Randomize vehical spawnpoints

[Thog]

Just saw a slaughter of vehicals around a vehical spawnpoint.  Somebody sat there and shot them as they appeared, someone else kept trying to appear.  Remember that movie about "Wingcommander"?  Like that.

Randomize the spawnpoints to within a 3k or so radius.  That way vehicals won't
1)  Always show in same place, ripe for slaughter.
2)  Always take exactly the same route to a base ot field.
3)  Usually have flat terrian to work with.  

You could get cute about the area to spawn in (rather than a circle, could be a defined area like a valley or something), but randomizing it would help some of the more obvious holes in the tactics.

Thog

[funked]

Good idea.  I hear some dweebs are getting 50 kill tank sorties by vulching those spawn points...  

[Ghosth]

Sure wouldn't bother me any!

Nothing worse than getting shot in the back of the neck at point blank range!


------------------
Maj Ghosth
XO 332nd Flying Mongrels
Scenario Corp, AH Trainer Corp
 

[This message has been edited by Ghosth (edited 10-22-2000).]

[Thog]

Yup.  HT would likely need to make it a series of spawnpoints (dynamically figuring out the x,y,z axis of a truely random spawnpoint might be more of a pain in the bellybutton than it's worth), but even if he put in 5-10 pre-defined spawnpoints in the general area of a current spawnpoint, and rolled a die as to which one the vehical appeared at, it would work.

The testing of it could be automated pretty easily (compared to testing it manually every time), so it would be some front end work to set up for any map (defining the points, initial test script), but a test pass should be quick.  

Net effect would be to make vehicals a little less monotonous and otherwise predictable, without upsetting play-balance.  Not a panacea, but should help.  Don't know what HT's take on the ROI for this will be though.  

Thog

[brady]

  Yes I agree last night the Bishops(me) were being hammered and on a couple Defensive sorties we rolled back the attackers toward the spawn point the jabos raped them as they appeared and I marveled at how bad a shot I am in the Pzkfw IV,I AM GETTING BETTER THOUGH
        Brady

[Paxil]

Now this is a *great* idea. Saw two people with over 40 kill streaks yesterday at spawn points! Can't blame them really... but it shouldn't be happening.

[GRUNHERZ]

Hi

Oh no! Poor baby fur seal ostidweeb runway vulching squeakes are mad because some nasty evil person decided to vulch their pwecious wittle spawn point. No!, the shock, the horror, unbelivevable.  How sad and terrible.
Nananaaaaaa! Nanaaaa! Naaaaa!  WOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!!!  WOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!!!!  HA HA HA HA         I love it!

[[Sg]ShotGun]

yes
i agree with grunherz.

iv never heard of this type of behavior b4..these people must be stopped, along with:

the f4u dweebs
the n1k dweebs
the ack star dweebs
the sputnik lanc dweebs
the gangbang dweebs..
the list goes on and on...

i mean, never mind the time it takes juuti to drive his osti to a6 and take down all its AA and BH/VH and then sit on the runway to vulch the dummy pilots who take off when they can see him just sitting there. there is a higher purpose in thogs idea...

'u cant fight in here, this is the war room...'

------------------
Sg
Thunderbirds

[Fury]

Even changing spawn points by a few hundred yards would help.

Although, what would help more is someone to get rid of the guy camping on the spawn point.  We wouldn't even have to wait for HTC to change anything!

I learned real quick that it was senseless for me to try to take off from a field being vultched.  I learned even quicker that it was senseless for me to repeatedly spawn to a spot that was being covered.

Fury

[Kirin]

Excactly guys...  almost every dweeb knows what happens when you take from a capped field...

If ya get killed on a spawn point just don't roll from that special point anymore!!! Get up a plane or something and take the spawnkiller out! Ostdweebs are pesky enough right now - spawn points are so close to bases that it takes almost no effort to literally overroll an airfield. "Capping" the spawn point is an effective defense and at least temporarly stops the flood of Ostis - you want realism, then remove spawnpoints at all...

From a flyers perspective it's most annoying to get killed on rwy by a Osti sitting behind you... why should it be spared from its own spawnkill tactic???

[Thog]

Ummm... yes, very nice.  However, my point is that rather than attempting to address bizarre monkey behavior, it would be better to change the game design to mitigate the behavior without damaging anything else.  

I work in software QA (used to do game design years ago).  I've learned beyond any shadow of a doubt that expecting to change the users behavior when an expliotable bug or design element is present is hopeless.  The objective becomes changing the code so that it 1) no longer creates an exploitable bug or design element, and 2) do so without crippling the point of the feature or creating other exploitable bugs or design elements.

So comments like "I hate all you bananas.  Stop touching me!" aren't really helpful.  And fixes that involve "Nuke everything associated with this feature" aren't helpful, and aren't likely to be implemented.  If you see a hole in the idea I've proposed, please let me (and HTC) know.

Yours Always,
Thog

[Paxil]

You can't tell if a vehicle spawn point is being vulched. You can tell if an airfield is... or the vh... but not the spawn points that are way off over yonder.

[arhurb]

I would not touch them.

It is rather hard to counter a big ground strike to any airbase like it is now. And the current situation discourages (somehow) the lone wolf parking lot dweeb that uses Ostys to first kill VH and then park near the airfield just to vulch. Randomizing spawn points will only ease that vulching behaviour. If anyone wants to make a coordinate attack on a field, it's fair enough like it is right now, but easing the vulcher job at the defenders' expense, IMO, no way. If you want to vulch a field in an Osty, fine, go find a friend that kills VH first, and get a panzer alongside. But I wouldn't like playing Hide and Seek with some Osty permanent respawning dweeb.

This is not an Osty whine, I think they don't unbalance the game that bad. But they are pretty deadly like they are now. Please do not give them any more advantages. Vulching a field from an airborne platform requires to deack field first (and kill VH too). Vulching a field from an Osty requires only to spawn, crawl for 5 mins, kill VH, park, grab a beer....the rest is known history, and a very often one, currently.

Cheers,


Pepino.

P.S.: You can easily tell when a vehicle spawn point is being vulched. It always start with "WTF!?!?!?!..."  Remedy: don't spawn again there...  

[Ripsnort]

<Rip takes up position on spawn point, cracks a cold one, pulls out the newspaper....and waits....>  

[Fishu]

I did once try that spawn point vulching and I must have waited for over half hour there.. then one came and second, I shot them dozen times and after that I did exit because that sort of vulching just don't fit for me.
I end up there when I was counter assaulting enemy assault..  shot couple tanks advancing to the field and then couple more while on the move for counter attack their spawn point.

I also think that ostwinds are too high in priority to take field down, it needs just one ostwind which can take whole field down in about 5 minutes after first shot.
At least those ostwinds are great for putting up a CAP while waiting troops to arrive  

So.. theres couple nice issues.. make spawn point random and do something for that field hog called ostwind. (its a air to air artilery piece, not a howitzer...)