Tank drivers acting as gunners in PS2

[Redshift]

giving the more powerful vehicles the ability to only require 1 player is what caused the BFR's to be utter shite.
I'll wait and see how it goes but i've always been of the opinion that nothing bigger than a lightning should be solo

[Logit]

Originally Posted by Redshift

giving the more powerful vehicles the ability to only require 1 player is what caused the BFR's to be utter shite.
I'll wait and see how it goes but i've always been of the opinion that nothing bigger than a lightning should be solo

QFT

[kaffis]

Hell, I never really liked even lightnings because they were solo.

[Redshift]

Originally Posted by kaffis

Hell, I never really liked even lightnings because they were solo.

Well the weaponry on the lightning coupled with the difficulty of driving and gunning stpped it being to much of a problem as you could jammer and run, or jammer and scare it off with AV, but if the lightning had a vanny gun on it you can all but guarantee it would be the only vehicle on the ground, farming troops all day long

[Raymac]

Originally Posted by Redshift

Well the weaponry on the lightning coupled with the difficulty of driving and gunning stpped it being to much of a problem as you could jammer and run, or jammer and scare it off with AV, but if the lightning had a vanny gun on it you can all but guarantee it would be the only vehicle on the ground, farming troops all day long

But you still have the "difficulty of driving and gunning" applying to the MBT as well. I think it is sounding like one of those things where you will be effective solo, but far more dangerous with a crew.

In fact, I would like to see the Main Gun locked in the forward position if the driver is controlling it, to encourage having a gunner. Like most stuff in this game, I'm waiting to hear more information before I pass judgement.

I do like the idea of not having to spam V-N-G if you really don't want to. While this as a lesser effect on organized outfits, it will be a huge help to new and casual players.

[FIREk]

Originally Posted by Higby

Secondary weapons on tanks are no joke.

This.
Baron, I think you were thinking of Battlefield 1942, where the secondary gunner was exposed (meaning certain death, indeed). In BFBC2, the secondary gun is insanely powerful against infantry. Especially if you exploit the spotting system, you simply mow down squishies without remorse.
It should also be noted that, with powerful AV weapons at the Engineer's disposal, tanks in BFBC2 are very vulnerable without a decent secondary gunner to watch the flanks and rear.

Higby, I have three questions for you, if I may:

1) Will tanks' survivability be scaled down to that of BFBC2, where 2-3 well-placed handheld AV shots were enough to blow a tank up? I played engineer and got most of my kicks from merciless tank-busting, so I know what I'm talking about.

2) When making this decision, did you factor in the common, ridiculous scenario from BFBC2, where the gunner/driver unleashes hell, while his secondary gunner/engineer continuously repairs him? Depending on the speed of the repair, and the amount of fire being taken, this gives the tank something like double or triple effective HP.
In PS1, this "tactic" would have required at least 3 people, which is a bit more fair.

3) Have you considered letting the driver use only the secondary gun? This would be especially fair considering that (as far as I understand) all (or most) of the unlocks for an MBT are for the secondary gun. This gives the guy who spent time certing the MBT+unlocks full use of what he invested time in, while requiring a second person for the second gun.

[Majikk]

In order for this to work, a tank with a secondary weapon has to be more effective than two tanks without a secondary weapon. If a fully crewed MBT is not twice as effective, then few will bother with secondary weapons. How do you define 'effective'? I don't know. But this will come out in the wash. Single crewed MBTs need to feel like a compromise, rather than an efficient use of resources.

Of course, if spawning the tank only consumes the driver's respawn timer, then a pair of players can respawn their vehicle twice as quickly.

[Accuser]

I'm looking forward to seeing how this works in the beta.

We obviously don't want the driver controlling the secondary gun, or he/she will simply use AA/AV/AI based on the situation and effectively be an unshielded BFR.

On the other hand, gunning a magrider was my favorite part of PS1... I hope gunners continue to have that straight-shooting railgun option.

[Espion]

Originally Posted by Higby

You'll be able to switch out a variety of weapons up there that add a ton to your tank's situational viability

So are you going for a BFR-like approach where individual parts of the tank can be destroyed (i.e. destroying the secondary weapon, taking damage to the main weapon so RoF slows, etc)

[Graywolves]

Originally Posted by Accuser

.........gunning a magrider was my favorite part of PS1.......

After gunning a Magrider.....I don't want to gun anything else...

[Aractain]

Im loveing the idea. Mainly because of the problems that Planetside had. This will ultimately lead to more vehicles on the battlefield, bigger fights and more fun.

Teamplay was required before now its an option for those who are organised.

[Scow2]

Dangit... I was hoping the guy who acquisitions a tank would be able to apply all his certs/enhancements to that tank, and choose whether he wants to gun or drive.

I hated the Lightning and ATVs in Planetside because I couldn't focus on my driving.

Hopefully I can give my main gun to another player, or give let someone else drive while I shoot. Internal seat-swapping should be possible as well, but not instantaneous.

[Draep]

How am I as the driver going to dodge through fire while I'm picking out targets? This feels like its taking the cavalry aspect out of tanking and gives them too much of a forced infantry support role, PS1 tanks may do both.

[Graywolves]

With the larger maps and greater numbers/possibility of field/vehicle battles.

I think that increasing the availability of tanks and ease of use for the scrubs is actually a very good decision.


What it boils down to is how to keep the single-manned vehicled from being able to compete with a fully crewed vehicle head on. I am sure that someone somewhere will figure out how to take a one-manned vehicle and wreck everything they find. But there still needs to be a clear advantage from having a focused crew of drivers and gunners.

In most encounters, a driver who is just focused on driving while his gunners take care of the enemy, should come out on top with a combined improvement in accuracy/damage output and meneuvers.

[Aractain]

I would say the second gun should be (a bit) MORE powerful than a main gun of another vehicle so theres a nice trade off between powerful tanks and multiple tanks.

I also hope that there is more than just tank + AA, tank + AI etc. I want main vehicles to cover the roles (esspecially AA).