The Map System voice commands vs. voice comms

(evilsock) #1

I think it’s known that I don’t have a digital connection so I haven’t really had any chance to use voice comms with ET. That said, I play with bound voice commands, mainly to warn my team mates of something (I don’t bind ammo or medic). In RtCW, because the maps were segmented up into areas each having a particular name, it was possible to combine the use of long team names with voice commands to give a very clear picture in realtime for where everyone was. It was especially useful to have your voice command come up with your named location in team chat - your team knew where you were, straight away.

In ET, maps are presented in a map grid reference style with less easily recognisable areas, represented with coordinates like K1 which sometimes makes it that little bit harder to spot danger (or your teammates).

Now I know that we all have a sense of where everyone is or should be, a certain place at a certain time in a map etc, etc - in general terms it works, ie if you’re familiar with the maps and you’re smart enough to know where to be or who to stick with it won’t matter so much. Where it doesn’t work so well (for me anyway), is the realtime ‘knowing where you are’ thing - sounds crazy I know, but it makes a difference when you want to warn your teammates with one press of a key as to exactly where the danger is by name. I know I could always get around it by making my own $ binds, but I think it’s important for everyone to have the same common binds and besides, it’s not as effective as a voice command tbh.

I’m guessing that ET is a completely different game with voice comms? - maybe not so much on a pub 'cause there’s always going to be an arsehole trying to spam the voice comms, but it must make it alot more exciting right?

(Cyber-Knight) #2

in general, I prefer RtCW’s system of chatting and vsaying over ET. I thought I would eventually get used to the grid system, but you don’t. why? cuz you never really use it or see it, unless you look at the command map constantly (I do in fact, yet I still don’t remember)

as stated, when you use a vsay or a chat, you’re location is stated to your team. so after reading Cyber-Knight: (War Room) “Defend the Objective!” like a billion times of playing Beach or Cyber-Knight: (Radar 01) “Disarm the Dynamite!”, I think some ppl will get the idea where the objectve is.

In ET, you generallly have no idea where the person is when they chat or vsay, unless you see the blue exclamation mark over their head.

The only flaw in the RtCW way was that the vsay’s location were often incorrect in large servers, cuz only the ones with top score (top 8?) would have accurate vsay locations. But chat locations were still accurate, and whenever I played on HP servers, a "/bind x say_team “<-- I’m over HERE!” bind was very useful to counteract this.

So in summary, I prefer the [locations+chat] system of RtCW. I prefer names of places over the grid system. RtCW also has a chatbox in the limbo menu so you can read past messages ppl wrote. (i know you can use a console but that’s a pain to scroll through) I dislike ET’s news and events system cuz it can lag a tonne in large heavy action server. BUT! I prefer ET’s gameplay. :smiley:

(Kendle) #3

Voice comms doesn’t really get round the fact that places don’t have names. In RTCW each “zone” within the map had a name, which everyone knew. In ET we have to make up names for things so we each know what we’re talking about.

Obviously, if you’re not on comms you’re buggered in ET as far as using vsay binds to let your team-mates know where you are. But it’s not always so easy using comms either cos the places don’t have names.

(Fusen) #4

it should be easy for any xperienced player to name where they are and someone else know where they mean obviously if the people only started playing last week they wont have a clue but I reckon its easy for anyone playing at leats 1-2 months also I tend to just tell team whats happening with teamchat if i get killed and see nemy going somewhere

Vapir No2

(pgh) #5

Thats the question foo. :] Its not who knows where things are or where they are, its HOW its said.

Imo, Voice Comms are the way to go and always will be but vsays can come in handy. I never use them personally as I use my own binds for the important things eg, Medic, health, ammo, support, dead, incomings etc. Id say tho, only about 40% of the vsays are usefull, the rest is just spam or useless information.

The one thing as said above, that holds back vsays from say, even using team chat, is location and coords. If for example your LMS @ Axis holding Old City say and they cap it… without voice comms your team have no way of known where exactly you could be hiding as all it says is (B3, B3) whatever. Even if they had only a mere few locations in it would save hell of alot of trouble… Id be happy enough doing the maplocs if theres a way to replace the coords.

(DG) #6

co-ordinates are useless far as I’m concerned, does anyone offhand know where B3-B3 is on any of the offic maps? I’m pretty sure, without even having to remember anything, that anybody at all familiar with the maps could quickly work out where “lower beach”, “main bunker”, “gun controls” etc are.

Sure, there’s the G-map, but who wants to fart about looking at that everytime someone says something?