Enemies shouldnt be marked on the mini-map unless you have seen them/ aimed at them/ been shot by them. Dunno if you should be able to see their name above them when ur aiming in close proximity by them, its a bit of easy mode/ auto aim like feature which removes some skill in playing making it more easy mode and hints. Also i would love to see the feature to be able to write on the mini map like in GW 1 and GW 2, drawing smal simple white lines, removing themselves/ disapearing after 5-15 seconds. ------------------------- Similar topics (further reading for interested): (maps) http://forum.eternalcrusade.com/threads/maps.30870/ (mini-maps) http://forum.eternalcrusade.com/threads/mini-map-enemy-visual-spotted.28725/page-2#post-495150 http://forum.eternalcrusade.com/threads/map-and-compass.27960/#post-483543 http://forum.eternalcrusade.com/thr...ting-over-objectives.25131/page-2#post-481254
How the minimap is to be handled has been a very hot topic for a long while. Spotting especially. I don't see how seeing the enemy's name in game when close to them is easy mode. On the topic of spotting enemies on the minimap, I'm unsure on how it should be handled. The 'standard' way, that being any ally spots an enemy and it lights up as a red diamond on the minimap for 10 seconds is, in my opinion, fine. In a battlefield as enormous as EC's, hindering the spotting element is detrimental to everyone. Coordination is going to be extremely difficult when you're unable to see where the enemy is. Minimap drawing is useful in squad play. Try to play a game like Dota 2 (which has the feature) without it, where positioning and timing are asbolutely critical--drawing on the map key tactics for different actions are inifinitely useful and it helps break the language barrier. People drawing penises and other stuff is unavoidable, but it loses it's humour after 10 seconds as people will play the game and forget about drawing dicks as they're too occupied in game.
BATTLEFIELD 2142! *swoons* I loved that game. The commo-rose is a brilliant idea for making commands easy and quick to use. How it worked was; tapping q will just spot (without the need to open the rose up) and while holding you just need to move your mouse in the direct of the command you want to select (as opposed to moving a little cursor over it) and activated it by clicking. It is much easier than hitting a key and then a number because in the middle of a fight it is fiddly but quick+accurate mouse movements come much more naturally to a shooter player.
Personally I feed red dots on your minimap cater to younger gamers and belong in games along the lines of Lego Star Wars. I imagine my nephews playing Halo.... they're are 6 and 12 years old. Basically the "system" or game is holding your hand like you're a child and spoon feeding you easy kills via showing you exactly where enemies are located in your immediate vicinity. I prefer to have to actually look for my foe, to listen for their weapons firing, communicate with my team mates to find and fix enemy locations. Hardcore servers in games such as Medal of Honor Warfighter and Battlefield 4 require much more teamwork and player interaction than the kiddie/non hardcore servers. There are no enemies on your minimap, no red tags over enemy heads, no bullshit death cams. You use your eyes and ears and communicate with your team mates to find the enemy. "Red glowies"on your minimap are a crutch, and artificially inflate your situational awareness 10 fold. This is great for those just learning to play video games, not so great if your an avid gamer. Not much is left to chance, and the Fog of War is nearly non existent. I'm really hoping for a unique and challenging experience when I play Eternal Crusade. A game world and UI that really gives you the feel and flavor of the grim dark realities of the 40K universe, versus feeling like I'm playing Halo, Call of Duty, Battlefield 4(on the kiddie servers) reskinned in a 40K setting.
Generalise harder. I'm an avid gamer and believe that the minimap red dots are crucial to represent your situational awareness. I agree that having enemies automatically showing up on the minimap is bad, it takes away the ability to ambush and launch a surprise attacks but saying that enemies shouldn't show up at all is just ridiculous. When you consider how quickly players can move around and how long it would take to accurately describe which of a 4 piles of stacked shipping containers he was standing on, it's much easier to spot them and have them be represented on the minimap so your allies are warned and you can track him if you don't kill them. The best method I've seen is the one that PS2 uses, the only red dots that appear are troops who have fired an unsilenced weapon within a certain distance (only visible while firing and for a second after), spotted by you or a friendly (which only lasts ~10 seconds) or are moving inside a motion sensors detection zone (stay visible as long as you move + 1/2 seconds after). Vehicles work slightly differently by having an 'auto-detect' distance, which represents the distance you'd be able to hear/feel the vehicle without needing to see it. To top it all off, those of stealth inclinations have many options to reduce their chance to appearing, there is an implant that stops motion detectors working on you (if you don't jump or sprint), silenced weapons don't show at all (and a flash suppressor reduces the range at which a gun makes you visible), infiltrators can lose a spotted dot by cloaking and vehicles have a stealth attachment which reduces detection range (and at max level stops auto-detecting entirely).
To be honest, I never look at my minimap, especially in combat, it can be too distracting and I ofter make it smaller. But its still useful.
It depends for me. In games like World of Tanks where positioning on the map is cruicial (it's so important it means either victory or defeat), I make the minimap as large as possible in order for me to guage precise positions of enemies and allies. This, this, this. You're never going to be in constant communication with everyone in a battle. Never. It's going to be a mess, a maelstrom of violence and chaos. Precise coordination to spot and target enemies as of the lack of a minimap spotting feature will be impossible. Hence why spotting simulates that communication and as Abize said, simulates your situational awareness. The lack of spotting / minimaps works for milsims where you need to precisely describe your enemy, where you will always have time to do so in your situation. If you're in a tight spot, lessen the detail so you can focus on not dying. What have you spotted, and how many? Where is it in relation to you? (Compass direction? Degrees? Neaby landmark?) Is the target moving? If so, roughly where to? How quickly? Are there any notable features? (Anti tank weapons? Artillery spotter? Radio pack? Portable gun?) Then you act based upon your information. Sadly there isn't going to be time for this to be executed in EC, it's utterly unfeasible due to the pace and scale, which is why the Minimap is a substitute for lengthy spotting and communication processes.
Where do I download EC? since you know the pace and scale, I'm assuming you've played the game. I'm amused at the fact that many gamers can't imagine playing without a minimap. It's become such a crutch many are lost without it. Pong was my first gaming experience back in the late 80's. I guess it's quite different for someone brought up on ancient technology(pong) versus being brought up on Call of Duty. You assume that's how all games should be, and are lost without being spoon fed a constant flow enemy locations. The trend over the last several years from my observations has been the "dumbing down" of game play. While situational awareness in video games has been increased substantially with surround sound, bigger and yet bigger TV screens, bigger PC monitors, in game voice comms, some developers still feed the need to hold your hand and leave nothing to chance for the player. Xray vision, red icons and tags floating around the game world in every shape and form that say "look here, shoot here...", death cams that show the exact location of that sniper that killed you from across the map. The only thing we're missing is an auto pilot mode where you don't even have to aim or pull the trigger, because the system will down it for you...
