Vocal Range and Radios

[Pvt_Larry]

Hi everybody,

What I have hear (that pun will make sense in a minute) is an idea that I think will make the game more challenging and realistic, and that is vocal ranges and radio communication.

Whether this game uses voip or preset phrases (or a combination of the two) I'd like their to be a limit on how far away you can be heard from (something like DayZ), rather than it just being a team-wide voice chat a la Battlefield 1942. This would make communication somewhat more difficult, and would necessitate teammates sticking together in order to fight effectively.

Of course, you will have to communicate over longer distances as well, and that is where radios and radio operators come into play. There could be a few radio operators on each team, as well as stationary radio sets at key locations. Using these radios you could communicate with either every radio or a specific unit. This would make radio operators a key part of the team and key targets.

What does everyone think?

 

[th_battleaxe]

Well, I think there is something to this idea. It will take some thought on how to balance it. As you said, you can't give everyone a radio with a three-mile range.

I think squad leaders should get the radio option, and also mortar operators and similar roles. The rest will just have to keep their ears open for officers barking orders.

Radio operators were in Darkest Hour, but I don't think they were used a lot, and I'm not sure if they would work here.

 

[Kevino]

with radio, squad leaders can talk to other squad leaders.. scrubs can only talk to their squad leaders, or other scrubs nearby!

also communication with arty folks is a must!

 

[Raul]

Would indeed make the game even more immersive, since I've seen the game has role presets, a radioman would fit in quite nicely .

 

[Duke]

As I said before, this is a must have! Developers, please! Realistic voice chat, not magic internet radios for the whole team. Most of the time when the whole team is in one channel nobody talks, because they think about the others. For example, Red Orchestra games, most of the time there are 1-3 people talking in team chat or none. At least for hardcore game modes.
I think a feature like this would get the attention of hardcore realism players.

 

[Comrade Roe]

As interesting as it'd be to see a radioman and all, imagine how much people would communicate if you could only talk through radios? Direct chat as seen in games like Resistance and Liberation, (as you mentioned) DayZ/Arma, and Intruder would be very necessary if this were implemented, for a dozen reasons. If you're serious, it means you have to keep things in mind like the enemy might be listening to your plans, or just in general know you're there. Also, unless you only play with friends and you recognize their voices, you may not recognize a friendly's voice with delightfully adds to the tension trying to win the game without dying or having a friendly die.

Or you're just a silly person, and just want to shout "ANGRIFF, FUR DAS SCHNITZEL!" and charge recklessly to have fun, you can do that which is nice. But yeah, direct is a must to have.

Maybe you could also have static radios located around the maps, as well? People near them would hear their frequency (for simplicity's sake, there is only two frequencies for two teams). Pressing interact key would turn radio onto your frequency, but if an enemy had last used it you could listen in on their communications since they hadn't thought to turn it away. Logically, these would have to be found the spawns of either team, and by mortar pits, or a mortar team would have a radioman with them.

 

[Friedrich Werner]

Direct Chat is a must. My friend and I were discussing the issue with WWII realism FPS and communication. Naturally organized clans/units will use systems such as TS3 and Ventrilo for better communication and multiple channel options. That said, those groups will still suffer if their numbers are too large for one or two channels.

ArmA is a game which has had great success with voice communication between teams of players. The greatest advantage has been direct voice communication. This is a must and I'll explain why with a few examples.

- Scenario 1: You need to clear a house...
- Scenario 2: "I've got you covered"...
- Scenario 3: You see enemy activity, but others don't

I think we can all list another scenario or ten others where we've wanted to talk to someone close-by. But if this is realism, it is unacceptable that one side can chat away meters away from the enemy without the enemy hearing the noise. So make sure that direct voice is available for all to hear.


As far as radios go, I know the radioman / Funker class would be an awesome feature for a unit that trains together. But unfortunately I'll admit we need to give up some realism for playability. First off, in WWII, the platoon level often was the lowest echelon where a radioman was found. So Platoon Leader / Zugfuhrer need the ability to use a "radio." Although unrealistic in most cases, for playability radios should be given to the squad leader / Gruppenfuhrer role. Other then these gentlemen and a few specialty roles (i.e. a mortar team leader or observer team leader), I see no reason to hand out radios.

I don't think there should be a radio on the backs of these roles (except the forward observer class)

I don't know how large the maps will be, but I think the majority we can assume 3-5 square kilometers? If this is the case I wouldn't bother with radios losing the ability to range a team mate. I think it would be appropriate to make the voice on the net more distant. Maybe even add some crackling as you pass 1km. Obviously something the developers and testers can play around with.

Just my thoughts