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Introduction

Last week was the start of a three part series that looked at suggestions by fans on how to improve Ghost Recon. If you missed it see here. This week will be a continuation of suggestions by fans in the areas of vehicles, team concepts, and clothing.

Vehicles

There are a couple of options that vehicles could be used for in Ghost Recon 2; interactive insertions or in-game use. Vehicles like boats or helicopters, for rappelling or parachuting, could be used for interactive insertions, not just cut scenes.

For in-game use, if vehicles like tanks, jeeps, boats, trucks, hummers, and helicopters are to be included, it is rightly pointed out by the fans that larger maps would be needed. An option suggested, in order to decrease lag and map size, is to have vehicles available to interact with by using them to hide or by using weapons mounted on them. Choppers could be used for extraction, providing cover fire while troops are loading.

However, interestingly, there seems to be more opposition for vehicles than support. It is felt vehicles would detract from the atmosphere of a tactical, squad-based infantry shooter game and dilute gameplay. Special forces are supposed to infiltrate, carry out a mission, and exfiltrate without detection; vehicles would hinder that with stealth warfare.

Clothing

Even for a computer game, people are wanting clothes to be factually accurate. What people are requesting, is more realistic camo like Marpat, or even more futuristic like the Predator camo as in Jester's mod, The Real Ghosts, that actually works and is not just cosmetic.

They also would like to have the ability to choose different skins for urban, desert, and jungle warfare or being able to dress like a refugee or casual attire to blend in with your surroundings. With having the ability to choose a skin to match the environment, how about including and option to choose headgear, pants, shirts and even level of protection (i.e. have an option to forgo with the he flak vest and helmet in exchange for more speed) depending on the mission. Night missions would offer black gear, day missions offer desert or wilderness camos. If the Ghillie suits were more realistic, they would blend into the environment better. Another option offered up by fans would be to have it more interactive where you could grab a twig or grass and add it to your ghillie suit, as you would in real life.

Teams (control, medic and other support personnel)

Being able to micromanage the team better is an issue that people would like addressed in GR 2. A commonly expressed wish from players would be the ability to put your team on "hold" and not follow you until ordered to do so.

There's a general wish for more orders like stay here, follow close, lag behind, room clear, frag, cover, and move ahead to better manage the team. Also, they'd like the developer to consider including team formations; tight, loose, medium. Tight for CQB, medium in open/urban areas and loose for open areas. With the theory that special forces leave no man behind, it would be realistic to be able to have teammates carry, assist, or drag injured soldiers out of the line of fire or to the extraction point. Having voice communications similar to Teamspeak or Roger Wilco built into the game would facilitate easier team interaction and teamwork planning.

Some fans felt it would be desirable to have a larger selection of female combatants. There are requests to include more support personnel like a radio man to call in an artillery airstrike, motorized unit personnel to use and/or fix moving vehicles, if applicable, or a medic with a field dressing kit or the ability to call in for medevac.

Dealing with casualties is an entire dimension of the combat experience that GR has yet to explore. Keep it realistic, though, that's what the fans want. Don't have them patch up soldiers to be as good as new, but depending on the severity of the wound the medic could work on the injured soldier to make them combat effective or stabilize critical casualties.

On command map there could be a wound condition monitor with minor, serious and critical features. Minor wounds need not be treated, serious wounds need to be treated, but not ASAP, critical wounds that need immediate treatment or else they die. Not all agree that medic is a good idea, it's definitely one of those topics that's still hotly debated. If they were able to heal people on a battlefield, then realism would be shot to hell. A field medic does not wave a wand over someone and make them "healthy" again, they make sure the person will live to see a real doctor.

This is part two of a three part series. Next week will be the conclusion of the series by looking at suggestions for weapons/kits, maps, and mission/locations.

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