0.3 first impressions - my thoughts (detailed), suggestions...
Posted: 2006-05-22 05:42
First I want to say that I love the idea behind PR. I was very excited to hear about some of the ideas (especially extraction). I like organized team play with good communication and PR tends to foster that. However, there are a few things that I feel will hamper the growth and success of PR. These are minor (and some major) suggestions and things I noticed on pubs. I’m taking my time to write detailed suggestions/critiques because I really want this mod to be the best it can be. Yes I know the load screen shows the map but a secondary solution is so much easier and clear I dont see why its not made. Remember people may be deciding if they like the mod or not based on their first 25-30min of play.
1. On AAS maps you can sometimes get confused on which target to hit next. They zigzag back and forth and unless you have played it a lot you can get confused. Now I know this is a noob mistake and some will say it’s not an issue, but for a NEW PLAYER checking out PR it can be a source of confusion. If your commander is aware of this and always places an “attack here” icon in the target that’s next it helps – this is always the case though. Simply adding a number or a letter (A, B, C) to the target names to show order. This would really help out with disorientation on pubs. A player should be able to plop down in the middle of action and know EXACTLY what mode is being played and/or exactly what Target is next in order. This is a MUST for this mod to get going faster. I noticed it went much smoother in AAS on small Oman because it was very easy and clear cut to tell which was next because they didn’t jump around so much.
2. Extraction – this was probably the biggest letdown in the mod. I don’t know how many of you guys played quake Team Fortress or TFC (hell even CS had VIP maps that I liked) but The Hunted President/VIP maps were fun as hell. Getting a VIP from point A to B in BF2 sounded like a blast. Sadly, it fell apart on a pub server and hardly had any order. There was little mic communication and it broke down to everyone camping the bottleneck on Karkand just before reaching the safe point. The reason why Hunted Pres worked well is because everyone knew it was a choice of 3 or maybe 4 routes. You had at least 2 routes w/ no bottlenecks. The offense and defense could stake out positions and go from there. In this incarnation it just gets real confused and breaks down. Half of the team was dead before they even got close to the Hotel on Karkand. Hell, you were lucky to make it across the river. You can gaurd bridge and water with 1 AT kit. It doesn’t have to be like this and Extraction has potential to be the coolest thing in PR. The VIP team's (only this side) commander should be able to call out (highlight) enemies on his map. This is the only way to balance it a little. This way the VIP can change course and protection can react. As it is with 1 AT hit the SUV blows and its VERY hard (impossible) when playing decent people. Everyone should spawn together in one spot with VIP and 1 player should literally be the VIP (like in TF). A random VIP is auto selected from the team each round. Then there should be 1 more spawn toward the middle of the map. This way you can either setup proactive defense or choose to travel along with the VIP.The VIP can get out and go on foot but he’s limited to very slow (walk) speed and can hardly take any damage. He could have a handgun with 1 clip or nothing. He can bail out of the SUV just before it explodes and try to escape on foot (slim chance unless hes super close). He can also get into a hummer/jeep but he cant gun or get into anything else. This way its more dynamic than just blowing an SUV. The driver of the SUV vehicle only should also be able to use 3rd person camera view so he can see people running up behind the car. You are pretty much blind in a vehicle first person. But ONLY the SUV driver has this ability. Enemy (non VIP) snipers should be able to use the M95 so they can penetrate glass and kill the VIP. This mode needs work but it could be VERY fun and cool with some focused changes and a decent map designed for it. As it is we are seeing only about 30% potential of what this mode could be. If extraction is done right it will be the most popular thing since sliced bread. In the dying stages of TF hunted president maps were always a fan favorite. This could be amazing and honestly its the part that excites me most about PR.
