Thoughts on fast communications?

So I am an old school tribes player and hands-down one of the best features for that game that did not go on was their “voice games system” (VGS for short).

When Hi-Rez Picked up the series they readapted it for smite, But other than that it’s largely absent From the culture.

If you’re not in the know, Basically you can punch a series of quick keys to make a pre-recorded message.

“You rock!”

“I’ll defend”

“On my way”

All of them easily done and a 10th of a second.

The idea is you push a sequence of buttons And it broadcast the message with voice.

You don’t have to read anything. It’s instantaneous. And all it takes is a little bit of memorization.

The side project I’m working on Is a Sort of From soft Action RPG, but not quite.

Point is you can summon people and work in a party.

From soft has taken the approach of no Communications which I think is a mistake.

If you have played Elden Ring I’m sure you can see the benefit benefits of this.

Or possibly you might be in the camp of “from soft can do no wrong” In which case I have nothing for you.

But as a thought experiment, let’s say that the item button on the D pad was replaced with communications for multiplayer.

You tap down on the D pad and you holler “yo!”.

The most basic thing you could possibly communicate with tons of Applications.

Want people to follow you? Move on that direction and shout “Yo!”.

Pretty simple and one button.

Now HOLD down and press two of the eight buttons. That’s a whooping 64 things you can say perfectly clear instantly with little to memorize.

First button press is a menu:

  1. south button - actions
  2. west button - social
  3. north button - emotes
  4. east button - responses
  5. left shoulder - address player 1
  6. left trigger - address player 2
  7. right shoulder - address player 3
  8. right trigger - state your intentions

Then you press a second button (while still holding down on the Dpad).

Left shoulder - player 1

  1. Gank
  2. Flank
  3. Tank
  4. Stay Back
  5. Push
  6. Hold
  7. Follow
  8. Heal

Left trigger - player 2

  1. Gank
  2. Flank
  3. Tank
  4. Stay Back
  5. Push
  6. Hold
  7. Follow
  8. Heal

Right shoulder - player 3

  1. Gank
  2. Flank
  3. Tank
  4. Stay Back
  5. Push
  6. Hold
  7. Follow
  8. Heal

Right trigger - self

  1. Gank
  2. Flank
  3. Tank
  4. Stay Back
  5. Push
  6. Hold
  7. Follow
  8. Heal

South button Action -

  1. help!
  2. Retreat
  3. Attack
  4. Careful
  5. Wait
  6. Group up
  7. Spread out
  8. Incoming

West button social -

  1. hi!
  2. Bye!
  3. Good luck!
  4. You rock!
  5. I’m the greatest!
  6. Nice one!
  7. Woo-hoo!
  8. Curses!

North button social -

  1. Custom / point forward
  2. Custom / point down
  3. Custom / point up
  4. Custom / beckon
  5. Custom / bow
  6. Custom / fist pump
  7. Custom / anguish
  8. Custom / sit

East button response -

  1. Thanks!
  2. No problem!
  3. Please?
  4. Ok!
  5. Sorry!
  6. On it!
  7. Cancel that
  8. Quiet!

I’m sure you can How fast you can have conversations that are quick and clear.

And of course if you get into trouble while trying to broadcast a message all you have to do is let go of the d pad.

Does this sound like a system you would like?

Do you see any problems with it?

Is there anything you would see doing differently?

I see that in many games.

Shoping selection Starting Counter Strike, Wolfenstein Enemy Teritory, later in more recent games like Unrailed, and other FPS.

Simple and easy way to communicate for more intermediate players.

I remembered the chat wheel from Dota 2 or the teams from Rocket League, which I think is the best way to communicate because it’s pretty cool and convenient, and using prepared phrases is much easier than typing it into the chat with your own hands, and I’m not even talking about playing on a gamepad.