Tarvin

What exactly is the effect of an EMP on a building?

In the large maps there an issue of running out of ammunition or being severely injured but being nowhere near the base. As a capturable structure, how does a small field hospital sound? You can go in, replenish ammunition and health and then get back to fighting more quickly. I imagine to keep it from being too powerful you wouldn't be able to change what character you are using though. It could possibly be tied into the repair station idea I had where the vehicle repair station would be on the roof of the small structure. It could also act as a small fortification with slots to fire out at enemies through but likely no defenses of it's own. A tweak to this idea is that it could be made an entirely neutral structure that doesn't favor Nod or GDI. Whoever happens to be in it will receive the benefit. When infantry is inside the hospital a repair burst will happen at regular intervals or a gradual but steady repair field will heal infantry. Ammunition resupply crates will be generated at regular intervals at dispensers that partially restore ammunition. A good number would be 4 dispensers and 4 crates would be required to fully resupply ammunition. This way, if a player that is out of ammo arrives and is the only one at the hospital a complete resupply can occur immediately allowing the player to move on again. It would also prevent a team holding the structure from gaining an absolute advantage over a team trying to take it for themselves. An EMP used against the structure may also temporarily halt the healing and resupply crate generation as well.

There would need to be something that helps keep the turret pointed in the general direction of the where the gunner was looking. That way they can track targets and fire accurately on the go. For the Orca and the Apache I was thinking the extent of the gunners capability would be aiming the gun but having no control over the missiles. This would give the gun a much wider firing radius as it would no longer be tied directly to where the aircraft happens to be pointed. Thankfully the transport copters already have this whole issue covered.

I see your point about the 10 seconds during a rush. If a base is left that undefended then the defending team might deserve what they get. Not sure what ou mean about EMPs replacing timed C4s though.

True. Them only being useful against tank rushes is highly situational but I think they should at least have some effect on something like an MRL or Arty barrage that will help buy the defending team more time to respond or counter.

That strikes me as still being a bit too powerful and would make it too easy to clear out large numbers of mines before defenders have a chance to react. Thought them being disabled even temporarily would make it easier to break stalemates on maps like Field unless aim-bots are being employed.

Are proxies permanently disarmed or just temporarily?

Just throwing the idea out because when I threw an EMP at a med that wasn't even moving in the first place only to discover the only way it was affected is that it could no longer move... That was kind of a waste of 300 credits. Even a moderately decreased firing rate would make the EMP worth something in those situations as the target vehicles ability to deal damage would be decreased for a short time. As for the firing being halted, that could be tweaked so it only happens on the initial EMP so no interruption could occur until after the first grenade wears off.

I made a point to run out a few times with EMP grenades as an SBH to try to hamper an enemy attack. I hit a med with an EMP and the only thing that happened was that the tank wasn't able to move. The only issue is that the tank wasn't moving in the first place making the EMP useless against tanks unless they are actively engaged in a fight. I think the EMP could be tweaked in the following way against tanks. They would last the same amount of time but decrease the vehicles firing rate for the duration of the EMP grenade. For a period of 5 seconds they would also be unable to fire at all and the reloading process would also be frozen and restart at the end of the countdown. The EMP would also interrupt a vehicles firing and restart them in the cycle. In otherwords, if an MLRS is EMPd in the middle of a volley it would stop instantly when hit by the EMP. This wouldn't leave EMP'd vehicles entire defenseless but would make EMP grenades useful against vehicles.

