My first thought is that some guys just like to gripe and complain, a lot.
Then I try to see their perspective.
The game has evolved and changed over the years. HiTech has done a masterful job of keeping the game alive. Some will disagree, which is fine. I just ask that they kindly post a link to the online game they created so we can see how things should be done, and send one to HT, too. That way he can see all the things he's done wrong and see how the experts would do it.
Been here since early 2000, IIRC. The game was more......."pure" back then, I feel.
Everyone just came in wanting to engage in combat, fight it out, get back in another plane or tank and go at it again.
Can't remember the exact year, but some of the ground pounders began complaining about the planes coming in and killing their tanks and vehicles (imagine that, in a combat game, some guy killed them?).
One of the complaints that sticks with me is a player complaining about the planes killing him and his perk tank......"might as well not even get it off the base, cause they will kill me and I'll lose my perk points", not the exact quote, more of a paraphrase there.....
So, GV icon range, after pages and pages of debate, was reduced from 6K (which was too much) to 1.5K or less...........which is was too little.
Furballs were not as much fun, it seemed, after that, cause once a player lost the advantage, he would run to........guess what? An Osty or M16 (think this was pre-Wirb days) and the pursuer suddenly found himself surrounded by enemy AA fire, or just back in the tower.
Fast forward a year or two or three, and now you see the numbers in the arenas are down. Not sure if it was directly because of that, but one squad that I flew with for several years expressed their dissatisfaction with the way the game had turned, and gradually they all left......I'm the only one left.
IMO, when HT began giving in to one segment of the player base, to the detriment of the others......the fundamental part of the game that had attracted so many to log in and fly changed, and not for the better.
All the eye candy in the world won't counteract poor gameplay, or "iffy" behavior, for lack of a better phrase.
It's HT's game, his rules, his playground when it all comes down to the facts. So we can improvise, adapt, and overcome any changes, or just quit and move one.
Having said all that, I don't care one way or the other about GV dar. It lets me know a GV is "somewhere" in the area, which is useful and needed. But with all the trees in the AH3 terrains, and the ability for GV's to hide from aircraft and other GV's alike, it's nothing more than an indicator. I can't pinpoint the GV location, still have to fly a search grid and hope that if it's an AA vehicle I see him in time.
Wanna even things out, make it "fair" for everyone? Try this:
#1--Clear out the trees and shrubs on the bases, AND around them. A "tree free" zone of one mile all around all the bases would be a nice start. I know bustr is working on new terrains, hopefully his efforts will satisfy HT's map requirements and still enable the GV's to do their thing.
#2--Redo the base defenses. More AT weapons sighted on or near the perimeter of the bases. AA weapons toward the center.
#3--Take the AI defense back where they used to be. With reduced player numbers, there are too many undefended bases that can and are captured without so much as a defensive shot being fired. The tendency anymore seems to be to attack undefended bases. Increase AI's role in holding the line til human players can jump in and start defending the bases themselves. I've seen GV's drive right past defensive weapons, and never have a shot fired at them. "Back in the day" the auto guns were fearsome, and you had to be careful when approaching any and all bases.
#4--Do something about the view from the 17pdr AT gun. You can only see straight ahead, really?
#5--Add some sort of useful gunsight to the 88mm. The circle might do it for AA work, but for AT firing, no.
#6--Icon range: Find a happy medium........1.5K is too short, 6K was far too long. Split the difference and use 3K. Make icon range between aircraft and GV's equidistant. Plane can't see the GV icon til 3K, GV can't see the enemy plane icon til 3K. Do away with GV dar.
#7--Last but not least, and I know HT is working on it.......add the roads. The road system if implement correctly, would allow GV's to hit top speed while on the roads, reduced speed while moving cross country or off road. Go cross country a lot, and face the danger of getting bogged down or stuck, just like real life.
None of these suggestions will be implemented, I know. Just felt like chiming in to the conversation.
Most sorties I don't even consider bombs or rockets, cause air to ground is not what I log in hoping to do. It's when a base is threatened by GV's that I find myself loading up with bombs/rockets and playing with the GV guys.
Last resort, one that I think has been tried, but was not too successful, is place islands with GV bases on them where aircraft can't reach them, and allow the GV guys to do their thing with little or no interference. Put redwood forests on them so they can hide and shoot, but if they venture onto the parts of the maps where aircraft usually play, the gloves come off and they are just as exposed as their aerial nemeses.
Gonna take a break and put on the Nomex............something tells me there will be flames now...........
