Project Reality Forums

Yet another FABULOUS suggestion brought to you byyyyyy... SADIST_CAIN!!!!!

You will all hate me You will all cry about Situational awareness and so forth and you will all talk about how this will never work in public servers and will "ruin gameplay" And I will not care

Right now we have a heads up version of what is probably the best and fastest working magnetic compass I've ever seen.

What I would love and am wondering is whether the compass overlay can be...

1. turned into a proper rotating needle style of compass
2. is it also possible for this needle to wobble as it fixes the correct angle for north (pick up a real compass youll see what I mean)
3. Make this compass overlay only visible when you bring the map up (most important)

Armour solution

already thought about how this can cause issues for the fast aquisition of targets for armoured units

the symbol where one can see the turrets rotation in accordance with the hull, implement a clockface around it

this way tank drivers can call out a direction (since they know where they're facing {12 o'clock} if they don't that driver worries me...)
Target, AA, 3 o'clock!
*Gunner glances at where his barral is currently looking, can then swing around and fix the line of 3 o'clock on the display*


Now infantry, this is where the solution would be a bonus for teamplay...

Right now squadmembers can feel "safe in roaming towards a move marker in their own fashion, I always try to get my squad in a formation when moving to target, however (in accordance to the map) each guy easily knows exactly where he's going and facing)
without their own compass if a squad moves TOGETHER in sync and all are facing the same way then a "clock system" would be the best way to locate targets (as it is now with real military forces)

Scenario 1

A squad is mvoing together towards their objective, spread out in a wide formation.
Rifle shots start firing upon the squad.
A squadmember shouts out "HOSTILE FIRING ON US FROM 4 O'CLOCK!!!"
the squad who are moving together quickly get an idea from where the shots are coming from and face roughly in that direction and start searching and opening fire

Scenario 2

A squad is ambling their way towards a marker, uber fellows of course can go their own way because they know better
Rifle shots are fired
The squadleader calls out "SHOTS FIRED COMING FROM 1O O'CLOCK!!!
The chaps who aren't working with the squad have no idea what's going on or from where frantic running around ensues, the squad becomes disorganised and divided and can no longer function as an effective cohesive unit

Temporary Move Markers

So now (and I do it all the time) a squadleader can quickly and easily put down a marker for where he wants the squad to fire on, quick and easy syncronisation

A move marker can go down so everyone can look and know exactly where to go by just following that

My idea is two fold Firstly remove the line on the map drawn from your squad to the marker on the map, just so you have to look a lil bit more and be more involved

Secondly the marker on the 3D map make last for only a few seconds e.g. 10 seconds

You wanna move somewhere so the squad needs to stop and all check maps, check the compass bearing and look for land features which theyll have to follow in order to stay on target.
A Squadleader can place a move marker which will last ten seconds whereby the squad can start moving towards the marker to get an idea where they're going.
Under fire? a marker can go down to show for a few seconds where the SL *thinks* shots are coming from.
There is no "Pointing" in PR so this system can simulate an SL pointing to where he wants the squad to move, shot etc etc

The standard marker (no line) on the map will be more of a way of showing where to defend, attack or move to etc As opposed to being an instant "flare" to show where you should always look at or walk to etc

big benefits can come from these two suggestions, I for one like the thought of being on fools road and feeling "lost"... Not knowing exactly where I'm going (east, west etc.) Using the current compass I still get the feeling that I'm using a minimap and knowing exactly where im going from a top down view


Lastly I would like it if I cant see other squads on the map but that's for another thread

Thankyous for reading, I hope a Dev comes across this and gives me their feedback on the thoughts I've put down here and I hope you dudes can appriciate the "scared" feel that something like this could bring and hopefully as a result bring squads together

The day you invent a way for me to be able to point at the bad guy and have my SL be able to look at me and hear me like he would in real life, I'm all for this suggestion, but until that happens, no. Besides, it could be a digital one and therefore near instantaneous telling of direction.

how's about temp attack markers popping up with contact report for SMs? (SLs lasts 10 secs) They could just be an attack marker on the 3d map and be shown for 5 seconds and act exactly the same as current attack markers do for SLs (except for the time limit)

You actually worry me that you have these ideas at 4am :S

Like the temp attack marker one but dont really think the armour one would make much difference...

Cain errr if all members of your 'formation' squad are facing the same way you have some serious issues! They should be facing in different directions.

And this is set in the near future or present.. dial magnetic compass are not the norm. Be a nice idea for a WW2 mod.

Clock bearings in armour work well, however with squads it soon leads to chaos, and compass bearings are far better.

