Hitzel
Inkling Commander
Hello everyone,
I've been lurking here for a bit and, with the party update coming in August, I noticed that most of this community is made up of fighting game players, and as a result don't have experience with some Shooter fundamentals. I saw a need for a formal in-game communication guide, so here it is.
This guide is going to be based on competitive Halo, which most competitive console shooters base their communication styles on because it's time-tested and works well. I'll try not to get too into specifics, as this game is young, and will instead outline the basics and let the Splatoon community fill in the details on their own.
The guide will be broken up into 3 sections:
1 - Callouts
2 - Map Overviews with Callouts *NEW*
3 - Descriptive Language
4 - Location Naming Conventions
5 - Conclusion
In the conclusion, I will post an arbitrary video of high-level competitive Halo with players using callouts. See how well you can understand at first glance!
Part 1: Callouts
Callouts are concise, abbreviated phrases designed to efficiently broadcast as much information about enemies sighted as possible in as few syllables as possible. They are the basic building blocks of team communication, as a team must be alerted to the immediate details of enemy presence at all times. In general, they are constructed in the following format:
Basic Callout Format =
[# of Enemies] + [Location] + [Elevation]
For example, let's say we have named the large, climbable stack of boxes in the back are of Saltspray Rig "The Crate Tower." We want to make this easier to say, so we'll call it "Crate" in-game. Let's assume that two enemies are spotted at the very top of those crates. We say they are at elevation level 3 (with the floor being level 1). Put this all together and you get:
"2 Crate 3"
Which directly translates to "Two enemies spotted at The Crate Tower, level 3."
If there is only one enemy in a location, we may omit the 1 and simply state the location. If an enemy is spotted at the bottom level of something called "Sniper Tower", we could say:
"Snipe 1"
If the location being called out does not have any varying levels of elevation, we may omit the elevation number. If two enemies are spotted at a location called "Catwalk" with only one level of elevation, we could say:
"2 Cat"
A very popular name used in callouts is "Top Mid," which means the highest level of the very center of the map. The tower in the middle of Blackbelly Skatepark is a typical of example of a Top Mid. This leads to callouts such as:
"3 Top Mid"
(Note that "Top" and "Bottom" are often used instead of numbers to designate the highest and lowest elevations of a location.)
In many cases, locations get abbreviated so much that they are boiled down to one letter. Let's assume a location is called "Floating Platforms" and becomes abbreviated to simply the letter F by the community. If three enemies are spotted at the second level of elevation of Floating Platforms, we could say:
"3 F 2"
Hopefully this paints a clear picture of how to say and understand callouts. Whenever you see an enemy or enemies, you quickly call out to your team. It is normal for teams to be constantly spitting out callouts to the point where voice chat feels congested. Don't worry about that, as you will eventually get used to it and the voice chat won't feel overwhelming.
Part 2: Map Overviews with Callouts *NEW*
Due to popular demand, my first public draft of map-specific callouts is complete! You can access the most current versiosn of my callouts here:
*Link to Map Overviews*
It is part of my Splatoon Resources google doc, which is available here:
*Link to Splatoon Resources*
Note that I have split each map overview into two overviews. To the left is always a simple overview with general areas named, while the right overview goes into greater detail. If you are new to callouts, I recommend sticking with the general callouts as first and slowly adopting the more advanced ones as you learn. Like anything else, calling out has a learning curve, so learn at your own pace.
I will continue to update these callouts based on player feedback and what I see actually being used in-game. In the future, I will be linking to other players' callouts here so that this guide may also serve as a general resource for callouts in Splatoon. In addition, my public Map Overviews folder will include my Photoshop .psd files for download so that your team and you can tweak the callouts to your liking.
Part 3: Descriptive Language
Once you are used to calling out enemies, you may feel the need to add more descriptive language to your callouts. Go for it. Descriptive language is usually inserted before or after the "body" of the callout to avoid interfering with its structure, but as long as what you're saying is clear, it's fine.
Let's go over some commonly used examples, and hopefully you'll be able to come up with more on your own.
"On My X" - When you die and enemies are close to your body, you call the location as your "X" since most games use an X to symbolize a dead teammate. In Splatoon, the X is unfortunately on your touchscreen, but if you press Down on the D-Pad, your team can see a Booyah! beacon on their main screen to go along with the callout.
"2 On My X"
"Roller On My X"
"Charger Snipe 2, Aerospray On My X"
Weapon Types - It will probably feel natural right away to add the type of weapon en enemy is using to your callouts. It's pretty straight forward:
"Roller Top Mid"
"2 P 1, 52 Gal"
"Splattershot and Kraken, Cat 4"
Enemy Health - This is a very important part of Halo callouts because of slowly recharging energy shields and headshot mechanics, but maybe not so much here. Either way it should be mentioned. Slightly modified to fit Splatoon, enemy health is typically expressed in the following ways:
1-Shot - Enemy has taken damage and should go down from 1 bullet.
Absolute - Enemy has taken great damage and will definitely go down from any damage source.
Weak - Enemy has taken some damage.
Full - Enemy is at 100% health. Not usually mentioned.
"1-Shot Top Mid"
"2 Snipe 1, both Weak"
"3 Crate 1, Aerospray is absolute"
Enemy Movement - Enemies rarely stand still, and if an enemy is on the move you may find it natural to say where:
"Bottom Mid, moving Cat"
"Snipe 2, dropping down"
The possibilities are endless. Overall, don't be afraid to say whatever is on your mind. Callouts are flexible and are designed to help you say what you need to say to your teammates by providing shortcuts to normal speech. They are not meant to limit your speech to the "correct way," so do what feels natural. Your teammates and you are the ones who decide how to communicate well to each other.
Part 4: Location Naming Conventions
Over the years, location names in callouts have adapted to popular map design elements. I don't want to impose map names on specific maps, but I can share some of the commonly used naming conventions that can be universally applied to many maps. Remember that locations tend to evolve over time, becoming abbreviated in ways that DO NOT RHYME with other locations or numbers. It is important not to make location names rhyme with common phrases because rhyming words can quickly confuse your team and do more harm than good.
Our and Their - These modifiers are used in symmetrical maps (aka, every map in Splatoon) to distinguish things on "our" side vs "their" side. Team colors are of course interchangeable. This leads to names like "Our Perch" and "Their Halfpipe", or "Blue Street" and "Red Catwalk."
Mid - This has been covered already, Mid refers to the middle of the map. "Top Mid" is one of the most universally used and understood callouts.
Color - If a section of a map is a unique color, that color is often used to name that location. Red, Blue, etc.
Environmental Factors - There are often structures, decorations, etc that uniquely identify a location. The Crate Tower's name I made up for Saltspray Rig is a good example.
Jump - Jump-Up. Refers to locations where a trick jump is often used to move from one location to another.
Snipe - Sniper Tower. Often used to describe a structure commonly used for sniping, or simply for tall structures in general. The perches overlooking the center of Saltspray Rig are good examples.
BR - "Battle Rifle" Tower. Used to describe a tower on the opposite side of the map from a Sniper Tower. Popularized by the Halo 2 map Lockout, because a tower with a Battle Rifle on it appeared across the map from the Sniper Tower.
Court - Courtyard. Used to name an open area, usually in the front of a team's base.
Street - Used to name long ramps or walkways.
Open and Closed - Used to name ramps, walkways, or general areas that are opened to the sky (Open) or closed off by a wall, ceiling, or tunnel (Closed). People usually drop the d from Closed because it's easier to say. Popularized by the Halo 3 map Construct.
Window - Pretty self explanatory. It's a window.
Back - Short for "Back Wall." Used to describe generally avoided or less-used areas of maps that are "in the back" and out of the way.
Left and Right - This one's complicated, but useful. Popularized by the Halo 3 map Narrows. Used to identify one of many pieces of repeating cover on the left or right side of a map. When something like "Left 3" is used as a callout, the 3 is not referring to elevation, but instead the horizontal position of the piece of cover in relation of the others, starting with what is closest to your base.
The most obvious use of this callout in Splatoon is probably the middle of Port Mackerel. There are 8 crates in the middle of the map, 4 to the left and 4 to the right. It would be wise, looking from your base to their base, to name the 4 crates to the left: Left 1, Left 2, Left 3, and Left 4 as you move away form your base, and do the same to the right side. This will avoid the ambiguity of simply saying "Crates" when calling out enemies in those locations.
