character switching

[deanosbeano 0]

i mentioned in a forum that ,i would like an explanation (not demanding). it seemed to create quite a debate,even tho it was pure speculation because we dont really know ,whats exactly in the finished prouct, obviously judging from another poll, coop ,ctf or other, theres a mix of people who enjoy offline singleplayer and this would suit that kind of style.unfortunately ,some people think nobody is allowed to have a view or reaction and just slate others, so i thought i would do a poll.

all bets on locked in 10 mins

[shadow 6]

I bet that feature is up to the mission designer to use or not.

I can see it as useful in the SP-campaign, but it would'nt feel right in coop/MP.

I won't judge it untill I've played the campaign.

[max power 21]

I'm surprised the community is so divided.

Personally, I think it's a terrible idea. I mean, what if you switch members, friendly-fire Armstrong and complete the mission? The mission ends gloriously but the story can't continue..

this is a weak argument, of course, but I think that being able to bounce around the battlefield is going to take away from the high stakes that OFP offered. Your life was very fragile, and you had to work hard to preserve it!

[berghoff 11]

Should be able to be turned off but still It can be fun.

[ArchangelSKT 0]

I voted for the option to turn it off, then it will only add something new anyway and no one has the right to complain.

Though I would be surprised if there actually is no option to turn it off.

[DBR_ONIX 0]

There should deffinatly be a command or two to do this (Change character/vehicle models mid-game), but I'm not sure what you meann... Like on the character select screen, you can select different units? If so, if it's set by the mission designer, yep..

- Ben

[Scrub 0]

Quote[/b] ]Personally, I think it's a terrible idea.  I mean, what if you switch members, friendly-fire Armstrong and complete the mission?  The mission ends gloriously but the story can't continue..

*Plants tongue firmly in cheek*

And when you chose to do this in single player, who will call to badger you because they're insulted you chose to do that?  

Will you beat your self about the head and neck with a rubber hose?  Or will you say, "I think that's the easy way out." and just say 'no'  

[thrush213 0]

they're making it as realisitic as possible trying hard to have supension of disbelief...so this type of idea i don't like. i don't mind being able to play 3 or 4 or 5 characters in the game(different campaigns)...i just don't like being able to switch between them. each single player mission should have only 1 character occupied by the player.

"I think that being able to bounce around the battlefield is going to take away from the high stakes that OFP offered. Your life was very fragile, and you had to work hard to preserve it!"

bingo! it'll completely ruin the immersion. and it's not a great gameplay addition at all. you have to decide your kit at the begining for a reason. you can't just chose sniper, then switch to a grenadier in the game. it's too convenient and messes up the challenge of trying to pick up dead enemie's weapons.

[hoz 0]

Might be useful in group respawn where you can choose which solider your going to respawn too.

[j w 0]

Turned off by script, to make the hero of the mission/campaign, to stay alive.

Not at all in MP though, respawns was invented for a purpose...

[thrush213 0]

i don't think the script idea is good. it's too "gamey" i'd rather they script your character switch. like after you complete an objective in the mission, you get automatically switched to some driver. i don't know. this idea just too arcadey.

first being in the body of our main character sitting on top of a hill staring down with binoculars...then switching to the body of the guy at the bottum of the hill seems lame.

[Guest Ti0n3r]

I don't think we'll be able to use additional playable soldiers as "extra respawns". I susspect that they all have to be alive inorder to complete a mission. And if I'm wrong, then I don't really give a damn. Flashpoint and the old BIS campaigns were never 100% realistic, but I loved them.

And we'll be able to skip/not include this feature in our own missions. So I don't see what's so bad about it. And if you don't want it in the game at all, Mod it.

In short; It's another engine limitation broken.

[thrush213 0]

i'll just see if i can have an option to turn it off.

one of the best features in ofp1 imo was one life...and you had to take weapons off dead enemies if you wanted to assume their role(sniper/grenadier, etc)

[Scrub 0]

Umm. Something just struck me about this feature and what it means for scripting.

If you have an infiltration unit that takes out a patrol, you can use this ability to change into their clothes.

Goto area of unit you want to impersonate and activate script, the script finds the unit, spawns one, moves it to your location & heading, uses the 'switch' to move your digital 'spirit' into it, kills your former unit and puts it in the impersonated ones position. 'Volia' you are now the enemy. Not sure this allows you to remain 'you' and achieve your goals, or make you switch sides. Both would be the winning situation though. Kill too many of the 'enemy' and they'll turn on you anyway.

Just a thought.

[max power 21]

*Plants tongue firmly in cheek*

And when you chose to do this in single player, who will call to badger you because they're insulted you chose to do that?

Will you beat your self about the head and neck with a rubber hose? Or will you say, "I think that's the easy way out." and just say 'no'

I think you can probably list a litany of features in various games that are useful but a bad idea. As pointed out in another thread, having a feature to switch characters to make up for the inadequacy of the AI is messed up. I think it's someone's easy way out, but not mine.

[Marco.A.Aguilar1 0]

Simple way to turn it off is to simply not hit the button to initiate it. I believe it is a good idea to keep command of your troops and have a strategy feel to the battlefield as well. I never picked up enemy weapons to assume roles because in the real tactical world, it just doesn't happen. If I was assigned grenadier within team 2 then I will stay assigned grenadier within team 2. I selected the pole option of having it in the game as a feature, with the off option.

