Idea:

The possibility for aliens to spectate other Aliens while still alive. This would help a lot when for example two Skulks plan to ambush Marines while one of them is the bait and the other one hides. While hiding the Skulk could spectate through the eyes of his bait partner. this way he could see the Marines even without parasite as long as the Bait sees them.

+ he is able to spot which weapons they have
+ he is able to see how many marines there are if the Bait sees every marine there
+ he is able to see exactly how far away from his Hiding Spot the Marines are (if he knows the map)

all this Things would work without parasiting...and i voice communication lags are very annoying to me...so sometimes i dont have enough time to react when my fellows tell me how many marines he sees, which weapons they have, etc.

another problem is that there is often not much information about these things at public servers...so spectating would help

With this spectatormode i could see it myself...think about the distance they have, press one key (to switch to my sight) and prepare for the attack...

Suggestion:

make it possible for Aliens to press a button for switching to the sight of another alien. The Spectator would have to stand still to use this spectatormode. He would only be able to see 1st person. Not 3rd person.

There could be either a new key to switch sight or the flashlight could be changed (i dont mind)

Only bit more difficult thing for me is to figure out how to choose which person you want to see...

- the nearest Alien
- a menu
- key for forward, key for backward

How would it fit?

Well these are Aliens...and shouldnt they be connected with each other? This would be a Hivesight.

Comments :

well, there might need to be a penalty while you use this ability. You can't move, and you can't heartsee what's going on at your location of course. And there's a 5 second connection/disconnection time where the screen fades to black as your mind realligns itself with the correct body.

I had the same idea for marines yesterday, but i think it sucks on both sides.

First of all you can use your hivesight and map-overview to watch your mate's positions and coordinate ambushes/rushes, as far as one can talk about coordination in public play.

That leads to the next point: Noone needs this in clanwars due to higher level of communication and coordination.

Many average players don't even use the spectate mode when they are dead to gain as many information as you can about your fighting mates and the enemy.
So i think they also won't use this feature because of being vulnerable and maybe bored while watching other mates.

Moreover you can gain many information by paying attention to the game, the death-messages, the map-overview and the hivesight.

Imho, hivesight needs some improvement, that's it.

Would this be an upgrade..? Possibly to replace Scent of Wallhack?? /me hmms.

I vote yes if it is a replacement for one of the sens upgrades, otherwise... no.

This really isn't filling in a specific role that has yet to be covered. If you really wanna know what guns/upgrades they have just ask. I find that when I'm playing there's always one person on the server (aside from me) who will notify the team when he thinks he knows if they have lvl1 Damage/Armour and upwards, the same goes for all non-standard issue extras (mines, shotguns, HMG, GL, HA, JP). If you really want to ambush someone (and you're Skulks anyway in your example) just parasite 'em.

Adding this ability would weaken parasite and scent of fear. Ideas that nerf upgrades and Hive 1 abilities are pointless.

*Votes a big, phat NO*

well then replace something with it...scent of fear for example!

Maybe... use mic?

I think being vulnerable in a position and having a disconnect/reconnect time is a decent penalty.. this is an interesting idea for sure.

hmm i think it would be ok to make a dark screen if you phase to the aliens view...but if you switch back it should work instantly because thats the point in my idea. And the Mic thing...well

Voice Communication lags (Teamspeak more, ventrilo less)
not everyone has a microphone
not everyone who has a mic uses it
not everyone who uses a mic uses it properly

replacing Focus with "telepathy" would ork too...but it should be a sensory upgrade

does anyone have a nice name for my baby?

I dont know if I like this idea yet, but I have a thought for choosing which alien to view...

use parasite on the alien you want to observe, and only allow the player to watch the last alien it parasited. (parasite to choose the alien, then use a button to toggle the ability)
This would make it only useable for skulks, but (IMO) the bigger lifeforms really wouldnt have as much use for this ability, because if one higher lifeform commits himself to an attack, the other ones in the area should follow him instead of sitting back in their alien recliners, drinking cold ones and watching the show on tv.

Also, I would be opposed to putting in a delay between switching (at least switching back to yourself) because this sort of thing would be used to plan ambushes and by the time you decide to go in you can't afford to wait any more.

And I would say that this spectator mode shouldn't apply to audio; you still need to hear what's going on right around you, otherwise the ninja marine you didnt notice will be racking up knife kills while his buddy's fighting off the first (now the only) wave of an attack

Cheese's first post on this thread + Meatshield's first post on this thread = Winnar!

Obviously the numbers could be tweaked but I like those two idea together. This is after all part of the abilities intrinsic of a truely collective sentience, yes? Plus it's just so darn cool!

farsight