Cat - Catwalk. This will probably be used often in Splatoon because of the Squid Form drop-through surfaces.
Elbow - Used to describe bridges or walkways with 90 degree angles. The lower walkways of Saltspray Rig come to mind here.
Shoulder - Used to describe a ramp leading up the side of a tall or large structure.
Mohawk - Used to describe a raised area that may resemble a mo-hawk, but has evolved to simply refer to long and narrow raised structures. The raised, ramped, structure between the Splat Zone and the Crates area of Saltspray Rig is a good example of this.
Pink (P) and Car - Popularized by the Halo 2 map Midship, Pink and Car refer to elevated structures that overlook the center of a map, that are to the left or right of the map's center when looking from one base to another. The taller of the two structures is called Pink, and the shorter is called Car, even if neither structure is Pink. This is simply a Halo habbit that's become universally understood. There aren't any good examples of this in Splatoon yet, but it's worth mentioning because it's so popular.
Names of Players or Tactics - Over time, certain players or tactics will cause strangely specific sots on a map to gain relevance. These spots often get their names from the tactic used or the player that popularized them. Knowing how the Smash community likes to name things, and how this community contains a lot of Smash players, I foresee this happening once tournaments start after the August update.
Part 5: Conclusion
This guide ended up being longer than I anticipated, so sorry if it was too long! I hope that this has opened your eyes to new, better ways to communicate with teammates, and I hope you can take these basics and use them to communicate well and become a strong, competitive teammate. If you have any questions or think I should be more clear, let me know, as I have been playing competitive console shooters for over a decade now, so these things are second-nature to me.
As promised, here is a high-level competitive Halo video where players are using callouts to communicate. See how much you can recognize after reading this guide!
Video: MLG Columbus 2012 - Halo Reach, Instinct vs Status Quo (Game 4)
Listen-in starts at about 8:44, I linked it to start at about 8:40. The audio quality of this is kinda fuzzy so I'm going to try to find a better example.
*Edit*
Better Audio Quality Video. One of the guys is cursing so beware. It will have to do for now until I replace it.
Thank you everyone!
I've been lurking here for a bit and, with the party update coming in August, I noticed that most of this community is made up of fighting game players, and as a result don't have experience with some Shooter fundamentals. I saw a need for a formal in-game communication guide, so here it is.
This guide is going to be based on competitive Halo, which most competitive console shooters base their communication styles on because it's time-tested and works well. I'll try not to get too into specifics, as this game is young, and will instead outline the basics and let the Splatoon community fill in the details on their own.
The guide will be broken up into 3 sections:
1 - Callouts
2 - Map Overviews with Callouts *NEW*
3 - Descriptive Language
4 - Location Naming Conventions
5 - Conclusion
In the conclusion, I will post an arbitrary video of high-level competitive Halo with players using callouts. See how well you can understand at first glance!
Part 1: Callouts
Callouts are concise, abbreviated phrases designed to efficiently broadcast as much information about enemies sighted as possible in as few syllables as possible. They are the basic building blocks of team communication, as a team must be alerted to the immediate details of enemy presence at all times. In general, they are constructed in the following format:
Basic Callout Format =
[# of Enemies] + [Location] + [Elevation]
For example, let's say we have named the large, climbable stack of boxes in the back are of Saltspray Rig "The Crate Tower." We want to make this easier to say, so we'll call it "Crate" in-game. Let's assume that two enemies are spotted at the very top of those crates. We say they are at elevation level 3 (with the floor being level 1). Put this all together and you get:
"2 Crate 3"
Which directly translates to "Two enemies spotted at The Crate Tower, level 3."
If there is only one enemy in a location, we may omit the 1 and simply state the location. If an enemy is spotted at the bottom level of something called "Sniper Tower", we could say:
"Snipe 1"
If the location being called out does not have any varying levels of elevation, we may omit the elevation number. If two enemies are spotted at a location called "Catwalk" with only one level of elevation, we could say:
"2 Cat"
A very popular name used in callouts is "Top Mid," which means the highest level of the very center of the map. The tower in the middle of Blackbelly Skatepark is a typical of example of a Top Mid. This leads to callouts such as:
"3 Top Mid"
(Note that "Top" and "Bottom" are often used instead of numbers to designate the highest and lowest elevations of a location.)
