My 2 pence

[Zico]

While I am downloading the AWE mod's I thought I would brain dump some of my thoughts on the I&A mission.

 

Apologies for any repetition (I've had a quick browse to see what's been posted before).

 

1) Side rewards

It's a shame that those of us who carry out side missions may miss out on the reward vehicle spawned back at base as you're stuck on the other side of the map. It would be good if there was a way to lock/delay spawn/relocate the reward so that those who've carried out the mission could gain from it.

On a side note, it's a pet peeve of mine that people often take vehicles from the main base and drive them into the rewards field to get there before anybody else. I often spend a few minutes driving abandoned vehicles back into the spawn cause I'm nice like that :D.

 

2) Main base

Has there been any recent discussion on the location of the main base? Thinking from a vehicle perspective (armour more than hunter/prowler), it's very time consuming to potentially have to drive the entire length of the map from main base to reach an AO. It's even more time consuming to reach the AO just as it's completed only for the new AO to spawn the other side of the map (oh it makes me laugh ). How about swapping FOB Guardian/Altis International for main base and making the old base an FOB?

 

3) PvP

Has there been any thought on having a limited number of slots (1 or 2) available for CSAT/AAF players? In the absence of Zeus/Spartan it would be a little more interesting to have that potential intelligent foe out there fighting back (spawning in the AO locations if that can be alternated without a fixed location for a base?).

 

All things considered, I still enjoy the I&A mission in its current revision and appreciate the time spent developing it!

 

[Stanhope]

6 hours ago, Zico said:

It's a shame that those of us who carry out side missions may miss out on the reward vehicle spawned back at base as you're stuck on the other side of the map. It would be good if there was a way to lock/delay spawn/relocate the reward so that those who've carried out the mission could gain from it.

A system is in the making to ensure the right people get the reward they deserve.  I can't tell you when it's gonna be ready because i don't know.  It won't be for next week i can tell you that  
 

6 hours ago, Zico said:

On a side note, it's a pet peeve of mine that people often take vehicles from the main base and drive them into the rewards field to get there before anybody else. I often spend a few minutes driving abandoned vehicles back into the spawn cause I'm nice like that :D.

 I've noticed this as well but can't immediately come up with a way to prevent people from doing this.  If you have any specific ideas on how to prevent this let me know.

 

6 hours ago, Zico said:

Has there been any recent discussion on the location of the main base?  [...] How about swapping FOB Guardian/Altis International for main base and making the old base an FOB?

This has been discussed extensively, both internally and here on the forum.  It boils down to: no, main base is not getting moved.  Some of the reasons for this: it doesn't fit in the invade spirit.  Initially the AOs follow a scripted pattern towards either FOB guardian or FOB martian, from here they will randomly go across the map.
 

6 hours ago, Zico said:

Thinking from a vehicle perspective (armour more than hunter/prowler), it's very time consuming to potentially have to drive the entire length of the map from main base to reach an AO.

Yes it takes time but once you get at the AO with assets like an MBT or an IFV you'll pretty much be able to clear entire AOs with minimal support, presuming you have a crew that's communicating properly.  So to keep it a bit balanced you'll have to drive quite some time.

 

6 hours ago, Zico said:

It's even more time consuming to reach the AO just as it's completed only for the new AO to spawn the other side of the map (oh it makes me laugh ).

Do one thing, piss off 50% of people make the other 50% happy.  
When I&A 3 was initially released there were a lot of complaints by people about AOs spawning next to each other.  They said that pilots didn't have anything to do any more.  Now not a lot has changed about how AOs spawn since the initial release but now there will indeed be instances where a random AO is picked and it might be on the other end of the map.
It's hard to find a balance but we're trying.  

 

7 hours ago, Zico said:

3) PvP

Has there been any thought on having a limited number of slots (1 or 2) available for CSAT/AAF players? In the absence of Zeus/Spartan it would be a little more interesting to have that potential intelligent foe out there fighting back (spawning in the AO locations if that can be alternated without a fixed location for a base?).

Certainly an interesting idea but i see a few problems.
For starters it will require a lot of coding to get it working without any major bugs.  And quite some more to get it working properly.  This because I&A was not written with PvP in mind.
Then we also have the actual gameplay problems.  Say for example one of those CSAT guys takes a titan AA and sits outside of any of our bases.  Or he grabs a sniper rifle and sits on a hill overlooking one of the FOBs.
I'm not saying that the gameplay won't be any fun, it'll just be a pain to balance properly.

Just my 2 cents

[GamerbugUK]

1) Though Stan has said they are working on a fix here, there is also the issue that if 6 randoms clear a side mission with little to no comms, who gets the singlular reward? Most of the time I find myself in side misisons with people I have no idea who they are and it just gets cleared (or borked if its the intel/officer mission). Granted I don't care about rewards I do side missons for something different to a normal AO, but still.

 

2) I do miss the centralised base and I disagree with the choice to have it where it is for the annex feeling (as it never feels like we're annexing it anyway) fair play if they leave it where it is. However even with a centralised base, if you are in Sofia doing an AO and the next pops up at Kavala, same problem for an MBT and the trave time.

 

3) Nice idea, doubt it'd work but damn if it wouldn't scare the pap out of complacent hill campers to have a player squad of EI sneak up behind them and punish them (or a hilltop AT guy sat 1500m out.... not that I ever do that....).

 

 

[Zico]

12 hours ago, Stanhope said:

1) Side rewards

A system is in the making to ensure the right people get the reward they deserve.  I can't tell you when it's gonna be ready because i don't know.  It won't be for next week i can tell you that  
1a) Pet peeve

 I've noticed this as well but can't immediately come up with a way to prevent people from doing this.  If you have any specific ideas on how to prevent this let me know.

