Q-spam handling

[testman]

In some critical situations like placed beacons or buildings needing repair, people are known to Q-spam as if their life depends on it.

Doing so takes whole chat space and erases all previous messages.

Some of those messages could contain useful information, such as where the beacon is.

Would it be possible to change how Q-spam works in the way that each press of Q does not write new line of same text, but instead increases the size of already written line?

And in case of 10+ Q presses text starts flashing or in some other way indicates importance of the message.

Would this even be possible?

[RoundShades]

It... isn't a bad idea... I know it is possible to have individual player's text "overwrite" instead of "fill", so that if they q spot something, it places the message, if they do it 10 more times, you still have just their 1 message, and if they q spot something else, their old q-spot literally goes away in leau of their newest one.

That way, no 1 person could have more than 1 output of text at a time. Some games do that.

[RypeL]

Increasing size might work. Would have to try it.

We also might even be able to get rid of all the building messages from the chat. Wouldn't it be sufficient if we would make the building icons at the bottom of the hud flicker when someone qˋs them ?

[Stormtrooper TR8-T0R]

Good idea, additionally a voice should still say "attack/defend the *insert Building name here*"

[yosh56]

Think I would stick with maybe increasing size at most. People are already unobservant enough, so having messages at the bottom of the screen doesn't help.

[RypeL]

Think I would stick with maybe increasing size at most. People are already unobservant enough, so having messages at the bottom of the screen doesn't help.

We definatly should still leave the sound "Building needs defence" etc (and the sound could still be spammed). Then they would have the building icon flashing at the bottom (we would need to modify the flash). Im not sure... but i think this would still be obvious and easy enough ? ... This could free up a lot of space on the chatbox....

[Ruud033]

Maybe have a seperate chatbox for the Q-messages and the 'normal' chat?

[Ryz]

OR make q messages increase / decrease according to the situation? Sometimes I hit Q several times to notify people I really need help. What if the 'Q message' would increase when there is more damage or damage to be done to a building? So for examle when there are multiple C4 on MCT at building X the message gets way more attention?

Or when a person rams q 12 times for the same target / building / thing the message just pops-up bigger instead of getting repeated?

[Redline]

I'd like to see some Icons/Pictograms used more.

Using text is meh.

[RoundShades]

What else is possible, is having q-spot messages handled by the server and not the player. So the server sends the message to the chat box, making it white or possibly another bright color that isn't the player's. Of course, still just to team's chat and not public.

That would be more code than worth it though, than to just prevent the server from deleting the oldest post from an individual player in the chatbox. That bit of code should be easier.

[Handepsilon]

Building flash (with !) would be good, probably changes from yellow to red if spammed repeatedly. But we need to make the building UI a bit larger, sort of like how UT3 enlarge the score HUD of the player's own team. Keep enemy's icon small, but enlarge our own a bit

Something along this line

[Terekhov]

Having slightly bigger building icons which pop up in the left of the screen (directly below the bottom of chat) upon rep/defense calls, could work.

Whenever a building gets Q'd (repair or defend):

1) The icon appears (always in the same place for each building),

2) Its outline alternates flashing red/white for Nod or yellow/red for GDI, for every repair/defend message.

3) Every flash starts as an outline, but then enlarges/"radiates" outwards, before fading out.

So, it looks like the outline starts enlarging itself, but the outline is replaced and the NEW outline starts heading out as soon as the next person Q's.

Making the icons themselves flash would make it hard for people to see what building in the heat of the action, but making just the outline flash, with the boxes flowing outward, would:

a) Make the game look more polished

b) Draw people's attention

c) Save chat

How do you guys/gals like that idea?

edit - the "radiating" thing I was talking about is like this picture, except square/animated: