i got some ideas on what he can do. ill post them one by one.

Here's what the scout should do.

Merlin: go scout!
Scout: yes sir!
*scout goes to next screen*
*5 secends later*
Scout: there seems to be a lot of *insert monster here* and no mini-bosses sir. also i saw some *insert some tiem of spawner here* over there.
Merlin: thanks.

How about this?

He can scout (Of course). He has a 50% chance to report what's next and a 50% chance of being killed.

Yeah, but if he gets killed, you'll sit there for a bit and wonder what happened, and then summon another one. I don't think it would add much fun to the game to have him die sometimes.

hey! I likes it! now the diguise spells I've been hearing about are making a whole lot more sense.

Max

how about this:

Merlin: go scout!
Scout: yes sir!
*5 secends later*
Scout: They found me sir!
Merlin: What??

then some monsters from the screen the scout reported from comes into the screen you're in..

Basicly the monsters from next screen come over there where you are, and you can't escape.

Dan~ I like that, it means there will be risk involved with using the scout. i think to simplify things, he wil make a list, like:
Here are the types of monster in the next screen, sir:
-1 goblin
-2 Quadranoids
-3 huts
and so on.

what if this happens if they find the scout: they come into the screen and attack you, but you have to fight again on the square they are in. example: there are 2 golems, 5 goblins and one skeleton warrior on the screen. some of them, like 1 skeleton and 2 goblins, find him and they come into the screen and attack you but when youve killed them, you find them again on the screen they came from. if not, it wouldnt matter if the find you or not.

I still like the risk with the scout, but how about if you suffer a damage penalty instead, or the enemies get a damage bonus?

you mean they get angry for somebody spying on them so they attack better?

I think it would just be better if some of the same types of monsters that the scout said were there came over, but the same number remained in the next screen. Ok, that was probably confusing. Let's say you use scout. He walks out of the screen, then comes back. He tells you which monsters are on the next screen, but he also has a 50% chance of having SOME monsters follow him. This would seem better in my eyes than the damage penalty, cause the penalty doesn't seem to make sense. Or maybe there are just more monsters on the next screen when you spy. I dunno. And yes, Lord_Murderer I did use your idea. This is not because I want to make it mine, but that it's a good idea.

Max

what about this?

Merlin: Scout, Go
Scout: Yes!
(few seconds later)
40% of:
Scout: i have seen like 4 of.... 7 of.... and 1...

40% of:
Scout i could not see anything... (not allows u to use it again in that place)

and 20% of:
(Merlin hears)
Scout: AAAARRGHHHHH (he got killed)

I think that the scout is a really good idea, and you should have a limited quantity of scouts, like 5 berlins in mr2.
Most of the time: shows what is in next screen.
Some of the time: doesn't see anything, but you dont lose a scout.
A little of the time: He doesn't die, but the enemy attacks him, and he runs back in to your screen crying, then runs off.
Also, I think that there should be no monster penalty (Them moving into your screen; getting stronger)- that would just make the game too confusing. =)

P.S. DANTHEMAN- do you play runescape?

P.S. (again)...

I would appreciate it if you could click on icons to use them.
EXAMPLE: On the top stats bar on the game window, there would be icons to click on; summon Berlin; send scout; exc.
I could not summon Berlin in mr2 because of this =)

coco:

1: your first idea is probly the same as dantheman's.
2: maybe.
3: steve already said that the scout dieing isn't good.

i like the scout bringing back enemies, maybe he has a very small chance of stabbing you in the back and bringing them all with him and fighting!

hehe! Nice one ironman2244.

Yeah- whatever merlintheblue...

thanks steve

uh yes, i have played runescape.

anyhoo, the scout betraying you? cool.

this probably will make me sound VERY stupid, but on the "contact us" page, what does it mean by company?

