Cert Combos

[CutterJohn]

Been thinking of something a bit now, and I think it sounds like fun.. Items or variants that can only be accessed by having combinations of certain certs. The variants one is what got me started, so I'll just roll with that. This will also involve a bit of vehicle customization, but I think it would work fine for a couple vehicles, especially something like an APC/jeep which have always been pressed into multiple duties.

So, deliverers have 2 guns, and a cargo slot, and depending on certs, you can change these out to fill particular needs. The basic cargo slot is, of course, additional seating.

Now then..

Ground Support - Allows you to remove the seating and add a spawn point to your deliverer.

Engineer - Allows you to place a vehicle repair gizmo to cargo slot. Advanced engineering doubles the rate and allows vehicles to get items.

Medic - Allows you to place an Infantry heal aura onto the cargo slot. Advanced medic doubles the rate, and adds repair.

Infiltrator - Cloaking field generator.

AV - Allows you to replace the turrets with AV oriented turrets.

HA - Allows you to replace the turrets with close range AI oriented turrets, perhaps like the ground pounder.

SA - Allows you to replace the turrets with AA oriented turrets.

You get the idea.

You could do this with other things too. I mentioned the idea in another thread of allowing the Lodestar to drop heavy field fortifications. Perhaps you could do so, provided you have both the air support and the relevant advanced engineer cert.

Edit: I just figured, that, for something like the deliverer, it might be quite nice if you could eject the cargo item and leave it in the field. You could drive around and get some kills, perhaps, and you could also eject it if you needed to give people a ride.

[Valverde]

Funny enough this is similar to my idea about modules to put into turrets and other things. So yeah I am for it. But I am a huge customization guy. I know this game doesn't really support crafting but that is one thing I wish we could do is make custom weapons with limitless options maybe a higher power spring to go into a bolt action rifle or or surpressor addon to a rifle, maybe even a cloaked weapon module or what not.

[Jonny]

Sounds like a fun idea, CutterJohn. You have good ideas.

[Hamma]

Kind of an interesting idea, agreed you have had some good ideas! :)

[Furret]

Yeah, every time i read one of this guy's posts, I find myself thinking. Damn, right on the money, who posted this any- It would be him.

Anyway, when I saw the topic, I thought you might've stolen one of my previous ideas that I've never gotten around to posting.

Pretty much, everyone gets 11 cert points, including subscribers, although the subscribers have access to Certification packs, like the Heavy assault pack (med assault and heavy assault) for the price of 4 certs. Small things like that to stop players from becoming one man armies.

Anyway, on topic. I like this, and it could probably fit in well with Dvidd's whole 'vehicle overhaul' plan. If you swapped out a hardpoint with some sort of module or bonus you get from having certain certifications. So you could add a medic module to your galaxy instead of having a tailgun (in hindsight, this would be a bad idea, get it?) to heal friendlies.

[kaffis]

While it's more intriguing than straight up modular vehicles, I get the same queasy vibe from it. I like knowing what that thing on the horizon can do. I think it's good for the game.

What I'd rather see are straight up variants that might require multiple certs.

The notion of a deliverer variant with an equipment terminal (going for a full-on respawn tube is too AMS-like, if you ask me, but having reloads and loadout swapping is still valuable), for instance, is interesting. Go for it, but make it a separate vehicle that requires both the AMS cert and the deliverer cert, and is visually distinct from the deliverer, perhaps in paint scheme or just making sure the terminal is easy to spot from a moderate distance.

[CutterJohn]

I disagree that its too AMS like. It has a considerable disadvantage over the AMS, the lack of a cloak. And the higher cert cost. But it has its own advantages too, the gunners it can carry.

As for the argument of being able to know what is what.. I can understand the idea, but at the same time, this most certainly does not apply to MAX units or infantry armors. Of course the weapons up top should have distinctive shapes so that you can see the difference from a middlin range, and the different cargo mods would ideally change the look as well, but I really don't see the need to broadcast the changes across the map. Some battlefield chaos is nice.


Anyway, some further ideas on cert combos.

CE + SA = Mine launcher, to rapidly help setting up mines. Of course...

CE + Buggy = Mine clearing attachment instead of radar

Sniper + MA = Something like the HSR. Err.. Unless sniper requires MA anyway.. I can't remember now.

But AV.. AV could just be rocket launchers, while sniper + AV gives access to lancer-like heavy antimaterial rifles.

MAX + Advanced medic + engineer = Support max? Why not.


Heh.. I'm reminding myself of Magicka...

[Aractain]

Heh.. I'm reminding myself of Magicka...

Indeed, lol.

I do like the idea of advantages for combos but you don't want to get too "classy" the basic idea of planetside is 'play how you want' so we don't want to impact that much.

[CutterJohn]

Yes.. I'm starting to think that maybe it would be better just with a limited implementation for a few vehicles, and a few certs, but not everything.

[kaffis]

The thing that differentiates vehicles from MAXes and infantry on the "identify your foe" rule for me, I think, is that infantry and MAXes have a tighter range of abilities. All MAXes (of an empire) have the same mobility and hp, and are weak to the same weapons, and, generally, if you have the right thing to kill a MAX, it doesn't matter which MAX he is, you can kill the MAX.

