I'm really hoping with the delay due to Sega acquisition we can get these features, hell I don't mind if they delay the game even longer for this.
MOTHERFUCKIN' YES!!!1
I completely agree. There's a couple of features I'd also include that'd be a little more relevant to
CoH2 gameplay, but if we got some of these types of things in the replay system... omg tits.
I especially like the "Watch With Others" feature as well as the match customization feature(s) for, essentially, casters.
One of the less apparent gems, that may already be in the
SC2 replay system, is the ability to see everyone's resource level at the top-right corner of the screen. That would give both solo and multi-caster'd games more strategic discussion in the frequent lulls between battles.
Obviously the group watching feature would be great for us casters who shoutcast games together. It'd make everything
so much easier it's ridiculous. But I also think it's great for competitive play. Say you're playing a 2v2 or 3v3 with friends and you're going up against a team that's posted some replays. You grab a file, launch the game and invite your team together to watch what your upcoming opponents did in their last match. You develop strategies together for the upcoming match and away you go. I think that'd really add to the competitive play, especially in a game like
CoH where there's arguably more tactical considerations involved (especially with the environment) than in
SC2.
Just to add more to the replay viewing features. Wouldn't it be cool if there was a tactical draw?
Also gotta agree here. I'd love it if you could pause, click a button or tap a hotkey and get a little digital toolbox where you can draw, erase, reset, change pen color, etc. Just for quick tactical discussion before or during a battle, or even afterwards in order to point out potential disasters & breakthrough points.
I also think this would help in map design too. Not going from creation->compile->play->shit, that's fucked->back to editor->attempt fix->compile->play->shit, didn't see that->back to editor...
If say a map author could get four people to watch a replay with him/her and they can either draw in real-time or even draw on their local screens and send screenshots or replays with the drawings of suggested changes to the author, I think that would kick some serious ass.
Also, if you could do this while playing in-game with yourself (if you want to remind yourself what the fuck you plan on doing for some reason) or, and especially, with a team (be it one other person or three), that would be great. With all of the available paths in the game and the various flanking possibilities, especially now with TrueSight, it'd be great to say something like, "aiight bro, Imma send these dudes right up here then do a U-ee to the right, and try to pull them into my AT gun, set your MG up here to protect it" and have corresponding drawings on the main screen and/or minimap.
Oh, this is just a huge fucking wall of text, full of sexual energy. I type too much.