DUST Search - DEV Topic/Discussion: Orbital Drop Spawns

G Torq wrote:

My impressions and comment...

How to do Orbital Drops / HALO jumps
How to counter the Drops
Various
Alternatives

1st - How to do Orbital Drops / HALO jumps
This section deals with how to Drop, seen from the Merc's side, and options to improve the Drop.

- Select a general location with a 50m uncertainty, to avoid people doing pinpointed drops. Drops come at "random" per-battle angles (you insert for same area in the sky). Modules could allow for added precision.
- Drop in an Individual Insertion Vehicle (or "pod") until either ejecting or 40m above floor (floor != ground), with ability to do minimal correction to trajectory. Skill to allow slightly more control, but nothing significant.
- Upon ejection, is merc's responsibility to enable Inertial Dampners.

2nd - How to counter the Drops
This deals with how to handle Mercs, that choose to insert via a Drop.

- During the Drop, depending on Atmosphere, there would be visible trails in the sky from the Vehicle, and likely sonic booms, all indicating where a Merc either is dropping or has dropped.
- While dropping, the vehicle (or exposed Merc) can be shot by other players, while the vehicle will also be a target for installations, in line with DropShips etc
- When an opposing Merc has dropped, it is up to the team/squad to decide whether to dispatch a squad to deal with the target. If he/she dropped somewhere non-critical, can perhaps be ignored momentarily

3rd - Various, or why this works
Here I'll try to outline why this is perfectly valid.

- Drops are High-Risk, High-Gain methods of insertion. It is plausible the vehicle, and Merc inside, will be shot out of the sky before reaching safety, or that he/she will encounter a squad sent to dispatch the new threat. Meanwhile, if successfull, the Merc can set up a base with Drop Link etc for calling in the rest of his/her squad.
- Drops are not the only method of insertion. CRUs (possibly inserted during initial stages), mCRUs (eg DropShips), DropLinks and possibly MCC spawns for attackers, or a home-base for the defender, are all still valid. Drops should only be used as the exception (or because, "Look At Me, weee").
- Drops add an extra element of strategy (and possible ISK+SP sink)
- Drops add a reasonable mechanism for establishing a "beach head" in a fight, where first step can be to Drop the Team into Squad-coordinated locations.
- Uncertainty in Drops means it may be difficult for snipers to hit a given roof-top/moutainside/whatever, leaving them at a bad location. Likewise, a Squad deploying in an urban enviroment may find that squad-members are spread out, with walls/buildings between them.

4th - Alternative options
Finally, some different options...

- Insertion vehicles (i.e. "pods") do not need to be individual. Could also be larger vehicles, similar to an RDV or a larger "pod", from which a number of Mercs can deploy. With a turn-around time, there would be a delay, and all Mercs that are willing to (or having to) wait, will be collected and dispatched together. This adds an element of insertion-of-force (more than a single Merc), and added control, but also paints a bigger target.
- Spawn-On-Merc - a DropLink-like module carried by a Merc that you simply spawn "next to".
- Deploying a CRU - a CRU that TeamLead/Commander can deploy to create a ground-base, so Mercs don't have to insert from space/orbit.
- Squad-jumps - where your Squad Lead chooses the destination, and you simply have to tag along with the rest of the squad. Could force some teamwork within your squad.

OIverall, I support the notion of Orbital Drops, both for effect and strategy. Seeing a team of 24-32 red Mercs deploying would be absolutely stunning and scary, and being able to use AA guns to hinder their insertion, only more so!

Edit: If wanted, I can extend into Insertion Vehicles ("Pods" etc), options and costs.