In regards to 3D markers.. the idea sounds good, but the needs of CAS and infantry need to be addressed.

Personally i turn my 3D markers on and off the whole time.. SL gives and order.. i turn it on, get my barring, then turn it off and do my thing.

Cain you know I can never be arsed reading all your wonderful missives.

Please summarise by means of a pie chart

Here you are;

You know this idea somewhat existed in BF2. The temporary attack markers? Cain hun we called it the spotting system. Something that lasts on the screen for a few moments to help show the squad direction the only difference would be transferring it on screen instead of on mini=map si?

No, the spotting system made the guy show up on the map as if he were a friendly and you could track his movements using the map, even see which direction he was facing...

An attack marker on a general area simulates much better someone pointing than the BF2 system.

Oh and:

I hate you. What about my situational awareness, how will i know where I am and where I'm going?! This will never work on public servers. It'll ruin game play.

i like how this thread has been butt raped by t&t

epoch i thought you was in to bar charts now?

iGi invasion!

I agree with it all apart from the temp movemarkers, I think the marker thing is overcomplicating it all without really benefiting the game

good suggestion, makes the battlefield harsh and more realistic.

Good suggestion, the SLs need a new system of marks, though we have adapted well the one that exists today.

well with another glance over i fully support said suggestion/action

The tank idea is good, seems far more realistic and would help alot with gunning.

Not a great fan of the others however particularly the temp move markers.
The temp markers because rather than getting the results you want for this Cain you will just get squadleaders just repeatedly replacing them. Also players will still run off and not stay in formation move marker or not. They won't need to check bearings and map markers and landmarks simply because more often than not the players know their way around anyway. For example how many players, apart from newbies, have trouble with finding their way around Basra nowadays?

I partly support the compass one really, points 1+2 just seems a little pointless to me.... I wouldn't mind the idea of the compass only on the map however but again still seems a bit pointless for the amount of difference it would actually make.

Armour solution: Sounds like Red Orchestra however i still find the compass useful, the driver and gunner and both next to each other, so the driver will rounghly be looking at the same compass as the gunner, which means that, for example, the driver spots a target North 060 degrees, the gunner will see it at roughly that exact position.

Temporary markers: i still think the the mnarkers that are ingame are sufficient to do there task.

In summary, if it aint broke, dont fix it

Out of the question the current system works, but some way (not necessarily markers) to make spotting/updating on enemys faster and easier imo could clear the squad channel a bit for coordinating tactical moves...

hm, the more i am thinking of it it could as well be solved by increased situational awareness and maybe there even shouldnt be any changes at all - with less need for situational awareness there could arise a "run for the marker mentality" and i believe noone wants this.

well of course the current system "works" it just works a touch to well, the compass reacts instantly and you know EXACTLY where you're facing in the "world" to the EXACT degree out of 360 degrees of rotation all the time, you can't get disorientated or confused at all because you ALWAYS know where youre facing

Sadist_Cain wrote:well of course the current system "works" it just works a touch to well, the compass reacts instantly and you know EXACTLY where you're facing in the "world" to the EXACT degree out of 360 degrees of rotation all the time, you can't get disorientated or confused at all because you ALWAYS know where youre facing

Digital Compass mounted on your contact lenses obviously.

For vehichles the current compass system is perfectly realistic, and practical, GPS will tell you exactly which way you're looking

MadTommy wrote:Cain errr if all members of your 'formation' squad are facing the same way you have some serious issues! They should be facing in different directions.

And this is set in the near future or present.. dial magnetic compass are not the norm. Be a nice idea for a WW2 mod.

Clock bearings in armour work well, however with squads it soon leads to chaos, and compass bearings are far better.

In regards to 3D markers.. the idea sounds good, but the needs of CAS and infantry need to be addressed.

Personally i turn my 3D markers on and off the whole time.. SL gives and order.. i turn it on, get my barring, then turn it off and do my thing.

I agree with Madtommy here. I tend to play in the same way - I think myself lucky if in a public server i get "Contact building 130 degrees enemy AT soldier" anything that stops that potential for quick fire comms i don't think is welcome.

What the compass and the contact reports do, is give an organised squad with VOIP a big edge in squad-directed fire against a disorganised or non voip squad. Its why i wrote all that voip guide stuff, and why i play the game.

Sadist, i think your idea would be great in a WW2 mod, but with more electronic aids coming in all the time i don't see a problem with the realism of a floating electronic compass. It was for me the best situational awareness tool that finally put the nail in the coffin for the hateful minimap.