Likewise, I have a generally good idea of my capability against a given infantry armor type. I know whether it's faster or slower than me, I know how long it'll take me to kill it, and, honestly, most of the important weapons are fairly distinctive from a relevant engagement range. I can tell a MCG from a repeater from a rocklet launcher at 40m. Might the repeater be a looted gauss? Possibly, but honestly, that's pretty trivial for my combat decisions.

[Firefly]

I'd like to see a cert called Big Pimpin'. It costs six cert points. It gives you a big caddy or maybe a tricked out '67 Fury II with a big back seat, and those positions are filled with scantily-clad NPC chicks whose sole job is to get close to you and press "G", if you know what I mean (and I think you do).

[I SandRock]

I think it would make it too powerful and get rid of the need of some vehicles like the AMS. But the idea in general is interesting

[Jonny]

I'd like to see a cert called Big Pimpin'. It costs six cert points. It gives you a big caddy or maybe a tricked out '67 Fury II with a big back seat, and those positions are filled with scantily-clad NPC chicks whose sole job is to get close to you and press "G", if you know what I mean (and I think you do).

Then the whole base you're attacking runs off after the car.

Sounds OP :)

[Firefly]

Insta-gibbed by a ho's vagina.

"Fuck! I DC'd! Did she press G? Am I in the supine or prone? Take a screenshot!"

[Tikuto]

Definately a must-have. Specialization gives identity and diversity where as the old systems is like being lost in a rainforest. So much shit going on and no status -- "who gives a fuck about you?"

[Bags]

Definately a must-have. Specialization gives identity and diversity where as the old systems is like being lost in a rainforest. So much shit going on and no status -- "who gives a fuck about you?"

You don't need fluff to make you stand out:

Norfolk in chance - Airpad campers
DT / 1CMM / TRx - Fast response resecurers who got stuff done.
Azure Twilight / Blue lions - zergfits
etc

JollyTraveller - Cloaker
TrxTopdawg / Mirrorboy - Grunts who routinely would win 4vs1s.
Dudster9 / Galse - Never leaves their VS maxes
Ubermenchen - Almost always in a vehicle
AmbientOSX - Lots of sniping
etc

People remember you for what you do, not for what you use to do it.

And that's just off the top of my head after not playing for a few years.

[brinkdadrink]

I know this is more weaponized but i just wanted to add in for vehicles something i thought was good. This is from Dissent in my outfit:

Modular stuff could be cool though. Think of it this way, say we're doing an Air Experiments Op and we have a group of mossies and reavers flying together. Now Mossies are good against infantry, and reavers against armor. Thats great but we are still lacking in terms of operational capability (which was sort of the point of experiments but bear with me.) Say we have a new group of guys with us, who aren't really full members or didn't know about the experiments or just made their experiments and can't get the certs to fly with us. Say they're running ground ops, and we want to all work as a cohesive group. A couple mossie pilots could outfit their mossies with better radar gear and give up some of their firepower, or maybe the reavers will want to carry half the load out of rockets and put a chain gun on the front to help take out enemy air and help the mossies with infantry. The other interesting thing that people were tossing around was about Galaxies. Imagine Mother is running our Gal and we've got a large group of guys and only a few Gal Pilots. Mother might want to switch out some of this guns for more infantry spots in his hold. Or maybe we have a huge number of Max's and we just load up a Gal with Max's instead of any infantry. OR maybe we have a Gal that has more gunner spots and carries less infantry. Or maybe even again you lose the infantry spots and gunner spots altogether and want to carry a Mag or something.

Obviously there are going to be limits to what a machine can do, but sometimes you want to outfit your ship to suit the needs of current combat. Combat pilots do that now, changing their payloads depending on the situation and any tactical advantage they might see. Obviously no one ship could do everything, but I think if it's implemented well it could be really cool.

Perhaps you'll need to cert an extra point or two to be able to change the loadouts around. That would be a cool thing for those of us who really like piloting, they could have a more adaptable role in combat and would allow them to rearm and reconfigure their set ups based on the tactical information being fed back to them from the frontlines by our officers. Again, it'd be interesting, but only if it's implemented well.

(Maybe a mossie could have EMP bombs (not a lot of them) so a mossie could fly over with enhanced radar and an EMP loadout, it flies over, scouts the position, and drops EMP before bugging out and our Gal comes in behind and drops our troops on a crippled enemy force. Of if you're Monch you could just fly around in a mossie griefing people with EMP, its a PERFECT role for him haha)


(Edit: Forgot to post about base layouts. I'd like to see some NEW ones, and maybe tweek the old ones a little, more variety in bases would always be good, maybe different models on different continents? Or maybe different layouts for different empires? If Vanu lock down Oshur or something and no one goes there, the bases change over to the 3-4 different types of Vanu bases or something, then it kinda really changes the layout of the game, and assaults on bases will be more fluid feeling, then if you're in a Vanu base the whole game changes instead of always knowing that the base is a specific layout, and it sort of adds a story kind of element, and a "reward" for the empire, and there is a "goal")

[Firefly]

Definately a must-have. Specialization gives identity and diversity where as the old systems is like being lost in a rainforest. So much shit going on and no status -- "who gives a fuck about you?"
Maybe as a lone wolf. Some outfits have set-ups that outline various specialties and their cert-builds. Those specialties fit into a role which the outfits use as part of their war machine.