Group Sizes

[Jinxsey]

Issue:

At present group sizes vary from 10 and 30. This ensures that large teams composed of numericaly smaller administrative units can cooperate easily, but limits the top end, in PS1 this occured because displaying more than 30 bars on the screen at once was impractical if the next step up was 90, and retaining more than "platoon" level organisation was seen as implactical.

Given the march of technology, and the potential scale increase for PS2 I would like to see a further two steps above the "platoon" level. Here is why...

Massive Combat:

The mission statement for PS2 seems to be combigned arms on a scale that no shooter, (no not even PS1) has ever done before, more tanks, more aircraft, more squaddies going at it across a bigger frontline. That, that makes me salavate in a way only fillet steak and jennings bitter previously did. Given that increase in scope, it would seem to indicate the need to organise not only on a platoon scale, but on an ad-hoc "attachment" scale too.

To explain...

A platoon remains the largest single organisational structure in game for a group of infantry. But in addition to the thirty players on foot, any vehicles are displayed seperatly with some UI icon or suchlike to indicate that the platoon includes a tank, or formation of tanks. Moving away from the PS1 "salad bar" of health bars we see names listed by squad, or even squads displayed by Squad Leader's name and their relative strength expressed as a health bar, with any attached units displayed seperately (this could include MAX units).

A platoon in this way can be expanded by "allying" with other platoons, in this scenario the other platoons are displayed on the UI in shorthand, with the platoon leader's name and a healthbar approximating their fighting strength. This aproximation could also include some way to asses what "attached vehicles they have".

Summary:

Steamlining the existing "Squad" and "platoon" displays to minimise their impact for grunts, while retaining "at a glance" depth of imformation, in this way would not only display information in a more useful and efficicent manner it would allow for the size of displayed formations, or "groups" of formations to increase aiding in in-game organisation of players without the explicit need for third party add-ons or organisation. A platoon commander could view the damage status or capacity of his platoon's vehicle assets quickly and assign crewmen to cover empty slots quickly and effectively. Platoon commanders could also "group up" to aid in coordinating each platoons individual actions, guaging roughly each other's fighting strength and vehicle assets. These "Company" sized formations would, of nessecity display the information of the secondary and tertiary platoons in highly consened forms to the squaddies of any single member platoon, but display vehicles crewed by, or attached to that platoon much more clearly.