Right now, when my squadmates spot enemies, they shout “enemy soldiers!”, “Feindliche Soldaten!” and so on, but I have no idea where they actually saw them, and even when I look on my squad, I have no idea which soldier has warned about the enemy and which way was he facing when he saw them, since each soldier looks in a different direction and they turn left and right from time to time. If the soldier who spotted the enemy, pointed towards the enemy with his free hand for 3 seconds or so, it would be not only useful, but also realistic and would be a perfect addition to the overall immersive soldier experience that Enlisted offers.
As for now the only thing that I can do when I hear my Hans shout “FEEEIND!” is start to spin around in panic looking for the enemy xD
This just like RO2. when bots keep saying enemies, but you cant see.
In its successor RS2, it introduced a animation just for spotting enemies.
Great idea. In ARMA series they also shouted enemy position based on clock. They could also call direction, like north-west.
I wished to have a squad-internal marker for AI-spotted soldiers. But realizing that they may see more than a human could, it might break the game, soldiers hiding prone in the bushes would be killed unfairly. So I don’t really wish this feature until bots get human-like vision.
great idea OP.
Great idea.
Also or alternatively, they could shout the cardinal direction of the enemy.
Directions based on the clock are more realistic but tricky in a videogame, because you don’t have a unified baseline of where 12 o’clock is (everyone might be looking in a different direction and you never know who is shouting).
You don’t, but the game itself knows – bots could be shouting directions to you, so if you hear “3 o’clock”, you know they mean your 3 o’clock, while another human player who is next to you, but is looking a different way would hear “9 o’clock”, for example. Ultimatelly it’s just about the sound file that is being played to the player.
Soviets are the only faction in game (so far) who didn’t use the “clock” system, AFAIK, but I think some liberties can be taken here.
Alternatively, asimuth maybe (was used by everyone during the war)? North is always north, and it also goes clockwise.
Ok that would work technically, but it would require the player to keep facing in the same direction around the time an enemy is spotted. Otherwise they get confused. Imagine for example a player running around in a house, turning several corners in the process and then hearing “Enemy squad, 9 o’clock”.
His thought process will be “9 o’clock from when I was running in this direction or this one or while I was looking out the window for a second?”.
I am painfully reminded of many instances of backseat gaming, trying to tell the player where they are getting shot from, to no avail.
Yes, I suppose you’re right. So, asimuth maybe? I gotta say, the more I think about it, the more I like OP’s simplistic approach - just have a random bot (maybe the bot closest to you or the one that is currently in your view) pointing in the general direction of an enemy. It solves the problem of “is it in relation to me now, or 1 second ago when I was looking the other way, or in relation to something else?”.
Now, of course, it needs to be done right - the game should analyze the surroundings and have your bots pointing in the direction of the greatest danger they currently see, for example. Otherwise we can end up with tens of bots, all pointing in different directions, because one is closer to an enemy tank, and one is closer to an enemy MG squad.
Alternatively, there could be a button that you press to ask “You got visual?”. Look at one of your bots, press that button, and that bot will point if they can see the enemy or make another gesture meaning “no visual” if they don’t.
Clockwise, with 12 facing cap, or enemy side of map?
I’d prefer a different colored spotting triangle for a few seconds. Maybe not as immersive as a gestured but definately more useful.
Trouble with a soldier doing a gesture is, if I’m current leading my AI by the time I’ve turned around to see which squad member is gesturing and then turn to face the direction, I’m likely gonna be dead. Rather than hearing the “They’re flanking us” and able to do just a quick scan for the spot.
Would be nice. Though in a way, I can’t help but feel like my ambushes won’t be mostly unnoticed.
I have a feeling this will be wonky if they’re ordered to follow the player, when they’re far ahead, or on players who prone-stand constantly behind cover.
Still feels more natural than enemy bots instantly knowing your general area without warning.