Since Intel bulletins were acquired through experience, why don't they come into play as a unit vets? In essence, it would allow you to customize how your units improve as they gain vet, which sounds both intriguing and rather fair to me. |
Well put! Initially, I wasn't for mirror matches, but I'm starting to see how nearly everything but realism speaks for it. I'm sure, if implemented properly, it'll be a true asset to the game. |
Well, if you have any suggests, you should pm Quinn. A certain dev, who shall remain unnamed, told me that. I already pmed Quinn about it, but I'm sure if you guys do as well, he'll be more inclined to act on it.
@Tommy: Sadly, as of now, static pop cap isn't a placeholder. |
Actually, in the late game, when fuel and ammo income aren't so important, pop cap can be your only true incentive to cut someone off. You see good players do it all the time. It's true though that most decent players neglect to use pop cap manipulation to their advantage, however that doesn't mean that it can't be game changing. |
What do you guys think about static popcap found in coh2?
I found it rather disappointing, since the direct relation between territory and popcap in coh1 provided for a great gameplay mechanic that encouraged players to expand and cut each other off. Furthermore, its inclusion in coh2 would be of even greater significance, since with the addition of very high MP upkeep costs, it’ll grant winning players atleast some option to capitalize on their advantage and thereby prevent their opponent from reinforcing (courtesy of way higher mp income) and just charging back on the battlefield. Combined with the rather insignificant vet buffs of coh2, I can just see comebacks becoming way too frustrating and frequent in coh2.
On the other hand, if coh2 is built and balanced around a rubber-banding (if you will) MP upkeep system, then perhaps a dynamic pop-cap system would conflict with that concept.
Disclaimer: The UI screenshot clearly depicts that the popcap limit is indeed static, so no, I'm not breaking the NDA.
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Well, that would only be for the gridkey layout and the wasd keys are really only are only used for issuing build orders, so they are rarely used. It might be somewhat clunky, but atleast it's not as unwieldy as constantly swapping back and forth between the arrow keys and hotkeys. I really don't see how tapping the space bar every now and then just to issue a build order is very cumbersome. |
I don't think that would be very useful. You can pause in TW, which gives you time to move the camera around, zoom in and check out the action...and then return to isometric view and unpause so you can issue commands.
In real time there's simply no room to use any other viewpoints, except the TAC map.
It might be fun for watching replays or spectating (RIP), but I find that holding Alt in vCoH works just fine for that.
Yeah, I thought of that being a problem as well, but then again COH doesn't necessitate high APM. I suppose beta-testing would be required to find out whether that is true or not. In any case, it would be a nice feature for replay viewing and, in my opinion, the gridkey system I detailed would probably work better than the default one that makes use of the arrow keys for camera movement. |
That tank crit system is already in vCoH. Probably just a mix of not noticing it and it not being implemented in a very intuitive way.
There's a table for rear criticals and a table for frontal criticals. Criticals depend on the health of the vehicle, and they can be weighted against each other (i.e. 70% destroy engine 30% destroy vehicle).
I don't know what more would be needed. The only problem is you run into suspect values, like how many tank criticals are weighted so its harder to kill it when hitting it from the rear.
Interesting, well I suppose in that case probability should only determine whether a crit occurs and not the type of crit itself. For example, rear hits should exclusively net damaged or destroyed engines.
To add to the OP, I also think that tanks and infantry should be more defined in their role. I'd like Relic to steer clear from any 50% frontal peneration values against low health tanks, such as shermans versus stugs, since it makes for far too unpredictable skirmishing. |
A More Dynamic Perspective
Coh1 uses the classic RTS isometric view that is neither faulty nor bad. What it lacks, though, is immersion and dynamism, due to its static nature. Thus, I find it very surprising that Relic has not decided to go for a more animated camera, i.e. Total War, since Coh is probably the most dynamic and immersive RTS I know. It seems very contradictory to the general design concept of the game, which is why I would like to see coh2 with camera controls similar to those of the Total War games. Imagine how immersive true sight would be with a dynamic camera? Now that would be something!
I do realize that there are probably players out there that would prefer the classic RTS view, in which case Relic should keep the option open. Furthermore, I don't think that hotkeys need be much altered to compensate for the different camera perspectives. ASWD would be used to move across the battlefield, which I think should be the norm for all camera perspectives, and hotkeys should be positioned around that. The gridkey layout could still work if Relic implements a direct system that allows you to switch back and forth between camera movement and gridkeys. For example, press space and ASWD are part of the grid, press space again and they're reassigned to camera movement (there should be a visual cue indicating which mode you're in). Abilities, such as grenade throw, would be unaffected as they occupy the bottom row of the grid and staple hotkeys, like retreat, attack move, stop, reverse, and reinforce would also remain unaltered, and tabbing through your selection would also always be available. So of the gridkeys only rather seldom used keys would have to be switched to with the pressing of the space bar.
It's rather convenient that CA is also owned by the new owner of Relic, and I really hope something of this sort is implement. What do you guys think? |
A Slightly Less Random Random Number Generator
Let me preface this by saying that I am aware that coh wouldn't be the awesome and exciting game that it is if it weren't for the random number generator [RNG]. Let it also be clear that I definitely don't want to see it omitted, as it's what gives coh its charm and makes it both cinematic and realistic in comparison to a classic RTS, i.e. SC2. However, I'd like to see the RNG implemented into coh2 in a manner that is both random and yet still very predictable. Let me state what I mean with an example: A Sherman with 5% health gets fired upon by a pak at maximum range, the possible outcomes are: destruction, engine damage, engine totaling, broken treads or destroyed gun. Whilst all these criticals [crits] aren't completely random in that they only happen at very low health, the outcome is very deciding, since a destroyed engine or broken threads will result in a lost Sherman, whereas a broken gun or damaged engine will allow the Sherman to narrowly escape harms way. The loss of a 420mp and 90 fuel investment is very likely to cost you dearly, in which case you shouldn't be punished for being unlucky but rather for making a strategical mistake. My proposal as a possible cure is to implement vehicle crits in a way that causes them to occur based on where the tank was hit. For example, rear shots should cause engine crits, frontal shots main gun crits, and side shots thread crits. The probability of receiving the respective crit should then be determined by vehicle health, range and the RNG. Also, terminal crits, such as destroyed engine, shouldn't be allowed to be overlapped by others. How annoying is it to see a sherman get a damaged engine, a destroyed engine, and destroyed threads all at 5% health?
Likewise, infantry should also take damage in a predictable way. I'm pretty sure coh1 already has a system implemented where infantry at longer range is more likely to take heavy damage than die, which is rather intuitive since long range shots are less likely to hit lethal targets. Despite this I still think it's implementation could be more concrete than it is in coh1. The fact that it's still not obvious to me whether long range shots are less likely to be lethal speaks for itself (don't quote this to troll me ).
In conclusion, I'd like to state that I by no means want the RNG to be scraped, and luckily it does seem that Relic agrees with me on that. Furthermore, the examples I provided serve purely to explain my notion. They are very rudimentary in design and the RNG changes shouldn't be limited to them. All-in-all, I'd like to see the RNG become a more clearly-cut element of coh2, as it would allow the game to become fairer and thereby help lay a more solid foundation for coh2's prospect of becoming a proper e-sport. |