18 replies to this topic

[Kodiak Jorgensson]

Infantry Pods as a consumable would be a great opportunity for the devs and the clans it would allow the introduction of the elemental battle suite and a path to more future AI units.

I threw together some basics to try relay the idea better.

Elemental - 5 Elementals - 40,000 CB

These will be the Green Elementals they come with 1 veteran commander and 4 green elementals carrying the most basic equipment. on activation the pods will detach form the mach and the elementals will emerge and engage at will. alternatively they will set up to defend a location

Behaviour

• Prioritises Enemy infantry (they will clear out enemy infantry before moving onto mechs)
  
• Attacks Users Target (turrets excluded)
  
• Attacks Closest threat. (turrets excluded)
  
• Detects enemies at 100M
  
• Relays target info (within 90M LOS Radius / dose not counter ECM))

General Load out

• Light Armour
  
• Jump Jets
  
• ER Small Laser/Flamer
  
• MG (Limited Ammo)
  
• SRM (2 Rounds)

Elite Elemental- 5 Elementals - 15 MC


The Elementals will come with 4 veteran elementals and an Elite Elemental. the Elite commander will carry an ER Med Laser in place of the ER Small Laser. on activation the pods will detach form the mach and the elementals will emerge and engage at will. alternatively they will set up to defend a location

Behaviour

• Prioritises Enemy infantry (they will clear out enemy infantry before moving onto mechs)
  
• Attacks Users Target (turrets excluded)
  
• Attacks Closest threat. (turrets excluded)
  
• Detects Enemies at 120M
  
• Relays target info (within 100M LOS Radius / dose not counter ECM))

General Load out

• Light Armour
  
• Jump Jets
  
• ER Medium Laser/ER Small Laser/Flamer
  
• MG (Limited Ammo)
  
• SRM (2 Rounds)

Congenital infantry - 10 Infantry Men - 40,000 CB


these are the most basic infantry men available to the player. they're not the strongest but they are versatile. when activated red smoke will plume, and a APC will carry the squad to the location. 2 second travel time 2 second activation (4 second total activation time) they will deploy a series of mines in a 100M radius. and set up ambush point within the 90M radius.

Basic Stats

• Very Light Armour
  
• Multiple Weapons (mounted lasers, one shot SRM, flamers, mines...)
  
• Difficult to Detect
  
• Relays target info (within 90 LOS Radius) (dose not counter ECM)

Behaviour

• Prioritises Enemy infantry (they will clear out enemy infantry before moving onto mechs)
  
• Ambush Tactics
  
• Attacks Users Target
  
• Attacks Closest threat.

Elite Infantry - 10 Infantry Men - 15 MC


these are the most elite infantry men available to the player. they have access to better equipment specialise in combating mechs and vehicles. when activated red smoke will plume, and a squad will Para drop to the location. 2 second travel time 2 second activation (4 second total activation time) they will deploy a series of mines in a 100M radius and set up ambush points within the 100M radius.

Basic Stats

• Very Light Armour
  
• Multiple Weapons (mounted lasers, one shot SRM, flamers, mines...)
  
• Difficult to Detect
  
• Relays target info (within 90 LOS Radius) (dose not counter ECM)

Behaviour

• Prioritises Enemy infantry (they will clear out enemy infantry before moving onto mechs)
  
• Ambush Tactics
  
• Attacks Users Target
  
• Attacks Closest threat.

I'm aware of the Devs stand on AI driven units.that it wont happen any time soon, but this would be great way into it in my opinion.


opinions criticism welcome.

[Ralziel]

It would obviously be a long way off, but this would really give the impression of a warzone and would make the idea of consumables a little different to the standard bombing run business we get. How the AI they have would behave would also be very interesting in target prioritisation regarding mechs. Would the infantry chase the shiny? Or do they do the sensible thing and take out the Jager with AC20s? Would they pump all the round into the torso, or make good decisions and target legs or arms? It could open up a whole new kind of gameplay. Maybe even a whole new kind of game made. using infantry to base cap or take artillery points for one.
Brilliant idea overall, even if it is one for the future.

