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The Meat Counter
Posted: 2007-07-07 15:00
by Heliocentric
*If possible* Apcs could have a number assigned to them, lets say 30.
Everytime someone spawns on the apc this number goes down by 1, while the npc is at a friendly base (just back flag?) that number is reset to 30, perhaps slowly, perhaps fast.
while the number is 0, no-one can spawn on the apc.
Purpose? Discourages deep behind enemy lines APC usage keeps the apcs off the fronts for a while to keep them mobile allowing for more road ambushes with AT mines and C4.
Might even be a bad idea as it adds more downtime to the game, but just an idea.
Posted: 2007-07-07 15:10
by hall0
Sry must disagree i dont think this is a good idea. Because the APC are the only Spawnpoints where the whole team can spawn and if you reach 0 the apc is just a small tank like in BF2.
Posted: 2007-07-07 16:14
by IronTaxi
not a bad idea and has been considered..only problem is it adds a certain degree of complication to the mechanics of the vehicle...? who is gonen count how many spawns are left?
how can we justify the fact that the APC has spawns and then it doesnt?
point is to keep rule systems as simple as possible...and as good as an idea sa this is...it just adds yet another level of rules to the mix...
good idea though...
cheers
taxi
Posted: 2007-07-07 20:29
by TheParadoX
Maybe the APC has to be manned to be spawnable ... It would encourage to not abandon APC or hiding it in order to use it onlye as a mobile spawnpoint.
If the APC has a driver, you can spawn. Otherwise, you can't

Just an idea

Posted: 2007-07-07 22:24
by daranz
hall0 wrote:Sry must disagree i dont think this is a good idea. Because the APC are the only Spawnpoints where the whole team can spawn and if you reach 0 the apc is just a small tank like in BF2.
It would be more like the battle bus it is in real life. Right now, people mainly use choppers and jeeps to get to the frontlines. APCs, on the other hand, are rarely used for transportation the same way choppers are (ie, with a dedicated crew shuttling troops to the front), and nobody really wants them to be used the way jeeps are (abandoned after reaching frontlines). In real life, APCs are used to deliver mechanized infantry units to the front. I guess having a spawnpoint on the APC encourages the APC to remain there and support advancing troops, like it would do in real life, but for the most part, APCs are underused when it comes to transportation.
Posted: 2007-07-08 01:51
by Masaq
Many people now see the APC as a mobile, self-defending spawnpoint. Some even drive it to a location and get out, then promptly get killed - trapping the APC without a crewman in the middle of no-where and making it awkward to retrieve.
Just limiting the number of spawns available to APCs won't change that attitude from people, I don't think- unless making it so that people can only spawn on the APC when it's manned is possible?
Were that the case, people would be forced to remain in the APC in order to use it as a spawn location- and while people are manning the APC for spawning purposes, well- they might as well actually do something useful and transport people mightn't they?
(Had one obnoxious APC driver in my squad earlier today on Kashan. The git first drove off from South Village, leaving two squad members and the team's commander stranded. Later on, the entire squad save for him were at the North Bunker; he was moving up north along the central ridge. I requested he join us outside the NB once we finished capturing it and he point blank refused to transport us the 2k to the North Village. Got tired of having an Armored Personnel Carrier that wasn't carrying any personnel in the squad, so I kicked him and locked the squad. At that time, the team had the squad bug, with all three of our squads on 6/6. Had he had to respawn he'd've had 90 seconds to pray for a spot in a squad to open before he got by the server; sadly the round ended before he died. Be advised - "Storm | MamboTed" is a **** driver.)
Posted: 2007-07-08 01:58
by daranz
I don't really see that many crewmen running about after abandoning APCs, to be honest.
Perhaps the thing about APCs in PR is that they don't really make you feel safer. Whether I'm in a jeep or in an APC, I always feel like an RPG magnet, about to be burned alive together with 6 other people. APCs are supposed to provide the kind of protection that a truck won't offer in real life. Yet, in game, they're big targets, and also very valuable.
Posted: 2007-07-08 02:11
by Lange
This is a great idea too often I see people driving APCs to the front, parking them between buildings and such and running off. For 1 its a pain that the APC isn't doing something more usefull,(like supporting squads to capture/defend bases and cover them). For 2 when people do that the APCS are easily destroyed, putting a hit on the teams progress altogether. So yeah making APCs only spawnable as only as they are manned is a great idea, and would hault that(park and leave ****) many players do.
I'd say it has to be manned with at least 2 crewman to be spawnable(driver and gunner) to encourage the crew to do something effective to help the team.
As for the limited spawn count sounds good to me. Would encourage more awareness anyhow, going back to a friendly base to restore spawn points is a good idea. Maybe make it so APC spawn counts are displayed in the game messages section of the screen or have a new ammo counter? Once depleted a message could come up in the top of the screen saying(apc spawn depleted) to the driver. Maybe. Just some ideas here to add to this idea
Posted: 2007-07-08 02:19
by Heliocentric
heres my idea of how it would be shown, locked to the icon (moving with the icon) a little bit of text, say in green indicating the number.
O12
(the O is the spawn point in that diagram)
But, its newbie unfriendly, so i've turned aginst the idea pr must be acessible. yet it only encourages freighting with the apc, but also encourages abandoning or suiciding the apc (a depleted apc is useless but a destroyed one will repawn).
Posted: 2007-07-08 02:26
by Lange
Heliocentric wrote:heres my idea of how it would be shown, locked to the icon (moving with the icon) a little bit of text, say in green indicating the number.
O12
(the O is the spawn point in that diagram)
But, its newbie unfriendly, so i've turned aginst the idea pr must be acessible. yet it only encourages freighting with the apc, but also encourages abandoning or suiciding the apc (a depleted apc is useless but a destroyed one will repawn).
Then there comes the idea of having your spawn counter refilled up at a friendly flag, so its not useless. I've seen suggestions of having people be penalized if they destroy friendly vehicles. If that was implimented it would discourage suiciding(but only if it was). Plus when you have a APC on the frontlines you don't want to suicide it and make the hassle of going clear back to your main base to get a new one do you?
Posted: 2007-07-08 11:58
by TheParadoX
I don't like the idea of the counter. Even it sounds encouraging, no one will give a shit once the counter has reached 0. No-on will be wanting to get the APC back to base and reload, everyone prefers action.
Therefore I prefer the idea of spawning only possible when the APC is manned with a crewman (which can only be requested at a flag or rallypoint, not an APC). That way, it will simulate the fact that this particular APC is still in use and active.
I don't know if it's possible with the BF2 engine, though