Er, it's a left over from when I was trying to make the site more "professional". It means what company you work for.

o, i dont (haha).

by the by, with so many votes, i suppose this will be in the game?

again steve, just using this suggestion to communicate, wasnt there a suggetion that had no one that suggested it? i cant seem to find it, did you just take it out?

ironman2244: Not necessarily, there might be technical issues, or maybe I put it in and then think better of it. Nothing is certain at this stage.

The other suggestion was by kittylord 77 so I put his/her name on it.

If you want to ask me a general question, you can use the contact form - the comment/question will appear on the MR3 comments page (if it's to do with MR3) along with my reply.

ah, thanks.

This whole scout thing might be a little bit overrated. I mean, when you think about it, do you really need to know whats on the next screen? I mean, you're going to find out anyway, and its not like he's telling the EXACT position where they are at so you couldnt really make an in-depth battle strategy. And plus, sometimes theres more than one screen you can go to, how would you tell the scout which way to go? oh well, guess I'm just being whiney because my ideas arent any good :P Well, I guess it could be good, but there should be some sort of extra benefit then just learning whats on the next screen

I believe the benefit most people are looking for are in the costume/disguise spell. Then you could know what to turn into.

Max

This scout idea is pretty cool but on the same token its getting alittle confusing......i mean if hes gonna die then aleast make him come back holding his arm!or something but its better if hhe doesnt die at all. Like some of u said 50% chance of seeing something and 50% of seeing nothing.

well it seems like everyone aggrees with you steve theres like no negetive coments so i mise'well agree

good idea but heres something I thought of for it

50% chance of seeing all bad guys
30% chance of seeing some of the monsters
20% chance of seeing nothing/getting caught

getting caught means the monsters come with him.. as dantheman suggested.

Or if the scout does die, you just send millions of them onto the next screen

Merlin: Go Scouts Go!
*Scouts go, 1 comes back*
Scout: I saw 2 skeletons, 1 necromancer and a whole army of undead scouts.
*Scout runs off*

C'mon guys, this is getting stupid- let's just leave it simple with the:

50% See and report everything
30% See nothing; no scout lost
20% Scout runs back into your screen holding his arm and screaming or something then runs off the screen; scout lost and no report

P.S.
I think that the whole "he can bring back monsters on to your screen" thing is NOT a good idea; it would be awkward with the map at the bottom that shows what sqares you've completed in green, things that are not completed in red... and how many would come over anyway... all of them? Some of them? In some ways it would just make it easier to kill them little by little, especially if they are strong and would attack all at once on you. Okay that's all... I guess that was more than just a P.S.- maybe like a... S.P. for Second Point- anyway what does P.S. stand for? Okay now I'm really done... for now...

PS stands for Post Script (After Writing) (I'm such a nerd lol)

I just don't see what wrong with the scout just always working. If he didn't work one time, you'd just summon another one. And another, and another. Spamming scouts like this doesn't strike me as much fun - it reminds me of trying to connect to the internet with a modem!

I'd say that the problem with the scout is that it makes the game too easy.

ooo i take back what i said earlier sorry dunno what i was thinking: i do think you need a way to control which way the scout will go... but i think the scout should work. i guess having a chance of negative consequences isnt too bad... but i dont really like it so much. oh! what if the scouts were like.. brothers.. two guys , or brother and sister or something... and sometimes only one of them would come back and say "they got my brother/sister" then on the next screen you'd have to stop them from killing the brother/sister so that way you would still be able to use the scouts or somethign?

oh yeah, you definately need to control which screen the scout scouts, otherwise he'd just go off and scout the empty screen nearby and go "yep, no monsters there, all clear guys"

Hmmm... seems like lots of people think there should be a chance of something going wrong. I guess it could work if you can't summon another scout on that screen to replace the lost one.

How about if the scout is lost, the monsters on the next screen chuck his head back on to your screen?