3. SO - This was very chaotic on a pub with some new people. Large Single Objective maps are boring and slow. Everyone tends to stay around their targets defending or else attacking and a huge map is just pointless. I recently played on a full size Oman SO map and it was a joke. New players were capping flags and so on. This ties in with #1. The mode and targets should be easy to figure out in-game. Perhaps it could be added to the map. In SO I dont even think there should be more capture points. Just 1 for each team thats close to base parhaps. And then another home spawn with vehicles and their targets (the objectives) - a main base if you will. The only way SO can be cool is if the maps are medium to small and the action is intense. Strong Defense should be the key to this. In SO the amount of C4 hits should be reduced. If a team is half decent its very easy to stop spec ops from planting c4 with 3-4 defenders. They will be lucky to get to it once let alone multiple times. I’m not sure what the damage breaks down to but a spec op was bitching because he planted 2 or 3 c4 and it didn’t blow. If they get through your defense twice and plant you should lose. Again, when I was playing on the pub half the people didn’t know wtf was going on. You should have 1 spawn point at your base (with your targets). Like if it was CTF. Then you can attack or defend. Again, maps need to be smaller and more simple for intense action.
4. Bring back kill messages. I understand this mod is about reducing the "me" and focusing more on the team. Its not about personal accomplishments but team strategy and objectives. If so then why even bother with the ABR stats then? I still don’t feel that simply showing who killed you or who you killed hurts this ideal. There is already so many things that are done to change the idea of the game to a more team focused one. I like to know who keeps owning me. I also like to see when I kill someone. If someone takes the time to download PR and play it they know what its goal is anyway. All the other changes help focus the objective away from massive point whoring and a "me" mentality. I don’t think bringing back kill messages will suddenly make people go rogue. I understand it’s also about REALISM but this is just one of those things that makes it less fun IMO. Its not realistic but I think its one thing that should stay. It’s so impersonal when you don’t know who you killed or who killed you. It sort of takes the fun out a well planned attack or a neat move that makes the victim say “woah who was that”. If you kill 4 people in a row its nice for your teammates to also know you are doing a good job.
5. Bring back crosshairs - I know this is a touchy one. Some weapons are much easier to aim and line up the iron sights. Others have obtrusive (block view) or difficult sites that are hard to line up and judge well. The whole idea is balance but in truth its not balanced at all. The design of some sights are just much easier to use in the heat of battle than others. The MEC AK seems to be particularly crappy while a support weapon (maybe it was the US) was a breeze to line up. If some weapons are easier to aim and line up then what’s the point of all the other balancing that’s been done. Again, I know this is about realism. But this is just 1 thing that should stay. You can only take realism so far before it hurts gameplay. I like ALL of the realism features with the exception of kill messages and crosshairs. A lot of players will be turned off by no crosshairs. It’s going to slow this mods acceptance down a lot. If they were all equally easy to aim with then I would say fine, learn to use them. This just isnt the case in my opinion.
6. Sniper – the sniper class is pretty much neutered in BF2. When you have to hit someone twice to kill them it pretty much renders you useless. IMO, each side (MEC, US..etc) should have a sniper kit with a slow, bolt action 1 shot 1 kill (anywhere in the torso) sniper weapon. I know there are head shots but its pretty hard to head shot a sprinting target in the heat of battle. This would actually make the sniper useful and he can actually pose and offensive or defensive threat. I don’t feel that it would be overpowering as its still fairly hard to hit a moving target. A way to BALANCE this would be to make it impossible for a sniper to Scope Zoom when standing or crouching - only when prone. If you want to talk about realism in real life a sniper hardly ever makes a standing/crouched shot and his aim is less accurate if he does. This would help balance issues and improve realism all around. IRL if you get hit with a sniper round in the chest you arent going to keep running. If after a few weeks it was blatantly obvious to everyone (even sniper fans) that it was too powerful and balance was an issue it could be changed back. Personally, I don’t think this will happen if the proper balances are in place. It will just bring the Sniper up to the level of Assault or Support in deadliness. AT THE VERY LEAST sniper weapons (once balanced to bolt action on every team) should do like 95% damage to a player. This way you can at least kill someone with 1 shot if they don’t have full health. Lets be real, a 2 shot sniper is a joke on a server with skilled players. Hardly anyone plays it (except noobs) and if they do they seem pretty benign in terms of affecting outscomes. Its only an overplayed class on pubs with noobs. In real games there may be a few but the major workhorse players are using Assault/Support/Medic. Ya a sniper could be annoying but hes not changing the outcome of a game as much as Assault/Support will. Another neat idea is that once in SCOPE view in a night map your vision is enhanced even more so than normal NV goggles. The scope should be brighter and slightly clearer than the standard NV head units. This would make the sniper a vital SCOUT on night maps and add more realism. Snipers should also have parachutes along with specOps. This way you can jump out of a passing heli onto a roof or a remote location. Imo the parachute is more vital to a sniper than a specOp. They are dropped in remote locations by fly overs in real life. Disable its use for small height free jumps so it cant be abused for jumping off buildings (same for specOp).
