10 Reasons Why We Need Observer Mode Now

Well it's just sad to see how Kolaris came up with a way to have (dodgy) observer mode in old coh, and Relic hasn't gotten this feature on it's COH2 game yet.

Relic always speak of unlimited resources (manpower, statistics, software and ideas) but they can't even get the basic design of their game right. Although that Peter Quimseh guy does seem to have some vision (a hope, a light in the darkness). The rest of the staff usually seem clueless what path to take.

COH franchise lost it's identity with the Men Of Warification: a market strategy deployed to try and get more sales. But it lost the true soul of the game. Best evidence:
No single (sub)top Coh player (BartonPL being the exception to the rule) plays the game. The reason to that is the core gameplay has been dumped down.

Anyways signed for APF's determination to try and make something real for the COH franchise. To get to the true potential this game got.

/rant

Much Love, Hugs and Kisses

Rocky, the disappointed fan


PS: I wonder what weather effects the Western Fronts will have (wind scattering artillery shells all over da place?)

Honestly i think you "top players" think too much of yourselves.

Honestly i think you "top players" think too much of yourselves.

Thank you for that. I also wanted to write something but you did it for me. I dont care about the pros from vCOH. If they dont wanna play COH2, thats 100% fine with me (who gives a sh..).

to AMI and all the COH2.org guys.

Lets go Relic, give us the good stuff

Signed

Great Post!
+1

I added a tiny proposal to your mock-up, up there on the top (by the player names).



Sorry, I love tinkering with UIs.

This is all I've ever wanted we've been asking for observer mode and a reduced casting UI, since late 2012, wherever it is on the 'roadmap' of features it needs to be brought forward. Well written Ami.

agree ;-)

Just a few questions about observer mode (when it will get implemeted):

How many players could be invited into Observer mode?

Is it mandatory to be invited or can I watch games from observer mode even If I dont have any player in my friend list?

Thanks.

Can someone reply to this please?

No Kyle, nobody can answer you because nobody has a single idea of how the Observer Mode will be developed/implemented

Some points and questions have been raised, here are some answers:

"Observer maps exist in steam workshop."

Yes, we know that. "Reason #10" is all about those so-called "Oberserver Maps" that make hidden HQ's and remove the Fog-of-War for particular slots. Here are the problems with trying to hack an observer mode out of map scripts:

- Since mappers cannot manipulate the UI, other than by completely removing it, there is no way to even make a simple button to switch who you are following during the game. Janne has used some crazy hacks, like, "Call in a KV-8 to the HQ of the player you want to follow" ... so you unlock your imaginary commanders with your imaginary infinite resources and you call in a KV-8 to the enemy HQ and suddenly, that players reources are being "cloned" and displayed as your own resources! Like I said, janne is a fucking wizard. But that method is just clunky as fuck, and I would be embarrassed to do that during high profile events like this upcoming Alienware Arena Cup. A level of professionalism is required to entice sponsors to fund events for this game.

- Even w the cloning tricks, you can only follow one player at a time, so there is no way to display both players' resources, and no way in hell to display both players' armies via their unit shields, or show both players commanders and cooldowns simultaneously.

- There is no way to add a spectator to 4v4 maps, because all of the slots are full.

- It adds another step for tournament organizers. Even though steam workshop is super easy and downloading a map pack is also super easy, it still adds another step to the tournament process and it will cause massive delays and huge confusion. Trust me, you don't want anything that causes more delays when you are trying to get a bunch of rounds in on tourney days. "Does he have the special observer map version of Semoskiy Winter? Are you sure? Do we have anybody here that speaks Korean?" Multiply that times 64, or 128, and add about 20 foreign languages. Any small extra step can become a huge nightmare for organizers.

"How many extra slots should there be and should it be invite-only?"

At this stage of the game, I'd say between 4-8 extra slots per map should do the trick. I understand that one of the big barriers in the way is the "join game UI." Well hey you gotta break it to fix it.