I personally think you should get just a limited amount of scouts to use.

i like the whole scout thing alot, so heres how i think it should all work:
There are two types of scouts, one in army summon (a human) and one in monster summon
(a goblin). You start out with both of those and the 2nd summon (see my suggestion:monster and army summon ver. 4) anyhoo, the scout always works since you could just summon him again anyhoo. As for limited scouts, I kinda dont like that.

yes, chuck his head, very good. and bloody. Better be Kool-Aid! errr im sure only very few people will catch that reference

Here's my idea. The scouts go on the screen and see what monsters are there. However, sometimes a enemy sees him and follows and murders him before he gets to tell you what monsters are there.

dramatic!

or... merlin can summon a scout and morph it into an enemy (if you have) then send it. the bad people wouldnt attack their own team mates right?

Scouts rule!

wow lots of comments here

and to make it less easy you have to pay money

yes i know cheese is awsome, same with burnt fish legs. BLAH!

and anchovies, dont forget the anchovies

maby once u know what monsters are over there and since merlin had a chance to prepare; a little yellow arrow will show where the monster is moving next. like merlin can predict what will happen. should this have been an actuall suggestion? seems like it.

yeah, I would say that warrants being it's own suggestion. I should point out though that as things stand at the moment, the monsters do actually move until you go onto that screen, I suppose it would be possible to make them do so, but if you scouted all four screens around you, the computer would have to be running five screens at once in order to see where all the monsters are, this would slow down the game a lot. I mean really a lot. Like, to a crawl. it's a nice idea, but i don't think it's technically practical.

the scout must haze the ultimate power of anchovies!!!!!!

And you won't be able to summon him on the screen if you dies until you go to a screen by going to the enemy-infested screen.

I got another idea. 50% of the time he tells what the monsters are in the screen. However, 50% of time time he says "Hi! I was such a moron I summoned some monsters on the next screen! Have a nice day!" and then he runs away. He doesn't even tell you what monsters are on the screen which leaves you thinking "If I could blast him, he would be dead in 10 seconds flat!"

wow not only would i kill him but i would then use his corpse as a shield in the next screen... hmm....

I don't think it's too overpowered to have him work all the time, the other stuff is just too unnessicarily complicated. but I don't think he should tell you exact numbers, just a general idea, like 1-3 of a monster he says he saw a few, 4-10 of a monster he says he saw a good amount, and 11+ he says he saw a ton. For bosses and minibosses he says he saw one if there is one, or more then one if there is more then one. And some enimies use camoflauge (like those slime dwellings in MR2 or the pit monster) and can't be detected by the scout. How does he react to dwellings anyway?

How about this: When you summon the scout, you control the scout. You walk him to the next screen, and all the monsters attack you. You have to dodge the attacks while getting a good look at the screen and the enemies in it. To escape, just go back to the screen where merlin is, and you'll have control over merlin again. You have 3 scouts. When they all die, you can't summon anymore. This way, it's not just a "50% chance he'll die", because you would be controlling him. So it'll be your fault he dies. :P

FanZ26: I agree with what you're saying here. I think dwellings could be treated exactly the same way. "A few goblin huts" or whatever.

El Zilchil: I like the idea of controlling him from the point of view of it removing the 50% chance of death or whatever, and placing his fate in your hands. But on the other hand that method means the player will know exactly what he is facing on the next screen. How many, and where they are. I was hoping to give more of a rough idea than that.

But as with everything, it is still open for discussion.

I think that you should summon the scout and then he goes and see's a monster on the next screen with bonoculars and spots one and tells you what it is and you morph him into it and you have an amount of time to control him and see the monsters and when time is almost up he goes back to Merlin and says: I saw 2 rox,10gobs,6 bats and 3 spiders Merlin.
Good job scout return to me.
*sadly*Yes sir.

Merlin:Go search around the screen and make it snappy.

Scout:yessiree

*5 hours later*

Merlin:where is that big baffoon!!!!

*merlin walks to scrren by screen destroying oncoming monsters until finally*

Scout:ugggghh uhhhhh......

