Tank crew communication

[[R-DEV]fuzzhead]

LtSoucy its already in v0.6 on all soldiers but in v0.7 it is just more refined, easier to see too.

[KingKong.CCCP]

SINGLE TANK


DRIVER
- SL
- tank commander
- dicides EVERYTHING.

GUNNER
- just shoots.

If you're a gunner, don't yell "STOP!" or "BACKBACKBACK!" - you're not the one to make that decision. The only thing you can do is to say "Visual on enemy truck *easy target*... visual on three enemy tanks *aiming at us*..."
This is how it goes...

SOP
driver: (scans the battlefield using periscope)
driver: "Tank spotted, marked"
gunner: "Sabot ready"
driver: "Moving to the position" (moves forward)
gunner: "Visual on the target"
driver: (stops) "Fire"
gunner: "TAKING THE SHOT..."
gunner: "Round off / hit / kill"
driver: (moves back)
gunner: "Sabot ready"

then repeat from the beginning...

When I say "Target marked", that means he is using the ATTACK marker to show the target for gunner. (you could add info on what is that tank doing, and why do you think it's a good thing to attack it right now, like "He's not looking at us!", "Only one guy in the tank, and he's moving!")
"Sabot ready" means gunner IS listening and he's ready (sometimes your gunner is eating piza or drinking beer, so by saying this, gunner is saying "yes, I'm with you man, let's do this")
By saying "Fire", driver is making a statement he's not gonna move till the gunner shoots. You don't have to say "Fire", anything like "Take the shot" or "Stopped" is ok... yet "Fire" is probably the best thing to say... plus it sounds cool.
NOW THIS IS IMPORTANT - when I'm the gunner, I always say that "TAKING THE SHOT...". Why? Cos by that, I'm pointing I'll shoot in next 2 seconds, NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS. If driver decides he has to move - fine - I'll take the shot anyway (miss or hit). It is vital that driver knows you're about to shoot, cos sometimes he can ruin the shot with a *I'll just turn the tank front toward the target* move.
Now it's up to the driver to decide if it's better to move when the gunner is just about to shoot or not. If he moves, and I miss - he can't blame me, and I can't blame him. You said you're gonna shoot, and he is the commander (SL).
Again, never yell "movemovemove" as a gunner, cos you're just confusing the guy, making it more dificult for him to make a good decision. If he feels like moving, he'll move. If he thinks it's better to stay, then ok... you don't like it - ask him to switch positions - then you can call the shots.
Remember, VOIP is late *a lot*. So by the time he hears your "MOVEMOVEMOVE!" and make the move, you're probably like one second from having another sabot ready.
Even worse, by the time he does anything, you'll be yelling "OK OK, STOP STOP STOP!"
That sucks. Better keep quiet.



TWO/THREE TANKS (Tank squad)
Now this is so freaking confusing.
Too much chat going on... first, you have to name your tanks different, so that when you say "Round off!" you know it's your gunner saying that.
I played with fuzzhead twice as a Tank squad member, and I couldn't tell who is saying what.

This is what I learned
At the beginning, I was naming tanks like "Tank1", "Tank2", etc.
Then, I realised ppl tend to forget who is tank1... so I came up with a simple solution - I let every crew to find a cool name for their tank, and it has to be a wild animal, cat family.
You can pick any of these names: Tiger, Puma, Leopard, Jaguar, Lion, Panther, etc...

So now it goes like "Tiger, sabot ready"... "Tiger moving"... "Tiger, visual on the garget"... "Panthter is damaged"... "Rgr, Panther"... "Tiger, fire!"... "Panther, pulling back"... "Tiger, aiming..."... "Panther repairing... "Tiger, round off... that's a kill!"

People seem to like this. It sounds cool, and it's a game, ppl like cool things.
I saw excellent results and good communication within squad, cos when I let two guys to name their tank "WILDCAT" I just can't stop them saying "Wildcat this" or "Wildcat that".
Makes them proud of saying that, I guess...

ONE MORE THING TO CONSIDER
Muting feels... rude.
Yet, I would recommend all the gunners in a Tank squad to mute everybody except their driver.
Also, Sl should mute other gunners (not his own, of course).
Other drivers should talk/listen only to theirs gunners and SL.

[Liquid_Cow]

Originally Posted by KingKong.CCCP

Yet, I would recommend all the gunners in a Tank squad to mute everybody except their driver.
Also, Sl should mute other gunners (not his own, of course).
Other drivers should talk/listen only to theirs gunners and SL.

This is an excellent suggestion! I'd go a step further and set up some whispers, so that TC to driver comms were on a whisper, that way the SL can still talk to all hands over the general channel, but in-tank comms were via the whisper. The TC needs to set a whisper to the gunner and the SL. Whispers take a little time to set up, and a little practice to use them effectively, so don't do it the first time in a battle. Muting has one major draw back, should you end up not in a tank (long spawn time, loss of tank spawn) you won't have to alt-tab out to unmute the rest of your squad.

Moo

[Sadist_Cain]

AWESOME KINGKONG!!!!!

Best idea Ive read for tank crew communication without the hassle

[Simio1337]

Me and sealights are invinsible with armor: APC and Tank. Everytime we play armor we get like 80 kills and 0 deaths. Its fun

[Outlawz]

How the heck do you mute someone on VoIP? Is it even possible?

[[R-PUB]bosco]

Go to the scoreboard 'Organization' tab and check the mic icon on the right of their name.

[hx.bjoffe]

^ or "manage" as the non-german versions say.
Thing is, its un-muted each time you die.

[[R-DEV]fuzzhead]

awesome strats there kingkong, i like the naming thing and i think the mute option (for gunners anyways) would be a great way to keep communication relevant and not overwhelm the gunners

[BloodBane611]

I definitely like your VoIP ideas kingkong. Cutting down on chatter and knowing who is responsible for what in the tank makes you much more effective than enemy tanks. Definitely like the idea of gunners being responsible only for gunning, with drivers communicating, spotting, and moving.