Players or casters should be invited to the game lobby just like they are to normal games, and a host should control whether or not they are granted "observer privileges." I didn't go into the tech very much because so many games have these options that Relic just needs to look at a few of them to see how it's done and then do it in whatever way is easiest for them.



I really appreciate the support guys! You've been overwhelmingly positive and that's fantastic . Keep the /signed posts coming and I love to see other "observer" UI proposals.

Do you think Observer mode should be available in ranked games? (Automatch pool) I.E. I invite a friend but I start searching 1v1 games (my friend in Spectator mode). Once the game begins, he can only watch what I do. This will be useful for mentors/mentees.

Do you think Observer mode should be available in ranked games? (Automatch pool) I.E. I invite a friend but I start searching 1v1 games (my friend in Spectator mode). Once the game begins, he can only watch what I do. This will be useful for mentors/mentees.

No. We wouldn't want the launch of this awesome feature to be clouded in any kind of "is it fair?" debate. So I'd say at launch, only allow observer slots in custom games, not automatch. That scenario that you suggested can be accomplished easily enough by the player simply streaming his games.

+1

No. We wouldn't want the launch of this awesome feature to be clouded in any kind of "is it fair?" debate. So I'd say at launch, only allow observer slots in custom games, not automatch. That scenario that you suggested can be accomplished easily enough by the player simply streaming his games.

Will you make a special post nº 11111 ? =)

Nice summary of observer mode, cheers to everyone participating in this topic. This is what COH2 really needs. Furthermore, can we customize our own UI in-game to be like in the OP. The fact that the UI takes up too many space is noted since beta but currently there is still no fix.

Honestly i think you "top players" think too much of yourselves.

Not really. 12ocky isn't really one of them (he was pretty damn good) but not on the same level with people like DevM, Aimstrong, Symbiosis, Guderian, etc. There is nobody at that level of dominance in this game and its not because from 2012 to 2013 everyone magically got much better at the game but because streamlined strategic play-> lower skill cap. Aimstrong and Barton won the TFN Cup and SNF respectively and they whole heartily agree with this, and if anyones opinion should count its theirs and not some bad coh1 player troll that streams for 8 hours per day and still hasn't won any tournaments.

imagine how much player we could get if we would have this feature. Like in CSGO the GOTV.

But it could use for "maphack" , it must be a delay between real match and the "COHTV" and opponent made Sminefield in 1 minute and you didnot realized even after 20min then your friend tells you that there is a minefield. Thoughs?

Yes there must be a delay of I would say at least 3 minutes, no matter what.

One could even argue that 3 min is not enough for some mines to be triggered.

It's most likely enough for anything else though (produced units, strategic options, etc). Or maybe also not for far back upgraded resource point?

When does it become relevant though? If 3 min is to be the delay, should any mine planted for more than 3 minutes be automatically revealed in the actual game? It would be dumb to require the player to watch the stream to get the info, but at the same time, if we assume it is legal after 3 min (for a friend to speak or whatever), then it should probably be shown directly in the game (because you know, else those without friend are at disadvantage)...

Tbh this is a very tricky situation to deal with.

Yes there must be a delay of I would say at least 3 minutes, no matter what.

One could even argue that 3 min is not enough for some mines to be triggered.

It's most likely enough for anything else though (produced units, strategic options, etc). Or maybe also not for far back upgraded resource point?

When does it become relevant though? If 3 min is to be the delay, should any mine planted for more than 3 minutes be automatically revealed in the actual game? It would be dumb to require the player to watch the stream to get the info, but at the same time, if we assume it is legal after 3 min (for a friend to speak or whatever), then it should probably be shown directly in the game (because you know, else those without friend are at disadvantage)...

Tbh this is a very tricky situation to deal with.

How about you can only spectate your friend and FoW only shows what he sees? At least that would make it fair in automatch. Then in custom games (tournament events like SNF) you could enable full vision but just limit the spectators to casters only.

The goal of the observer is to broadcast the game : it doesn't matter who can actually spectate the game (casters only), since ultimately it is for everyone to see it live...

+1000