Commander (CnC?)

[Tim270]

I was thinking about how the commander always feels like a undercooked idea in the mod, sure he has some useful tools, but its full capability has not been explored.

My understanding for the CnC game modes is there is a 'blank' map where each team is allowed up to 5 Fb's and if team x manages to kill team Y's fb's they win? or at least along those lines

So, from a command perspective its quite an interesting gamemode and I think it can be given further uniqueness through the commander.

Part 1
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Command starts with say 600 tickets (obviously depends on maps). This ticket pool is then used by the commander to 'buy' assets. I.e each vehicle has a timer on it for balance, so you cannot just buy ten tanks at the start of the round and the amounts of x vehicle on the field at any time is limited.

The ticket values might need to be tweaked from what they are now for this to work. This would allow forces to request what they need for the task at hand, if the team is getting beat up by enemy armour, SL's can request at base a tank or at vehicle to be bought if available.

What I envisage is somewhat similar to what is in *** now, vehicle-wise, but you are able to 'customise' what vehicles are allocated due to the task at hand.

This system allows the commander to, well take control of the team. This then gives the commander the decision to grant say armour squads the assets if he sees fit for its use at that time.


Pros - It allows battles to be individual, battles are unlikely to be all that similar.
- More emphasis on commanding/teamwork/coordination.
- More use of all parts of a map.

Cons- Could lead to too many vehicles being used at any time.
- Potential for whole battle to be ruined by a bad commander

Coding-wise I guess a space could be cleared at main and simply the vehicles are all spawned in the 'motor pool' area by the commander. (Im not sure how you would take away tickets for buying it though)

Part 2
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'Budget system'

This is similar to what you get in RTS games. Command has an income based on how many flags he is holding, this then allows you x amount of tickets every say 2-3 mins that you can 'spend' on assets.

[TheLean]

I think you have a winner here. It reminds me of Capture The Island mod for Operation Flashpoint. It should probably be its own gamemode and not CnC though since CnC is not really functioning that well right now (Building firebases in bad places etc). This could work togheter with a gamemode similar to AAS, where objectives needs to be captured in order. Of course we have to find a way to present the idea in realistic way. Instead of "buying" assets maybe use the word "requisit". The reinforcements could come from a "reinforcement pool" etc.

[maarit]

this is interesting.

[Lagsalot 56k]

Very interesting idea, but there are a lot of disadvantages to relying on one person to win the game.
I think it will cause many arguments in the game about which assets the commander shall acquire, and also that PR would become more of an RTS game for the commander.

[Llama8p]

I wouldn't mind that it would become more of an RTS game for the commander. Actually, that would be awesome and if the commander were useless, then there is always the option of mutiny.

[anglomanii]

not too bad..... might to work on the details, but well done.

[Excavus]

Command and Conquer in PR. One can dream.

[Teuvo]

I've been thinking exactly same game mode for PR. First time I played CnC style FPS gameplay was the Empires mod for BF1942 it was very innovative mod. Too bad there was engine limitations(CTD problems) with BF1942 and they moved to HL2. I don't know what happened to mod after that. I'd definetely like to see this kind of mode in PR!

[Tim270]

Yeah Empires for HL2 really is one of the best HL mods out there, teamwork-wise. I havent got around to playing the latest version but Ive always felt the mod had so much potential to be a game in its own right.

[Bellator]

Command and conquer style game play has one problem: It isnt at all realistic. In fact, its opposite of modern warfare.

Ever since Nazi Germany destroyed the combined armies of the British and the French, any modern army will first deploy its best, and therefore the most expensive, weapons and it will concentrate them together into a powerful army, rather than spread them thinly across many armies. The best are sent first and together. In CnC style gameplay, the first units to enter the battlefield are the least expensive and the least powerful units, and even then, they are deployed in very small numbers. In CnC style gameplay, its implied that a field commander must do something, during the battle, to "deserve" better units, rather than receiving them immediately when they would be the most use. And the idea of a progressively growing field army: which, during the battle, starts out small and then grows into an advanced and larger force, is contradictory to real life warfare.

[GrimSoldier]

I love this idea really because i like playing commander on insurgency with the UAV but adding a RTS concept to the game would be amazing.

[TheLean]

Command and conquer style game play has one problem: It isnt at all realistic. In fact, its opposite of modern warfare.

Ever since Nazi Germany destroyed the combined armies of the British and the French, any modern army will first deploy its best, and therefore the most expensive, weapons and it will concentrate them together into a powerful army, rather than spread them thinly across many armies. The best are sent first and together. In CnC style gameplay, the first units to enter the battlefield are the least expensive and the least powerful units, and even then, they are deployed in very small numbers. In CnC style gameplay, its implied that a field commander must do something, during the battle, to "deserve" better units, rather than receiving them immediately when they would be the most use. And the idea of a progressively growing field army: which, during the battle, starts out small and then grows into an advanced and larger force, is contradictory to real life warfare.

You are right that traditional RTS are not at all realistic, but we could give the commander access to heavy assets from the start. The commander can then request more units from the reserve. Having units in reserve is part of most military operations. They stay at the rear and are supposed to fill in the gaps where needed. If there is a massive war going on and many frontline commanders request more support, there would not be enough reserves to fill the holes. There might not be another unit closeby either. So thats why we could have a ticket system where a commander can request a limited number of reinforcements, and we can also have them spawn after a certian time. The military advisors should probably fill us in on whether the idea is realistic at all.