Gal Drops and my thoughts - Page 2

cashfoyogash · 2011-07-26, 12:09 PM

Agreed, but i still doubt this would ever be implemented in the game. Especially since i read smedley say that galaxys are going to be more important this time around. I just hate that ground transport gets ignored.

Goku · 2011-07-26, 12:24 PM

The skill relation to high altitude drops can work with how you can still do basic drops within a certain distance above the the target. Instead of a individual skill make it fall in line with outfit specialization in doing galaxy drops. This falls in line with SOE wanting to make outfits more specialized. Make the high altitude dropping have more benefits over what is today in PS. Paradrops have always been meant for the element of surprise. With that making the Galaxy (or all aircraft) at the max altitude should be invisible to ground units' radar. Then when the droppers from the galaxy at max height dropout they are also invisible to radar until they land. This greatly adds to a sneak attack ability in how people will not know its coming unless they're watching the skies. By allowing the droppers to be invisible to radar it helps them not getting camped right away by people knowing the landing location too. There should be added maneuvering for droppers as well to allow for better targeting as high altitude drops can sometime be more of a pain for the exact location.

cashfoyogash · 2011-07-26, 12:30 PM

I like the sound of that making it an outfit specific skill as well. I could see that fitting in and really separating some outfits from other ones. I definitely think they should be able to be above the radar as i believe that is the purpose of a HALO jump.

Bruttal · 2011-07-26, 01:19 PM

I still think wing suites are good idea, just saying lol

Trolltaxi · 2011-07-26, 04:24 PM

In PS1 all soldiers (even maxes and the veichle) could leave the gal at the same time. Unless the gal has doors all around (like the entry animation suggests - but that would do pretty bad to aerodynamics), it is impossible.

The most obvious method for leaving the gal is the ramp. You have all seen movies or cutscenes in shooters where a "jump master" issues orders during the drop (and he is the part of the crew usually), or at least crying "move-move-move" and hitting everyones shoulder while they jump out. For this reason I'd say it is a squadleader-type skill to make your squad leave the gal faster or make them land right on the spot.

Or maybe it will be individual skills for "paratrooper"-type infantry to coordinate the drop or manouver mid air, or being able to jump from an "extreme high" or "extreme low" flying gal.

But I don't get the point why a galpilot couldn't open the ramp at any heigh or any speed...

Raymac · 2011-07-26, 04:30 PM

While the OP is an interesting idea, if I wanted to show a friend who was brand new to Planetside what makes it special, I would bring them on a Gal drop. I wouldn't want to limit that for new players. They should get to experience that stuff right off the bat.

Coreldan · 2011-07-26, 05:46 PM

I'd agree with the idea presented somewhere in the thread that rather than requiring every player for a "paratrooper" cert, rather have a skilled gal pilot able to drop people off. This means that some average gal pilot can only use it to transport people, while people who put a little more effort in it would be able to drop people mid-flight.

Although I think such cert should be fairly easy to get, but still such that it would require more than just the first tier of skills from the gal tree.

Then again, why limit the awesomeness at all.

cashfoyogash · 2011-07-26, 08:28 PM

like i said i dont see it happening how i presented it and goku improving the idea, because planetside is gal drops. I just hate how it keeps people from using ground transports which kinda makes putting ground transports in the game useless.

Talek Krell · 2011-07-26, 09:31 PM

I think we can make this work. And that we quite possibly should too. The way I'm thinking about this, the only thing more awesome than a gal dropping a squad onto a roof is a gal nosing up over a wall at full speed from the direction no one was looking all guns blazing through a cloud of flak and then dropping a squad onto a roof.

The idea:
1. Everyone has Basic Fallnothurtifyers.
2. Basic Fallnothurtifyers nullify damage from falls as long as [100ft] (only from a vehicle).
3. Basic Fallnothurtifyers can be upgraded through certs on the outfit level (badass paratroopers) to increase the drop ceiling up to infinity.
---a. Personal or pilot certs might also work, but could cause problems when
---not working with people you know.
4. Need an indicator on the hud to show when you can drop safely.

