Make Nights "Nightier?"

[Staticelf]

Ok so first of all night battles and day battles require no difference in play style because the dark of night is frankly not dark.

So here are my suggestions...(fired in the general direction of the Devs via twitter and posted here/PS2 Reddit)

1.Make night darker (again) or at least half what it was when it was dark?

2. Add much more lighting to all man made structures (Roads, bases, bridges, etc.)

3. Add terminal in bases that enemy infiltrators ONLY! (Otherwise some troll would switch em off or turn it into Zurvan Amp Disco Tech!?) can hack that shuts off base lights and spotlights. Allowing enemy to attack the base in pitch dark...giving them the advantage in sneaking in sunderers and taking down gens/shields especially if they have NVGs or NV Scopes.

4. SPOTLIGHTS! on towers, walls, base turret guns. On/off switchable (g key?) large alcatraz style spotlights. My idea is that enemy spotted by them are marked on map AND give cert bonus when killed just like from "Q" spotting (or perhaps better/longer lasting on map).

5. Vehicle mounted spotlights that go in a weapon mount (so anywhere there is a basalisk gun by default). So sunders, galaxies, magriders (prob better than basalisk anyways?), liberator tail (blind esfs? and spot ground infantry terminator 2 style).

6. Night Vision Goggles (NVG's) item or cert (pretty self explanitory)

I think that is everything? Please discuss!
+++Staticelf+++

[Phantomdestiny]

every single point is great . the spotlight would need new art assets to be implemented also i don't think they designed the light inside the facilities to be able to be turned off.

[Staticelf]

Originally Posted by Phantomdestiny

i don't think they designed the light inside the facilities to be able to be turned off.

I would think they could turn it down if it cant be turned off...then add in new lights that would turn on and off?

[Staticelf]

Yes as with everything I'm sure this would take a lot of work...

BUT, it would totally change up the combat without having to buff or nerf any gun....or tank....or engineer turret....or (add in other thing everyone thinks needs buffing and/or nerfing here)

Actually there would need to be one slight buff....weapon flashlights and vehicle headlights

[HiroshiChugi]

It's been suggested sooo many times but frankly, I don't think the devs are worried about it yet. Hopefully it will change in the futre, but I just don't quite know just yet...

[Staticelf]

I'm just glad it has been 5 minutes and some body hasn't said "Just make your monitor darker.."

The point hopefully taken is that in my suggestion bases are lit very well (unless hacked) but areas away from bases will be very dark (unless lit up by sunderer spotlights catching the enemy in the open as they tried to sneak up and attack Snake Ravine Lookout from Crossroads Watchtower.)

(My favorite place for a balanced combined arms battle in the open! As in not tanks blasting a tower while we cower inside / tanks left to time out at the foot of a bio lab while shotguns blast inside)

[OctavianAXFive]

Originally Posted by Staticelf

I'm just glad it has been 5 minutes and some body hasn't said "Just make your monitor darker.."

The problem, from my understanding, is that when they had dark nights players just made their monitors brighter to compensate.

I'm a bit guilty of this but I wasn't trying to get any sort of advantage. Unless it's actually nighttime where I live, the room I play in has a good deal of light coming in. If Auraxis is dark and my room is bright, I get a lot of glare which makes it hard for me to see anything on my LCD monitor. It's a nice IPS with a matte screen but there's only so much I can do to mitigate glare.

It's a cool idea but it has some drawbacks that are tough to overcome.

1.) You have to make it so players can't crank up brightness to get an advantage.

2.) Performance issues.

3.) Player conditions (like my glare problem).

4.) You have to have to walk this fine line of making it so new players without NV certifications can still participate in night battles while still giving some advantage to players who do(have NV). I think your infiltrator turning off the lights idea is actually a pretty good way to do that in some instances.

Lastly, I'll say it's hard to tell from where we're sitting if a dark night was actually that popular among players. It adds a level of hardcore depth that may be a bit of a turn off for some. I for one like it. But putting it back into the game has some challenges that might not make it viable.

I suppose you could violate my first condition and make it so that "dark nights" is an option you can somehow turn off and on from the client. If some players are into the cinematic experience and not too interested in min-maxing their play, then I don't see why the developers couldn't someday let the players decide for themselves.

[psijaka]

Originally Posted by OctavianAXFive

The problem, from my understanding, is that when they had dark nights players just made their monitors brighter to compensate.

^ this. Much as I would like darker nights, some people will just adjust their monitor settings to gain an advantage. So there's just no point in going down this route, sadly.

[Sledgecrushr]

Originally Posted by psijaka

^ this. Much as I would like darker nights, some people will just adjust their monitor settings to gain an advantage. So there's just no point in going down this route, sadly.

I think if the differences between the dark of the night and a well lit interior are very big then folks who like to adjust gamma would be constantly messing with their gamma as they move from light to dark. With your gamma turned up all the way during the day the game is unplayably bright. If someone adjusts their gamma and goes inside a well lit building it should be unplayably bright. This would deter most people from messing with their gamma for a short very dark nightime cycle.

[Tom Peters]

Yeah, let's make it so the Vanu are even HARDER to see at night! [/sarcasm]

Nah, but there could definitely be some more dynamic lights at night, especially around the bases.

[Sledgecrushr]

Very popular idea. You can count me in too.

[ThatGoatGuy]

I've heard many people ask for this. I am one of them. All of those ideas, ESPECIALLY the spotlight, sounds fantastic.

[Phantomdestiny]

then again the engine is called forgelight so make dynamic lights by bringing back beta night

[wasdie]

Just remember more dynamic lights = more strain on PCs.

I would love nights to be darker and all of this, but I do understand their technical limitations. They are already pushing it with the amount of dynamic light in this game as it is.

[Vanir]

What is needed is weather and cloud cover. If there is a full moon with no clouds, then we have a really bright night, if there is no moon with heavy overcast then we have a very dark night.