Edited by Ralziel, 07 June 2014 - 07:31 AM.

[Ningyo]

The 90-100m engagement range (these are infantry small lasers and SRMs not Mech ones) should prevent any issues on targeting as rarely are more mechs in that range. Could be good to help hold a choke point or something. Main issue I see is a group of say 3 LRM boats deploying 3 sets of these around them to prevent lights from taking them out. Not a huge issue, but this idea hurts brawlers most and they need the most help. Might finally give flamers a use besides roasting marshmallows though.

[Bobzilla]

If they last till killed mg or flammer would be more useful.

[Kodiak Jorgensson]

Ralziel, on 07 June 2014 - 07:28 AM, said:

It would obviously be a long way off, but this would really give the impression of a warzone and would make the idea of consumables a little different to the standard bombing run business we get. How the AI they have would behave would also be very interesting in target prioritisation regarding mechs. Would the infantry chase the shiny? Or do they do the sensible thing and take out the Jager with AC20s? Would they pump all the round into the torso, or make good decisions and target legs or arms? It could open up a whole new kind of gameplay. Maybe even a whole new kind of game made. using infantry to base cap or take artillery points for one.
Brilliant idea overall, even if it is one for the future.

target priorities would rely on a threat level. while a shiny would be more threatening to infantry since they carry anti infantry weapons, the shiny would engage the most threatening to the team. alternatively they will prioritise the users target if one is selected. this would give more depth to scouting. as for accuracy they would try to attack the most damaged section or go for the head.

Ningyo, on 07 June 2014 - 09:15 AM, said:

The 90-100m engagement range (these are infantry small lasers and SRMs not Mech ones) should prevent any issues on targeting as rarely are more mechs in that range. Could be good to help hold a choke point or something. Main issue I see is a group of say 3 LRM boats deploying 3 sets of these around them to prevent lights from taking them out. Not a huge issue, but this idea hurts brawlers most and they need the most help. Might finally give flamers a use besides roasting marshmallows though.

The idea came from the Firemoth it was designed as a infantry support unit, being able to carry them into combat. my idea was purely to create an harassing consumable that could be deployed behind enemy lines to harass pop snipers and LRM boats. I can see how it would harm brawlers but there's no reason a brawler cant carry these into combat and use them to assist him

Bobzilla, on 07 June 2014 - 10:15 AM, said:

If they last till killed mg or flammer would be more useful.

Mg would have limited ammo, probably half of what a mech carried.

[Kalimaster]

I like the idea of infantry being used. Perhaps they could have an infantry unit parachute in. Say a group of 5 infantry riflemen that could help hold one point or another.

[Koniving]

I love the idea, also suggested it directly to an IGP member once (originally tanks then battle armor; this was back in 2013 before turrets) -- got the response: "It's a great idea. But how would the AI work? What would be the counters if they started to climb you?" And a few others.

Kalimaster, on 08 June 2014 - 05:06 PM, said:

I like the idea of infantry being used. Perhaps they could have an infantry unit parachute in. Say a group of 5 infantry riflemen that could help hold one point or another.

Infantry SRM-team.

Edited by Koniving, 08 June 2014 - 05:14 PM.

[GunnyKintaro 01]

love the idea !!!

[Impyrium]

I'd be very concerned about the technical implications with the idea, more so that I don't have much faith in PGI to implement something this radically new and different. Really, they couldn't even come up with something special with the CC and TC, just stat boosts. That's either very lazy or very incompetent.

That said, I would have thought that CryEngine would have had some form of infantry based AI built in. Since the game is using 'real' scale, would it be as simple as simply modifying CryEngine's base infantry AI and mechanics...?

