10 replies to this topic

[TheDecoy]

Hey,

First time poster. I don't know if this has been suggested before, if it has then link me plz.

Spectator mode:
Watch a game where friends are playing.
In DOTA 2 (for example) this is implemented very well in DOTA TV.
You can spectate a game of friends or pro games with a 2 minute delay.

Pros:
Learn how to play by spectating.
Fill the time while waiting for a game to finish.
See customisations of mechs (this may promote sales!)
See mech builds in action.
Build a tighter community!
Make tournements more interesting.
Makes casting possible.

Cons:
Cheating by passing on information (1 minute delay should counter this)
A lot of work for the programmers....

What do you guys think_ Will this work for this genre_

[Beefsweat]

A proper spectator mode has been a highly requested feature for quite some time now. Personally I say yes, yes, yes, please give us a proper spectator mode. According to dev-made videos spectator mode shouldn't be terribly hard to impliment, and a rudimentary implementation did exist for awhile although it was terribly buggy and had a high potential for abuse as you've noted (for example here's a video I made last year in spectator mode, user Umbre has some videos of their own as well - http://youtu.be/_oUK14fOJv4) thus its method of access was known to only a select few and it was locked down post-ascension patch. I have my hopes that they'll implement a proper spectator mode soon, I feel they're missing out on a lot of free promotion!

[TheDecoy]

Awesome, ty for the reply!

[XyXly]

yes please, and maybe a game replay mode (NOT saved as video data, but as the low-latency "game data" instead, similar to Halo 3)

[Eliziel]

spectator mode please!

[Blood_Jester]

I agree spectator mode should be introduced, and all your points are valid thedecoy, and there are other reasons:

1. Can be used when the numbers are unbalanced
While waiting for the numbers to even up, an extra player in a team can spectate, when someone in the team dies, they go into the game while the recently deceased player is now spectating. This allows for games to remain 3vs3, or 4vs4 etc, even with uneven players. Once the numbers even up, all players can play as normal.

2. Used to spot people using aimbots/hacks
It's hard to spot hackers/aimbotters when the game is so frantic and fast paced, but by doing this a player can watch and see carefully if another player (on his team or even the opponent) is hacking.

3. Allow queued players to watch until a spot is available
If there is a group of people you enjoy playing with but the server is full, then you can happily sit and spectate, while waiting and chatting. This also deals with the problem when at the end of a match, multiple players leave (or even ragequitters during game). If people leave, there is a group of players ready to join.

4. When you are busy.
Sometimes you get called away, for short periods or even longer, that's life. But instead of leaving and causing your team to be low on numbers and going through the hassle of finding that server again, you can simply goto spectator mode, and if points 1 and 3 are implemented it should not impact your team too badly.




Warning:
One thing I am worried about with spectator mode is if an opponent has a friend spectating the enemy team and voice chatting to the player where the enemy mechs are. That would be my biggest concern with spectator mode, having the spectator mode auto-rotate through the different players may help, also obviosuly not showing the spectator the player's radar, or which other mechs in view are the enemy/team may also prevent this.

But in general spectator mode would be great

Edit: A 2 minute delay like in DoTA may be abit too long but maybe a 30-45 second delay, could also help prevent spectator spotting/cheating, while not ruining the game for spectators who would like to join the battle when a spot becomes available

Edited by Blood_Jester, March 31 2014 - 07:28 PM.

[Squeedge]

I think that the developers already have been working on a spectator mode and also trying to let people have history of their matches so they have more stats to look after. I strongly suggest to implement the dota 2 system with tounaments and replays but it is a long way and a lot of work for the developers so for now we'll just have to wait.
btw srry for misspelling im on a phone right now.

[Beefsweat]

Squeedge, on March 31 2014 - 10:09 PM, said:

I think that the developers already have been working on a spectator mode and also trying to let people have history of their matches so they have more stats to look after. I strongly suggest to implement the dota 2 system with tounaments and replays but it is a long way and a lot of work for the developers so for now we'll just have to wait.

On the last episode of 'the cockpit' one of the devs mentioned specifically that they use the demo replay functionality built into UE3/UDK, but all of the information is kept server-side and it'd take some work to implement the same functionality for everybody. Hopefully in the future we will see a proper 'replay' functionality or at least a decent spectator mode!

[halfking]

Do want. Would also love it if you could save replays of battles like Total War games do, and have them shown in 3rd-person view.

[EliteShooter]

Patience ... patience ...

[Mech__Warrior]

Yes, I would love a spectator mode, along with replays, and a good queuing/waiting system as pointed out.