The Rover Spawn - A Thought

That sounds like a reason to *not* ever spawn out the back of the rover in competition, ever. The lost time of the Rover could have been made up for by an effective ski-route. After all, we have to give a player up to use the Rover effectively (driver). I'd rather the driver just become a HO and we forget *that* version of the rover.

The costs are simply too high for what little benefit we get.

Okay, this is how I think the Rover will be used in T:V, from the impressions I have gathered;

The Rover will be used as a forward spawning position (obviously) for the majority of the map. A player will drive the Rover to somewhere near mid map, using a side route where enemy players are less likely to move through. However, the driver will not move forward enough that the Rover becomes too much of a threat to the enemy team.

Now I am not clear as to how vehicles "spawn" in T:V, so the following may vary depending on the answer to that.
If the respawn time for the Rover is relatively long (which I think it will be), the driver will stay at the "safe" mid-way area for a period of time. The driver will take note of the time he picked up the Rover, and recognize when the Rover will respawn. Using this information, the driver will drive towards the enemy base as fast as possible so that the Rover may be used optimally for its offensive advantage, and notify his/her team of such a movement. This drive towards the enemy base will ultimately be a suicide run, as the enemy defense will no doubt quickly find and destroy the vehicle. Now if the driver timed the offensive correctly, he will respawn at around the same time that the Rover respawns, and be ready for another run.

On smaller maps, I think the Rover will just be a jump and gun type of vehicle, with drivers just rushing forward, trying to evade attacks as best as possible.

Another possible use of the Rover will be as a strict capper spawn position. All members of the team, except the cappers when the Rover reaches its position, will be told not to spawn on the Rover, in order to preserve its stealth. Remaining hidden, the Rover will provide a good place for cappers to start their route.

What's the point of this post? I don't know... I suppose just to discuss probable uses of the Rover. In conclusion, I don't think the Rover will be an overpowered asset to the offense, simply because it is such a great asset. The defense will want to hunt it down as soon as possible, and I think they will have a much easier time doing that due to the smaller map sizes in T:V, and the "light" armor of the Rover.

That sounds like a reason to *not* ever spawn out the back of the rover in competition, ever.

The rover will probably end up as a gimicky pub toy (like the T1 scout). If team sizes are 8v8, teams wouldn't want to have 1 rover guy, 2 HO, and 1 capper. Even 10v10, that would leave 1 rover guy, 3-2 HO, 1-2 cappers.

We have a problem then Zoolooman, I picture a Rover Orbiting a Base while HO continously tumble out the back of the of the vehicle. As you kill each HO, they merely spawn a 30 feet away and continue the relentless raping. Meanwhile a Rover Driver is weaving around his friendly teammates while the odd man hits him with a jolt of the Repair pack to keep him alive and on the run. If your Base gets raped, how will you ever get it back with the enemy spawning closer to the generator then you do?

A delay doesn't have to be excessive like 10 seconds, you could keep it short like Light Armour is free, Medium Armour is 2 seconds and Heavy Armour is 4 seconds, so long as something is paid. Besides, I don' t think you could beat 10 seconds with a Ski Route to the average base on the average map. I'm sure it isn't unreasonable to imagine a decent competitive team overcoming a short delay with a little coordination and skill.


But I am just brainstorming... I havn't seen much of the Rover and its hard to tell how anything will end up when you test it with fire on a live internet server with real players.

I doubt the Rover is so tough as to be unkillable by 2 or 3 spawn LD haunting it with chainguns. I envision your scenario ending with the Rover's death untimely death and the high-speed return of the generator thanks to the T:V repair pack.

And if the LD cannot kill the Rover, then we have a balance issue. Either the rover is too tough, or the team using it is too good for the normal players.

It's just that everyone in T:V spawns in medium... I don't know. I just don't see continual rape being *that* easy.

If your allowed to spawn with equipment out of the back of the Rover, it'll be fine (more then likely). My primary thought was spawing from the Rover without inventory at all.

I could see the Rover dashing into the enemy perimeter, unloading players and fleeing out of range again to get repaired before making another run. Which would be fine aswell, so long as there's a good way of predicting where the Rover is while providing some form of control to time your exit from it. Come to think of it... that tactic never really worked for any other vehicle in Tribes which were designed to do just that... so maybe not.

