD. We'll evolve the systems we use for Mortars and the target designation over time and, in doing so, get a feel for what is possible.

This is asking a damn lot, but do you think we will see it before some form of target designation before 1.0?????


I do realise you have had alot of difficutly with it, and i am sure you have and are working extremely hard, but i feel torn, should i expect target deg anytime soon or shoudl i just suppress all expectations/dreams of such a thing - trying to do both, is "killing" me....

Sorry if this has been answered somewhere already, but are the mortars going to be controlled by a mortar team player class?