Empire night flares

[Cuross]

So if I'm reading correctly, there's going to be night vision goggles available for infantry, so maybe a flare gun or grenade ammo that shoots an 'infrared' beacon that illuminates the night so long as the soldiers are wearing their night vision goggles, maybe in the color of their Empires, but basically this would just give the soldiers a different light source. Not sure how it would be put into the game, but with what I've seen of the lighting, it would be amazing to see something like this, haha. Maybe even outfit an aircraft with a bunch of these flares to light up a night battle for the ground troops.

Pro:
Wider area of lighting
Squad/platoon/outfit/Empire support

Con:
Not sure I can think of any, haha.

Potential issues:
Well, I'm not sure how it would work, I'm not certain if it would be hard on the servers or processors involved. I also wonder what would happen should a hundred or so be launched in the same area of effect.

Exploits:
Well, providing a different angle of light exploits the darkness and illuminates areas behind boulders and buildings for anyone else with a different line of sight :P

I'm not sure this even has to stop with infrared flares, even just normal flares would be a fun mechanic for those soldiers without night vision goggles.

Here's a link to a real live IR flare
http://homemadedefense.blogspot.kr/2...2-40mm-ir.html

[Landtank]

I definitely agree with you in that flares should be added to the game, whether or not aircraft should deploy or CR5's should deploy them I can't say haha.

If they could be implemented in a way in which they couldn't be spammed then it would be fantastic, and add that extra element to night fighting.

[IHateMMOs]

I would really love a handheld flare pistol with faction specific colors, so that you can shoot it up and call for reinforcements, or signal them, but I can tell how annoyingly blinding it would be when everyone's just shooting flares into the sky for no reason.

[Cuross]

Originally Posted by IHateMMOs

I would really love a handheld flare pistol with faction specific colors, so that you can shoot it up and call for reinforcements, or signal them, but I can tell how annoyingly blinding it would be when everyone's just shooting flares into the sky for no reason.

Ah, you're talking about signal flares. Well, for that I've got another idea, perhaps a deployable signal beacon that takes a few moments to deploy but otherwise creates a waypoint similar to those set by the leadership positions in PS1.

However, the idea of blinding everyone on the battlefield with a few dozen really bright flares is my biggest concern. I'm thinking that maybe the collective lights from multiple flares doesn't exceed daytime settings? This way we can avoid them being rank specific. Not to mention, a flare would last perhaps on the upwards of 30 seconds? A minute maybe with sidegrades?

[PlaceboCyanide]

Would be a nice utility to have. If they do implement anything of the sort I hope they make the flares themselves sticky. To prevent a massive barrage of flares (why is that such a bad thing?) you could have the carrying capacity for them be very low. Only 1-3 per person if they decide to carry them in place of something else.

[Cuross]

I don't actually think that there is any problem with a massive barrage of flares, but there comes a point where too many flares might become a hindrance to the game rather than a boon. I mean, imagine a squad or platoon of infiltrators all behind the walls of a base and all of them launch their flares at once before the big rush by their team. All the defenders would be blind and helpless outdoors just in time to be siege'd on by lightnings, main battle tanks, and liberators. But that opens the issue of the blinding effect, that is probably the only part of light flares to become an exploit and a con.

On the note of IR flares, it would be hazardous to the soldiers of their Empire all wearing night vision goggles or implants, and no one likes that kind of trolling. So this is why I might suggest a maximum light amount from cumulative flares being as bright as daylight. This way, a platoon can fire off a bunch of flares at all angles around a base and create "daylight" for a few short minutes so that the tanks and snipers can line up quick shots. And the IR flares? Imagine a night skirmish happening between two bases, no lights, moderate cover, and a couple guys fire off a couple IR flares. All of a sudden the entire battlefield is lit up providing more illumination than normal night vision can offer. I rather like it

And I am fully expecting them to be at least as wieldy as normal grenades (there still will be grenade launchers, right?). Don't get me wrong, I think it would also be a good idea to create a flare gun to take up a pistol slot so that anyone without access to grenade launchers could still use them, but I'm just expecting them to be a grenade for ammunition purposes.

And if they were sticky, that would offer a different kind of mechanic that, while amusing, would defeat most of the purpose of firing flares in the first place. When you fire a flare close to the ground or stick it to a wall, you're limiting the maximum amount of light emitted to certain areas. This does, however, have a pro to it, that being that you can fire it to the ceiling underneath cover that would be otherwise shaded from a launched flare, still illuminating the area. But that's where darklight or normal night vision shines best anyway. Perhaps we could compromise and make different modes of light for flashlights?! Press the toggle once for normal light, press it again for IR?

