D'ya drive on the left or right?

[DKG]

The post’s title may lead you to believe it belongs in the Off-Topic category, but it is not so.

Having learnt to drive in the UK, going to France and driving on the ‘wrong’ side of the road is quite a challenge to get accustomed to.  Just needs time.  On returning to the UK, where it not for those HUGE arrows on the roundabouts, I’d be very lost.

At school there was a similar rule, “always walk on the left side in corridors/stairways”.

An organised, agreed upon, means of getting from ‘a’ to ’b’ whilst not bothering others is a good idea (or in the road use example, essential).

I cannot count the times confusion has occurred as a result of ignoring, or complete absence of, ‘this rule’.

e.g. Waiting at a stop sign when the other driver, with priority, slows down.  You wait a little too long, after gathering that their intention is, indeed, to let you through, you start.  By which time, they’ve got impatient and decided you’re not going to pull out.  They then see you are, meanwhile, you see they’ve gathered speed and what? You BOTH stop.  This can be repeated a number of times, until the most aggressive of the two makes a decision.

The same situation may also take place on foot.  I won’t describe the details, it just ends with a smile, and a ‘sorry’ after almost colliding with the other pedestrian.

After playing Tremulous tonight I stumbled upon a very similar situation. Here it is:

I’m running to battle as a Dretch when a wailing Tyrant comes hurtling around the corner towards me.  This means he’s fought for his race, done his best, and is fleeing for a rest so as to ‘catch his breath’ (the 4 blue balls on my radar, luci blasts and the ominous Battlesuit footsteps sounds confirm he’s in a bad way).  Understanding his position, I step aside, in respect, to let him pass.  Unfortunately, his pure desperation fogs all rational though. Acting purely on (survival) instinct, he changes course as to avoid collision, alas, his chosen diversion leads him straight into the path of an insignificant Dretch. He’s unable to pass, and all that remains is a childish scream as he’s gunned down from behind, his gargantuan mass melts to the ground.

No we’ve all played on SST-*LIKE* (I said ‘like’ so as not to stir up any sh!t) servers, where you’re inundated with “STOP BLOCKING” etc. I must add, of the 20 “stop blocking” messages, 2 (at a push) are legitimate. When I say legit, The above example Sure is.

So what’s the solution?  I tried moving, I tried wallwalking, everything but standing still.

Comments, suggestions please…

[Basilisco]

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Everything could be fixed with team-only noclip of course

[pyrax]

I understand your sentiment fully.  I also wish there were some sort of soft rule regarding hallway etiquette but the fact remains that the overwhelming majority of noobs wouldn't use it anyway, rendering it pointless.

However, assuming that everyone in game were to follow some sort of order to the best of their abilities perhaps this is a good rule to follow?

1. Let's say that everyone always travels on the right side of hallways (because AFAIK, all countries excluding the UK and its colonies drive on the right).  Great, no more blocking retreats save for doorways and passages that are too narrow anyway.

2. Aside from the fact that controlling goon charges/tyrant charges around 90 degree turns (to the point of hugging the inside corner) is near impossible, retreat paths will become predictable negating the effectiveness of running away.

3. A possible counter to (2) is to allow people retreating from attackers to weave.  If someone is coming from the other direction they would be required to stay right thereby making the retreater responsible for getting past the advancer.

4. An added benefit to this is if a pair of tyrants are camping a human base (for example).  One comes out on the retreat and, once it passes the other waiting tyrant, the waiting one can shift to the left a bit to handle any followers.  This is (ostensibly) already being done as it is now, but with this system the retreater has a better chance of not being hit by any stray projectiles.


Anyway, I'm done

[Diggs]

I’m running to battle as a Dretch when a wailing Tyrant comes hurtling around the corner towards me.  This means he’s fought for his race, done his best, and is fleeing for a rest so as to ‘catch his breath’ (the 4 blue balls on my radar, luci blasts and the ominous Battlesuit footsteps sounds confirm he’s in a bad way).  Understanding his position, I step aside, in respect, to let him pass.  Unfortunately, his pure desperation fogs all rational though. Acting purely on (survival) instinct, he changes course as to avoid collision, alas, his chosen diversion leads him straight into the path of an insignificant Dretch. He’s unable to pass, and all that remains is a childish scream as he’s gunned down from behind, his gargantuan mass melts to the ground.

Aside from the question of left/right and what to do.  The narration itself is worthy of an accomplished novelist.  Considering all the really crappy spelling, lousy verbage and absolutely crappy leet speak in this forum, it was a pleasure to read something intelligent and witty.

Well said to say the least.

Giggs

[Survivor]

Yay, if we set up a rule so that the humans only fire at the left side we can have jousts  :wink: .
But really people. There is no need for etiquette, just common sense. In hallways which are in danger of blockage look out. If you can wallclimb do it. If you accidentally block, np, try not to do it again. True blockers are either unfamiliar with the game or griefers, teach / kick respectively.
But if you set up rules like this I'll be the first to break them. People are predictable already and you want to make it even easier.

[DKG]

I understand your sentiment fully.  I also wish there were some sort of soft rule regarding hallway etiquette but the fact remains that the overwhelming majority of noobs wouldn't use it anyway, rendering it pointless.

Doing as the noobs do could lead to uniform hallway etiquette.

People are predictable already and you want to make it even easier.