These are just a few things that I feel would enhance the gameplay and make it slightly more “mainstream” friendly. If we want it to get very popular with tons of great servers then a few of these changes need to happen. I know multiple people who wont play because they cant stand not being able to aim the iron sights. If it were even on all guns that’s one thing, but its not. In terms of realism I LOVE all the other tweaks and changes that have been made. Its very well thought out. I just feel that there is a fine line in realism and once you go to far you degrade some of the fun factor. This mod should bring more realism while also IMPROVING upon the original game. Sometimes I think the "realism" factor may outweigh the fun factor in some of the dev's eyes. This mod is great and there are many hardcore fans and clans that love it already. But thats a small percentage of BF2 players. This thing deserves to gain massive acceptance and popularity.
I don’t mean to sound like I’m slamming PR. I think its great but it needs a lot of work. When your average joe bloe players jump on a server hes likely to feel like he's just been limited by the new changes rather than having new/neat things added. Most of the changes are simple realism limitations rather than new or exciting content/gameply ideas. You feel limited but it’s still worth it for the realism and gameplay enhancement. I just think a couple minor things should be brought back. I would like to see some of the unlock weapons brought into the game as long as everything is balanced out properly. They may need to be tweaked in order to do this. Some of the unlocks have much better iron sights. I just feel that many players will feel like all the mod did was limit them rather than offer things above and beyond vanilla BF2. Adding new weapons options (for everyone) can be done without totally screwing balance issues. If some of these things aren’t done I don’t think the mod will gain the acceptance it needs to become successful.
Otherwise, great work PR team. We all appreciate your time and dedication and you are improving on a game we all love. I look forward to seeing the mod evolve and grow. Even if none of these changes happen I will still play. I just feel the MOD would be a LOT more fun with a few of these. Of the things I mentioned #2 and #6 seem most important. I can live with some or none of the above suggestions but I do think it would improve gameply and the "fun" factor. Realism is not always > fun.
whew!
Update: I just thought of this one. ABR - WHY!?! We are dealing with wasted bandwidth and LONG end round waits (10min+ on gloryhoundz!) for simple stats. But why? Its already been stated there are no unlocks and its just for simple stats. This mod tries to support the "we" instead of "me" yet this goes directly against that. Even if a few awards are created/assigned is it REALLY worth it? Who fucking cares how many points you have accumulated. If we want the FOCUS to be gameplay, team objectives and strategy I say screw personal stats anyway. As for rank, if unlocks were eliminated to put everyone on equal ground than the same holds true here also.
Update 2: Health! I realize the health is for realism. What about the idea of a green, yellow, red indicator? That way you have some idea. Many times I dont know if I was hit by a sniper round or a single rifle round. At least knowing if you have a critical injury or a minor arm/leg wound would make a difference. IRL you would have SOME idea of how bad you are injured. Also the continuos "argh" sound when bleeding makes you think you are being attacked when you arent. Something else needs to be done here. Maybe a faster heartbeat or a visual signal.
Update 3: Squad Leader spawn bonus: One of the most important things a SL can do is hang back slightly, stay alive and let his team progress using him as a spawn. It is VITAL to the teams success that a good squad leader does this. Sometimes he doesnt get to go balls out in the action like others so that he serves his role. I suggest that when a SL gets 5+ spawns off him per lifetime (thats from death to death) he gets Bonus points. This is more incentive to serve the role and hang back to let your team strategically spawn closer to a target. We are awarding more points when you kill a SL so we might as well give a bonus for a good SL who advances his whole squad to the heart of action. This will be harder to achive in 1.3 as there is no squad hopping. I think 5+ spawns per lifetime seems to be a good number for a bonus. If he has less than a full squad he has to stay alive even longer to hit 5.
