Project Reality Forums

Hey guys,
First of all I have enjoyed and appreciated the PR mod for several years, until recently. Just prior to the latest release a mate and I like clockwork would play PR every Friday night on one of the Bigdy servers. So me and my mate jump on this one night, I cant remember which map but we spawned, we looked for a vehicle...none, so we started running/walking towards where the battle was. A vehicle was heading our way...its a tank, keep walking....another tank, still walking...you get the picture. I started spamming for a vehicle drop, nothing?!?!? It took us 15-20 minutes to walk/run to the action, we take cover before peeking around the corner to get an idea of whats ahead and a sniper on the hill gets me with one shot.

So I just wasted 15-20 of my life that I cant get back, am I going to do that again? No. Why? Because it wasnt fun....!!!

Now Iam not whining about the mod, its great and I have had hours of enjoyment but what I am miffed about is the size of maps and lack of transport. Maybe we got a bad map... maybe there were too many a-holes in the server and didnt want to play as a team, maybe.....?????

That incident has turned both of us off PR, we havent played since then and we dont have any desire to do so because of the bad taste that was left after that game. Now the regulars will probably say you need big maps, more realistic, atmoshere, etc. But is it getting to the stage where its no longer fun??

I would appreciate your thoughts...

Anyway, cheers everyone.

I guess we've come to a stage where:

The bigger the map = more distance between action
More distant the action = more transport needed to make it there in a resonable length of time
same amount of transport as normal / bad management = people walking to the action

And people walking for long lengths of time to get to the action is NOT realistic, OR 'fun' as people say it. Infact it is very frustratng, which is why I believe we've come to the limit of size the maps should be. NOT for realistic reasons, but for practical and overal 'fun' reasons. Because this is only just a game isn't it?

The lack of ground transport on some maps has been a problem I have had to deal with since the update as well. All too often I open the map view to see supply trucks or light vehicles just rotting away out in the middle of nowhere. Usually it's because some squad decided to use it as a one-way ticket into the battlefield without thinking about what will happen once they abandon it.

A lot of the time I see one of the few humvees driven off full of people (or even a lone driver), only to have the occupants either get out and leave it there or get shot up while driving and the enemy not totally destroying the unmanned vehicle. Due to longer (and more realistic) vehicle down times, this means the said vehicle will not respawn at its original location until that one is destroyed. I have even seen this happen with a lot of APC's and even tanks, where the crew was killed yet the vehicle remained undestroyed.

One solution to this problem is to add more transport vehicles. But the map designers might agree that this can lead to exploitation as well, because if you have too many vehicles on a good server it will be overused. Another solution is to reduce the time delay that vehicles will sit abandoned before self-destructing, which in turn reduces the realism a bit and can cause issues with people using them correctly (such as scout/recon teams).

Another solution, which I see most fit, is for those ******** to think first before just cruising off in a vehicle. If you plan to fight on foot, have another crew drop you off at your location. Create a transport squad and those players should operate just like transport helos, giving rides to the ground troops and then RTB for the next load. Or they can sit on-call and wait for a pickup order. If there aren't enough players on the map, or a couple of players willing to spend the round playing taxi driver, then have the courtesy to destroy any abandoned vehicles. Blow it with grenades, C4, or what ever you have. Many might argue that doing so will give your position away, but when you think about it, most enemy units can hear a vehicle coming from a good distance and will be watching the area where they heard it stop. This is a dead sign that the enemy has dismounted the vehicle and are around that area.

If absolutely necessary, mark the vehicle for CAS, so air assets can destroy it. Although this leads to a negative score, it's better to destroy it and let your team advance eaiser than to let it rot and your team lose because not enough ground troops were able to advance to the front lines in time. Besides, who really looks at score anyways?

And for all you numbnuts who keep taking off in the support trucks, knock that **** off! Ask first before using them, as they are vital to the success of your team. Make sure the commander and SL's do not need them at their locations for building assets, assets which might make or break your defense/offense. Make sure those trucks aren't needed to make supply runs out to a distant armor squad. Get my point? Those are NOT frontline transports, those are rear-area support units that should be used as transports ONLY when the area is clear and building orders are no longer required. I have a standing order than anyone trying to take a supply truck without proper clearance WILL BE SHOT. And I will nuke the damn truck if necessary.

