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Full Version: Car Radio Systems Overhaul
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Explain your suggestion, in detail:
Integrate the radio system into the game, as part of vehicles.

This I think would be straightforward - mechanics would be able to fit a portable radio into your vehicle, allowing you to listen to radio channels from within your vehicle. This radio would work as a receiver for the many different radio types we have in-game. It would come with three channels - Clan Radio, Private Radio, and Evo Radio.

These radios, however, would be listen only - it does not make much sense for a civilian car to have a full on radio transmission system, after all.


Each vehicle would have a new variable, saved on a per-vehicle basis in it's item data much like it's fuel level and engine status, for if it has a radio or not. Some vehicles could have one pre-built in, but for this explanation let's assume that none do.

The player goes to a mechanic, asks for a radio to be fitted into their vehicle. The mechanic uses their magical wrench, charges the player some money, and does as asked - the variable is set to true, and remains so until the player has it removed, or it gets destroyed. Radio's could possibly be destroyed by gunfire, or by the vehicle wrecking - encouraging players to interact with mechanics more often, and get a bit of player interaction going.

When the player is in their car, they can use a command along the lines of "/carradio". This command would have several options: "on", "off", "clan", "private", "evo", and "settings".
"on" and "off" are self-explanatory. They turn the radio on and off respectively.
"clan" would set the radio to receive any clan-related chatter that the OWNER of the vehicle would receive. More on that later.
"private" would simply set the radio to receive any chatter located on the private radio frequency.
"evo" would simply set the radio to the current "/evoradio" setup, and how that works.
"settings" opens up the typical "/evoradio" settings panel, with some extra options - such as being able to set the frequency that the private radio channel can pick up on.
No arguments simply toggles the radio on/off.

When the radio is on, anyone within X radius of the vehicle (including passengers) would be able to see any chatter that comes from the radio - perhaps in a format such as: "[<PERSON NAME>'s Car Radio] - <message>". Any voice audio would also be treated in the same way, broadcasting over the same radius centered on the vehicle. This would however be dependent on if the vehicle's engine is on - no power, no radio - and would be independent on what the player's "/listen" value is set to. Only the volume of EvoRadio would be changeable - given it would be too much hassle to implement a similar method into the existing voice radio system.

Some vehicles, such as government vehicles, would be unable to have this feature - instead, they would come pre-installed with a radio built-in, tuned to the government radio chatter. More on this later.

Explain why the suggestion should be implemented:

I believe this could open up a bunch of opportunities roleplay wise, as well as gameplay wise.

First off - vehicles tuned to clan radio would be tuned to the vehicle's owner. This opens all sorts of prospects up - theft of a clan member's vehicle would be a viable strategy for how to get into their comm network, and eavesdrop on their chatter. Tuning in to the clan channels, and listening in to their plans, would allow for more subtle hostile interactions, over the typical "guns blazing" route. Players could act smart, learning where their opponents are going to be and what they are going to do, before planning about them.

The same would apply to police vehicles - having access to a radio system would permit players to listen in to government chatter, and once again, plan about their actions. Perhaps a way for marked stolen police vehicle radios to simply refuse to work would allow some way to combat this, but that's speculation.

This suggestion would not simply be limited to subterfuge and eavesdropping roleplay, however - there has to be incentive for this after all, right?

Clan vehicles having radio's would allow for members not in the clan - such as new recruits, or temporary allies - to be in on the group's activities, and be able to hear what is going on. It could also fit from a roleplay perspective - with a clan huddled about a vehicle radio, receiving orders from elsewhere on the map, or simply to fit in as part of organized clan roleplay. Having your personal radio off, but still being able to hear chatter from inside the car, would be ideal if you need to speak to someone while a lot of radio traffic is ongoing.

Another benefit would be for private radio systems - allowing for the one thing I personally think would make the game awesome:

Radio Station roleplay.

Being able to set up a radio station, broadcasting chatter over to everyone tuned into your frequency on their car radios would encourage a bit more of a world-building element. Players could host talk shows, stream music via virtual microphones, the like - this would definitely help make car journeys a little more interesting, especially if you're busy driving at 100 down the highway blasting Smash Mouth from your car radio as the police try to stop you.