The effect:
1. New players and non-specialized outfits will retain the option to hotdrop, but will have to go in low and fast, or disembark on the fringes.
2. Specialized outfits will be able to perform the high altitude drops instead, allowing them to show up a bit more quietly. Also suggests some more certs that could be on the outfit tree, like not appearing on sensors while dropping.
3. Might nullify some of the concerns about being able to spawn in gals.
4. Profit.
5. Bonus: Discourages bailing in the middle of a dogfight.

That took longer than I thought....

Goku · 2011-07-26, 09:49 PM

I like all those ideas. The sensor one is a must in my opinion. Knowing a Gal drop is coming is far to obvious when this huge red boat comes flying across your radar indicator. This keeps the core mechanic in the game, but allows for specialization which seems to be one of the main goals of PS2. All this will just make Gal drops that much more awesome then compared to the original PS. Perhaps someone should make a idea thread about this?

Talek Krell · 2011-07-26, 11:18 PM

I guess Cash would make the most sense? He did start the thread. You're welcome to copypasta my stuff if you want, Cash.

headcrab13 · 2011-07-27, 01:32 AM

I agree with Cash that hotdropping from a Gal is a pretty awesome ability (even though it was a given in PS1), and I wouldn't mind seeing people drop a few cert points on it.

For all of us that have played PlanetSide extensively, it might seem silly to have to spec in it, but I think it really does make more sense. Players that are new to PS2 would be all over that, excited to spec in hotdropping after seeing veteran players do it.

-HC13

cashfoyogash · 2011-07-27, 07:10 AM

Wow I must say I cant believe this is as accepted and thought about as it has been. I thought almost everyone would just throw the idea out the window. A lot of things I have read really help the idea come together too I think. For example being off the radar at a high altitude. A surprise gal drop would just hurt. Going in behind enemy lines undetected could cause some major damage. Paratroopers were a big reason, if not the reason, that the storming of normandy was able to be pulled off.

Now I dont know how supplying ammo and engineering equipment will work. I hope there are still ammo withdrawal points and its not like infinite everything as logistics are a huge part of war fare. But another thought of mine to do with gals would be the ability to drop supplies from a higher altitude. Like if PS2 has the trunk function and say you have an outfit in bastogne type of situation (for reference google the battered bastards of bastogne) who were surrounded on all sides by the axis army. They held bastogne through most of the winter and the way they resupplied was through dropped supplies.

Now with territories there is big chance we may have outfits in such situations where it is easier for the enemy to surround this territory, if the outfit is well dug in, and attack from all sides. Eventually the outfit is going to run out of equipment. I just thought it would be cool for the gals to be able to drop ammo and other equipment so the outfit can hold ground till allies break through the enemy lines. But like I said we have no exact idea how all of the supplies and territories are going to work.

Goku · 2011-07-27, 08:19 AM

The resupply idea is interesting. I doubt PS2 will do ammo reloading to the extent BF2 did with the class with the machine gunners being able to throw ammo packs all over. Though BF2 and I think other games actually do have a supply drop. I could see PS2 having a similar idea. In PS the most similar technique to this would be dropping an ams via lodestar I guess (I have actually never done such a thing). I think your idea is much better just being able to drop a supply crate down for a platoon/squad to make use of as it only requires one person to do. The crate can give them ammo while also healing everyone for the duration that is allowed to stay there. Besides I doubt it is that hard to make a crate that is drop able from a galaxy with this ability. Should fit easily into the devs already tight budget, so they say.

cashfoyogash · 2011-07-27, 08:28 AM

I dont think the crate should have aura properties like healing, but I do think it should work like an equipment terminal. Soldiers walk up to it and press G or whatever to access its contents. Once its empty or destroyed it is gone. The crate would have a certain space limit to how much could go in it so it takes more than one crate to resupply a whole group of soldiers. But medic packs or glue could be put in it to heal and fix armor as well as ammo or different weapons.