Command Hierarchy

Killpo1

I've played a lot of FPS games, and I think Battlefield 2 does a great job of organizing the game into something easier for the commander to use. I really thinking having a Commander < Squad Leader < Squad mate, would really benefit game play and atmosphere of the game. The Commander will directly tell squad leaders what to do and the squad leader can relay it to his men. Or say if the commander is busy and isn't able to assign orders once away, the squad leader could bring out a overhead map quickly (or mini map) assign a new way point / objective. Also with squad leaders certain things can be done as in assign them a MAC to follow them around *a lot of people don't like escorting, but having something merely follow them around would be a lot better, especially if it is only beneficial).

Chris0132

You can already do this without prohibiting the commander from telling individual squaddies what to do, plus as there are going to be (I think) multiple commanders, that should remove the problem of the commander being busy, if your squad needs a commander then someone can hop into an empty comm chair and command your squad.

That is, if there are still/ever was going to be multiple commanders and I am not simply going insane.

scott.exe

I like this concept, and foresee it being vital for a team of 32 marines [I don't remember where I read that the max game size would be 64, someone confirm?]. Even if what I remember reading is false and the max game size is going to be 32, I still see this being a useful tool for the commander.

This idea was clearly present in NS, but never fully developed. The commander had the option of assigning squads, and when he did so, the marines were informed and had a display on their HUD that showed them what squad they were currently assigned to. In my experiences this was never utilized to its full potential, which is a little disappointing. It would feel so much more intense and immersing to have the commander give a way point and bark over the com "squad 3, go help squad 2, those ######s really don't want to give up that double RT!"

The first thing this would need [IMO, of course] would be specific voice channels. separate channels for squad and team communication comes to mind first and foremost, as well as giving the commander the option to speak to certain squads and certain squad leaders. That alone would be enough to get this system working and used in games. Killpo1 has some good ideas here and I would love to seem them added to NS2.

What I always loved about NS was the feeling of coordination and organization. It wasn't halo or some other shooter where every one just ran off on their own and tried to get kills, due to a lack of higher command. I can see these features making NS2 even better than any other RTSFPS out there, and not just because its the only RTSFPS out there.


To sum it up, good post, I like and support your ideas, NS2 is going to be great =)

TempesT487

Team sizes means the squads are small enough to manage themselves, and multiple commanders means that they may aswell just communicate directly to the squads rather than through a squad leader. There is a possibility that one player in the squad will be assigned a squad leader, but I imagine this wouldn't grant them any special abilities. Seeing as marines in Natural Selection do tend to wander off by themselves every now and again, the commanders shouldn't have to worry about communicating through a squad leader to talk to them.