Spectator Mode

KIXEYE Swag · 20 Mar 2012, 4:38PM

There is currently no way for a 3rd party to view a battle in progress.

We will be implementing a feature that allows any player to view a Fleet VS Fleet or Fleet VS Base battle. Any player can use the mouse to click on a battle and view the battle as a spectator only (cannot participate in battle). Spectators will not be able to view submerged submarines.

There will also a feature that announces when battles are taking place near your base in the Comm (chat window). This feature can be easily disabled if you do not want to receive battle notifications.

As Battle Pirates is a Massively Multiplayer Online game, we feel this will greatly enhance the effect of being an open-world game. The game has a strong emphasis on competition, so it only makes sense to grant anyone the ability to view players competing with each other.

Captain_Dread · 20 Mar 2012, 4:39PM

Epic!!!!!!
Question: Can you view battles in other sectors?

NuclearFallout · 20 Mar 2012, 4:40PM

Sweet i want to see if my alliance members actually know what they are doing in base attacks hehe.

Artie Dickson · 20 Mar 2012, 4:40PM

outfreakinstanding

oleboy13 · 20 Mar 2012, 4:41PM

That is so cool

Also in battles spectator/player can we always have floating names over the ships?

Flo · 20 Mar 2012, 4:41PM

seems good...I think the feature to be alarmed about battles around his base should be controlled from the radio tower as it would make the game a tiny bit more logic?(would give some use to it)

It_Is_Da_XxStephenxX wrote: »

Sweet i want to see if my alliance members actually know what they are doing in base attacks hehe.

Oh no...

Madman Sharp · 20 Mar 2012, 4:42PM

Awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TALON_HUNTER · 20 Mar 2012, 4:43PM

i cant wait for this:D ganna be awsome good job kixeye:)

NuclearFallout · 20 Mar 2012, 4:43PM

Florian Precht wrote: »

Oh no...

I'll be watching all of you guys now hehe

lysan · 20 Mar 2012, 4:43PM

There will also a feature that announces when battles are taking place near your base in the Comm (chat window).

I'm guessing that if you hit someone who is offline but the person next to him is online that they will be warned about the attack. I'm iffy on this one simply because I like to be a sneaky pirate ninja.

dragyn · 20 Mar 2012, 4:47PM

I love the idea of being able to view the battles of others and for them to view ours. I can think of several benefits and questions I have.

1) Base designing will be seriously aided as we can see what works and does not work through the trials and errors of others.
2) Will we be allowed to see battles against dracs as well? (salvage and drac bases)
3) All aspects of battle strategy will need to evolve, as even the newer players are allowed to discover tactics through observation ( I think this is a good thing).
4) No more lying on comms about how: "he only rimmed me..." "they rocketed my dock..." "I flattened the whole base...."
5) I could imagine epic friendly tournaments and battles emerging from this. Sort of like a Gladiatorial Battle.
6) Would a battle chat be a possible implementation, where a separate chat is initiated for only those fighting and watching?

I am not so keen on the additional info in our comms. I find they get too cluttered already, with important information disappearing. I am also concerned about this eliminating the sneak attack. Lower level players will nearly always find someone waiting for them outside a base.

Flo · 20 Mar 2012, 4:51PM

another thing: I think that you should be able to choose the range within you get notices when attackes between 1 and 50 as some battles are usual battles that I'm not interested in. And maybe you could do that you can highlight information in cha like dragyn said so you can see which information is important

Dread_Pirate_Vitus · 20 Mar 2012, 4:54PM

Awesome... no more listening to **** waiving about who did what... just watch the battle and mock approprately

envoyofwar · 20 Mar 2012, 5:06PM

very good this is way overdue

jefe · 20 Mar 2012, 5:06PM

I guess the people who get owned by some people, will now get owned by all that are shown how to do it....sucks to be them!

StormRider-WOLF · 20 Mar 2012, 5:19PM

sounds kinds cool

Michelle Eddy · 20 Mar 2012, 5:21PM

nice i cant wait

Black-Death · 20 Mar 2012, 5:28PM

So people that don't know how to attack bases are going to be shown and tutored into being able to get in a base they normally wouldn't stand a chance of getting in!!!

Captain_Dread · 20 Mar 2012, 5:29PM

I have a Question about this.

Will we be able to watch battles in other sectors or just our own?

William Brixon · 20 Mar 2012, 5:35PM

This will be epic!!

carwynpritchard+1 · 20 Mar 2012, 5:35PM

i cant wait for this feature

Burmashave · 20 Mar 2012, 5:38PM

carwynpritchard+1 wrote: »

i cant wait for this feature

You would you creepy voyeur

carwynpritchard+1 · 20 Mar 2012, 5:39PM

Burmashave wrote: »

You would you creepy voyeur

Im watching you right now ....you know what daddy likes

Burmashave · 20 Mar 2012, 5:50PM

WOOT!

Thread derailed!

jefe · 20 Mar 2012, 5:55PM

This disincentivizes being any good at this game. Some hack can just steal your techniques.

hookem · 20 Mar 2012, 6:06PM

you can already do this with skype and teamviewer

jefe · 20 Mar 2012, 6:17PM

hookem wrote: »

you can already do this with skype and teamviewer

That also assume that the player being attacked is online...and setup in that way. However, that isn't the only issue.

1) It will act as an alarm bell that a base is under attack nearby
2) Then allow potential ninjas to see when the attacker is about to exit
3) Turn a base with one or two flaws into the sector farm
4) Allow anything that is innovative to be coined by the entire sector
5) Allow for the entire sector to know what ships someone has in their fleet to bring the appropriate countermeasure

Dumbledore666 · 20 Mar 2012, 6:17PM

Sounds like a great idea but I'm wondering how this is going to affect gameplay for the people in the fight. Lag? I guess we'll see.

Black-Death · 20 Mar 2012, 6:24PM

hookem wrote: »

you can already do this with skype and teamviewer

Yes, but only the people you know or want to let see can watch the attack

Alex Robey · 20 Mar 2012, 6:24PM

Will it alert you if a member of your alliance is under attack? And how far does near your base classify as or can you edit proximity settings yourself? Pleased this is happening though, great idea.

Sprouts · 20 Mar 2012, 6:28PM

KIXEYE CM Swag wrote: »

There is currently no way for a 3rd party to view a battle in progress.

We will be implementing a feature that allows any player to view a “Fleet VS Fleet” or “Fleet VS Base” battle. Any player can use the mouse to click on a battle and view the battle as a spectator only (cannot participate in battle). Spectators will not be able to view submerged submarines.

There will also a feature that announces when battles are taking place near your base in the Comm (chat window). This feature can be easily disabled if you do not want to receive battle notifications.

Great idea. Looking forward to it.

1. Will spectators be able to leave at any time, including from watching a base attack?

2. Will the battlers be able to see a list of spectators?

3. You're going to need to make comms more than a single window of text, with all these new ideas that include additional uses of comms. In a sector with very active busy comms, adding battle notifications would make it a lot worse.

4. The disabling feature should be a toggle that is easy to reach from anywhere in the game. Because I'd want to have it turned on so I can find out whether people are hitting my neighbors, but if a massive fleet fight breaks out I don't want to know about each and every one of them separately. And I doubt I'd have time to go into my base to find a correct screen somewhere to turn it off.

Future Features and Feedback

Spectator Mode