Unbalanced icon.

[Xeno]

Hi people.

I haven't been on this forum in ages, so if this has already been discussed/is a moot point/is completely uninteresting, well, forgive me.


The issue of team balance is a haunting one and there are no good solutions to forced team balance since it always depends on the players. Still though, there are a number of players who will change if they're made aware of how unbalanced the game actually is (when it's really unbalanced, one team can easily get 150+ frags over the other without even noticing).

Here's my idea: display an unbalanced simple scale icon in the corner of the screen (maybe even color it to show which side is too strong (make it the heavier one)). Now, before anyone pipes up with the "but we have server messages", those messages only understand team numbers. Sometimes 6 vs 4 can be an even game, or even 7 vs 4, depending on the 4, etc. I suggest using an algorithm that takes into account the score differences and the number of players.

Let me use an example to get the basic idea across:
CTF
Fraglimit: 300
Flag cap: 20
Red team: 160 frags, 6 players
Blue team: 57 frags, 6 players

Now, either using an arbitrary amount or a percentage of the fraglimit or flag cap, decide on a player-frags equivalence (PFE) (yeah, a bit unclear, hold on). E.g. Let's say that we decide that each player is worth 50 frags (or 1/6 of the frag limit, or 250% of a flag cap), thus 1 PFE = 50 frags.

Since the red team is about 100 frags ahead = 2 PFEs, the blue team should have 2 more players than the red team to balance it, so one person from the red team switches and presto, the icon disappears.
E.g. Before:
Red team: 160 + 6 * 50 = 460
Blue team: 57 + 6 * 50 = 357

After:
Red team: 160 + 5 * 50 = 410
Blue team: 57 + 7 * 50 = 407


Just to be clear, the PFE wouldn't count towards the actual score, just towards the algorithm. The icon should only be set off when the actual scores become uneven by x number of PFEs too (let the server decide). That way after a balancing, it doesn't nag once the scores become uneven. The algorithm could also be used to decide placement of autojoining players.

Also, just to be clear, this system would NOT force team balance, but it would make it obvious to all when the game was unbalanced. Perhaps you could even add something that posts a message about who changed to balance it, and also maybe use div's team-switching countdown to prevent too many people switching at the same time.




I just thought of all this right now, so there may well be several problems with it. Feel free to point them out.

[[-z-]]

I can see a simple orange or yellow icon appearing above the flag indicators.

To expand upon this, I think it would be nice if there were text below the indicator to show new players what the indicator means.

Maybe do something variable based on the number of times the game has been played, say $been_played and

Code: Select all

if ($been_played>15) {
      setDisplayIndicatorDescription(FALSE);
}


[AceOfThumbs]

Sounds like a great idea Xeno. Have you seen the new heads up display in 2.4? It always shows the team sores at the bottom of the screen, so it's easier to notice if there is an imbalance. That ought to help a little.

[C.Brutail]

I like the idea, tho we still need a cvar to let the server admins decide to turn this on/off. On an unbalanced ladder match it would be just idiot

[Bundy]

use #nexuiz.pickup

[Grasshopper]

and for those who need it really obvious . stronger team goes for the flag and die immediately ( hey switch teams now) . i know that wont happen but who knows , they might pay attention to the "one of you please change teams " warning after trying to be a hero too many times .