Concepts that look cool.

[Gawain]

what we need for the n00bs are good tutorials. i don't think that as many n00bs as in ct will be around in ps, and you can choose to play with vets only (matches organized by xfire, real accounts). maybe it would be a good idea if making a new account needs 10 minutes of tutorial work in order to stop the smurfing.

[InvisibleMan999]

We definitely need good tutorials. I wouldn't really mind some n00b special effects either. I mean, assuming it wouldn't kill the framerate, I wouldn't have any problem with the momentary clientside waves emanating from a spy making noise, or especially some kind of effect that shows you when you're on radar while carrying a disc. It's another reason I suggested an indicator to point out when you've been detected by an MT box.

It's sad because most newbies to multiplayer SC don't even know the sound detector exists.

It'd be nice to get a good community of players, and to do that we need to make it newbie accessible. However, instead of going DAs route of dumbing down the game, we should just make the game mechanics more apparent and well-explained. It doesn't fundamentally change game balance if newbies are aware when they're making sound, in fact they'll much more easily learn how to play the game. The vets probably won't care either way since they already know that stuff.

Also as far as visuals go, I'd also like the gas mask to only block vision when actually activated, as opposed to when merely selected. This would make it a lot more apparent when gas mask was activated and when it was inactive.

Also maybe we could make some kind of visual that happens when you headshot a merc, so it's more obvious you got a headshot and that his suit is out of commission, perhaps small sparks going around his body or something similar.

[frvge]

Also as far as visuals go, I'd also like the gas mask to only block vision when actually activated, as opposed to when merely selected. This would make it a lot more apparent when gas mask was activated and when it was inactive.

Also maybe we could make some kind of visual that happens when you headshot a merc, so it's more obvious you got a headshot and that his suit is out of commission, perhaps small sparks going around his body or something similar.

I like those ideas.

[Overstatement]

It'd be nice to get a good community of players, and to do that we need to make it newbie accessible. However, instead of going DAs route of dumbing down the game, we should just make the game mechanics more apparent and well-explained.

Yes! People like me who don't play 80% of their games with someone they know, would like a large and challenging community. There is a big difference between dumbing a game down and being helpful.

[Gawain]

the current hud system is kinda self-explaining and mature. we should go for good tutorials and a skill indicator superior to the rank system.

[Daybreak]

Skill indication is just another form of Ranking. It can't be based on anything creditable.

A Stat tracking system like what was talked way back when would be something nice to have. I know that for Tribes, i was able to download a stat tracker that was a complete part of the game. So I don't see a reason why we couldn't do it.
Then by using somesort of code, we could get skill data or player type. You know, like in Perfect Dark you get trigger happy or most cowardly, but for spies or mercs. So like, smoke happy, or sneaky SOB or Throat Doctor, MT whore. things like that.
It's probably a lot of work, but personnally, it'd be a great to have. No one else would be able to see it but what's stopping us from having a forum with players of PS (VERSUS) posting their stats.

[Gawain]

i was more thinking on a red light warning you that this guy hasn't played more than 100 hours or not more than 10 hours on the current map. and a blue light for people with more than 500 hours or more than 100 hours on the current map. this would make it much easier to fill a server with equally skilled people. this would work via the cd key and not via the user name of course.

[Succubus Dryad Of The Undying Comet]

hello? what cd-key??

[Gawain]

we could give a master key (that requires registration) to every player, like they do with many betas

[Overstatement]

Even if we did have a server to store information, we can't access it because it's a mod and mods only talk to Epic master servers.

[InvisibleMan999]

we could give a master key (that requires registration) to every player, like they do with many betas

I wouldn't you don't want to make the game a pain for people to get. You want it to be easy to just download it and run the mod. Otherwise, we will lose out on potential players.

[Gawain]

ok, so one light for one nick. maybe this could stop the faking.

[Spekkio]

You guys act like noobs are little impressionable children who have to have their hands held through everything. Seriously, there comes a point when you either learn the game or you don't. There's no excuse for idiocy, and I don't want shit cluttering up my screen because little 11 year old johnny doesn't have the patience to learn the game. Throw a comprehensive (OPTIONAL) tutorial in there and call it a day. The only other good idea is an indication of getting a headshot on the merc, but I don't know if that would unbalance the game because you'd put a huge sign on the merc's head that says "AGGRO ME FOR THE NEXT 12 SECONDS LOL!!!1"

A visual indicator of the spy making noise is bad. If you're sneaky and careful, you will know whether or not you made noise. You might as well just put a voiceover that says "Good job you fucking moron, you made noise. The mercs will be here to frag your ass in approximately 5, 4, 3, 2, 1..." [/sarcasm]

[InvisibleMan999]

You guys act like noobs are little impressionable children who have to have their hands held through everything. Seriously, there comes a point when you either learn the game or you don't. There's no excuse for idiocy, and I don't want shit cluttering up my screen because little 11 year old johnny doesn't have the patience to learn the game. Throw a comprehensive (OPTIONAL) tutorial in there and call it a day. The only other good idea is an indication of getting a headshot on the merc, but I don't know if that would unbalance the game because you'd put a huge sign on the merc's head that says "AGGRO ME FOR THE NEXT 12 SECONDS LOL!!!1"

A visual indicator of the spy making noise is bad. If you're sneaky and careful, you will know whether or not you made noise. You might as well just put a voiceover that says "Good job you fucking moron, you made noise. The mercs will be here to frag your ass in approximately 5, 4, 3, 2, 1..." [/sarcasm]

It's this sort of pointless elitism that keeps the fanbase so small for CT.

You don't need all kinds of hidden features and stuff for newbies to discover. You want to make the game mechanics apparent. It's kind of nice to know what made sound, because by default it may not be obvious. When I first started playing, I thought that slow walk made less sound than fast crouch.

Unless you got a friend to test this stuff, there wasn't any way to tell. While I may understand the game now, the learning curve was very steep and most of the time, the only way to learn stuff like that was to get a friend and actually do it.

If we want a healthy community for this game, it's a good idea to make the game more newbie accessible.

[Spekkio]

Pointless elitism? Assuming that every player needs idiot boxes, sounds, and whatever have you to understand a game is pointless elitism. If you're too dumb to understand the mechanics of a game that has a comprehensive tutorial, then you should be playing Big Bird teaches the Alphabet instead of splinter cell.