The affect on C4 when EMP grenades are used has become a major issue and I can think of several issues that could come up as a result. A rush is going on against the MCT, remote C4s have been rigged on the terminal and the rush is about to be successful but a single person rushes in, throws an EMP grenade before they can go off without fighting off the rushers and the entire point of having MCTs to rush is effectively destroyed. An example, the other day I saw an APC driving up to the Nod power plant just after the start of the match so I ran for the entrance on the other side to avoid the APC and found 2 engineers taking out the MCT that had already detonated their Remote C4s and the 2 timed C4s were already set. I managed to kill both engineers who did their best to defend their mines and was disarming the first timed C4 before the first help arrived. It was a coordinated team effort on the part of those two engineers even though they failed. If they killed me they might have been able to hold off the responders long enough for the Timed C4 to destroy the Power plant. It was a contest of skill that ultimately decided the PP's fate, not just some lone wolf throwing an EMP at the Timed C4 in a lone wolf act that requires no real skill and would be almost impossible to stop even by skilled engineers. In other words, I think EMP grenades should not be able to disable C4 mines of any kind. It could destroy the entire balance and mechanics of the game. However, I can think of one important way they could be used. If the EMP could temporarily disable the Proximity function of Proximity C4. During that time they would only go off if someone or something goes over them like if a person steps on them or vehicle drives over them. That would keep EMPs from disabling mines protecting a base but allow skilled players to dance around or jump over Proximity C4 mines that have space between them. Proxies in bases are usually tightly packed so base defense measures wouldn't be nerfed entirely but the typically more loose minefields laid outside buildings in areas like infantry paths could be penetrated.

That's honestly where I got the idea from. I remembered one or two servers that had this feature but I don't recall if they had any system to keep the gunner from gaining control if the driver wanted to do the gunning themselves.

I think it would add a nice touch if the driver was able to at will give control of turreted weapons over to the first passenger in the vehicle. This would extend to humvee, buggy, and APC turrets as well. Of course, the driver could take back control of the weapons at any time so if the gunner isn't good, paying attention, the vehicle reaches it's destination and will act as a mostly stationary turret, or the driver just feels like gunning again. If the driver wants to give control over to the passenger the driver would hit the button to do so. The passenger would then be given a prompt to take over as gunner that has to be acknowledged to prevent the gunner position from sitting in limbo. As for what it would be like, imagine Humvees and Buggys tearing across the battlefield firing at eachother the whole time regardless of who is in front of who. Giving drivers the ability to focus on driving would allow them to focus entirely on one task without the concern of if someone shooting at them is currently in their view. It might also be nice to allow the gunner to remain the gunner even if the driver gets out. That would allow a engineer driver to get out and repair the vehicle while the gunner lays down suppression fire to protect their team mate. Also, if the driver were to die for some reason the gunner would automatically shift to the driver seat. Unless the driver dies the vehicle would be stationary unless the gunner gets out and gets back into the vehicle. Also, if the gunner gets out control of the turret would revert to the driver again. I think this is something that would need to be set so the Gunner Passenger ability could be enabled/disabled by the server administrator.

I'm not saying the idea is perfect but just throwing it out for other people to hash over. Now, the Remote C4 on your own vehicle is an interesting idea. Only issue is if you get killed before you have a chance to detonate them.

After a match is already over I can't seem to really type in the end game screen message anymore. For some reason any chat hotkey for during a match triggers the in-game chat. I can type things so long as I don't use T, Y, or whatever the personal direct chat is.

So you've had experience with the whole AI filling a server thing. Did this happen before or after your remark in this thread? viewtopic.php?f=26&t=74666 If you got the experience against bot teams after your last remark would you mind giving feedback based on the experience? I have a suggestion that relies on how AI handle things but I've only faced them in skirmish so I'm lacking the experience to tell if it would be practical or not.

The main advantage I thought of for the repair station is that it isn't very large and can be inserted into existing bases without cluttering them. Walls Flying would be an ideal location for one as people are often flying around the base asking for repairs because there's no defenses to keep SBH out. Another thing is that the Repair Station would be destroyable and could not repair itself. I figured the health of a light tank would make it durable enough to survive small attacks but would be a prime target during attacks to cripple the enemy team. Alternatively, an invincible version could be introduced as a capturable tech building. It's small size would allow for placement just about anywhere like on top of the mesa on Walls Flying to act as a dedicated aircraft repair station.

