Field Commanding
Mouse
The Lighter Side of Pessimism Join Date: 2002-03-02 Member: 263Members, NS1 Playtester, Forum Moderators, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow
The Lighter Side of Pessimism Join Date: 2002-03-02 Member: 263Members, NS1 Playtester, Forum Moderators, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow
<div class="IPBDescription">Dan, heres a Turret Factory. Could you place some turrets for me?</div>One massive problem with Natural Selection is that learning to command is trapped behind a Catch 22:
The only way to get good at commanding is to spend time in the chair; the only way to get time in the chair is to be good at commanding.
Unless you have a skilled/considerate marine team supporting you, learning to command is a trial by fire. Simply because, short of reading a guide (*scoff*, who'd do a thing like that?) there's no real way to learn the tech tree/interface outside of the chair.
Hence, Field Commanding.
The idea being that Turret Factories, Armories, Prototype Labs etc. could be controlled locally via Commander Mode Lite. The Commander - too busy with other things - might grant a marine the ability to 'command' a nearby structure. That marine, could then use that structure (say, a turret factory) to take care of the micromanagement; placing turrets and such.
Within this Commander Mode Lite, the marine would be working with the same interface as the Commander, but he would only have access to the functions of the particular building he was commanding; with a Turret Factory, he could only drop turrets; with an Armory, he could only drop weapons; with a Med Lab(!), he could only drop medkits, etc. etc.. Importantly, this marine could only drop the items within the structure's usual range.
There are a few benefits that come from implementing Field Commanding. For one, it makes life less hectic for the Commander; because he can delegate the micromanagement to marines in the field, he has more time to focus on the marine game as a whole.
It also gives the marine who's Field Commanding an opportunity to become familiar with the Commander Mode interface in a relatively safe environment. So that if he does want to have a go at commanding an entire team one day, he's at least familiar with how to do things.
The issue of how to prevent the marine from overspending is an open one. A part of the problem is dealt with because only marines selected by the Commander to control specific structures could Field Command from said structures. But then there's still the issue of unintentional "Oh, you only wanted 3 turrets? Oops.." overspending. Assume there's some effective method of preventing it.
The only way to get good at commanding is to spend time in the chair; the only way to get time in the chair is to be good at commanding.
Unless you have a skilled/considerate marine team supporting you, learning to command is a trial by fire. Simply because, short of reading a guide (*scoff*, who'd do a thing like that?) there's no real way to learn the tech tree/interface outside of the chair.
Hence, Field Commanding.
The idea being that Turret Factories, Armories, Prototype Labs etc. could be controlled locally via Commander Mode Lite. The Commander - too busy with other things - might grant a marine the ability to 'command' a nearby structure. That marine, could then use that structure (say, a turret factory) to take care of the micromanagement; placing turrets and such.
Within this Commander Mode Lite, the marine would be working with the same interface as the Commander, but he would only have access to the functions of the particular building he was commanding; with a Turret Factory, he could only drop turrets; with an Armory, he could only drop weapons; with a Med Lab(!), he could only drop medkits, etc. etc.. Importantly, this marine could only drop the items within the structure's usual range.
There are a few benefits that come from implementing Field Commanding. For one, it makes life less hectic for the Commander; because he can delegate the micromanagement to marines in the field, he has more time to focus on the marine game as a whole.
It also gives the marine who's Field Commanding an opportunity to become familiar with the Commander Mode interface in a relatively safe environment. So that if he does want to have a go at commanding an entire team one day, he's at least familiar with how to do things.
The issue of how to prevent the marine from overspending is an open one. A part of the problem is dealt with because only marines selected by the Commander to control specific structures could Field Command from said structures. But then there's still the issue of unintentional "Oh, you only wanted 3 turrets? Oops.." overspending. Assume there's some effective method of preventing it.
Comments
I often, and see other comms, run into the problem of not actually being able to see how well the TF is covered. "Does that turret on the ledge really have line of sight? I can't tell." or "The TF is covered but I'm really hampering marine movement with that turret there." I'm not sure this is really necessary but it would make the comm's life easier.
An idea I am thinking of is that the Commander researches a certain kind of armor, that the marine then purchases, is fitted into, and that acts like a walking mini version of the Command Chair. They need to buy the "ammo" for it, similar to whatever system the Devs decides works best for Marines to buy their equipment, that way it doesn't over spend. The suit would allow them to have some armor while they access the Commander Top Down view for only the immediate area surrounding their character while they tell the nanite grid to drop what they are allowed to. Oh, and let them get the points for what the structures they drop do, like they get the score that goes with what their structures do. Just brain storming here, hope it helps.
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Would that view allow them to see their immediate area?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->Yes. As they can only place items/related structures within the range of the structure that they are field commanding from, they don't have much reason to explore beyond that radius.
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Would they be vulnerable to attack while in the Commander view?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->Yes, the Command Chair is the only 'shielded' command structure. Field commanders don't have that luxury. While they are 'Field Commanding' a structure, they are open to attack.
Honestly, I'd like first person view better. The "field commander" can really get the best positions on buildings then.