John CANavar

we will use both. all squad members except SL can mute their TS channel (with an assigned key) if they wish. SL needs to stay on to coordinate air and ground.

John CANavar

ooppps I made a mistake... Cymba's air support squad does not need to use a TS subchannel... they are in the same squad and can use VOIP. I will edit the post

Strag

One thing -- some people have reported problems when using both Teamspeak and the BF2 VOIP at the same time. For people who haven't run Teamspeak and BF2 simultaneously before, it may be a good idea to test it out (and also become familiar with Teamspeak if you're not) before the action tonight.

Besides that, it all sounds good. I am ready to try it tonight.

John CANavar

Other TG squads can also benefit from this...

- Cymba, whenever you join a battlefield game you can create an "Air Support" squad...

- A TS subchannel called Air Support can also be created (directly under battlefield 2) for your squad

- Other squads will have their own TS subchannels (like C-Team)

- You can define shortcut keys in teamspeak to talk to different TS channels and we will do the same to talk to Air Support Channel

bottom line:

1) More than one squad will have access to air support and call for backup. whoever pays more, gets the priority

2) there will be also inter-squad communication between ground units

= coordination of two ground units and close air support unit = fun !

DrunkenSoul

ok, im assuming the ts server will only be used to coordinate between squads, while in game will be for the bulk of the C-team squad comm. Am i correct?

John CANavar

@Drunken

yep you are right...

- we will have a full 6-member ground squad (C-Team)
- Cymba will have a 2-member air squad
- the coordination of these two squads will be thru TS
- each squad will use VOIP to communicate within themselves


@Strag

I hope it works for everyone. But worst case, as long as it works for SL of ground and air units, it should be ok...

Strag

Can, what you're describing is exactly what 46&2 used when involved with the STA-DC league a few years ago, and it worked well. If TG players would be willing to do this, the gameplay would go up another notch (or two).

Each of the Squad Leaders forms a squad subchannel in TS as you said, and they each need to make sure they are the Channel Commanders (very important) in their respective squad channels. Because Channel Commanders can communicate with each other across channels, this gives all Squad Leaders the ability to communicate with one another so that they can coordinate together effectively. This is a drawback with the BF2 VOIP system IMO; I think Squad Leaders should be able to communicate with each other as well as with the CO. With this Teamspeak system, squads can coordinate air support, execute larger formation tactics (three squads could work together as a "company," with one squad suppressing while the two others flanked). The CO of a game should know of this, and it would be great if he could join TS as well (although it isn't necessary for him to remain effective). If the CO made himself Channel Commander of the parent channel (over the squad channels), he could communicate with all of the Squad Leaders and organize them just as he does with the standard BF2 VOIP. It does take practice, but the level of organization goes way up, and so does the level of fun.

Basically, this gives the Squad Leaders the missing tool they need to coordinate better with each other. DICE thinks the CO should coordinate the squads in isolation, but I disagree. I think having communication between the Squad Leaders is a Good Thing, and it can help relieve the CO of some unecessary tasks.

John CANavar

how dare you !

John CANavar

this is very good to hear. my only concern is the initial "getting used to" part. there will be three channels (commander, intra-squad and inter-squad) and if we cannot refine our radio comm. format, it is going to be chaos...

therefore a joint project to achieve this looks like to be "radio comm. format". I put them together in squad "todo list"...

we have to use a very short and clear language... I had a couple links on radio communication and will post them soon. Sabre and other TG members are also discussing these on general forums. all together, we can come up with a standard...

But before getting distracted too much I suggest we update squad's TODO list and set our priorities.

For example, we are still working on squad SOP, structure, meeting/practice times, etc and these issues should be resolved first before we get in contact with other squads to try inter-squad coordination. would you guys agree on this?

I will post TODO list next...

Brass

Can, each squad leader would create his own channel in TS and make himself a "channel commander". Everyone in his squad would join this TS channel so they would only be communicating amongst themselves. When the SL makes himself a channel commander, it allows him to communicate with all of the other SL's and the CO in other TS channels with one key binding i.g. left shift, while talking to the rest of his squad with another bound key, like caps lock. This keeps the chatter to each relevant squad while still allowing the SL's to communicate with each other and the CO. It's really a simple tool and takes zero time to get used to really. Just a matter of memorizing which key talks to who! Hey, if a couple of mouth breathers like Strag and I could do it, then ANYONE can!!!

Strag

Can, I agree, issues within the squad must be worked out before interaction with other squads occurs. Otherwise, we ourselves won't know what we're doing when it comes time to coordinate with the other squads.




Regarding the issue of multiple communication channels, it might be easier to bind the same key in Teamspeak for "Talk to other Channel Commanders" to whatever key you have bound to speak to the Commander in BF2 VOIP. This way, you can press one key and speak to both the Commander (either in BF2 VOIP or in Teamspeak, if he is in Teamspeak) and to the other Squad Leaders in Teamspeak. To avoid confusion, messages must be kept short (as you were saying, Can), and it's probably a good idea to preface the communication with the person to whom it's directed.

For example, in addition to accepting the order in BF2, a Squad Leader could also say,

"C.O., roger, attacking northwest flag"

in response to the Commander's order to attack the NW flag, and with the added vocal message the other Squad Leaders would hear it as well. So with only one vocal response, the Commander would know that you've acknowledged his order, and the other Squad Leaders would know what your squad is doing. This might lead to added intel for your squad, because another Squad Leader might tell you,

"C-Team, two enemy tanks approaching NW flag"

once he hears you confirm that you're heading in that direction. Now knowing what to expect, you could have a couple of your squad members switch over to AntiArmor before arriving at the NW flag, and maybe even grab a tank of your own along the way.

Conversely, the Commander can hear what sort of coordination is going on between the squads, and this can help him have a better idea of how to direct them. All this can be accomplished with one key being bound to do two different things in two different programs (BF2 VOIP and Teamspeak). I know it could be confusing at first, but so is sex. After you've done it a few times, though, it usually starts working pretty well, and all parties are happy. Or so I hear.

Strag

Brass speaks the truth. And speaking of mouth breathers, are you going to be around tonight, sally?

Brass

I was considering it. The WoW monkey has had me by the throat lately, but I'm going to try and shake him tonight long enough to play BF2. I still need to track down TG's TS info.

Speaking of sex being confusing, try throwing a goat in the mix then you've got yourself a real rubix cube!!

Sabre Six

This is getting very interesting. I'll try and stay in the loop. I can tell that I'm going to have to get more training on team speak...right now I push to talk to the folks that hang out on the general channel in between rounds. We're getting sophisticated now...

BTW, inter squad comms (although less important than squad SOP), is really going to kick this up a notch.

Can you imagine three squads coordinating on a deliberate attack. One air support preps the objective and spots locations. another sets support by fire...and the last commits to the assault.

That's what I'm talking about.

__________________

Strag

Absolutely.