Announcements of enemy spotted by squad

[ladlon 10]

Curious about something... Most of the time that my squadmates call out an enemy they have spotted, they indicate the direction by saying things like 'ahead of us' or 'flank'... While I understand what this all means, I'm not sure how it works in regards to the entire squad's position. If everyone is spread out, different spots, doing their own thing, I'm not really sure how the direction description relates to my postion.

Example: If one of my squad members is far east of me, doing his own thing, facing south, and he says 'Enemy man ahead far' (or however it's stated), is that in relation to him, or to me, or somehow to the squad as a whole?

I'm not really sure why they don't always state it as a compass direction. Even then, with the squad members spread across the map, facing different directions, it would be at least a bit more useful to pinpoint where they are indicating.

Can anyone fill me in on this?

[froggyluv 2136]

Yep it's pretty confusing. Not sure why all sightings aren't compass based as those are the only ones that helpful. Perhaps it was to take away the need to pull up the compass in the middle of a firefight, but to the well accustomed, that only takes a blink of an eye. I usually study the map before I start the mission and that gives me pretty good orientation of my direction whilst I play, so I would prefer all compass sightings.

[ladlon 10]

So how ARE all you guys dealing with squad announcements, considering this? Especially on harder settings, where you can't just check the map to see where the heck the guys are talking about...

When a fireteam member calls out the location of the enemy, is he basing the location on the direction HE is facing? Is that always the case, or only if he specifically says something like 'North of me'?

Edited January 4, 2010 by ladlon

[jakerod 254]

In real life I would say it is probably based off the way the squad is heading or relative to the squad leader. Sometimes its harder to figure that stuff out ingame.

[dmakatra 1]

So how ARE all you guys dealing with squad announcements

We don't, really. Unfortunately.

[NoRailgunner 0]

Forget the crappy AI report method - guess BIS didnt ask a real military advisor and made this madness instead.

Usually the team leader gives the position relative to the team/unit position.

General directions are: left front, front, right front, left flank, right flank, left rear, rear, right rear, far, behind, close.

How can "enemy north" be different from "enemy north of me"? :D

[afp 1]

In real moving direction is considered (objective direction). In game is related to leader direction.

In fact I think the engine compute a direction based on the last movement of the leader (tho not very sure).

[ladlon 10]

@afp: Even if they say 'North of me' (meaning THEM)?

@NoRailGunner: True enough (regarding relatively of North). Bad example. In that case, I'm talking of all the announcements that DON'T use compass directions.

@Jakerod: In that case, is this then telling me that my squad should generally stay as a group, and that splitting them up, having them face different directions is wrong in the first place?

@dmakatra: Hrmmm... Weird. So many of the things I'm finding difficult or odd in this sim are actually common issues that others are having too! I thought it was just me being stupid or not understanding how some game mechanic works. Same thing happened when I asked about grenade launchers (and the leaf sight), throwing grenades, using unmanned drones (locking on targets, etc), and using weapons on jets! I'm starting to wonder how everyone is playing, considering so many of the things I'm having trouble with are also common problems with so many other players!

[jakerod 254]

Splitting them up and having them cover different directions isn't bad but a squad should stay within about 100m of eachother I would say. Maybe a little bit more. You don't want them in different towns or anything like that.

[ladlon 10]

@Jakerod: Ya... Just asking to see if the enemy announcement issue is really due to my team being too spread apart (and/or not facing the same general direction)... but it looks like many people are having the same issue.

Well, for now I guess I'm just going to check the map whenever someone says something... and then just keep really low when I go to a harder level (no enemies on map, no enemy red dot in 3D).

Comforting to know that in a real war, I'd probably last only a few seconds...:butbut:

[froggyluv 2136]

The way that I counter this is by pulling up the spotted targets list, "2" and that will tell you "rifleman at 2 o'clock". Feels a little cheaty, but in rl your squad would probably point or gesture in some way to let you know where the threat is. Unfortunatley, the target list doesn't give distance which can be a drag as my AI's version of 'Far' seems to be far different than mine.

I also always look for telltales signs once combat has started, such as muzzlesmoke, leaves falling, and richochet angles (this part I really enjoy)

[ladlon 10]

Interesting... I'll look into that.

Maybe I should just hit the deck and then do a scan... and simply take the announcement as a warning of danger, rather than an indication of where it is. Scanning around IS one of my favorite things, afterall.

Just wish the binoculars were easier to use (raise/lower them quickly to get bearings, etc).

BTW, do the team mates properly drop or seek cover once someone's spotted, or do I have to worry about them being stupid and getting shot? I never really noticed, as I'm too busy dealing with my own safety!

[dmakatra 1]

Team mates handle themselves pretty well, although not exceptionally well. They're better at seeking cover the more 'alert' their status are. For this reason, the first thing I do when I stumble upon a contact is to tell everyone to go into Danger mode (7-2 IIRC). They seem to go into Danger mode automatically (or at least some kind of pseudo-Danger mode) nowadays, but I do it anyway just in case.

And regarding the threat announcements - I wish they'd bring back the old system from OFP1. It was more efficient in every way. The only thing good with the current system compared to the old one was that the AI can now bundle contacts instead of calling out each one individually.

Edited January 5, 2010 by dmakatra

[froggyluv 2136]

BTW, do the team mates properly drop or seek cover once someone's spotted, or do I have to worry about them being stupid and getting shot? I never really noticed, as I'm too busy dealing with my own safety!

Like dmakatra said, they're not bad. I highly recommend the Copy My Stance mod, in that I keep it on so that when intial contact is made, they drop prone/crouch with me without additional command. I'll then do quick head scans to both look for target and notice how secure my AI squaddies look.

For longer-ranged based firefights, I disable the CMS, and micromanage my squads positions and targets.

Copy My Stance link: http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=91061

[76 0]

Try the search button, it has been discussed at length :)

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=75517&highlight=compass+location+enemy

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=82247&highlight=compass+location+enemy

[jasonnoguchi 11]

What I do is bring up my map everytime I hear a contact announcement to see the exact location.

[ladlon 10]

All good stuff.... Thanks!

[76 0]

Can a mod move, merge or close this 3rd thread about how AI report enemy directions....

[Nazul 10]

I still havent figured out what "WAY" means when the AI says it. Is it a long way or short way? lol

"enemy man way to our front"

thank god for ACE and silent AI.

GO IM COVERING is even more frequent in 1.05

[BeerHunter 0]

I find that if you hold down the "space" bar after the AI announces a contact and do a scan into the area, the contact will show up in red , at least the last location anyway.

And that's in veteran mode.

Wouldn't it have been nice if there was some kind of manual that explained the programmers intentions when they inserted these commands instead of leaving it up to the community to try and out guess them??

Edited January 5, 2010 by BeerHunter

[nkenny 1057]

Here's a trick.

If your squad is calling in contacts, and you are the Squad Leader. Press 2.

This opens up the TARGET sub-menu.

You will see the total list of detected (and possible) enemies by your unit.

Contacts are listed by Name and CLOCK direction.

Now close the menu and try to place the intended unit at 12 o'clock (ie: front) Reopen the menu and repeat as necessary.

ie: 2.Target menu 1. Rifleman 9 o'clock. Turn right. 1. Rifleman 12 o'clock