1. On AAS maps you can sometimes get confused on which target to hit next. They zigzag back and forth and unless you have played it a lot you can get confused. Now I know this is a noob mistake and some will say it’s not an issue, but for a NEW PLAYER checking out PR it can be a source of confusion. If your commander is aware of this and always places an “attack here” icon in the target that’s next it helps – this is always the case though. Simply adding a number or a letter (A, B, C) to the target names to show order. This would really help out with disorientation on pubs. A player should be able to plop down in the middle of action and know EXACTLY what mode is being played and/or exactly what Target is next in order. This is a MUST for this mod to get going faster. I noticed it went much smoother in AAS on small Oman because it was very easy and clear cut to tell which was next because they didn’t jump around so much.
2. Extraction – this was probably the biggest letdown in the mod. I don’t know how many of you guys played quake Team Fortress or TFC (hell even CS had VIP maps that I liked) but The Hunted President/VIP maps were fun as hell. Getting a VIP from point A to B in BF2 sounded like a blast. Sadly, it fell apart on a pub server and hardly had any order. There was little mic communication and it broke down to everyone camping the bottleneck on Karkand just before reaching the safe point. The reason why Hunted Pres worked well is because everyone knew it was a choice of 3 or maybe 4 routes. You had at least 2 routes w/ no bottlenecks. The offense and defense could stake out positions and go from there. In this incarnation it just gets real confused and breaks down. Half of the team was dead before they even got close to the Hotel on Karkand. Hell, you were lucky to make it across the river. You can gaurd bridge and water with 1 AT kit. It doesn’t have to be like this and Extraction has potential to be the coolest thing in PR. The VIP team's (only this side) commander should be able to call out (highlight) enemies on his map. This is the only way to balance it a little. This way the VIP can change course and protection can react. As it is with 1 AT hit the SUV blows and its VERY hard (impossible) when playing decent people. Everyone should spawn together in one spot with VIP and 1 player should literally be the VIP (like in TF). A random VIP is auto selected from the team each round. Then there should be 1 more spawn toward the middle of the map. This way you can either setup proactive defense or choose to travel along with the VIP.The VIP can get out and go on foot but he’s limited to very slow (walk) speed and can hardly take any damage. He could have a handgun with 1 clip or nothing. He can bail out of the SUV just before it explodes and try to escape on foot (slim chance unless hes super close). He can also get into a hummer/jeep but he cant gun or get into anything else. This way its more dynamic than just blowing an SUV. The driver of the SUV vehicle only should also be able to use 3rd person camera view so he can see people running up behind the car. You are pretty much blind in a vehicle first person. But ONLY the SUV driver has this ability. Enemy (non VIP) snipers should be able to use the M95 so they can penetrate glass and kill the VIP. This mode needs work but it could be VERY fun and cool with some focused changes and a decent map designed for it. As it is we are seeing only about 30% potential of what this mode could be. If extraction is done right it will be the most popular thing since sliced bread. In the dying stages of TF hunted president maps were always a fan favorite. This could be amazing and honestly its the part that excites me most about PR.
3. SO - This was very chaotic on a pub with some new people. Large Single Objective maps are boring and slow. Everyone tends to stay around their targets defending or else attacking and a huge map is just pointless. I recently played on a full size Oman SO map and it was a joke. New players were capping flags and so on. This ties in with #1. The mode and targets should be easy to figure out in-game. Perhaps it could be added to the map. In SO I dont even think there should be more capture points. Just 1 for each team thats close to base parhaps. And then another home spawn with vehicles and their targets (the objectives) - a main base if you will. The only way SO can be cool is if the maps are medium to small and the action is intense. Strong Defense should be the key to this. In SO the amount of C4 hits should be reduced. If a team is half decent its very easy to stop spec ops from planting c4 with 3-4 defenders. They will be lucky to get to it once let alone multiple times. I’m not sure what the damage breaks down to but a spec op was bitching because he planted 2 or 3 c4 and it didn’t blow. If they get through your defense twice and plant you should lose. Again, when I was playing on the pub half the people didn’t know wtf was going on. You should have 1 spawn point at your base (with your targets). Like if it was CTF. Then you can attack or defend. Again, maps need to be smaller and more simple for intense action.