*scout passes away*

Merlin:aww man I knew I should't have hired him. >:(

THE END(title:The scout's use and horrors(horrors is that scouts will soon easily die)
Hope you like the little "act")

how about this to make it simple you can use a scout 5 or mabye 7 times.and you can choose to control the scout or just let him go to the screen you told him to go to and if the scout dies there will be writing coming from the screen you told him to go to and it will say uuuugggghhhh!!!!!but if hes spotted and not killed he'l say heeellllppp!!!or he can have a sucsesful scout and tell u what he saw like master i saw 4 ghost 2 black sourcerers and a purple spell (or)red poition and 3 green poitions

Think a bit.You just can save and look what monsters are in square. So you could the scouts job.

Lol! I can't believe I didn't think of that.

how about if the scout does a dumb thing merlin uses an attack that only works on scouts.It is called kick and if the scout summons monsters merlin gets angry and then you have to use your keys to quickly chase the scout and click mouse to kick him.scout falls down.merlin use energy blast.scout blows up.scout is no more.

this is my first post but maybe (sorta like the scout summoning more monsters) if the scout gets caught all of the monsters eat him and use his bones to make a new hut, fortress, graveyard, etc. or maybe just one of the stronger enemies like the big orc eats him and doubles his health on easy and doubles everyones health on hard

PLZ LOOK STEVE!!
I know its long, but plz read it.

OK. Heres the deal. none of u have come up with a bunch of things:
1) an answer to fatty-boy
2)why would he have a limited number of scouts (espescially if it was from a summon spell)

So heres wat i hope will make everything work out, making the scout actually helpful, and not making it too easy or anything.

Im going to assume that steve will be adding points to the game.

First of all: how to get a scout.
To get a scout, u have to kill lots of enemies and get lots of points. When u reach a certain amount of points, wehn u next fight a goblin, after clearing the screen, the last goblin will say 'I surrender!' and he becomes ur spy unless u attak him. u can then summon him with a letter on ur keyboard.
When u summon him and tell him which screen to go to, the chances are as follows:
1)25% - the goblin-spy succeeds and tells u how many enemies and wat type and all that stuff, and also some of the enemies run away (either they run away and 'disappear' or they run away into other screens - im not sure.)
2)30% chance - about half of the enemies come back on the spy's trail. as soon as the spy re-enters ur screen, he only has half his health, and since hes a goblin thats not much. if he dies then hes dead - u have to get a new one by getting a bunch more points. Also, if u r weak, and that is the reason u send the spy, and the screen had really hard enemies, they could be fatal to u too.
3)45% - ur spy turns on u and brings a load of enemies bak with him to fight u.

But dont get deterred from the poor chances! theres still many more factors! first of all, the more times ur spy spies succesfully, he gets a bunch of experience. If he doesnt succeed but at least doesnt turn on u, he still gets a small amount of xp. when he gains a lvl, the chances get a bit better. Also, as ur points rise, he trusts u more and the chances of him turning on u go down, the percent being taken away from that being added to a new possibility in which he refuses to go (this only lasts for that screen).
This means that its probably better to wait a bit after u get the spy until u get a few more points, so that u dont lose ur spy right away.

But thats still not all!! if u get a lot of points, u can get a ninja as a spy or a karate guy (same amount of points for each. Having these people as spies gives various advantages such as starting off with slightly better chances. other advantages u can see in the possibilities of wat can happen wen u send the spy to a screen.
For ninjas:
1) 25% - the ninja-spy succeeds and tells u how many enemies and wat type and all that stuff, and also some of the enemies run away. (either they run away and 'disappear' or they run away into other screens - im not sure.)
2)10% - the same as #1 but he also does some damage to/kills a bunch of enemies. If he just damages them they will be brought back, but he would at the most bring back 4 men like that.
3)20% chance - about half of the enemies come back on the spy's trail. as soon as the spy re-enters ur screen, about a third of his health is gone. if he dies then hes dead - u have to get a new one by getting a bunch more points. Also, if u r weak, and that is the reason u send the spy, and the screen had really hard enemies, they could be fatal to u too.
4)10% - ur spy refuses to go for that screen
5)35% - ur spy turns on u and brings a load of enemies bak with him to fight u.

