My idea on how a paratrooper class could work.
Posted: 2007-06-17 05:37
Hopefully this topic won't be locked up quickly or anything. I know this topic has been debated to death already, but I just want to put in my two cents.
First of all, we need a transport plane. I don't know what kind, it could be as big as the Merlin fuselage-wise for all I care. You don't even have to make custom ones for each faction if you don't want, just make it a generic cargo plane(not as easy as it sounds, I realize). It doesn't have to be an AC-130 or anything like that, it doesn't have to have any sort of weapons. All we need is an air taxi that can get higher faster than the choppers. The maximum a vehicle in BF2 can hold is 8 right? Then that is enough for an entire squad + pilot and whoever else. I don't want to bring up BF1942, as it's a different game than BF2, but when Desert Combat made the AC-130, they were able to make it semi-stable to walk around in while it moved. Maybe this can be achieved so you can haul around more than 7 passengers in short intervals. This transport would be most effective as a mobile spawn point, a flying APC of sorts. The reason for this, as it will be too time consuming for the plane to land and load up on troops after a drop.
Who would jump out of the plane you say? Well, as that poll shows, a decent number of people wouldn't mind seeing the Special Forces kit replaced with a paratrooper class. I realize this poll isn't official and doesn't hold much water, but a paratrooper class would be something worth trying out at least. If possible, it may be worth checking to see if you can create a limit to what kind of class can use the plane as a mobile spawn point(to prevent clog from people who don't have chutes, and take up space). If not, that may be something we could get used to, as people without the class wouldn't need to bother being in it anyway, as they can't jump. I don't know what the paratrooper load out would be, maybe an iron site fitted carbine so they are not quite as powerful as regular rifleman, but do well enough in the close quarter situations they are dropped into. I don't think any special player models would be needed. I admit I'm not familiar with all of the nation's paratrooper programs, but I would assume the British paras are linked to the GB Army as well today as they were in the past, and China would have some sort of program. The MEC is moderately fictional force as well, so they could easily have paras.
As you can see, my idea is still in the early stages and has lots of holes in it, mainly:
Modern day US Marines featured in PR do not have "para marines" like the short lived para marines of WWII. This idea could be postponed until the US Army is introduced, or if you really want you could give all the other nations paratroopers and temporarily give the Marines paratroopers.
What benefit would the pilot get for ferrying the paratroopers around? I don't quite know. The same satisfaction the transport chopper pilots get? Maybe award points to the pilots in intervals the longer they are alive inside of an aircraft, basically points for not being shot down.
What will stop the paratrooper class from simply jumping out of transport choppers? I don't know. I don't know the limitations of the BF2 system, and I don't know if it's even remotely possible to set a chute opening aerial limit, or some sort of lock on parachutes in helicopters. So that is a major problem that would need some sort of answer to prevent unrealistic low-altitude jumps.
How will this assumably slow and large aircraft be able to avoid being down by jet aircraft? Unfortunately I don't know this either, maybe decrease the flare downtime and increase the number of flares so the large aircraft can do everything it can to discourage a lock. Maybe do nothing at all, as jets are a very real threat to these sorts of planes.
This is just a small number of things that would need to be addressed, and I probably haven't even scratched the surface. But I think with some great minds and ideas, this could turn into a very fun reality.
Also, to the Dev team, I'm not insisting this be made or anything like that. I'm just sharing an idea on a very debated subject. I hope I may have some ideas that haven't been expressed already, and that you will at least take into consideration the thought and effort I put into this idea before you go and lock it.
One again, I realize this has been discussed to death, and I apologize for beating a dead horse(so to speak).
First of all, we need a transport plane. I don't know what kind, it could be as big as the Merlin fuselage-wise for all I care. You don't even have to make custom ones for each faction if you don't want, just make it a generic cargo plane(not as easy as it sounds, I realize). It doesn't have to be an AC-130 or anything like that, it doesn't have to have any sort of weapons. All we need is an air taxi that can get higher faster than the choppers. The maximum a vehicle in BF2 can hold is 8 right? Then that is enough for an entire squad + pilot and whoever else. I don't want to bring up BF1942, as it's a different game than BF2, but when Desert Combat made the AC-130, they were able to make it semi-stable to walk around in while it moved. Maybe this can be achieved so you can haul around more than 7 passengers in short intervals. This transport would be most effective as a mobile spawn point, a flying APC of sorts. The reason for this, as it will be too time consuming for the plane to land and load up on troops after a drop.
Who would jump out of the plane you say? Well, as that poll shows, a decent number of people wouldn't mind seeing the Special Forces kit replaced with a paratrooper class. I realize this poll isn't official and doesn't hold much water, but a paratrooper class would be something worth trying out at least. If possible, it may be worth checking to see if you can create a limit to what kind of class can use the plane as a mobile spawn point(to prevent clog from people who don't have chutes, and take up space). If not, that may be something we could get used to, as people without the class wouldn't need to bother being in it anyway, as they can't jump. I don't know what the paratrooper load out would be, maybe an iron site fitted carbine so they are not quite as powerful as regular rifleman, but do well enough in the close quarter situations they are dropped into. I don't think any special player models would be needed. I admit I'm not familiar with all of the nation's paratrooper programs, but I would assume the British paras are linked to the GB Army as well today as they were in the past, and China would have some sort of program. The MEC is moderately fictional force as well, so they could easily have paras.
As you can see, my idea is still in the early stages and has lots of holes in it, mainly:
Modern day US Marines featured in PR do not have "para marines" like the short lived para marines of WWII. This idea could be postponed until the US Army is introduced, or if you really want you could give all the other nations paratroopers and temporarily give the Marines paratroopers.
What benefit would the pilot get for ferrying the paratroopers around? I don't quite know. The same satisfaction the transport chopper pilots get? Maybe award points to the pilots in intervals the longer they are alive inside of an aircraft, basically points for not being shot down.
What will stop the paratrooper class from simply jumping out of transport choppers? I don't know. I don't know the limitations of the BF2 system, and I don't know if it's even remotely possible to set a chute opening aerial limit, or some sort of lock on parachutes in helicopters. So that is a major problem that would need some sort of answer to prevent unrealistic low-altitude jumps.
How will this assumably slow and large aircraft be able to avoid being down by jet aircraft? Unfortunately I don't know this either, maybe decrease the flare downtime and increase the number of flares so the large aircraft can do everything it can to discourage a lock. Maybe do nothing at all, as jets are a very real threat to these sorts of planes.
This is just a small number of things that would need to be addressed, and I probably haven't even scratched the surface. But I think with some great minds and ideas, this could turn into a very fun reality.
Also, to the Dev team, I'm not insisting this be made or anything like that. I'm just sharing an idea on a very debated subject. I hope I may have some ideas that haven't been expressed already, and that you will at least take into consideration the thought and effort I put into this idea before you go and lock it.
One again, I realize this has been discussed to death, and I apologize for beating a dead horse(so to speak).