Ideas for communication

[Brainz]

What I think HL is missing, is a multi-channe radio, so you can talk with the entire team, just your fire squad, or everybody in the entire game, rather than there being a serverside variable that gives you only one option. You could use the numpad as a sort of advanced radio control.

Possible keypad bindings
enter - talk, but can be bound to another, more convienient key if nessecary, but useful for right handed users, as numpad enter is closest to the mouse. (I have voice_grenade boud to it for that very reason, along with voice_sniper and MG on numpad + and -)
0~9 - select channel to talk to using 0
Num - mute
/ - Whole team
* - entire game
+/- - add/remove from channel: put crosshair/sights on someone, press +/- then number, that person is added to that channel. press twice to cancel. *or* hold + or - and press number to add to channel
. - admin channel, with respond-to-last-user function for actual admin - players registered as admins on the server will automatically be added to this channel, to allow discussion of TKers, possible cheaters, map changes etc.

Of course, this is mainly for WASD users. anyone who uses arrows & six-block for normal gameplay will have to find 17 new buttons if they want to use every option.

Day of Defeat.

Hand signals.

Nuff' said.

[Brainz]

yeah, but unless you add lots of habd signals, you can't get across detailed messages. (Yeah, there is such a system, see Band Of Brothers, when the sniper in the bell tower tells the commander the size of the German force, but thats a lot of animations.)

For example how would you say, using hand signals, "sniper, white house, second floor middle window". Usign voice to the whole team adds extra words, or confuses other fire teams, if they've got a white house near them. Extra words and/or confusion = casulties.

Of course, you could just use two modes: shortrange 'voice' and radio, voice works within normal hearing range for the vloume you say it at range, but everyone in range can hear it, including enemies, and radio works like in HL. then you just need two buttons: either 'speak' and 'radio', or 'talk' and toggle radio. For ultimate realism on the communication front, add handsfree capability for the voice, and activate voice when using the radio.

Why is it that I think best at 7:30 in the morning?

[Maleficus]

Wolfenstien:Enemy Territory has something like you describe - it has chats that can be sent to your team as a whole, or to your fire team.

I don't know the HL SDK very well, but in the Q3/RTCW SDK, its pretty easy to configure a chat string to only be broadcast to a selected client(s).

[Brainz]

what about voice, rather than a chat string?
Could an opensource VoIP, or any other voice comm app, be modified to do the things I mentioned, without using excessive bandwidth and/or cpu power?

Remember that we're (well, they're) not planning on using the HL engine, but instead modifying and combining some opensource components.

[TruB]

battlefield2 got an intresting system..
called flower something.. you can point to a vehicle and set a position of it at the same time as you give an order..
they still test it.. but its looking good.. for what ive seen you pressa button.. the mouse like in cs (buy menu).. becomes movable.. and while walking you can select "common orders" (well i dont know..) and then orders show up and you press "take position".. maybe "take point" and if you look at another soldior he gets that order..

[Brainz]

I think I see what you mean. But that relies on being able to see the position you want to tell them about, and if you can see the sniper, the sniper can see you, which isn't a good position to be in. If you were to add something like a mirror tho, which you can select like a weapon, and poke out round the corner... It could work.

[Pierre-Marie Baty]

The thing we need before all is hand signs. A nice palette of hand signs...

[SoUlFaThEr]

the problem with hand signs imo is that the opther players have to be LOOKing at you to receive them.......which could be problematic if some players who nee to be informed are not in your area.......say you are in a building looking over things from the second floor and 2 of your men are outside alongside the building.......how are you going to tell them they have 4 enemy coming in a 2 o'clock with hand signals?

[TruB]

easy SoUlFaThEr .. you just give them your hand before you depart..