Lots of talk on the boards for some changes lately it seems. Here's another. Started today with reading this thread
http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,352503.105.htmlThat thread and others have made me think of this idea more than once. Everytime I try to think of a suggestion for this topic, I find my mind looking to fill the the wide open gaps/spanses in between bases/spawns, where the action at times at these bases is already adequatley concentrated and focused, but often lacking in-between.
Part 1: Can we get a test Arena to test new (maybe bold/extreme) MA ideas in? Icon adjustments, weather, AAA lethalities, 8-cv task groups, etc.. Understood - first the new ideas, then the testing, but the process of getting some foundation out there to start with and developing up as you go was sucessful when applied to the new achievement system.
Part 2: Sea convoys. Some water maps just have too much open/unused space. I think the arena's theme (early, mid or late war), the ratio of the map's water to land, and current state/health of the strats could be interpretted by some codeing to spawn/maintain some convoys within the game. To the red guys their purpose would be lucrative targets, but for the friendlies something beneficial should come from keeping a convoy alive or protecting it (and may be a good reason to toy around with it in a beta - find a nice balance).
Part 3: Task group composition stacking/destacking. Nuts-n-Bolts being players can elect to utilise a standard task group, or to (somehow) increase the number of ships within it and thus its strength, or to (somehow) divide its strengths/ships and conquor. IE: A standard task group spawns, you can steam it straight to the front or if you sail it to within 5-miles of another friendly port and it gains a heavy cruiser (and if ships are damaged, repairs some). IE: you have a large healthy task group and rondevou with a large convoy, so it gives you a second task group, or if your task group is in bad shape it helps repair it. I would love to see it in action, or more accuratley which strategy will work best: the same old "get the CV into action ASAP" or "take the time to build up the task group into a floating fort knox" one or to work in conjunction with a nearby convoy (where the convoy gets protection, task group gets logistics/support).
Part 4 (the big one): Apply the CV cource mechanics (controlable by a player on the team, able for a single person to take command of, limits of how close to X you can make the cource) to GV and PT boat spawns, but obviously single-point. If limits were in place (can't set within 2-miles of enemy town/field/strat, can't set over 50-miles away from the base), how bad would this be? It would make the GV and PT spawn points more versaitle and useful for whatever an individual or group of individuals wanted to accomplish (flank a base, start a spawn on spawn fight, deploy PT boats 1/2 ahead of the enemy CV within visual distance of your control tower).
I think some map creators/editors would still like to be able to set some permanent spawn points, but I think the majority will love the time this feature saves them when the location/position of every single spawn point is no longer 100% their responcibility/chore to place.
Another reason I want to see experiments with this idea is that it could replace all the permanent spawn points (and that the map creator would need to designate) and provide each base with only one forward spawn point. The good and bad (and why I can think of no better way than to test it in action) is each base has a movable spawn point, and only one (besides a default/hangar).
Could be interesting, but its all speculation. IE: Capturing surrounding and smaller fields before just hordeing the prized large/keystone field in the area will provie your side with a very notable advantage in that immediate area. Want to log in tonight at 7pm and be rolling in panzers down your enemy HQ's main street with your squadies before 10pm?... now that might be possible on any map and on any night with a couple/few well thought base captures. How often is an enemy field currently taken with a friendly PT/LVT boat spawn?... Maybe a refinement of such a feature could even give task groups better control of their LVT/PT boat spawns without first trying to beach the CV as close to the objective as possible.
Lastly, I think it's one of the longest standing tounge-in-cheek request on these boards, but if the foundation can start being laid for it with changes like these (or better, I can hope), then perhaps player controlled submarines could be introduced and not too far behind.