Very good point.  How would you achieve teamwide priority/right of way withought becoming predictable in your movement (from the opponets perspective) at the time when you most need that unpredictability?

[Survivor]

Not, every situation is different, especially since most aliens have a third dimension to encompass.
Dretches, basi, adv basi can wallclimb which takes care of most problems. Granger and adv granger shouldn't be a common problem  since the times they block is like i said unexperienced players or griefers (jokers like me aside). Adv marauder and marauder are the only true problems since their speed has them in a block position in no time. While goons and tyrants both have priority.
But for the really tight hallway where common sense comes in and observation of what has gone in or come out steps in the frey, positional awareness relative to your teammates. This means knowing where and what they are. This allows for more teamwork and coordination anyway since organizing tactics is easier.

[pyrax]

People are predictable already and you want to make it even easier.

I believe I covered that in point 2. above, with a suggestion in 3.  I still don't think that doing this (staying right) is a good tactic, though, just to be clear.

[Survivor]

The false logic is for weaving the other alien would have to remain moving in a straight line or stand still. Which makes it an easy target.

[pyrax]

The false logic is for weaving the other alien would have to remain moving in a straight line or stand still. Which makes it an easy target.

Only until the retreating alien gets by.  The theory here is that the other alien is at full health and ready to attack, anyway.  The way things work now, this is effectively what's happening.  Most of the time hallways are only barely wide enough for two tyrants to pass each other (in Niveus, not even wide enough) so both aliens are fairly easy targets.  In the case that the other alien is a dretch or is also weak, then it's likely that they'd want to retreat as well.

As I said, I don't really support the idea of designated pathways.  If "properly" utilized they might prove advantageous but would likely introduce as many problems as they solve.

[Ksempac]

Wallwalking aliens are supposed to Wallwalk
Marauders are supposed to be skilled enough to jump over you with a help of wall if necessary.
Goons and Tyrants are supposed to beat the crap out of anyone chasing you.
Thats the real etiquette.

About how i walk : I always walk on the opposite side of the next turn, so that i ve got a 1 m space between me and the ennemy who might happens to be waiting me at the corner.

[[Kcorp]Noobius]

aliens see human buildings as red and human players as blue. wouldn't it be easier to avoid stampeeding tyrants by having alien teammates register as green or something?

[next_ghost]

When you wait in a corner, wait in the outter side. That way, you can be sure anyone can pass by if the corner is wide enough (even the corners on niveus between initial human base and the long room are wide enough for 2 tyrants this way). If you wait anywhere else, you'll block.

If you run somewhere, stay on the INNER side of the next corner. If anyone has to rush by you, you'd block him if you stayed on the outter side. Get to the outter side when you reach the corner and then continue on the inner side of the next corner.

[DKG]

Noobius"]aliens see human buildings as red and human players as blue. wouldn't it be easier to avoid stampeeding tyrants by having alien teammates register as green or something?

Has this been discussed in the Suggestions section?  If not, I think it should be.

Basillisco, Very amusing game idea there.  Dead end signs? one-way streets (for paths that are unable to accomodate a Tyrant and at least one Dretch)? and traffic lights in the congested areas No that certainly IS worth posting in the suggestions box...

As for my first question, I can't see any workable solution, if only for the fact that there are SO many players (of which, a large portion are newbies).

Vote kick Tyrant, reason, team killing a Dretch. F1, F1, F1...

[Paradox]

When we get TJW's push mod up, it should be a little better.

[next_ghost]

When we get TJW's push mod up, it should be a little better.

Just grab the new KOCOUR-CZ game.qvm. It includes g_shove, zombie fix (players who disconnect while waiting for spawn won't spawn anymore), credit transfer system, designated builders showing up in !listplayers and every desingated builder in your team gets notified about decon attempts of protected structures. You can then set g_shove to anything you like, default is 15.0.

[stalefries]

pyrax:
Wikipedia says "close, but no cigar." This is a picture of the side that countries drive on.

[pyrax]

pyrax:
Wikipedia says "close, but no cigar." This is a picture of the side that countries drive on.

I said britain and colonies, no?  With the exception of Japan and one or two other Asian countries on that map I'd say I was right on the money...

[benplaut]

FME, it has more to do with corners than sides.  Example:



Signed prints for sale  

[Undeference]

Considering that not all maps have named rooms, and those that do usually have highly ambiguous names, the solution would be team only, areal messages. You might have some binds like "bout to die, GTFO of my way and cover my ass", "weaving left(/right)", "stay to the left(/right)", etc.

There were many cases where if I had something like this, I would have saved my teammate's life instead of guaranteeing its end.

[next_ghost]

FME, it has more to do with corners than sides.  Example:

http://xs308.xs.to/xs308/06430/path.jpg

Signed prints for sale  

Great, 3 corners and 3 very likely blocks. Once again. Every single retreating alien won't make a perfect 90-degree turn to stay on the inner side of the corner. He'll have to use the OUTTER side where he'll run into you and get stuck. Use the outter side of the corner only when you walk around it, then get back to the inner side of the next corner.

[[Kcorp]Noobius]

aw fuck it, let the stupid dretches die. it's not like they die in real life or anything...THEY SPAWN AGAIN.

[techhead]

Inside curve inbound (attacking)
Outside curve outbound (retreating)