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Coach Mode / Hand-Brain Mode

OpenWillWill16 messagesstarted May 28, 2026, 1:36 AM
gameplay
WillWillOP5 days ago
I really enjoy the decision-making and routing aspect of Draftout. In a way, I enjoy it more than actually doing the tasks myself. I understand backseating is unfair and discouraged, but maybe there could be a way to make it acceptable through a new mode: My idea is to add a 2v2 mode, but in each team, there is only one person playing (aka "the hands"). The other person ("the brain") just watches and helps by keeping track of which goals should be prioritized and routing. It could be made even more interesting if only "the brain" gets to see the board, advancements, etc. so they have a larger role.

This idea takes inspiration from hand-brain mode in chess, where one player calls out a piece type, but the other person actually has to find the move. It's common to use this as a teaching tool, because it forces "the hands" to rediscover the idea that "the brain" came up with, which they might not have seen if not prompted. In a similar way, this could be a useful tool for newer players who are overwhelmed by doing both routing and playing the game - by having someone layout a plan they get to fully focus just on the execution.

As for the exact implementation, simplest would to just have a separate queue where backseating / coaching is allowed, and let people sort it out through discord streaming. It would be nice if it were more integrated though, perhaps via a party system where you can queue up together, and then you actually get put in the same world (coach in spectator, attached to player, or limited by how far they can fly). Perhaps there could also be a queue system where you get matched up with a coach / player, and communicate through chat?

Let me know what you think!
It might be out of scope for Draftout, or maybe I am in the minority when it comes to this desire to route more than play, and maybe the best solution is to just stick to Quickplay (assuming backseating is allowed there).
10
theghost003
theghost0035 days ago
I actually love this idea. Unfortunately I doubt the devs are gonna do that :(
theghost003
theghost0035 days ago
They gotta prioritize
theghost003
theghost0035 days ago
Maybe somewhere far down the line
theghost003
theghost0035 days ago
But as you said it’s likely out of draftout’s scope
theghost003
theghost0035 days ago
Learn to code and make it urself and then send me it >:3
1
Torca
Torca5 days ago
Shouldn’t this just be something you arrange in private rooms once those exist? It sounds cool but unfortunately I think the queues would be long
3
theghost003
theghost0035 days ago
I guess, but idk how easy it would be to find people to do that
theghost003
theghost0035 days ago
Which is also partly the reason the queues would be long 😅
Torca
Torca5 days ago
True, also you’d have to have 2 groups of 2 people arrange it independently at the same time for a queue but in a private room you could just try to get 1 group of 4 from this discord. Also single player if it’s purely for practice (again once that exists, or have the coach afk)
theghost003
theghost0035 days ago
It would be interesting if they implemented it as a 2v2 variant. It also doesn’t have the server downside that normal 2v2 does.
theghost003
theghost0035 days ago
True
theghost003
theghost0035 days ago
It’d be cool to see something with draftout like midoffs where there is a tournament and everyone has a coach
3
theghost003
theghost0035 days ago
Who helps them the whole time
Tacomonster
Tacomonster4 days ago
yeah if it’s possible in private room to change visibility on objectives and place one of the players in spectator then that’s probably ideal