I think the problem is usually connected to the commander not building bunkers, or SL not building rally points. That's really the strength of this mod if you think about it, the fact that you need to work together if you want to have fun and win, that's what promotes teamwork.

Anyway, I don't think you should abandon a mod that you've enjoyed for hours, just because you had 15 minutes of bad experience. You're bound to have a few rounds you don't like in any game.

Thyreus wrote:Anyway, I don't think you should abandon a mod that you've enjoyed for hours, just because you had 15 minutes of bad experience. You're bound to have a few rounds you don't like in any game.

Aye, I've had my share of bad rounds also. You win some; you lose some; it's never going to be perfect. I hope you give it another try.

Ninja2dan wrote:
Blow it with grenades, C4, or what ever you have. Many might argue that doing so will give your position away, but when you think about it, most enemy units can hear a vehicle coming from a good distance and will be watching the area where they heard it stop. This is a dead sign that the enemy has dismounted the vehicle and are around that area.

Yea, i got banned on a server for that (i think, i got a msg like that when i try to join "you have been kicked from the server admin decision" balbalbala) I think its a tacticalgamer.com's server.

Anyway, it was on kashan desert (yea its a painfull map pwhen no vehicle ), i end up alone at the bunker, all team mate got killed but me. There was 2 hummer in the bunker, so i blow them up, thinking they will repop in main base quickly and then ppl will be able to use it to come back to me.
Negative score --> you have been kicked admin decision for negative score or team killing or something like that.

SO no way that i will do that again.

PS : sorry for tactical gamers if its not on their server, i cant remember, really. I will edit when i try to join that server again

I think everyone gets that message on tacticalgamer when the server is filled up to the two last slots or something. It's probably got to do with how the reserved slots are set up.

Freelance_Commando wrote: And people walking for long lengths of time to get to the action is NOT realistic

Boy you would hate the Corps specially scouts recon, we never got rides specially in Afghanistan. One week patrol in the mountains for 5 hours of light combat shit was miserable.

Theres a difference between patrolling and being on the scene of an active battle...

Big maps = NEED DEDICATED VEHICLE SQUAD and a commander wouldn't hurt either for the coordination.

Also, if u and ur mate were traversing great distance on foot you need an RP.

Twas a bad experience mate, and I feel for ya but IRL- thats what is what happens when groundpounders are left out in the cold.

Reminds me of a round last night on TG. After a horrible start of having to deal with griefers on the carrier we finally get inland on Jabal and setup an rp. As we're setting up an ambush near the bridge we watch as a blackhawk lands and the pilot jumps out, changes kit at the rally they just made and walks off stranding the asset. Throw in a commander named "[SS]RudolfHess" who spawned the trailer and supply trucks on the carrier deck and it was a real wreck of a round. The only saving grace was a successful ambush on a loaded enemy command truck just before the round ended.

Sometimes it's crappy, that's just life. Find some people to work together with and it'll make your rounds a whole lot better.

Razick wrote:Boy you would hate the Corps specially scouts recon, we never got rides specially in Afghanistan. One week patrol in the mountains for 5 hours of light combat shit was miserable.

A-stan and Iraq, apples to oranges, usually. Humping around a map like, say, Al Basrah can be profoundly boring and makes little sense given the objective. Now granted, bored out of your mind is quite realistic, but it is after all a game, the idea is to find some enjoyment out of it. Hell a latrine digging sim might be realistic too, but that doesn't mean someone wants to play it. Having a good squad can usually mitigate the "aw geez not again" factor of walking all the way there.

That said, however, on the hilly and wooded maps walking is a different matter. I don't know if it's because they're smaller, or the closer nature of fighting among the trees, but on maps like Fool's Road I've been in squads that have had to hump across the map multiple times, and not been bored.

