{"schemaVersion":1,"record":{"key":"mechanic/voice-audio--family-02","type":"mechanic","id":"voice-audio--family-02","lang":"en","title":"Command and delegation","summary":"A spoken order assigns a goal to other characters or agents. The player allocates tasks, selects executors and coordinates timing.","updatedAt":"2026-10-22","status":"active","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/voice-audio--family-02/","jsonUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/voice-audio--family-02.json","markdownUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/voice-audio--family-02.md","aliases":["Commanding and delegation"],"tags":["Voice and sound","Speech as meaning"],"sourceIds":["source-a9cd3a94eec7c9d4","source-bb0f4ec127a0525d"],"sources":[{"id":"source-a9cd3a94eec7c9d4","title":"There Came an Echo","url":"https://blog.playstation.com/2016/05/23/there-came-an-echo-hits-ps4-on-may-31/","verifiedAt":null},{"id":"source-bb0f4ec127a0525d","title":"There Came an Echo","url":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/319740/","verifiedAt":null}],"sections":[{"id":"principle","title":"How it works","body":"Give other agents goals and coordinate their actions."},{"id":"variants","title":"Variants","body":"### Managing actors\n\n<a id=\"family-02-branch-1\"></a>\n\n- Assign roles and tasks to squad members. <a id=\"family-02-branch-1-variant-1\"></a>\n- Control groups or several groups simultaneously. <a id=\"family-02-branch-1-variant-2\"></a>\n- Delegate an outcome while leaving execution to a character. <a id=\"family-02-branch-1-variant-3\"></a>\n- Choose a priority: survive, hold a point, rescue an ally. <a id=\"family-02-branch-1-variant-4\"></a>\n\n### Coordination\n\n<a id=\"family-02-branch-2\"></a>\n\n- Prepare actions and trigger them with a shared command. <a id=\"family-02-branch-2-variant-1\"></a>\n- Coordinate attacks, distractions, retreats and reinforcements. <a id=\"family-02-branch-2-variant-2\"></a>\n- Specify formation, route, patrol area or observation sector. <a id=\"family-02-branch-2-variant-3\"></a>\n- Transfer control to another actor or commander. <a id=\"family-02-branch-2-variant-4\"></a>\n\n### Indirect control\n\n<a id=\"family-02-branch-3\"></a>\n\n- Guide a character by radio using complementary information. <a id=\"family-02-branch-3-variant-1\"></a>\n- Receive reports and revise the plan. <a id=\"family-02-branch-3-variant-2\"></a>\n- Resolve misunderstood or incomplete orders. <a id=\"family-02-branch-3-variant-3\"></a>\n- Manage autonomous actors with different knowledge and skills. <a id=\"family-02-branch-3-variant-4\"></a>"},{"id":"context","title":"Context and limits","body":"A working design-space map: 27 families, 81 branches and 324 variants. Voice control, audio-based play and communication can combine or exist separately. Released-game examples support particular techniques; supplementary combinations are design proposals."}],"relations":[],"placements":[{"catalogId":"voice-audio","id":"family-02","title":"Voice and sound","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/voice-audio/#family-02","categoryIds":["speech"]}],"supersededBy":[],"attributes":{"preview":{"updatedAt":"2026-10-22","title":"Commanding and delegation","description":"A spoken order assigns a goal to other characters or agents. The player allocates tasks, selects executors and coordinates timing.","image":{"src":"images/mechanics/interface-there-came-echo-06.webp","width":1440,"height":810,"game":"There Came an Echo","sourceUrl":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/319740/","originalUrl":"https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/319740/ss_61fbbe3a716ef02ceb0e802efa846a20b39d8a2c.1920x1080.jpg?t=1568690498","credit":"Iridium Studios / Iridium Studios","rights":"© Iridium Studios / Iridium Studios. Publisher-distributed Steam screenshot. All rights reserved; excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.","caption":"There Came an Echo: squad orders and the ALPHA 5 waypoint","alt":"There Came an Echo: squad orders and the ALPHA 5 waypoint","markers":[{"x":48,"y":45,"label":"MOVE TO ALPHA 5 specifies an action and a named target"}]},"tips":["Show each participant’s executor and order status separately."],"examples":[{"title":"There Came an Echo","url":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/319740/"}]}},"endsAt":null,"provenance":"Original taxonomy adapted from user-selected design discussions; linked sources support specific examples, not the whole classification.","license":"CC-BY-4.0","codeLicense":"MIT","attribution":"gamemechanics.pro contributors","catalogKey":"catalog/voice-audio"}}