Gotta say, the bug makes for a terrifying enemy that loves her explosive a bit too much. I dunno if the technician is the same way. Only tested it when playing as Nod.

It came up earlier in another post that the repair pad would be a wonderful thing to put back into the game but I just thought of some of the issues with it. Campers. People for whatever reason would park on one and refuse to get off. That would be fine for the one located in the field but for any in the base? Complete annoyance. The solution? A repair station that is a hotwire repair gun set in a stationary base that allows the gun to rotate and aim at players and vehicles. If possible, it should be set so it cannot repair buildings or should simply be placed out of range of them. I am tempted to say that if people are oblivious enough to plant a beacon near the Repair Station or C4 then they deserve to have them disarmed by the repair station. This would allow people, especially in flying maps, to come in, wait by the Station to be repaired and then leave immediately. Since it aims at what is being repaired one person blocking it would be impossible. Obviously, it would only help the team it's set up for. An important benefit would be the end to the constant "I need repairs" being done by people in their own base.

Oh gosh... I just now remember City. Was that the one with tall buildings, multiple vantage points, ramps everywhere and chaos?

I could have sworn one of the Hotwires actually switched from her pistol before running up and throwing the C4 at me. The ones I encountered seemed to know what they were doing. As for work, I think the main tweak would be limiting how often the AI can do headshots. Let's say, non sniper characters can only get headshots about 30% of the time. RypeL mentioned tweaking the AI to understand MCT's and such so they may be viable server fillers soon.

I don't know what map it was but in the final days of EA supported play for Renegade I came across a map that just made my jaw drop. A map with a max population of 100 players. It was a huge map laced with shorter tunnel and infantry paths and no obvious ways to bombard an enemy base without actually being just outside it. Is there a chance of a map like this popping up? If so, a way to resupply in the field would probably be a must.

So you were playing on a server against bots? What server was this?

I had the same luck with spies or worse. I got a spy TWICE in one match in fields at the closest bunker. I immediately starting dodging my way toward the base but GDI had people all over the field and immediately did spy checks EVERYWHERE. I couldn't even get from the Nod bunker to the base so I could purchase a beacon. I swear, there was someone just waiting for a crate to be picked up the second time. Invisible infiltrators are best in my opinion because they give a fighting chance to at least get where you can purchase a beacon. I've seen plenty people just using their spy characters like Mobious to just defend their own base because of how easy it is to see spies coming and anyone that paid attention to the message will do a check right then and there especially on experienced teams.

I was playing around on single player skirmish maps just for the heck of it and noticed that some of characters AI seems to stand apart. In particular, I noticed that Hotwires must be the most insane and frightening warriors on the battlefield. I turned on God mode as an SBH and walk around while shooting periodically so the enemy could see me. Almost instantly a Hotwire runs up to be and is throwing remote C4 in my face with such reckless abandon that she kills herself. I thought that was just an isolated incident. I was wrong. I strolled into the ref only to come face to face with another Hotwire who after quickly running through remote C4s started playing frisbee golf with proxies as the frisbees and my face as the goal. I was somewhat stunned by the tenacity Hotwires show toward wanting to blow their opponents faces off. Later in this observation I also witnessed two things I never thought I would see. A hottie was running around and laying proxies in the GDI base. While it was in a random checkerboard pattern outside of the barracks it was still an impressive effort for the AI. In that same match I also saw an engineer rush to repair a building that was damaged. He did it from outside the building but A for effort. What has everyone else noticed about the AI behavior when playing in Skirmish Mode?

I think the game would benefit from the volume of some vehicles being decreased. For example, piloting an orca is so loud that it's hard to hear much else outside the vehicle like a beacon beeping. The sound level is almost deafening. This being done would make other noises like audio feedback on when weapons have cycled and are ready to fire again a welcome element rather than making the piloting experience unbearable.