4. Bring back kill messages. I understand this mod is about reducing the "me" and focusing more on the team. Its not about personal accomplishments but team strategy and objectives. If so then why even bother with the ABR stats then? I still don’t feel that simply showing who killed you or who you killed hurts this ideal. There is already so many things that are done to change the idea of the game to a more team focused one. I like to know who keeps owning me. I also like to see when I kill someone. If someone takes the time to download PR and play it they know what its goal is anyway. All the other changes help focus the objective away from massive point whoring and a "me" mentality. I don’t think bringing back kill messages will suddenly make people go rogue. I understand it’s also about REALISM but this is just one of those things that makes it less fun IMO. Its not realistic but I think its one thing that should stay. It’s so impersonal when you don’t know who you killed or who killed you. It sort of takes the fun out a well planned attack or a neat move that makes the victim say “woah who was that”. If you kill 4 people in a row its nice for your teammates to also know you are doing a good job.
5. Bring back crosshairs - I know this is a touchy one. Some weapons are much easier to aim and line up the iron sights. Others have obtrusive (block view) or difficult sites that are hard to line up and judge well. The whole idea is balance but in truth its not balanced at all. The design of some sights are just much easier to use in the heat of battle than others. The MEC AK seems to be particularly crappy while a support weapon (maybe it was the US) was a breeze to line up. If some weapons are easier to aim and line up then what’s the point of all the other balancing that’s been done. Again, I know this is about realism. But this is just 1 thing that should stay. You can only take realism so far before it hurts gameplay. I like ALL of the realism features with the exception of kill messages and crosshairs. A lot of players will be turned off by no crosshairs. It’s going to slow this mods acceptance down a lot. If they were all equally easy to aim with then I would say fine, learn to use them. This just isnt the case in my opinion.
6. Sniper – the sniper class is pretty much neutered in BF2. When you have to hit someone twice to kill them it pretty much renders you useless. IMO, each side (MEC, US..etc) should have a sniper kit with a slow, bolt action 1 shot 1 kill (anywhere in the torso) sniper weapon. I know there are head shots but its pretty hard to head shot a sprinting target in the heat of battle. This would actually make the sniper useful and he can actually pose and offensive or defensive threat. I don’t feel that it would be overpowering as its still fairly hard to hit a moving target. A way to BALANCE this would be to make it impossible for a sniper to Scope Zoom when standing or crouching - only when prone. If you want to talk about realism in real life a sniper hardly ever makes a standing/crouched shot and his aim is less accurate if he does. This would help balance issues and improve realism all around. IRL if you get hit with a sniper round in the chest you arent going to keep running. If after a few weeks it was blatantly obvious to everyone (even sniper fans) that it was too powerful and balance was an issue it could be changed back. Personally, I don’t think this will happen if the proper balances are in place. It will just bring the Sniper up to the level of Assault or Support in deadliness. AT THE VERY LEAST sniper weapons (once balanced to bolt action on every team) should do like 95% damage to a player. This way you can at least kill someone with 1 shot if they don’t have full health. Lets be real, a 2 shot sniper is a joke on a server with skilled players. Hardly anyone plays it (except noobs) and if they do they seem pretty benign in terms of affecting outscomes. Its only an overplayed class on pubs with noobs. In real games there may be a few but the major workhorse players are using Assault/Support/Medic. Ya a sniper could be annoying but hes not changing the outcome of a game as much as Assault/Support will. Another neat idea is that once in SCOPE view in a night map your vision is enhanced even more so than normal NV goggles. The scope should be brighter and slightly clearer than the standard NV head units. This would make the sniper a vital SCOUT on night maps and add more realism. Snipers should also have parachutes along with specOps. This way you can jump out of a passing heli onto a roof or a remote location. Imo the parachute is more vital to a sniper than a specOp. They are dropped in remote locations by fly overs in real life. Disable its use for small height free jumps so it cant be abused for jumping off buildings (same for specOp).
