#[NOSE] Pilots As A Resource (Training, Recovery, and... Diplomacy?)

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

fervent tendon
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(Part of NOSE: #1409362450654035988)

First things first, this would ideally be an optional ruleset that could be enabled by mission makers/server hosts. This is also meant to work in conjunction with playable UAVs, which would not be affected, but might be balanced in other ways.

The core of this system is the Training Centre, a new building which would be present at major airbases. Like the current Enrichment Plants, the Training Centre would produce an abstract resource on a cooldown, in this case Pilots. Pilots would be consumed by any aircraft that has a human crew. Returning to base, however, would render said crew available again.

But what if an aircraft is shot down? If the crew does not eject or ejects too late, they die (represented by the model changing), but upon a successful ejection, they remain on the field. As of now, they do nothing, though recovering them does give points to the player who did, if any.

If a unit on one side picks up a pilot belonging to that side, that pilot is rescued, and returns to their faction. If a unit from the opposing side picks up a pilot, that pilot is captured. I do not see any reason to remove point rewards as they would incentivize the use of this system.

Captured pilots are not necessarily gone forever, though. It is possible to negotiate a prisoner exchange with the opposing faction, paying that faction a small amount in exchange for a captured pilot to be returned. Obviously, the amount of times you can do this is limited by how many pilots have been captured. Even so, I do see potential for griefing with this system, which is why an agreement like this can only be proposed by a majority vote of the team proposing. I can also see this system, if implemented, being extended for things like voting to kick a player.

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The AI would have a few ways to interact with this system, the first of which is CSAR, or combat search and rescue. When and how to send CSAR would be determined by a faction's AI, and it could take a few forms depending on terrain. The most obvious is sending out a transport aircraft (such as a Tarantula or an Ibis) to recover a pilot, assuming airframes are available. If ground forces are close enough, however, a unit such as an LCV45, FAV (#1402842534627250279) or APC could detach from a convoy in order to rescue or capture a pilot. Finally, if a pilot is in the ocean, a ship or small craft (suggestion pending) could be instructed to change its course to bring said pilot on board. Alternatively, ships could be given the ability to launch small craft of their own, but this would probably require them to somehow be recoverable. As yet another alternative, see my #1402780904115667044 suggestion for a more unorthodox solution to the problem of rescuing pilots in water.

Alternatively, a Tarantula or future PALA medium transport could deploy, or an Ibis could sling-load, a pararescue team in a new light tactical vehicle. Like my FAV suggestion, linked above, this would be a means of simulating infantry without being infantry. This unit would have minimal self-defense capabilities (probably just a 12.7mm machine gun and maybe a MANPADS launching IRM-S1s) and would have a unique AI behaviour where, instead of pathing to the next objective, it would path to the nearest pilot that it could reach. It would also have either a limited pilot capacity or only function for a certain amount of time, despawning after either pilot capacity is reached or when the timer expires, to prevent it from simplifying the task. While I refer to this as "combat search and rescue", it is important to note that all of these could be used to capture enemy pilots as well.

The AI would not be able to propose a diplomatic agreement as this would be too far out of scope.

rigid blaze
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💔 i was planning on making a pilot ticket suggestion

fervent tendon
rigid blaze
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i'll add on stuff soon because i don't feel like typing another entire suggestion

fervent tendon
# fervent tendon The AI would have a few ways to interact with this system, the first of which is...

Picture: Surprisingly not a Halo vehicle. This is the new and very real M1301 Infantry Squad Vehicle, which I could see a PJ vehicle looking like.

Disclaimer:

  • My suggestions are intended to link together. This is not indicative of the actual vision for Nuclear Option's development, rather, how I would go about developing it. These suggestions are inspired by the fan-created Planetside Upgrade Project for a different game.
  • Feedback is always welcome, even if it's negative.
M1301_ISV-1.jpg
slender sigil
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Pilot economy should be as simple as possible.

I do like the exchange idea, however. Being able to exchange prisoners with the enemy either by paying for them or returning their own pilots would be neat. Especially if your team was close to running out of pilots. Not sure how willing the enemy would be to do that. Maybe all players should have the ability to accept the deal.

grizzled meadow
idle dove
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The idea is neat, but I do have a piece of input

I think prisoner exchange could be automatic if it were to exist so that it doesn't rely on player votes/input which can leave room for issues, cause well people are sometimes, people.

An automatic system where if one team has captured pilots, it'll automatically exchange them with the other team's captured pilots in a 1:1 basis. Effectively giving a team with their pilots captured by the enemy a way to recover them by capturing enemy pilots which gets them 1:1 exchanged giving the pilots back.

slim violet
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I too think the prisoner exchange should be automatic, but should be automatic at the point of the pilot being captured - Capturing a pilot should directly reward the player who captured them with a money reward that is directly subtracted from the initial "owner" of that pilot's bank account.

slender sigil
cyan oyster
tame bane
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Let say a similar system has already been considered and developed internally, although it will not be included with 0.31. 😉

magic walrus
magic walrus
tame bane
magic walrus
fervent tendon