Since I started playing FS2 multi, I've always been interested in broadening the scope of the battles. Making longish, more coordinated battles into mini-campaigns through the implementation of a few new features seems possible with the SCP.
Primarily I think it should be possible to step out of the 'mission simulator' fiction of the missions as they are, and frame them as battles between opposing carrier battlegroups, with finite resources. The limits on resources as they stand are insufficent, since there will *always* be 4 Ursas, no matter how many are destroyed. Excellent interceptor pilots must face that FS trademark - the infinite waves of bomber wings. They never run out of Cyclopses either, and new bombers are always ready for launch.
I play
of team and objective based FPSs, and I feel that several aspects of these games can be translated across to a broader FS multi experience. Simply allow pilots to jump out of battle and change ships without dying (and losing a respawn) would introduce new tactics, but I have wider suggestions.
- Finite limits on all resources, ie fighters, weapons, support ships, capital ships, etc. If your team loses all their bombers, too bad. If everyone takes Kaisers and gets killed, too bad. If the enemy targets your support ships and you run out, too bad.
- 'Ready-time' for new fighters, so you can take whats ready or wait for another fighter to be prepared or repaired. Allow mappers to set the numbers of availible ships, and the team can set which ships to keep on 'action 5' before the mission starts.
- Allow players to leave the battle area and return to the battlegroup, so their fighter can be repaired and they can take another fighter out without dying. Also, allow bomber wings to return after expending their weapons.
- Allow wings of AI fighters to be configured and deployed, beyond the scope of the original mappers. If people want to risk their bombers with AI pilots, who's to stop them?
And, off in the mists of time,
- Control of the battlegroup. Allow players (maybe just A1, maybe a dedicated Admiral-player) to coordinate capital ship insertion and objectives. Again, if you lose all your escorts, too bad. Ultimately, victory depends on who's still got a carrier at the end of the battle.
These features would allow tactics to evolve; noone would know what they would face initially, so the high end fighters would be saved until the enemy deploys in strength. It allows bomber pilots to jump in, strike and retreat, rather than try and dogfight. It gives pilots options other than 'die and get a new plane'. If dynamic capship deployment is even possible, it would present an essentially random mission generator. It also allows a broader points based system of victory, rather than the current 'they ran out of respawns' system. I think it'd give more atmosphere to the battles, which would seem more like actual actions between fleets than the current 'kill that Cv' or 'kill all those dudes' missions. Any thoughts? I'm particularly interested to know if any of this is even possible, knowing nothing of code.