These are just a few things that I feel would enhance the gameplay and make it slightly more “mainstream” friendly. If we want it to get very popular with tons of great servers then a few of these changes need to happen. I know multiple people who wont play because they cant stand not being able to aim the iron sights. If it were even on all guns that’s one thing, but its not. In terms of realism I LOVE all the other tweaks and changes that have been made. Its very well thought out. I just feel that there is a fine line in realism and once you go to far you degrade some of the fun factor. This mod should bring more realism while also IMPROVING upon the original game. Sometimes I think the "realism" factor may outweigh the fun factor in some of the dev's eyes. This mod is great and there are many hardcore fans and clans that love it already. But thats a small percentage of BF2 players. This thing deserves to gain massive acceptance and popularity.
I don’t mean to sound like I’m slamming PR. I think its great but it needs a lot of work. When your average joe bloe players jump on a server hes likely to feel like he's just been limited by the new changes rather than having new/neat things added. Most of the changes are simple realism limitations rather than new or exciting content/gameply ideas. You feel limited but it’s still worth it for the realism and gameplay enhancement. I just think a couple minor things should be brought back. I would like to see some of the unlock weapons brought into the game as long as everything is balanced out properly. They may need to be tweaked in order to do this. Some of the unlocks have much better iron sights. I just feel that many players will feel like all the mod did was limit them rather than offer things above and beyond vanilla BF2. Adding new weapons options (for everyone) can be done without totally screwing balance issues. If some of these things aren’t done I don’t think the mod will gain the acceptance it needs to become successful.
Otherwise, great work PR team. We all appreciate your time and dedication and you are improving on a game we all love. I look forward to seeing the mod evolve and grow. Even if none of these changes happen I will still play. I just feel the MOD would be a LOT more fun with a few of these. Of the things I mentioned #2 and #6 seem most important. I can live with some or none of the above suggestions but I do think it would improve gameply and the "fun" factor. Realism is not always > fun.
whew!
Update: I just thought of this one. ABR - WHY!?! We are dealing with wasted bandwidth and LONG end round waits (10min+ on gloryhoundz!) for simple stats. But why? Its already been stated there are no unlocks and its just for simple stats. This mod tries to support the "we" instead of "me" yet this goes directly against that. Even if a few awards are created/assigned is it REALLY worth it? Who fucking cares how many points you have accumulated. If we want the FOCUS to be gameplay, team objectives and strategy I say screw personal stats anyway. As for rank, if unlocks were eliminated to put everyone on equal ground than the same holds true here also.
Update 2: Health! I realize the health is for realism. What about the idea of a green, yellow, red indicator? That way you have some idea. Many times I dont know if I was hit by a sniper round or a single rifle round. At least knowing if you have a critical injury or a minor arm/leg wound would make a difference. IRL you would have SOME idea of how bad you are injured. Also the continuos "argh" sound when bleeding makes you think you are being attacked when you arent. Something else needs to be done here. Maybe a faster heartbeat or a visual signal.
Update 3: Squad Leader spawn bonus: One of the most important things a SL can do is hang back slightly, stay alive and let his team progress using him as a spawn. It is VITAL to the teams success that a good squad leader does this. Sometimes he doesnt get to go balls out in the action like others so that he serves his role. I suggest that when a SL gets 5+ spawns off him per lifetime (thats from death to death) he gets Bonus points. This is more incentive to serve the role and hang back to let your team strategically spawn closer to a target. We are awarding more points when you kill a SL so we might as well give a bonus for a good SL who advances his whole squad to the heart of action. This will be harder to achive in 1.3 as there is no squad hopping. I think 5+ spawns per lifetime seems to be a good number for a bonus. If he has less than a full squad he has to stay alive even longer to hit 5.