enemy spotted and other Bad Info

[imported_TheDragon]

sorry - but yesterday - somewhere here in total BF2
I came across a thread with multiple posts where everyone said
"... I had no idea you could not spot enemies while in scan mode "
hmmm .. I was shocked - and thought, hmmm was I also wasting my time?
well -for the RECORD - you absolutely CAN spot enemies that you see as red dots after a Commander Scan - and all the players on your team then see it as well (not counting the occasional glitch when helo/jet/boat will not appear)

so . . . once again to all the 'experts' here that put out BAD information
if you are not sure and have not tested something
keep you traps shut ! ! !
it is bad enough that ES/DICE are documented idiots
we do not need more of them in this community

so many folks come here for advice - myself included - and well , if you are not sure - at least add the words "I think" to your posts

nuff said

semper fi

[AlphaNut]

Re: enemy spotted and other Bad Info

I thought you needed to zoom in all the way to spot enemies.
Or else it would spot the same first enemy over and over again.

Am I wrong?
I have very little experience as a commander.

[davelisowski]

Re: enemy spotted and other Bad Info

I think -

When there's a bunch of enemies, and you aren't zoomed, it's hard to single them out. Plus as commander they show up as red dots for about 10 seconds (AFAIK) after the scan. If it's a tank or apc or other vehicle, sometimes the red dot will turn into a red vehicle on the commander screen.

Regardless, it gets really annoying when the commander is spamming "enemy infantry spotted" because he is spotting all 22 enemy soldiers. It sucks even more when the UAV is down and your team is whining about you commanding (and no one is fixing the UAV trailer or killing the sabotoging Spec. Ops guy).

I think the mis-information, or lack of information about commanding is because so few people do it... and even less do it well. I'm in no way a good commander, but I will say that I'm better than a lot of people I've seen command. It helps to have squads on your team as well... but now I'm getting off topic.

[RoswellJam]

Re: enemy spotted and other Bad Info

It sucks even more when the UAV is down and your team is whining about you commanding (and no one is fixing the UAV trailer or killing the sabotoging Spec. Ops guy).

How about you spawning as an engi and killing spec ops / fixing the UAV yourself!

[davelisowski]

Re: enemy spotted and other Bad Info

How about you spawning as an engi and killing spec ops / fixing the UAV yourself!

True, but spawning requires dying. And the dying-respawning-repairing part will mean I'm not commanding. I just don't see what's so hard about one of the grunts respawning as an engineer and repairing it/killing the spec. ops guy. Same difference.

[imported_Warrior[DD]]

Re: enemy spotted and other Bad Info

sorry - but yesterday - somewhere here in total BF2
I came across a thread with multiple posts where everyone said
"... I had no idea you could not spot enemies while in scan mode "
hmmm .. I was shocked - and thought, hmmm was I also wasting my time?
well -for the RECORD - you absolutely CAN spot enemies that you see as red dots after a Commander Scan - and all the players on your team then see it as well (not counting the occasional glitch when helo/jet/boat will not appear)

so . . . once again to all the 'experts' here that put out BAD information
if you are not sure and have not tested something
keep you traps shut ! ! !
it is bad enough that ES/DICE are documented idiots
we do not need more of them in this community

so many folks come here for advice - myself included - and well , if you are not sure - at least add the words "I think" to your posts

nuff said

semper fi

EA!

So much for good info LOL, just messin with ya!

[Tronchaser]

Re: enemy spotted and other Bad Info

True, but spawning requires dying. And the dying-respawning-repairing part will mean I'm not commanding. I just don't see what's so hard about one of the grunts respawning as an engineer and repairing it/killing the spec. ops guy. Same difference.

I don't see what's so hard about being an engineer while be commander from the git-go. You should be "commanding", and not worried about fighting, so, spawn as an Engy from the start. You should not depend on an engy "in-the-field" to come all the way back to spawn to fix your equipement when you are sitting 50 feet away from it. I normally play as an Engy, and I'll repair equipment is I'm respawing, but I'll *rarely* ever go all the way across the map just to fix it. I've got my own worries.

[davelisowski]

Re: enemy spotted and other Bad Info

Ah, but you apply for commander after you spawn, and if I don't get accepted, I don't like being stuck as an engineer. I completely understand what you mean though. Almost every thread about commanding says to be an engineer. I guess it gets complicated when your home base is cappable, and the enemy takes it over, and destroys your assets. In general, I like finding a good hiding spot when commanding so that I don't get knifed or arty'd... I guess you can say I'm just lazy.

[imported_{9thInf}Padre]

Re: enemy spotted and other Bad Info

Good lord, this game has been out for nearly a year and people don't know how the command screen works? I know lots of people don't like commanding - just look at how many times your side on a pub server had no one taking the CO role - but everyone should at least have a concept of how it works and what goes on in the screen.

So, this might be laid out in another thread somewhere, but I'll add it to here as well.

