"You have been captured" - A Modest Proposal

[artik]

We've been asking for a built-in rescue for a loooooong time.

First time a rescue model was applied to Israeli 1956 Kadesh (Suez Campaign) Scenario back to 2003 IIRC. In thous days we used this little guy for a rescue:



HTC... maybe it is a time to implement one... it shouldn't be hard at all. Some kind of join other plane when you are on the ground and it is stopped.

[Karnak]

You can simulate that quite easily right now.  Sit on the hillside until the storch, or whatever, lands next to you, then .ef to end your sortie, then .join <playername> to join the guy who landed next to you.

Any sort of game mechanic such as retaining perks, sharing perks with the rescuer or marking your sortie as 'Landed' instead of 'Captured' or 'Bailed' would be bad for the game.  Encouraging players to sit on a hillside, begging for a ride home rather than participating in combat is not a good thing.

I have no problem with the idea of HTC implementing it so long as all it might do is change a "Captured" result to a "Bailed" result.

[artik]

You can simulate that quite easily right now.  Sit on the hillside until the storch, or whatever, lands next to you, then .ef to end your sortie, then .join <playername> to join the guy who landed next to you.

This is sort of thing that was done for scenarios... but it required a confirmation by the CM that this storch had really landed next to you... That is why stuff like

".rescue <ID>"

that checks that (a) you are stopped (b) ID is bailed and withing N yards of you (c) send the ID from bailed status to joined status without passing the tower.

Such a command would be GREAT - forget the perks.

[F77]

.rescue <ID> would work... you could have a whole sub genre.  The downed pilot could re-up instantly and if the rescue pilot/driver makes it home... "<PILOT ID> rescued 2 pilots".  You could then add it to the achievement list "Rescue 5 pilots" etc.

This way you're only keeping a player from opting to stay away from the game play for as long as it takes for someone to reach them.  It's then down to the rescue pilot to decide what he wants to do.

[PJ_Godzilla]

I like it, but only if we have a counterpart role where I can hunt the downed pilot, torture him until he spills, then kill him and throw his body in a garbage dumpster. That might sound a little out there, but, rest assured, garbage dumpsters are more timeless than you might think.

It'd probably be best if he has pictures in his wallet - like of a wife or girlfriend that I can abduct and with whom I can get freaky-deaky. Under such circumstances, I can guarantee he'll spill and, when he does, I want to earn perkies.

EDIT: just in case anyone wants to take this seriously, DON'T take this, nor anything else in this thread, seriously. I mean: don't we have bigger problems than worrying about some froot-loop .45-boosting a base all James Bond style?

[mutha]

Godzilla ,we already have a torture mode in AH  - it's called CH200.

-Mutha

[hgtonyvi]

I have made a suggestion previously where, instead of a simple "you have been captured" message, the downed pilot gets the opportunity to do some e&e and be rescued by a storch, goon or GV. 

I also suggested that downed pilots have the option to join a resistance movement to contribute to base taking, maybe as a pathfinder for inbound troops, or sabotaging shore batteries shooting at fleets coming through the straits of Navarone. 

I also asked for the option for the downed pilot to fall in love with a female resistance fighter and maybe find some fecund land where, sick of killing, he can sit out the war, farming the land with his woman.  And maybe buy a cow with perk points.

These suggestions were met with resounding indifference. 

Fine - let's not make the game more fun.

So if we're going to stick with the simple "you have been captured" mode, let's at least extend "captured mode" into real gameplay and give captured pilots a chance to redeem their k/d. 

Captured pilots should be interred in a luftstalag near the strats.  Captured pilots will need to tunnel out, then either steal a storch, or ride a motorcycle to freedom. 

If the player has modified his uniform to look like a civilian and has the proper forged papers (minigames!), he can risk taking an enemy train to the border.

I eagerly await this new, more exiting gameplay. 

(And yes, I recently was forced to exit my aircraft and parachuted one pixel closer to an enemy base.)

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Mutha

AWESOME IDEA LOL....I LOVE IT.....

[guncrasher]

.rescue <ID> would work... you could have a whole sub genre.  The downed pilot could re-up instantly and if the rescue pilot/driver makes it home... "<PILOT ID> rescued 2 pilots".  You could then add it to the achievement list "Rescue 5 pilots" etc.

This way you're only keeping a player from opting to stay away from the game play for as long as it takes for someone to reach them.  It's then down to the rescue pilot to decide what he wants to do.

only pilots that are really gonna get rescued are those who bailed right next to bases.  nobody is gonna go to hq in a storch to rescue some guy and waste 2 or 3 hours of game play.


semp

[PJ_Godzilla]

[Skull-1]

No need to limit it to a Storch.  Pierce McKennon (12 victories) was picked up by a fellow Mustang pilot--his wingman Lt. Green.  Others were rescued In Spits. 

I would suggest that once the downed aviator is picked up both players lose their parachutes.  Land or die.

[PJ_Godzilla]

I just realized that we went from my post of nearly a year ago to Mutha's rather humorous response of near-today without the obligatory reference to a bump: 

[PJ_Godzilla]

On a more serious note, I'd offer this as an alternative idea... Why not allow GV supply trains to establish mobile bases such that any flat piece of ground could become a mobile waystation for damaged birds or downed pilots? This way, you could mount operations that would allow transient leapfrogging around the map.

All it would take is a couple of tankers and ammo trucks and some armor/infantry to defend them locally. The supplies carried would need to be in finite quantity for realism. Downed pilots reaching the perimeter could check out as a bail. Damaged aircraft landing within the perimeter could get a ditch.

It sets up a driver, essentially, for the assembly of groups of vehicle and the acquisition of specific pieces of ground.

Besides, wouldn't it be cool to put a 5" rocket into a fuel tanker?

Also, consider the beauty of indirect fire weapons in such a scenario working in conjunction with forward observers, either earthbound or aircraft... SPAs or towed pieces, either or...

[Tilt]

if we are heading toward combat tour lite then the ability to summon an AI Storch rom the nearest available base may be viable.

its all FE driven and would not add to band width usage. if the Storch gets shot down then you have the option of summoning another or surrendering.

[mutha]

To simplify Tilt's suggestion, how about populating the countryside with storches or GVs?  A downed player can find one to fly or drive to friendly territory. 

No new code needed, and it keeps the game populated.

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-Mutha

[PJ_Godzilla]

To simplify Tilt's suggestion, how about populating the countryside with storches or GVs?  A downed player can find one to fly or drive to friendly territory. 

No new code needed, and it keeps the game populated.

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-Mutha

I like this - and it could be done relatively intelligently. Consider that WWII was never quite as static as WWI in regard to the exact location of the front. You could have some dispersion of these assets relative to a nominal front such that, the closer your proximity to that nominal front, the better your chances of finding and grabbing such a ride.