RPs are a must. dont travel a few thousand meters without dropping them often (i drop RPs every couple hundred meters as i am traveling long distances on foot). also...firebases spawn transport vehicles. some of the huge maps need firebases set up immediately in a lot of cases.

and is it really that big of a deal to have to walk? as long as your squad keeps RPs active and stays in the action for extended periods of time, the occassional 10 minute restart after your squad has been wiped out isnt *that* annoying. being able to send a squad back to square one is one of the best things about .7. you can actually remove squads from the battlefield now.

so, this is only a problem when squads arent doing what they need to do (RPs, firebases and bunkers). my squads have stayed in the action (or in position) for entire rounds .7, but it takes work. RPs cant be put 100-200m from a flag cause they *will* be destroyed when the shit gets thick (i like to keep my RPs 400m+ from the position i want my squad in). RPs must be defended and if the action gets too close to the RP, it needs to be moved back from front.

instead of looking at the flags and figuring out where to attack, look at the map and figure out the best territory to hold. you may have some downtime while defending (sometimes a lot) but you'll do a lot for the team and you'll be in the right position for when the action actually starts.

Thanks guys for your thoughts.....
RP's are great ONLY if you have the teammates. At the time my mate & I had started our own squad, with only 2 people it wouldnt let me place a RP. If you have the minimum 4 (I think)the team have to be close by.
I think the 2 biggest issue's that resulted in the bad game were the vast size of the desert map & no commander. The no commander isnt a PR flaw as we all know, even if there is a commander he could ruin the game because he is a *sshat. But the vast maps are a PR issue, and can be fixed with more vehicles, not being penalised for destroying a vehicle so it re-spawns. Its probably not possible because of hard coding but what about letting a squad leader have a vehicle drop, and not rely on the commander. He can have one drop every 10-15 minutes, minimum 2 in squad????
I think time will heal all boring games, and one day I will download the latest version and give it another try. I still visit the forums to catch up on all the news, but at this stage the realism of travelling long distances to die without seeing/shooting the enemy is taking the "Fun Factor" out of this great mod.
Its funny that the previous week me & my mate played TF2 then jumped into PR, we built up a squad of about 8 guys and we all had the game of our life. Working as a team, and after the frantic pace of TF2, PR was like playing in slow motion. We won every battle, when we approached a target I would place a PR, we covered each other, talked, joked....its was the best PR game I have ever had.....I tasted both ends of the spectrom in the space of 7 days...best & worst. Unfortunately worst was the last, bitter game....
Cheers

I'd say it was a bad experience and that happens *hell some games nothing goes right*
The other night on Kashan Desert playing as US I joined and no squads to join so I created my own.. Anyways the main battling was over the Bunkers, no fire bases anywhere and as a few guys joined my squad do you think I could get a rally down NO every chopper insert was either destroyed or dropped infront of tanks or I was shot out mid flight 3 times while my entire squad survived the insertion...

Moral is It happens and when you join halfway through a game its bound to happen more so... Pity your not stillplaying cause we are getting some good numbers on the bD servers lately.

Ninja2dan wrote:And for all you numbnuts who keep taking off in the support trucks, knock that **** off! Ask first before using them, as they are vital to the success of your team. Make sure the commander and SL's do not need them at their locations for building assets, assets which might make or break your defense/offense. Make sure those trucks aren't needed to make supply runs out to a distant armor squad. Get my point? Those are NOT frontline transports, those are rear-area support units that should be used as transports ONLY when the area is clear and building orders are no longer required. I have a standing order than anyone trying to take a supply truck without proper clearance WILL BE SHOT. And I will nuke the damn truck if necessary.

However, there inlies a problem. Because normal transport vehicles have been removed, support trucks are the only thing to transport a squad other than an APC, and those a rarely available and even more rarely used as troop carriers.

I say bring back the hummers and vodniks, and this problem may be lessened.

Sounds like you should play more regular bf2 instead of PR

If you think this is bad, you should try WWIIOL.

Personally I have yet to play a game of PR where I had to walk so much that I got tired of it. Usually there's just a maximum of 600 meters to the fighting.