Spreading MA game play.....The Field Limit

[Tilt]

OK it 's not new in AW it was called a zone limit where it worked well.........

In its simplest form it works like this........

A field limit is an arena adjustable number which sets the maximum number of players that can be spawned from any field at any one time.

The immediate effect is to spread out the conflict zones and limit mass raids to more moderate sizes or at least force them to originate from rear fields.

It can be made more sophisticated in several ways......

1) It could be a field limit "multiplier" which is linked to the number of people in the arena at any time.

2) It could be a field limit "multiplier" which is modifies the field limit for different field types....... eg if the multiplier was 10 then eg

a)GV or small field with a base 1.5 would have limit of 15
b) medium field with a base 2 would have a limit of 20
c) large field with a base 3 would have a limit of 30
d) zone master field with a base 100 would have a limit of 1000.

3) It could be linked to the ride type forcing a mix of fighter/attack/bomber/gv types from any fully utilised field.

4) It could be linked to the field status eg where by loss of some hangers reduces the field limit.

5) Some of the above could be combined.

From a users point of view there would be no change until a field limit is filled and then upon attempting to spawn they are told that all vehicle/aircraft at that field are in use.  

It would not stop them "joining" with any one as a gunner.

As soon as some one (who spawned from that field) lands/ditches/dies then that ride place is available to the next person to hit the spawn button.

To make it work the field limits would have to established for each terrain.

This would be  a slow process of starting high and lowering it until game play is encouraged to spread more without too much inconvenience.

I would tend to favour the addition of 2 above so folk could instantly go to larger fields with a better chance of immediately finding a ride (although the bar dar would give some indication).

[Innominate]

Better IMO to just spread things out enough that everyone can do as they please.  Those who enjoy the huge gangbangs can still do it, but there should be enough room for the rest of us to be able to slip around and ignore them.  As opposed to the current MA where everyone is usually forced down the same paths.

[Tilt]

Originally posted by Innominate
Better IMO to just spread things out enough that everyone can do as they please.  

I agree that larger terrains should reduce massive concentrations...... but re AKdesert this does not seem to be the case..........we seem to suffer glut or famine across various parts of the map. Is this just down to terrain design?

[Innominate]

Originally posted by Tilt
I agree that larger terrains should reduce massive concentrations...... but re AKdesert this does not seem to be the case..........we seem to suffer glut or famine across various parts of the map. Is this just down to terrain design?

The added map size is pointless if it still contains the same one-route barriers.  There are far more of the "30+mile" barriers, places where fields are spaced out too far, or with too big of an alt difference, for people to want to fly it.  Usually it takes a mission to cross those gaps.  AKDesert is a lot like several of the 256maps bolted together, with a big divide between them.  Nobody likes flying 30-40 miles to get somewhere, these gaps are effective barriers.

Having lots of fields doesn't necessarily give you a lot of options, and having smaller maps doesn't mean there can't be a lot of options.  

How many times have you logged into the MA, and only seen one or two possible directions to move in?

[MWHUN]

Tilt:

Zones in AW were a nightmare and a handicap at times when you were the country pushed into a corner.  The enemy could attack from multiple airfields each sending 10+ fighters while the defenders were limited by their own zone from launching an equal number of intercepts from 1 base.  Thus the zone created a 2:1 disadvantage for the defenders because half the country sat in HQ unable to take-off.

Also it sucked that you went and put together a squad run only to find out that halfway through take-off the zone became full and your fighter escorts were stuck on the ground.

If the zone system was smart enough to compensate for these kinds of problems than it may work.  However in AW it caused an additional choke point against the country that was already being hit hard.

[10Bears]

Problem with this is what if the base you wanted to launch from has fuel porked?.. So you go to the next field but it has the field limit?.. the third field is too far to the rear... the only thing close is a vh base.. naw.. a lot of guys would log.

Here's an idea I've been toying with for some time; HiTech codes it so mapmakers can place 20 or 30 planes on each field. Instead of selecting a plane from hanger, you select field gun.. that screen fills up with 20-30 planes.. you just choose one. The planes in their revintments are still vunerable to attack so as to offer incentive to defend fields more. Once the field is depleted of planes, the team must wait for next shipment. This would offer incentive to rtb so the next guy can fly. You would want to park your bird near the revintment.. but not directly in. (because the next guy can't back out)

A repair hanger would be required and the rule would be to refuel and repair your bird for the next guy..

[Dead Man Flying]

The zone limit in Air Warrior wasn't a "feature," it was a necessary evil brought about by the game's inability to handle massive amounts of players in small areas.  Why, if Aces High can handle such a network load, would we ever want to implement what was essentially a workaround?

-- Todd/Leviathn

[Ripsnort]

Originally posted by Dead Man Flying
The zone limit in Air Warrior wasn't a "feature," it was a necessary evil brought about by the game's inability to handle massive amounts of players in small areas.  Why, if Aces High can handle such a network load, would we ever want to implement what was essentially a workaround?

-- Todd/Leviathn

What he said.

[Wlfgng]

nah.. we'd, most of us anyway, be loggin off when the options were too limited

[Wotan]

just dfd ordnance attrition.

fields have x amount of lbs of ord and its resupplies in x amount of time.


There was never a problem of to many fighters in one spot but 50 man suicide base rapes are what have the greater impact.

Time delays and limited number of planes per field are wrong imho.

Just design in ord attrition. Make it resuppliable using those trucks so that folks can run "missions" to prevent fields from being re supplied.

I made a suggestion in the "suicide bomber" thread by ht that a small field should have enough ord per lbs to take out the hangers at a small field.

So if ht puts hanger toughness to 3000 lbs (its 2500 now) to be killed then 18lbs (3 fhs 2 bhs 1 vh) would be available at small fields per xxx time (30 min??)

Bombers need to be excluded from ord attrition because there are 2 few now and they have trouble hitting anything. Besides 1 bomber could eat up all the ord at 1 base. Or better yet have 4 eng bombes avail from med and large fields only. If not you will get a bunch suicide bombers if theres no ord limit on them.

This wont stop suicide jabos but thin their numbers. It will stop the suicide guy who rides his bombs in and re ups again to repeat over and over..

Cvs should have a limit as well.

Limiting what people can fly and where they can fly will most likely piss lotsa folks off. Ord attrition does this too but only in terms of jabos.

[Flossy]

Originally posted by MWHUN
Zones in AW were a nightmare and a handicap at times when you were the country pushed into a corner.  

The difference was notable between FR and RR in AW in this case.  Tilt, of course, flew exclusively FR, where the zone limit only occasionally affected play..... whereas in RR, it was a whole different ballgame.  As someone who regularly flew in both modes, I know it was very often a problem in the busy RR arenas and was definitely very frustrating.  I only remember a few occasions where we were pushed back to only a couple of bases in FR, but of course it happened all the time in RR - so much so that some arenas had to be reset each night as a matter of routine.  

[Killjoy2]

This idea doesn't work for me because when I land and exit, someone grabs my ride and I'm left with my thumb out.