In many cases, locations get abbreviated so much that they are boiled down to one letter. Let's assume a location is called "Floating Platforms" and becomes abbreviated to simply the letter F by the community. If three enemies are spotted at the second level of elevation of Floating Platforms, we could say:
"3 F 2"
Hopefully this paints a clear picture of how to say and understand callouts. Whenever you see an enemy or enemies, you quickly call out to your team. It is normal for teams to be constantly spitting out callouts to the point where voice chat feels congested. Don't worry about that, as you will eventually get used to it and the voice chat won't feel overwhelming.
Part 2: Map Overviews with Callouts *NEW*
Due to popular demand, my first public draft of map-specific callouts is complete! You can access the most current versiosn of my callouts here:
*Link to Map Overviews*
It is part of my Splatoon Resources google doc, which is available here:
*Link to Splatoon Resources*
Note that I have split each map overview into two overviews. To the left is always a simple overview with general areas named, while the right overview goes into greater detail. If you are new to callouts, I recommend sticking with the general callouts as first and slowly adopting the more advanced ones as you learn. Like anything else, calling out has a learning curve, so learn at your own pace.
I will continue to update these callouts based on player feedback and what I see actually being used in-game. In the future, I will be linking to other players' callouts here so that this guide may also serve as a general resource for callouts in Splatoon. In addition, my public Map Overviews folder will include my Photoshop .psd files for download so that your team and you can tweak the callouts to your liking.
Part 3: Descriptive Language
Once you are used to calling out enemies, you may feel the need to add more descriptive language to your callouts. Go for it. Descriptive language is usually inserted before or after the "body" of the callout to avoid interfering with its structure, but as long as what you're saying is clear, it's fine.
Let's go over some commonly used examples, and hopefully you'll be able to come up with more on your own.
"On My X" - When you die and enemies are close to your body, you call the location as your "X" since most games use an X to symbolize a dead teammate. In Splatoon, the X is unfortunately on your touchscreen, but if you press Down on the D-Pad, your team can see a Booyah! beacon on their main screen to go along with the callout.
"2 On My X"
"Roller On My X"
"Charger Snipe 2, Aerospray On My X"
Weapon Types - It will probably feel natural right away to add the type of weapon en enemy is using to your callouts. It's pretty straight forward:
"Roller Top Mid"
"2 P 1, 52 Gal"
"Splattershot and Kraken, Cat 4"
Enemy Health - This is a very important part of Halo callouts because of slowly recharging energy shields and headshot mechanics, but maybe not so much here. Either way it should be mentioned. Slightly modified to fit Splatoon, enemy health is typically expressed in the following ways:
1-Shot - Enemy has taken damage and should go down from 1 bullet.
Absolute - Enemy has taken great damage and will definitely go down from any damage source.
Weak - Enemy has taken some damage.
Full - Enemy is at 100% health. Not usually mentioned.
"1-Shot Top Mid"
"2 Snipe 1, both Weak"
"3 Crate 1, Aerospray is absolute"
Enemy Movement - Enemies rarely stand still, and if an enemy is on the move you may find it natural to say where:
"Bottom Mid, moving Cat"
"Snipe 2, dropping down"
The possibilities are endless. Overall, don't be afraid to say whatever is on your mind. Callouts are flexible and are designed to help you say what you need to say to your teammates by providing shortcuts to normal speech. They are not meant to limit your speech to the "correct way," so do what feels natural. Your teammates and you are the ones who decide how to communicate well to each other.
Part 4: Location Naming Conventions
Over the years, location names in callouts have adapted to popular map design elements. I don't want to impose map names on specific maps, but I can share some of the commonly used naming conventions that can be universally applied to many maps. Remember that locations tend to evolve over time, becoming abbreviated in ways that DO NOT RHYME with other locations or numbers. It is important not to make location names rhyme with common phrases because rhyming words can quickly confuse your team and do more harm than good.
Our and Their - These modifiers are used in symmetrical maps (aka, every map in Splatoon) to distinguish things on "our" side vs "their" side. Team colors are of course interchangeable. This leads to names like "Our Perch" and "Their Halfpipe", or "Blue Street" and "Red Catwalk."