That's good to hear Stanhope. I didn't post before but I thought that (if it's relatively simple to do) if the reward was to spawn at the site of the completed side mission, this would be (in my opinion) preferred over spawning back at main base. I would love to have a better knowledge of the mission editor and coding so as to get a better understanding of the complexity and time taken to code in suggestions posted.

With regards to the vehicles being driven and dumped around the base, how does it currently work? Is it coded that vehicles only re-spawn if a player is within X distance of them or within a defined area? If it's within a distance of a player, could this be reduced (particularly for the quads)?

When I am base tidying, I also get a little OCD that vehicles engines are left running so end up jumping in and switching them off .

 

12 hours ago, Stanhope said:

2) Main base

This has been discussed extensively, both internally and here on the forum.  It boils down to: no, main base is not getting moved.  Some of the reasons for this: it doesn't fit in the invade spirit.  Initially the AOs follow a scripted pattern towards either FOB guardian or FOB martian, from here they will randomly go across the map.
2a) Driving

Yes it takes time but once you get at the AO with assets like an MBT or an IFV you'll pretty much be able to clear entire AOs with minimal support, presuming you have a crew that's communicating properly.  So to keep it a bit balanced you'll have to drive quite some time.
2b) More driving
Do one thing, piss off 50% of people make the other 50% happy.  

When I&A 3 was initially released there were a lot of complaints by people about AOs spawning next to each other.  They said that pilots didn't have anything to do any more.  Now not a lot has changed about how AOs spawn since the initial release but now there will indeed be instances where a random AO is picked and it might be on the other end of the map.
It's hard to find a balance but we're trying.

I understand and agree with a lot of what you say. Once the FOBs are up, travel times using ground vehicles is reduced (within reason). I guess I partly mentioned the main base with regards to my first point and the side reward spawn. Still, sometimes a long drive can clear the head and allows the rest of the crew some time to grab a drink/snack .

 

12 hours ago, Stanhope said:

3) PvP

Certainly an interesting idea but i see a few problems.
For starters it will require a lot of coding to get it working without any major bugs.  And quite some more to get it working properly.  This because I&A was not written with PvP in mind.
Then we also have the actual gameplay problems.  Say for example one of those CSAT guys takes a titan AA and sits outside of any of our bases.  Or he grabs a sniper rifle and sits on a hill overlooking one of the FOBs.
I'm not saying that the gameplay won't be any fun, it'll just be a pain to balance properly.

As I mentioned above, I'm not really aware of how complex or simple it would be to code in some of the suggestions that I have raised or seen raised by others. I can certainly see the potential balance issues of having the base/FOB spawn camped by a well versed player (TheScar certainly could hold down a base with his prowler full of AT's - sorry TheScar not a dig at you ).

12 hours ago, Stanhope said:

Just my 2 cents

Keep the change as a tip!!
 

[Zico]

4) New side mission idea

Capture and hold - located at one of the military compounds dotted around the map, the first part of the mission would be for the Blue Force to attack and capture the compound. The defence would be infantry based with a limited MRAP/Light Strike/Pick up element. Once captured, the alert would be given that within X time, a CSAT/AAF QRF/QRT (quick reaction force/team) will be responding to attempt to re-capture the compound. The compound is then to be held for X time (or until all attacking forces are eliminated) before the mission is classified as a success. Failure would be as a result of all Blue Forces being eliminated within a small radius of the compound.

[Stanhope]

6 minutes ago, Zico said:

With regards to the vehicles being driven and dumped around the base, how does it currently work? Is it coded that vehicles only re-spawn if a player is within X distance of them or within a defined area? If it's within a distance of a player, could this be reduced (particularly for the quads).

If there is no player within x meters and the vehicle is x meters from it's spawn pos.  

 

3 minutes ago, Zico said:

4) New side mission idea

Capture and hold - located at one of the military compounds dotted around the map, the first part of the mission would be for the Blue Force to attack and capture the compound. The defence would be infantry based with a limited MRAP/Light Strike/Pick up element. Once captured, the alert would be given that within X time, a CSAT/AAF QRF/QRT (quick reaction force/team) will be responding to attempt to re-capture the compound. The compound is then to be held for X time (or until all attacking forces are eliminated) before the mission is classified as a success. Failure would be as a result of all Blue Forces being eliminated within a small radius of the compound.

Not a bad idea, i'll look into it if i have some time.

 

 

 

[Zico]

9 hours ago, GamerbugUK said:

1) Though Stan has said they are working on a fix here, there is also the issue that if 6 randoms clear a side mission with little to no comms, who gets the singlular reward? Most of the time I find myself in side misisons with people I have no idea who they are and it just gets cleared (or borked if its the intel/officer mission). Granted I don't care about rewards I do side missons for something different to a normal AO, but still.

Even if there were random people at the side who've had little or no communication, it's sometimes still a good thing to see people taking an interest in the mission being there. With regards to who would be rewarded, I honestly don't know. I would simply be happier to see the side mission reward be available to anybody who has partaken in the side mission (perhaps spawning within the radius of the mission on the map) than spawn the other side of the map and be scooped up by somebody who just so happens to be at the main base.

 

9 hours ago, GamerbugUK said:

3) Nice idea, doubt it'd work but damn if it wouldn't scare the pap out of complacent hill campers to have a player squad of EI sneak up behind them and punish them (or a hilltop AT guy sat 1500m out.... not that I ever do that....).

It would be a pain to have a competent enemy spawn camp the base/FOB though think of the pleasure of flanking round behind them and putting them down. An alternative would be for a small force of AI spawn to patrol the base OR for Blue Force to have an option via the tablet for an automated base defence if such a persistent threat is posed.