First off, scan shows all enemies - *EXCEPT* a single person occupying the gunner's spot in a Vodnik, Humvee, FAV, etc. (This is to the best of my knowledge & I haven't personally verified, but I trust my source on this one.) If the driver's seat isn't occupied, the vehicle won't show on a commander's scan.

The enemies show up on the command screen for something like 5-10 seconds, then dissapear. During this time, you don't need to be zoomed in to spot the enemies for your side. Once you spot them, they stay spotted for an additional 5-10 seconds. When you scan, the scan does not differentiate between live and critically wounded enemies. However, when you spot that dot on the command screen, rather than showing up as a red dot with the directional arrow indicating the direction the unit is facing, you get a red question mark. For those of you who never command, this isn't the commander being an idiot and spotting where nothing is, this is just they way it works when you spot. You don't know if the red dot from the scan is live or wounded until you right click and spot it. So when you see a red question mark come up on a commander spot, you know that's a wounded or recently dead enemy.

Also, for the commander, the screen makes no differentiation between target types when you scan or spot, with the exception of snipers who show up with the crosshairs icon only when you spot them (not when you scan).

Also, you don't have to be pinpoint precise when spotting off a scan. Right clicking & spotting in the neighborhood of a red dot will spot it for your troops. I use this to my advantage to spot out enemies even after my red dots have faded out by remembering the basic location of the red dots and spotting them afterwards.

Personally, when I command, I try to use my UAV in a hotspot, where one of my squads requests it, or where I have a unit/units in position to cap a flag. I use the scan and spot method for as many enemies as I can spot that will be outside the coverage area of the UAV. For those who complain about commander spamming, I take it you'd prefer no intel on enemy locations?! Yes, the verbal portion of the spotting can get on your nerves. Hell it gets on my own nerves when I'm spotting, but good spotting gives my guys a decided edge in engagements.

[imported_TheDragon]

Re: enemy spotted and other Bad Info

. However, when you spot that dot on the command screen, rather than showing up as a red dot with the directional arrow indicating the direction the unit is facing, you get a red question mark. For those of you who never command, this isn't the commander being an idiot and spotting where nothing is, this is just they way it works when you spot. You don't know if the red dot from the scan is live or wounded until you right click and spot it. So when you see a red question mark come up on a commander spot, you know that's a wounded or recently dead enemy.

well - although the rest of your post was great - this is a little off target (no pun intended)

the '?' appears when the commander (hmmm, actaully anyone , "I THINK") spots an EMPTY location - ie NO enemy present

our commanders do it all the time
they start to right click all around a tactical area hoping for a 'lucky' hit
if no one is there then there are several ? all around the area
if he is lucky - then BAM ! a red dot appears

EA!

So much for good info LOL, just messin with ya!

got me ! ! :salute:

[imported_{9thInf}Padre]

Re: enemy spotted and other Bad Info

well - although the rest of your post was great - this is a little off target (no pun intended)

the '?' appears when the commander (hmmm, actaully anyone , "I THINK") spots an EMPTY location - ie NO enemy present

our commanders do it all the time
they start to right click all around a tactical area hoping for a 'lucky' hit
if no one is there then there are several ? all around the area
if he is lucky - then BAM ! a red dot

I think you're missing what my point is. Yes, a commander can 'fish' for enemies by right clicking and spotting where an enemy MIGHT be. However, when you scan, enemies that are wounded will show up the same as enemies who are alive and active. If you right click and spot one of these enemy's red dots and it turns out that that particular enemy is wounded, you will get a red question mark. As commander you don't know if the enemy you're spotting is alive or wounded until after you spot them.

[TooL]

Re: enemy spotted and other Bad Info

My favorites are the 'Enemy boat spotted' and 'Enemy aircraft spotted' on Karkand?

[Jlspence]

Re: enemy spotted and other Bad Info

Actually you're both correct. I quite often will do what I call spotting in the blind (right clicking and spot) on the map for instance when a S/L asks me to spot a sniper and gives me an approximate / guessed location. If no one is in the vicinity of the spot, a red question mark will show and a general "Enemy spotted" voice message will result. If the enemy is in the vicinity, a flashing red dot will show along with "Enemy Sniper spotted" voice message.

In the other case, I've scanned and right click "Spotted" enemy that first show as flashing red dots (alive) then they turn to flashing red question marks when they've been critically wounded.

[« R²» HKS]

Re: enemy spotted and other Bad Info

I am amazed that after a year some people don't know some of the basics of this game yet. Its true you don't need to be zoomed in. After a scan any red dot you can right click on them and then spotted and they show up in game.

Another guy was going on about a tank smoke hack. Tha was the funniest thing I had ever read. He didn't realise you could press X and it would launch smoke.

[imported_{9thInf}Padre]

Re: enemy spotted and other Bad Info

In the other case, I've scanned and right click "Spotted" enemy that first show as flashing red dots (alive) then they turn to flashing red question marks when they've been critically wounded.

Ahh, that's true too. If you spot an enemy and they're killed/critically wounded right afterwards, their red dot from spotting turns to a question mark.

Forgot to mention that myself, thanks jlspence! :)