Arc LoS Indicator while undeployed. Toggleable?
mibuwolf
Join Date: 2012-12-11 Member: 174760Members
I'm unsure of where I can place my arcs since there isn't a visible range indicator of any kind as far as I'm aware. I generally place them as close as I can to guarantee a hit rather than wasting valuable time, however I know a few areas where I can place arcs and shoot through walls, but it would be nice to know if there's a way to use them efficiently? I don't really want to load up a test map and put arcs in various areas to test where I can shoot from, etc.
moved to I&S - Kouji San
Edit: Changed thread into a suggestion thread since there is no known method to judge arc range precisely.
Suggestion:
Add toggle to display arc's visual radius, or just make it so that it is always on. However some players may consider it visual clutter, so making it toggleable via a keypress would possibly be ideal. Thanks for reading.
moved to I&S - Kouji San
Edit: Changed thread into a suggestion thread since there is no known method to judge arc range precisely.
Suggestion:
Add toggle to display arc's visual radius, or just make it so that it is always on. However some players may consider it visual clutter, so making it toggleable via a keypress would possibly be ideal. Thanks for reading.
Comments
The locations where to place them in relations to the Hives are usually quite obvious though. The maps have been designed to have hallways which wrap around the Hives to be able to place them within range. Apart from Central Drilling on Mineshaft, which is an oddball to the rule :P
It's kind of a waste of time to deploy then check to see the range of your arc. It would more be more useful to the commander if it showed it pre-deployment. Perhaps as a hotkey/key toggle?
EDIT: Ok. the indicator is not available UNLESS it is within range of hitting something. In other words, you cannot see the visual indicator until you've at least reached maximum distance required to hit the target (while deployed). Isn't that a bit inconvenient?
But yeah, knowing where to place them is kinda part of learning the maps as well
Oh, but of course. I prefer to learn while playing the game, rather than in a test environment though. For now I just guess about where the visual indicator would be.
How do pitchers in baseball know where the strikezone is?
How do golfers know where their ball is going to land?
Just asking.
Drills are something you do in real life to get good. Doesn't really apply to gaming unless you REALLY want to be competitive. So, how is that question relevant? Just asking.
Practice does not imply that I need to run testing servers to learn. Nor do I imply that I do not need to play the game to get better. Also, what does that have to do with my original problem which was how far the arcs can hit?
I didn't even know there was a indicator of any kind. To be honest, I'd rather just see the range of all the arcs with a key to toggle on/off.
If you can't figure out the range of arcs after a few attempts at using arcs on a live server then I guess your only hope is that the developers scrap some other enhancement to add an arc range indicator for you.
Is most aspects of life, it's the practice with any given tool that will help you understand the limitations of that tool.
No... I understand what you are getting at, but let me put it this way: Is this a feature that would give the user a piece of useful information to use vital to strategy? If the answer is yes, then maybe it should be implemented for the good of all marine commanders; new or otherwise. Also, game design sort of relies on this sort of feedback to see if there are areas they maybe neglected. This may be one of those areas. It's as if you would suggest that other visual indicators shouldn't be available to marines as well, such as:
The commander shouldn't be able to see marine hp. The marine commander should be able to just be able to tell if the marine has been bitten 1-2 times then he needs an hp pack. Ammo indicator? Pffft. Marines don't need ammo indicator. In real life you judge your ammo by checking your magazine.
Point is. There are many things that can be useful to the player. Arc range indicator may be one of them. Practice isn't entirely mandatory.
If you can't see the point I am making, then I guess we'd have to agree to disagree buddy.
That's not what I'm suggesting at all. Re-read my posts.
You can certainly learn arc range after one or two games as commander. There is visual feedback that your attacks are hitting structures. So, you can estimate distance from your deployed arc to impact area.
You can't practice knowing player damage because there are too many marines to track at any given time and the commander can't tell when a skulk bite actually lands on a marine without the visual indicator.
I've played over 20 games as marine commander, but I still don't use arcs in every game. When I do however, I have trouble knowing the exact range of their LoS. I can surely estimate it, but every inch counts to whether or not I'll hit the hive.
As for the biting thing: I hear audio queues when my marines are bit. I dunno about you but I can usually tell when they are hit. I obviously missed your point if I haven't answered it already. I continue practicing as marine commander as pubs but what I say is still valid unless you are going to argue that such info is not important. I'm arguing that it is. I did however make the topic in hopes that maybe there was some super secret thing I wasn't aware of about arcs because so far I just... guess. Guesswork in my opinion does not fit in a strategy video game.
It's as if I'm playing scorched earth or some other tanks based game :P
Good luck to you with your arcing.
I'm aware. Thanks.