The ninja gains experience just like the goblin.

Now for the karate-guy-spy:
1) 10% - the karate-guy-spy succeeds and tells u how many enemies and wat type and all that stuff, and also some of the enemies run away. (either they run away and 'disappear' or they run away into other screens - im not sure.)
2)20% - the same as #1 but he also does some serious damage to/kills a bunch of enemies. If he just damages them they will be brought back, but he would at the most bring back 2 men like that.
3)25% chance - about half of the enemies come back on the spy's trail. as soon as the spy re-enters ur screen, about a third of his health is gone. if he dies then hes dead - u have to get a new one by getting a bunch more points. Also, if u r weak, and that is the reason u send the spy, and the screen had really hard enemies, they could be fatal to u too.
4)20% - ur spy refuses to go for that screen
5)25% - ur spy turns on u and brings a load of enemies bak with him to fight u.
The karate-guy-spy gains experience the same way as the ninja/goblin spies.

I hope i didnt forget anything i was going to write. i dont think i did. I really hope this makes the spy a formidable/useful/new enemy thats worthwile to be put in the game. and hopefully this isnt too complicated. i dont think it is even though it took all these words to explain it.

Thnx for looking,
MR ROX!

MR ROX!

I see where you're coming from and it sounds kind of good, but I would want the scout to be much simpler than that. Just a unit that you summon that gives you some idea of what's on the next screen.

ya, but then like fatty - boy said it would be pretty much useless...

Why dosen't anyone look at my suggestions?

Ok, here's mine.

First of all, a sign will tell you how dangerous the next area is. 1-10 stars describe this. Next, when you send the scout out, this is what happens.

Rather than giving a report, you control the scout. Like Merlin, he enters the screen, but rather than seeing the whole screen, (he doesn't have wizardly senses) he sees a cirle around him, the rest is dark. Being rather a quick little fellow, you can quickly zoom around, memorizing the landscape, and leave the room even if it is full. Given a good idea of the next screen, you return to the cleared screen, go to Merlin, and you start to control Merlin again.

Warning! It is possible that your spy is detected, like, 1/4, or 25%, so if you do get detected, RUN!!! Because your poor little scout has only 5 health, and a level 10 scout has only 20! So if you get hit by a Thundermonk blast, chances are, you're dead, because your scout, weak on fighting, will reel tremendously, and a couple more hits and you're dead meat.

Get this, when you die, you automatically return to Merlin, and you automatically save, so you lose your scout, and since you can only collect scouts, you will have to be careful.

That's the disaster possiblity. Here's the "Oh-yeah, awesome, hooray" possibility.

When you enter the screen, you won't be detected. And if he stays long enough, he will gain levels. When he gets to level 5, he automatically get's a quick-bow, not a shortbow, not a longbow, but a quick-bow. When you enter the screen, you can pull out your quick-bow, and stay far away. Then, you can launch several arrows, they move quickly, and fire rapidly, at whoever you're shooting at. They doo a good 20 damage each, so they're awesome at striking quick, and allowing you to retreat. Note: if you're not detected, then you have to be careful, attacking someone will allow the entire screen to activate and everyone is ready to fight, as they are ready to fight. Then, it is time to quickly retreat, given you have less than 20 health.

This, gives you a valuable oppertunity to see who you're up against, and how to fight. For example, if you're up against the Magical Alliance, then chances are, you don't want to summon your army, as they make mince meat out of humans. Also, you can give yourself a quick little advantage by firing a couple quick-bow arrows. 20 Damage can take out a Magical Alliance portal quite quickly, and can do some serious damage. This is at level 5. At level 10 I'd say he can do 50 damage with each quick-bow arrow, which is a LOT. (Merlin is only 30 hp at level 0). I say, the quick-bow fires 3 rounds per second, meaning 3 arrows per second, and it travels at the speed of Energy Blast.

