Hello fallow crusaders, I would like to rise an idea which was first brought to my attention by MR. "Uriel1339" which is the role of a battle field commander of sorts who has birds eye view of the battle field and can give more strategic commends to the troops on the grounds (like if you natural selection if you've played it) the benefits of that role are a more strategic play and not just clashing into each other in a big wave and not to mention people who do not want to be in the heat of battle can pladge there whits to the battle, so what do you think does such role have place?
I like the idea of a commander viewing the battlefield map before the game, marking certain things as important objectives, or certain areas as places to take and hold. When objectives are achieved the players that achieve them receive bonuses, and units inside the designated take and hold area receive buffs.
well the way I imagined it is not just at the beginning of the game but also through out the whole battle there will be a guy or a group of people who are responsible for strategic decisions, but the idea about the capture points which give you buffs is a really good one
To be honest I think adding a whole birds-eye commander mode isn't even necessary. In both Warhammer Online and PS2, my experience has told me the easiest way to fight a battle with your wits is just to find and follow the people/guilds who actually send scouts out and make informed decisions. Smaller 'premade' groups would head to different areas while the main zerg acted as a handy diverson, because more often than not the zergs would fall apart if they met any well co-ordinated group defending a keep or fortress even with their massive numerical advantage. Besides, in 40k many heroes lead from the front since their powers are invaluable in combat. If the War Council and Hero unit jazz makes it into the game there'll definitely be tactical decision making implemented as a core game mechanic, but I believe you don't need that kind of incentive to fight with your brain.
As I said in my post the obvious advantages of a birds eye view Commender is omitting the situatuation of two walls clashing into each other mindlessly but instead there might be a display of tactics
Such a game without a tactical display would just be ridiculous. When I play PS2, it's a pain in the a** to command using the map. Following other guilds who are using scouts and other advanced tactics are usually rather annoyed than happy about "the random screwing up their plans", so to speak.
I think you are on the right idea with this particular topic. However, I think the Devs will already have something in mind for the Players when they create the MAP system. If it's going to be anything like Planet Side then they will be able to set waypoints, markers and read the map when it comes to troop positions.
It is posted somewhere in an interview that there would be map rooms for Strike Forces. I think its in the interview I'm referencing down here. So, War Councils will have Supa-dupa map saloons, I guess. http://gamingbolt.com/warhammer-40k...all-out-online-war-next-gen-consoles-and-more
It's a good idea to have a tactical interface operating from a map screen, but I doubt that the developers would want to put pressure on commanders to effectively play a budget RTS game from their map while not being able to take an active part in the battle. However a similar system with a large amount of control for setting up attacks in advance, that is easy enough to use on the fly, would allow a commander to step into the action and play an actual part without sacrificing tactical effectiveness. Here's an idea that I've been kicking about over on the mmorpg.com forums for what I call the Ta.B.I (Tactical Battle Interface). OVERVIEW Basically the Ta.B.I is a set of controls appended to the map that (like savage shark suggests) would allow commanders and squad sergeants the ability to allocate objectives globally for all players (in the case of commanders) and for their squads (in the case of sergeants), as well as having controls and functions to co-ordinate attacks such as action commencement timers, specific objectives (missions such as Assault, hold the line, take and hold this area e.t.c.), squad locations and the ability to contact specific squad sergeants and the like. The commencement timer feature is intended to make advance planning and coordinating multi-pronged attacks such as pincer movements possible. Additionally objectives could be able to be chained together, or paths to objectives drawn, allowing a commander to suggest the best use of terrain, mark rally points pre an attack and/or to prevent incoming players stumbling across enemy as they are lead into an ambush. OBJECTIVES Objectives once marked on the battle map appear as specific mission types (indicated by a relevant icon which can be interacted with in the interface) and act as joinable events allowing players to quickly find something to do and possibly even to be automatically assigned to open squads should they desire. Such events could be viewable on the map with a brief mission instruction based on the mission type allowing players to best judge what sort of loadout they would require or whether they are suited for that role, hence 'Infiltrate & Sabotage' or 'Close Assault' missions wouldn't typically be suitable for heavy weapon troops. This would hopefully give a way in which these player generated activities could be incentivised and 'packaged' in a simple to understand manner reminiscent of the traditional quest structure of MMOs, with the additional bonus of making battles more tactical and structured than simply - there's a battle here - join in! Hell it could even show player's locations and the locations of enemies as they are spotted, as well as their type when they are fully scouted (making scouting missions essential) and allow real-time orders to be given to those squad sergeants that are in command (IE the highest ranking in that mission/assault) . This means that the Ta.B.I would function somewhat like a real time strategy element overlayed on the third person shooter game... VERY in keeping with the spirit of the tabletop game!