IMO, this would be (fairly) simple to implement, I imagine - it'd just be a matter of factoring in car entities into the radio system, if they have a radio installed, and going from there. For fans of the original EvoCity radio, it'd still be there - but this system would allow players to start their own stations, broadcast their own tunes, and help add a bit of character to the roleplay, I reckon.
I'm loving the sound of this.
Big +Support

However I think this would be better if it worked more like the cruise-control item.
You buy the car radio from a mechanic of sorts. They role-play fitting it in your car and once they press use on it while looking at your car it acts as the cruise-control item would. It can't be destroyed and its added to all your cars forever.

As for the settings your described I think it'd be better if you used a command such as /radiosettings and a menu just like /evoradio settings would pop up. However there would be more sliders to set volume for individual radios. (private, clan, team, evoradio)
+support for the idea

-support for mechanics

Mechanics shouldnt be the only ones to be able to add a car radio, you can do it by yourself very easily so I dont see a point doing that.
+ Support
(Nov 29, 2019, 01:03 PM)Nebula Wrote: [ -> ]+support for the idea

-support for mechanics

Mechanics shouldnt be the only ones to be able to add a car radio, you can do it by yourself very easily so I dont see a point doing that.
I don't know if I somehow skipped it or so, but what's with the body-radios one has? The clan member whos car got stolen could just easily transmit the info and if it's secret, communication would be done via different systems (such as /pm) as a consequence till the stolen car gets into their control again. 

Also if I understood correctly this suggestion would mean that you are not able to transmit any messages anymore while inside your vehicle? (You said "These radios, however, would be listen only") This would be a huge stepback - or are you still able to talk via your own body-radio? In that case those clan things would be transmitted on both the car radio and your body-radio, quite confusing. Yes, you could set it so the body-radio doesn't receive that stuff then but this would take away the sense of such a vehicle-radio somehow.

Could you please explain me those points a bit more? Might be I misunderstood something so I just want to be sure.
(Dec 6, 2019, 12:58 PM)kellekerell Wrote: [ -> ]I don't know if I somehow skipped it or so, but what's with the body-radios one has? The clan member whos car got stolen could just easily transmit the info and if it's secret, communication would be done via different systems (such as /pm) as a consequence till the stolen car gets into their control again. 

Also if I understood correctly this suggestion would mean that you are not able to transmit any messages anymore while inside your vehicle? (You said "These radios, however, would be listen only") This would be a huge stepback - or are you still able to talk via your own body-radio? In that case those clan things would be transmitted on both the car radio and your body-radio, quite confusing. Yes, you could set it so the body-radio doesn't receive that stuff then but this would take away the sense of such a vehicle-radio somehow.

Could you please explain me those points a bit more? Might be I misunderstood something so I just want to be sure.

Body-radios are fine, but it creates opportunities for new RPs such as radio stations, spying, etc. Talking in the radio would work exactly the same. No change to that except that other people in a vehicle with that radio on can hear everyone on that radio. People not capable of using the body radio will not be able to speak in the radio. Hearing a player talking works on a boolean value, so you can either hear someone or you can't. There is no double hearing of someone's voice. A player with a team body radio will be able to hear the conversation in the radio. Even if you return true for that same player in a vehicle with the team radio on, it won't change the result because the player has already been given access to hear the radio. Also, you can't exclude that player from the players in the vehicle because if the player has his body radio turned off when he enters a vehicle with the radio on, he should be able to hear the chatter. Although, he won't be able to talk because his body radio is off.


TL;DR: "listen-only" would refer to players without access to the body radio or to a player with the body radio turned off.
Pretty much what Monkey said - body-radios would be transmit/listen capable, whereas car radios would be listen only. Getting into a car does not mean you lose your body radio, but it also doesn't mean your body-radio is on the same channel as your car radio.

Listening is a matter of "If you are in Clan X - OR, if you are in a vehicle belonging to Clan X, that has a radio tuned to Clan X comms".

Transmitting is a matter of "If you are in Clan X and have your body radio on."

The same applies for private citizen radio, except for instead of "If you are in Clan X", it is a matter of "If you are tuned to frequency X"
Neutral, don't see why we cant just use /pradio etc
+Support

Seems to be a great feature to have in-game! Great suggestion!
Pushing for Staff Review.

#type:[review]
Approved.