HF, that's certainly a concern, and something we'll be able to balance during beta. If we need to make it so that the rover can be taken down by two mediums with chain guns, no problem, we can do that.

It feels like the new armor set-up has really weakened the mortar imo. Previously it was the most dangerous weapon, but now that people will spawn in, and most likely use, mediums a lot more they have to take 2 good hits to die. The 'piss your pants' mortar is gone. :(

guys...i wasnt asking if you thought the rover is a cool idea.
I was asking if you think its a good idea that people will be killing them selves to spawn to their rovers.
I mean do you think it would make more sence that you could go into your map and choose to spawn to the rover, instead of killing your self to spawn to your rover. Yes suiciding is a good tactic, but its turning into a game feature.

and if you think the map idea is a good one, perhaps it could only allow you to spawn to the rover when your teams radar is up. and could take a certain time before you teleport to it (about the same time as it takes suiciding)

suiciding has always been a game feature. have you ever played tribes?

suiciding has always been a game feature. have you ever played tribes?


i know you fruit cake :P

but it's just weird thats its a feature in the game......

blagh never mind its like talking to a hamster

i know you fruit cake :P

but it's just weird thats its a feature in the game......

blagh never mind its like talking to a hamster

it's also weird that there are jetpacks and lasers. how is this relevant?

It feels like the new armor set-up has really weakened the mortar imo. Previously it was the most dangerous weapon, but now that people will spawn in, and most likely use, mediums a lot more they have to take 2 good hits to die. The 'piss your pants' mortar is gone. :(

Ever think they may have upped the damage on the mortar too? Also, I believe it's been said that the Medium in T:V is basically like the Light in Tribes 1/2 with the light being a "Super Light" type deal.

So maybe now the mortar will 1 hit kill everything but Heavy armors, or Light/Medium w/ shield packs (assuming there IS a shield pack, my money is on yes as it's one of the original packs in both games, and it's not stealth related but who knows)

hellsfury's idea is pretty interesting, though i think rover spawn equipment should be limited to medium/light loadouts. having heavies spawn from a moving vehicle right next to a base doesn't sound like it would be fair for the defense, though it could work if the rover's armor is weakened.

I personally think the Rover sounds like a jolly good idea.

That said, it isn't "suiciding" in T:V, it's probably called respawning or regrouping or other some such junk.

Clown Car Ownage ... I'm laughing just thinking about how much fun that sounds on the dealing end.

I hearby demand an exit sound for the rover when more than 3 people exit within 10 seconds... and that it be settable to the "calliope song" that everyone associates with circuses and clowns.

They should change the name of the Rover to "Clown Car," and make the horn sound like that crazy laugh that the insane ice cream truck driver does in the Twisted Metal series.

Edit: "insane ice cream truck driver" = "Sweet Tooth"
http://www.tmalliance.com/tmb/sweettooth.shtml

Ever think they may have upped the damage on the mortar too? Also, I believe it's been said that the Medium in T:V is basically like the Light in Tribes 1/2 with the light being a "Super Light" type deal.

So maybe now the mortar will 1 hit kill everything but Heavy armors, or Light/Medium w/ shield packs (assuming there IS a shield pack, my money is on yes as it's one of the original packs in both games, and it's not stealth related but who knows)
Well at the press conference, KP dropped 2 shots on ed during the fort map demo. I guess everything can be tweaked, but I doubt they'll make both light and medium one hit kills. Light, for sure; medium, probably not.

i dislike the idea of either of you playing the game or posting on our forums


moral: sometimes you just have to deal

Since when are they your forums?

I would hope to hell that both light and medium only take one hit from a mortar. Since people spawn in med you would kill the position of HO for purposes of killing PEOPLE.

I can see a horible image of a T:V raindance and my mortar flying into the base in a packed pub... I rub my hands together in hopes of seeing all the kills that will pop up, only to hear a loud *BOOM* and no kills, seconds later 10 angry med's fly out like angry bees egar to swarm me to death.
10+ player kills with a mortar on RD kicked ass hehe. I would also argue that they added to the "fast pace" of the game and that particular level.

Also about the cntrl-k stuff... Its has to stay for the sole reason it makes people be productive to the team. Not to meantion how it causes some people to not care about their score as much as being helpful to the team.