EDIT: Oh yeah, I do love the idea. It'd add a whole new mechanic to the game that's far more interesting than just airstrikes.

Edited by AUSwarrior24, 08 June 2014 - 07:56 PM.

[_Comrade_]

Love the idea, sort of like the dogs from COD. Elemental infantry would test an enemy teams disciple. Whether they focus on fighting the mechs are fight the sudden swarm of infantry only to take their attention off the enemy mechs for a sec.

[Sennin]

Koniving, on 08 June 2014 - 05:14 PM, said:

I love the idea, also suggested it directly to an IGP member once (originally tanks then battle armor; this was back in 2013 before turrets) -- got the response: "It's a great idea. But how would the AI work? What would be the counters if they started to climb you?" And a few others.

Infantry SRM-team.

The counter is easy, your teammates flamers and machine guns (though I would recommend flamer over machine gun ). If you have jump jets and use them, then you have the chance to shake them off as well, just like in Battletech. Though I would probably put an effective timer in place once they actually mount a 'Mech so it will count as a consumable and eventually disappear. If everyone brought an infantry squad and it didn't have a triggered limit of use, that would turn into a giant mess.

[Kain]

I think such idea is a good way to introduce some AI units.
But I would like to see how the scale of those units would be, and how they would perfom in the current level geometries...

And needless to say, in the upcoming years, PGI won't develop or even take such consumables into consideration.
2014: clans, CW phase 1,
2015, Clans/IS phase 2 and CW phase 2/3 and whatnot,
maybe in 2016 they will start to think about expanding the battlefield with AI units...

[Bobzilla]

AUSwarrior24, on 08 June 2014 - 07:56 PM, said:

I'd be very concerned about the technical implications with the idea, more so that I don't have much faith in PGI to implement something this radically new and different. Really, they couldn't even come up with something special with the CC and TC, just stat boosts. That's either very lazy or very incompetent.

That said, I would have thought that CryEngine would have had some form of infantry based AI built in. Since the game is using 'real' scale, would it be as simple as simply modifying CryEngine's base infantry AI and mechanics...?

EDIT: Oh yeah, I do love the idea. It'd add a whole new mechanic to the game that's far more interesting than just airstrikes.

They could just tweek how turrets fire, and re-skin them.

[david upton]

best idea I've seen in a long time. thanks and red team stole the bacon :}

[Kodiak Jorgensson]

thanks for the feedback glad your liking the idea so far.

as for duration i would say it depend on the ammunition they brought say 45 seconds to burn through every thing they had (of course duration should only count down once they engage something.

and scale i cant really imagine them being too small or too tall, the static mesh car would probably be able to give a rough estimate on conventional infantry maybe a little bigger for battle armour.

[Nothing Whatsoever]

Nice.

I think it could also be nice to have something like this on particular game modes, such as the attack and defend mode that is being worked on.

[LeKrisser]

Absolute Requirement: Commando Console!!!

[Nova Latios Storm]

We should be able to get out are mechs like on mechassult 2 like in titan fall! The infantry have a weapon they can chose.

Weapons: Assult rifle (MG), Rocket larncher (SRM), Lock-on Missle Larncher (TAG/LMS), Laser rifle (small laser/pulse laser) and maybe a flamer (flame).

Equipment: Proximity detecter, C4, portable shortange UAV (RC) and maybe shild genaratours.

[Ralziel]

They'd have to work in something completely different gameplay wise if they were adding playable infantry. Getting out your mech would make it too vulnerable to the enemy team, then how would the game function? Kill the player, or the mech? Would people even use this properly, or would we get whole teams leaving their mechs in random areas of the map and just running off and hiding? There'd be too much room for griefing and bad play if you let people get out their mechs, and there are more than enough tactics people employ that ruins matches as it is.

On a side note. Why would you want to get out of your mech? If I wanted that, I certainly wouldn't be playing this in the first place. The appeal of Mechwarrior for me, and I think many others, is the mech.