[PlaceboCyanide]

I very much like the toggling flashlight idea, especially for stealthers. Speaking of stealth, how would that work with the flares... could it be a mechanic to help detect cloaked enemies? Maybe not to reveal them 100% but enough to make them known. Would be hilarious if you could land a sticky flare onto a cloaker

[Cuross]

I don't actually expect IR flares to do anything to cloakers because that is such an integral part of an infiltrator's class. Not to say that every infiltrator will be building around their cloaking ability, but it separates them from the rest.

Not to mention that the IR flares would be Empire specific anyway, giving you no real need to find your friendly infiltrators outside the minimap. But if we are talking about visible light flares then I stand by my earlier statement.

And it would be amusing to see someone stick a visible light flare to an enemy cloaker, haha. It'd be like a ghost running around with a torch :P Up until it got shot at, haha.

And this is actually getting less attention than I thought it would. I thought that this kind of idea would have been one of those utility things that more people would have had an opinion about, lol.

[Talek Krell]

The devs have mentioned the idea at a couple of points. Some sort of weapon attachment, I think, that you could use to light up the night a bit. Will be sweet if it's in.

[Zekeen]

I think the idea of a night vision flare is a good idea. It would have to be physically visible, but much much MUCH brighter from NV. Very good concept to that. An interesting take on flares.

[Vhauj]

If the flares are just acting to illuminate the battlefield, then maybe add something like a minimum height that they can go off. That way trolling would be impossible for infantry and tanks, and the brightness issue of the flares wouldn't be such a big problem. This just leaves dealing with flares going off and blinding aircraft.

[AssassinGT]

I'm for this idea, and I think it could help signifcantly put some spunk into the night fighting.

[Cuross]

Originally Posted by Zekeen

I think the idea of a night vision flare is a good idea. It would have to be physically visible, but much much MUCH brighter from NV. Very good concept to that. An interesting take on flares.

Why would the flare have to be physically visible? Trying to wrap my head around a game balance issue, but it's a utility available to all factions to overcome a universal handicap. Perhaps you've got an idea of something that I'm not thinking about, but if that's the case, then maybe have the flare itself strobe? So that it doesn't actually create any useable light, but everyone knows that one was launched.

Originally Posted by Vhauj

If the flares are just acting to illuminate the battlefield, then maybe add something like a minimum height that they can go off. That way trolling would be impossible for infantry and tanks, and the brightness issue of the flares wouldn't be such a big problem. This just leaves dealing with flares going off and blinding aircraft.

Not sure I'm completely understanding your concept. I mean, I think I get it, lol, but I'm just not sure what you mean. I'm actually beginning to think that maybe the light from all flares should not be cumulative, but instead the light from flares can not exceed the normal light given from just one flare. But even making it so that only aircraft are blinded is still an unacceptable margin for me. I'd prefer that no one would suffer blindness.

@AssassinGT: You have no idea how much I've thought about the different scenarios involving IR flares and night fights for this game :P

[Vhauj]

Originally Posted by Cuross

Not sure I'm completely understanding your concept. I mean, I think I get it, lol, but I'm just not sure what you mean. I'm actually beginning to think that maybe the light from all flares should not be cumulative, but instead the light from flares can not exceed the normal light given from just one flare. But even making it so that only aircraft are blinded is still an unacceptable margin for me. I'd prefer that no one would suffer blindness.

For example if you shoot a flare at the ground or indoors it wont activate. You would have to shot it up and in the air a certain distance for it to activate. Meaning no corridor blinding or doorway blinding, so it won't be an issue. Also making them so the are not cumulative is a good idea for not blinding aircraft.

[Cuross]

Originally Posted by Vhauj

For example if you shoot a flare at the ground or indoors it wont activate. You would have to shot it up and in the air a certain distance for it to activate. Meaning no corridor blinding or doorway blinding, so it won't be an issue. Also making them so the are not cumulative is a good idea for not blinding aircraft.

Ah, that's what I thought. It's a good idea to be sure. A minimum distance for the flare to activate sounds good and the mechanic for grenade launchers in just about every other game should be able to work for it, you know, the mechanic where grenades don't go off except after they've been fired a certain distance.