Oh, and his Quick-Bow has a "inaccuracy" feature. The bow can stray up to 5 degrees off target.

So there you have it. A nooby little scout can help you explore new territory, and a levelled on can give you a quick little advantage.

I'm thinking, no matter what, he'd be the last one you can summon... if you can summon only soldiers, he is the 2nd one. If you can summon up to monks, he is the 4th one. It doesn't matter cuz you use him after the screen is done. [Nav Mode]

Yeah, I'm all for the scout just being a guy who goes to the next screen and tells you what's on it. No risks or anything. But he would have to be a different spell than the summoning spell or one above the dwarf, b/c he would probably not be a fighting unit.

Make it so the scout tells you a little about what is on the screen he goes to, but there is a chance that they will see him and will organise an ambush, which makes them (the enemy) invisible or camoflauged untill you get attacked, then they all become visible.

I like the idea of the ambush like that. Mightn't be too complicated either. I'll have to look into that if I ever get around to doing this.

I agree that the scout should be on a seperate spell from the other units.

Ok, two things to say:
1: Carefree_Butterfly, I liIiIiIiIiIike!!!!!!!!!
2: The ambush idea would tie in very well with Carefree_butterflies, you just have it if they seee you, even if they kill you, they organise an ambush.
That is, like, the most...AWESOME IDEA EVER!!!!!!

i dont relly get the point of the ambush thing - if u can only get something bad out of sending the scout, besides seeing the screen, WE STILL HAVENT ANSWERED FATTY-BOY!!!!! thats why i made mine - it might be a bit complicated, but its not that complicated if u think about it - i just made it seem so cause i listed all the different things u get wen u lvl and everything, but if u think about it its just like wen ur soldier lvls up it doesnt say everything it lvled up in, u just know that hes stronger now - accordingly, u wouldnt need to say how he gets stronger wen he lvls up, u just have to say 'goblins are the worst spies, karate guys the strongest, and ninja's the slyest, and they all get better when they lvl!'
Carefree butterfly: i thought taht was pretty good, but why would the spy have such strong arrows but not merlin, and how would the spy do any damage if he only has a small sight radius and therefore couldnt see wat hes shooting! finally, all u would have to do to lvl ur guy up is to walk into the screen with him and just stay at the edge for a while as he lvls up, and then there u have a nice strong spy!

Thnx for looking,
MR ROX!

I TOtally agree with Carefree_Butterfly's idea.But maybe you have to collect enough red potions or (maybe) add another potion to the kind of potions you already have and then the more potions you have the higher level it will start out as.
Also, i think he can;t just run around for however long he wants until they find him. i think he should have a time limit or something like that to regulate how long he can explore and to go with my earlier statement the potions you get the longer the time he has.
I don't think he should have a weapon that causes a bunch of damage.like, maybe 10 shots from his weapon to kill a goblin.

ok how bout this

type 1 *go scout!*
scout askes "stealth or speed?"
type 1 for stealth 2 for speed
*right away sir!*
5 seconds later
*there are 2 goblins a skeloton and 2 red potions sir*
and if hes not there by 10 seconds hes dead and you have to summon another one

what do you think?

I'll agree with more or less anything to get this implemented!

its a good idea but see [suggestion_4635]
its sorta the same

TOO MANY COMMENTS!!! it's driving me mad!!(and it's driving fast!!weeee!lol)

It seems that this won't go in MR3...PLEASE STEVE USE IT IN MR4!!!

A scout is a very good idea. He should also be able to (if possible) bring back a few of the weaker units with him all chained together. Therefore, he would also be helpful in battle.

when you send in the scout, you should beable to see a fuzzy picture of the screen. kind of like through his eyes.