Mid - This has been covered already, Mid refers to the middle of the map. "Top Mid" is one of the most universally used and understood callouts.
Color - If a section of a map is a unique color, that color is often used to name that location. Red, Blue, etc.
Environmental Factors - There are often structures, decorations, etc that uniquely identify a location. The Crate Tower's name I made up for Saltspray Rig is a good example.
Jump - Jump-Up. Refers to locations where a trick jump is often used to move from one location to another.
Snipe - Sniper Tower. Often used to describe a structure commonly used for sniping, or simply for tall structures in general. The perches overlooking the center of Saltspray Rig are good examples.
BR - "Battle Rifle" Tower. Used to describe a tower on the opposite side of the map from a Sniper Tower. Popularized by the Halo 2 map Lockout, because a tower with a Battle Rifle on it appeared across the map from the Sniper Tower.
Court - Courtyard. Used to name an open area, usually in the front of a team's base.
Street - Used to name long ramps or walkways.
Open and Closed - Used to name ramps, walkways, or general areas that are opened to the sky (Open) or closed off by a wall, ceiling, or tunnel (Closed). People usually drop the d from Closed because it's easier to say. Popularized by the Halo 3 map Construct.
Window - Pretty self explanatory. It's a window.
Back - Short for "Back Wall." Used to describe generally avoided or less-used areas of maps that are "in the back" and out of the way.
Left and Right - This one's complicated, but useful. Popularized by the Halo 3 map Narrows. Used to identify one of many pieces of repeating cover on the left or right side of a map. When something like "Left 3" is used as a callout, the 3 is not referring to elevation, but instead the horizontal position of the piece of cover in relation of the others, starting with what is closest to your base.
The most obvious use of this callout in Splatoon is probably the middle of Port Mackerel. There are 8 crates in the middle of the map, 4 to the left and 4 to the right. It would be wise, looking from your base to their base, to name the 4 crates to the left: Left 1, Left 2, Left 3, and Left 4 as you move away form your base, and do the same to the right side. This will avoid the ambiguity of simply saying "Crates" when calling out enemies in those locations.
Cat - Catwalk. This will probably be used often in Splatoon because of the Squid Form drop-through surfaces.
Elbow - Used to describe bridges or walkways with 90 degree angles. The lower walkways of Saltspray Rig come to mind here.
Shoulder - Used to describe a ramp leading up the side of a tall or large structure.
Mohawk - Used to describe a raised area that may resemble a mo-hawk, but has evolved to simply refer to long and narrow raised structures. The raised, ramped, structure between the Splat Zone and the Crates area of Saltspray Rig is a good example of this.
Pink (P) and Car - Popularized by the Halo 2 map Midship, Pink and Car refer to elevated structures that overlook the center of a map, that are to the left or right of the map's center when looking from one base to another. The taller of the two structures is called Pink, and the shorter is called Car, even if neither structure is Pink. This is simply a Halo habbit that's become universally understood. There aren't any good examples of this in Splatoon yet, but it's worth mentioning because it's so popular.
Names of Players or Tactics - Over time, certain players or tactics will cause strangely specific sots on a map to gain relevance. These spots often get their names from the tactic used or the player that popularized them. Knowing how the Smash community likes to name things, and how this community contains a lot of Smash players, I foresee this happening once tournaments start after the August update.
Part 5: Conclusion
This guide ended up being longer than I anticipated, so sorry if it was too long! I hope that this has opened your eyes to new, better ways to communicate with teammates, and I hope you can take these basics and use them to communicate well and become a strong, competitive teammate. If you have any questions or think I should be more clear, let me know, as I have been playing competitive console shooters for over a decade now, so these things are second-nature to me.
As promised, here is a high-level competitive Halo video where players are using callouts to communicate. See how much you can recognize after reading this guide!
Video: MLG Columbus 2012 - Halo Reach, Instinct vs Status Quo (Game 4)
Listen-in starts at about 8:44, I linked it to start at about 8:40. The audio quality of this is kinda fuzzy so I'm going to try to find a better example.
*Edit*
Better Audio Quality Video. One of the guys is cursing so beware. It will have to do for now until I replace it.
Thank you everyone!
Last edited:
![[EJ]_Locke](/data/avatars/l/5/5070.jpg?1443902761){kind=avatar}