[funnyguy1 0]

This switching thingy can be a great feature, both in small spec op missions and large scalle battles where the coordination of many squads is needed...

Besides, It`s already there...CoC CE2 anyone?

On the other hand there is something else connected with the switching thingy. What annoys me the most is the fact that when you choose to switch to the `tank gunner` you`re switching to the bf2 style vehicle shooter, in fact, the same goes to the helos and other vehicles...

I`m judging from the recent movie, which isn`t even an official thing, so I might be wrong.

[GBee 0]

`tank gunner` you`re switching to the bf2 style vehicle shooter, in fact, the same goes to the helos and other vehicles...

Just to clarify, what do you mean by "BF2 Style Vehicle Shooter"? Is that the same as, or different from, OFP? Do you mean that you would prefer changes to put greater weight on ranging etc instead of point & shoot or something else?

[Dwarden 1125]

IMHO best way is optionable

+ mission / campaign maker can choose exact way HOW utilize it and WHEN

+ server admin can decide too (for COOP)

[funnyguy1 0]

What I mean is that switching to the `tank gunner` is the worst option they could add. Vehicles are one of the weakest sides of ofp, and it looks like the role of vehicles isn`t changed in arma (despite it`s still wip and moreover unofficial movie).

To hide it a bit, or I don`t know, make it a bit less arcadish they could give the option to switch to the tank commander, but no, they decided that the most interesting thing you can do as a tankie boy is playing with the main gun. Well, it could be, but It`s like exposing the weakest side of the weakest side of the game...

It`s like a decent tank simulator with an option to switch to the soldier with a revolver grenade launcher, just because, well...he has lots of granades...why not the squad leader? or rifleman? Ok, it could be boring, I can understand that, It`s only a game afterall, but give us decent grenade launchers then, especially if the game is supposed to be realistic...

I know we can`t count on super realistic vehicles in arma, game2 maybe. It`s rather about the idea of switching to the tank gunner...It just doesn`t fit, bf2 yes, but not ofp...At least give us the option to chose between commander/gunner.

[GBee 0]

You have a point. Perhaps like the original campaign you work your way up. So a Soldier can switch to a tank/helecopter gunner, an officer can switch to Commander/Pilot. If that is the case they aren't doing it to cater to the arcade crowd, mearly maintaining the skill/responsibility gradient from the first game.

[ag_smith 0]

It's too console-ish for me. But they aparently want to attract shooter noobs. Hopefully, this will 'feature' be disabled in veteran mode. I don't even dare to think what's coming next... jumping around the maps, like in CS?

[metallicAL 0]

Well they aint really gonna remove a feature thats already implemented.

Personally this is an interesting feature for SP. I think they are just trying to throw in a bunch of new features and see which ones to keep. I guess its also to boost the idea that this isnt just a graphical improvement. its also chalk full of creative new ideas

[DBR_ONIX 0]

Does NO ONE see anything to these new features other than "OMG noeewhhy it'll turn it into CS!1"

Character switching : It's not realistic, but neither was being able to jump into an apache and fly like a geneticly enhanced super-pilot from the future, and eject out and steal an enemy tank and single handly drive it around, jump to the gunner position, take out an enemy helicopter, drive to the base and enter the room though the wall.. Buuuuuuuuut, most of those things lent themself to far greater things.. Being able to drive any vehicle meant things like the Wanzer robots, star wars mods, there's better examples, but those sprung to mind..

The clipping though buildings while it's a bug (Sort of, more a game issue), it opens a new techique for playing, maybe times in MP I've "escaped" from something by running though a wall. It's not cheating, it's erm, making use of the game (Yeh it's glitching, but I always play with friends who do the same, so no one minds)

As for the character switching : In OFP, when you were making a mission, you set your player unit, and you were stuck as them, without loooots of screwing around with unrealiable setobjecttexture-ing. You couldn't change to a different unit, so you can't change your clothes..

But, if theres a command to change conrol to another unit, now you can :

Create the unit out the way, store the players position, move the new unit to the same position, switch controls to the new unit, move the old unit away, and you've changed the unit to the new one.. This means you can easily have basic transformers(!! ), RPG missions where you can change clothes, missions where you can change from a normal solder to a sniper, racing missions where you can swap cars, many many things

As for it screwing realism, theres a difference between realism, and playablity.. OFP had features that were completely unrealistic, like third person, the command view, being able to drive all vehicles (Unless they were magicly "locked").. But did anyone care? No? Great, Yes? Theres options to disable third person, the command view (Both from a players position with vet mode, and scripting commands), stoping people driving all the vehicles is the job of the mission editor not leaving a multimillion dollar Apache gunship lying unguarded and unlocked, lock+key type things are easily scripted (Add action to key-object, to give option to unlock the vehicle, or like the FDF-mod hasweapon "key" way)

In short : At first something like this might just seem like a desperate grab at arcadish-FPS-players, but even a single command like to switch what unit the player controls opens up many new posibilities..

Stop seeing everything so negatively, OFP could ship with de_dust for all I care.. Infact, that'd be a good thing, if it came with that, CQB must be greatly improved.... Yees *Prepares to get jumped by 40425 OFP fans for that comment*

- Ben

[CameronMcDonald 146]

As a hardcore OFPian, I demand the feature be erased from all code instantly.

- EDIT - Not a swipe at you, ONIX, just my opinion.