Author	Thread Statistics \| Show CCP posts - 0 post(s)
Draco Cerberus Hellstorm Inc League of Infamy 6	Posted - 2013.03.13 17:12:00 - [1] - Quote I liked the drop pods before they were removed, they provided cover for mercs deploying and really added to the look and feel that we were dropping from orbit. I also agree that the drop uplinks should allow us to drop in an area close to them. If the drop pods could sync with the uplinks it would be better than the current CRU tech on the battlefield. These were removed due to a need to work on the uplinks if I remember correctly. Death from being under one as it lands would be nice too. Then we could get kills from deploying over top of an enemy position. Please bring back the drop pods!
Draco Cerberus Hellstorm Inc League of Infamy 6	Posted - 2013.03.14 20:42:00 - [2] - Quote One other detail of note ...if drop pods are implemented and the CRUs removed... the drop pods need to have a HP value so that destroying them is possible. The original drop pods lacked a disposable factor that made more pods on the field = more stuff to run into that doesn't break. It would be nice if say a tank could crush them, or if after a player is fully spawned on map, the outer shielding telescopes down to allow the player free movement in any direction, or folds down on all sides to allow vehicles to travel freely over the area and give pods the ability to layer an area with additional elevation and slightly altering the terrain. In case you are still wondering when I started playing Dust, the Closed beta was just as enjoyable as the open beta. Lots of shooting, dieing, patching, resetting. CCP has always been looking for ways to make our gaming experience better, I hope that the fact that I've been here awhile helps by giving a view of the situation from someone who has spawned in a drop pod before.
Draco Cerberus Hellstorm Inc League of Infamy 8	Posted - 2013.03.16 00:10:00 - [3] - Quote G Torq wrote: My impressions and comment... How to do Orbital Drops / HALO jumps How to counter the Drops Various Alternatives 1st - How to do Orbital Drops / HALO jumps This section deals with how to Drop, seen from the Merc's side, and options to improve the Drop. - Select a general location with a 50m uncertainty, to avoid people doing pinpointed drops. Drops come at "random" per-battle angles (you insert for same area in the sky). Modules could allow for added precision. - Drop in an Individual Insertion Vehicle (or "pod") until either ejecting or 40m above floor (floor != ground), with ability to do minimal correction to trajectory. Skill to allow slightly more control, but nothing significant. - Upon ejection, is merc's responsibility to enable Inertial Dampners. 2nd - How to counter the Drops This deals with how to handle Mercs, that choose to insert via a Drop. - During the Drop, depending on Atmosphere, there would be visible trails in the sky from the Vehicle, and likely sonic booms, all indicating where a Merc either is dropping or has dropped. - While dropping, the vehicle (or exposed Merc) can be shot by other players, while the vehicle will also be a target for installations, in line with DropShips etc - When an opposing Merc has dropped, it is up to the team/squad to decide whether to dispatch a squad to deal with the target. If he/she dropped somewhere non-critical, can perhaps be ignored momentarily 3rd - Various, or why this works Here I'll try to outline why this is perfectly valid. - Drops are High-Risk, High-Gain methods of insertion. It is plausible the vehicle, and Merc inside, will be shot out of the sky before reaching safety, or that he/she will encounter a squad sent to dispatch the new threat. Meanwhile, if successfull, the Merc can set up a base with Drop Link etc for calling in the rest of his/her squad. - Drops are not the only method of insertion. CRUs (possibly inserted during initial stages), mCRUs (eg DropShips), DropLinks and possibly MCC spawns for attackers, or a home-base for the defender, are all still valid. Drops should only be used as the exception (or because, "Look At Me, weee"). - Drops add an extra element of strategy (and possible ISK+SP sink) - Drops add a reasonable mechanism for establishing a "beach head" in a fight, where first step can be to Drop the Team into Squad-coordinated locations. - Uncertainty in Drops means it may be difficult for snipers to hit a given roof-top/moutainside/whatever, leaving them at a bad location. Likewise, a Squad deploying in an urban enviroment may find that squad-members are spread out, with walls/buildings between them. 4th - Alternative options Finally, some different options... - Insertion vehicles (i.e. "pods") do not need to be individual. Could also be larger vehicles, similar to an RDV or a larger "pod", from which a number of Mercs can deploy. With a turn-around time, there would be a delay, and all Mercs that are willing to (or having to) wait, will be collected and dispatched together. This adds an element of insertion-of-force (more than a single Merc), and added control, but also paints a bigger target. - Spawn-On-Merc - a DropLink-like module carried by a Merc that you simply spawn "next to". - Deploying a CRU - a CRU that TeamLead/Commander can deploy to create a ground-base, so Mercs don't have to insert from space/orbit. - Squad-jumps - where your Squad Lead chooses the destination, and you simply have to tag along with the rest of the squad. Could force some teamwork within your squad. OIverall, I support the notion of Orbital Drops, both for effect and strategy. Seeing a team of 24-32 red Mercs deploying would be absolutely stunning and scary, and being able to use AA guns to hinder their insertion, only more so! Edit: If wanted, I can extend into Insertion Vehicles ("Pods" etc), options and costs. This solves some of the problems with the idea I had mentioned before with pods taking up ground space. I think this would work well. The drop uplinks I think are good as they are, materialization and all. If I know a link is camped I spawn elsewhere but they do what is described: wormhole tech transporting the clone to the battlefield. They need to stay. CRUs on the other hand don't seem to be worthwhile except for the quick 50 points they give for hacking. They are easy to camp and kill players, at least with a drop uplink you need to find it first.