Wind indicator

[slysniper]

You would think this drives others as crazy as it does me. But I play so many battles at once, I cannot remember which way the wind is blowing. Which is very important when laying smoke.

So it just crossed my mind. How about adding that in so there is a indicator for it on screen.

It is something that should be available all the time.

Maybe a added indicator in the compass for the wind direction.

Anyway, all the hunting games have something, that is so you can keep track that you are down wind of your prey.

Anyone else think this is worth adding or am I the only one that thinks it is frustrating to go look it up. since there no indicator on screen.

[Michael Emrys]

An indicator such as you describe would be handy, but I don't have a problem with going into Menus and calling up the Conditions screen. It only takes a few seconds and I only need to do it when I am planning to lay down some smoke.

Michael

[Childress]

SS: I find it counter-intuitive as well. Usually having an unengaged tank pop smoke and studying the drift does the trick.

[womble]

I think that's a good idea, that I've not seen asked for before.

[c3k]

Yeah, I like it. Usually I just look at my burning vehicles to figure it out. Resorting to the MENU tab and having to figure out the "compass-like-icon" and what that means for the wind is a pita.

When I'm standing outside, I can FEEL the wind. (I can feel your pain, but that's another subject... )

I like the idea of a wind indicator, toggled at player preference, to be displayed. Direction and intensity are the important elements of information.

[Childress]

A little off topic. What effect, if any, does wind have on ballistics or bombardments? Apart from laying smoke, of course.

[Macisle]

...I like the idea of a wind indicator, toggled at player preference, to be displayed. Direction and intensity are the important elements of information.

This would be perfect. Great idea!

[womble]

A little off topic. What effect, if any, does wind have on ballistics or bombardments? Apart from laying smoke, of course.

I'd say "not much". I formed an early opinion that light mortars were detrimentally affected, but have revised that in the light of further experience in even stronger wind conditions. Haven't done any specific testing, though.

[Freyberg]

A little off topic. What effect, if any, does wind have on ballistics or bombardments? Apart from laying smoke, of course.

I've seen it have an effect on mortar rounds, and noticed a side-on wind makes it harder for mortars to get on target.

[poesel]

Same experience here - strong winds make mortars very inaccurate.

And while we wish for new on-screen information: could the status of the various toggles be displayed somewhere?

I found myself wondering why I couldn't get LOS until I noticed I had accidentally turned smoke off! Or the battle where it took me 20 minutes to figure out it was night... 8-)

[Macisle]

In thinking about this more, it would be better to have an integrated indicator in the compass. That way, the player doesn't have to fiddle with anything and it's just a glance away, in a related information spot, with no added screen real estate taken.

My first idea would be to add another hand on the compass. It would not appear at all if there was no wind (or you could have something like a centered small blue circle, perhaps with a symbol, to indicate No Wind). Assuming wind, it appears and has one mark (here stripes have been used) per wind level. One for Gentle, two for Light, three for Medium, and four for Heavy. It would point in the direction the wind is blowing. So, here, a Strong wind is blowing to the East.

[Macisle]

Second idea:

A hand in the center with a letter on it. If there is no wind, there is only the circle with the letter N. Other states include a hand extending from the circle with letters G, L, M, or S.

Here is a Gentle wind blowing to the East:

[slysniper]

Same experience here - strong winds make mortars very inaccurate.

And while we wish for new on-screen information: could the status of the various toggles be displayed somewhere?

I found myself wondering why I couldn't get LOS until I noticed I had accidentally turned smoke off! Or the battle where it took me 20 minutes to figure out it was night... 8-)

Funny, but true.

What ever settings was used in the last game you are in is what comes up in the next one opened. It would solve much of this problem by each game remembering its own settings.

I doubt we could get a on screen indicator, but it would be nice if there was a screen that showed all the settings at once and a indication as to what each was set to that could be pulled up with a key stroke command.

[slysniper]

In thinking about this more, it would be better to have an integrated indicator in the compass. That way, the player doesn't have to fiddle with anything and it's just a glance away, in a related information spot, with no added screen real estate taken.

My first idea would be to add another hand on the compass. It would not appear at all if there was no wind (or you could have something like a centered small blue circle, perhaps with a symbol, to indicate No Wind). Assuming wind, it appears and has one mark (here stripes have been used) per wind level. One for Gentle, two for Light, three for Medium, and four for Heavy. It would point in the direction the wind is blowing. So, here, a Strong wind is blowing to the East.

That is the concept.

Of course, they really have a viewing indicator that shows you which way you are looking, not a compass per say.

So the only challenge there would be is to design it so that if per chance

you are looking the same direction that the wind is blowing, both indicators would need to show and not overlap each other.

[Macisle]

...So the only challenge there would be is to design it so that if per chance

you are looking the same direction that the wind is blowing, both indicators would need to show and not overlap each other.

I think with the second idea, it wouldn't be an issue because the wind hand is thin and the circle base gives you the wind strength. So, even if they overlap, both can be read.

In idea 1, the wind strength indicator stripes require a thicker hand, making Direction + Wind view overlap more of an issue.

That is actually what got me onto the second idea.

[Nelson 1812]

That looks good......

[Macisle]

Thanks, Nelson!

[c3k]

Sigh. Wouldn't it be better to tie it into your computer's fan control? Using interference patterns, and fine-grained control algorithms, you could make your computer blow in different directions and strengths. That's immersion!

An arrow showing the wind direction (weather vane INTO wind, or point downwind?), and strength (thickness/length) would be my favored solution.

[poesel]

A hand in the center with a letter on it. If there is no wind, there is only the circle with the letter N. Other states include a hand extending from the circle with letters G, L, M, or S.

Letters have to be translated. I'd rather use a symbol.

We could also have a wind vane as standard flavour object

[Macisle]

Letters have to be translated. I'd rather use a symbol.

That's a good point. You could replace the weather strength letter with circle outlines inside each other (colored circles would require the player to remember what they mean). For example, no light blue circle outline means no wind. One circle is Gentle, two Light, three Medium, and four Strong.

However, that might look a little funky. You could also put hash marks near the tip of the wind hand to give strength and also make the hand tip a little easier to see. Kinda' like a Firefly barrel wind strength indicator. So, no hand equals no wind, hand plus one hash mark is Gentle, two Light and so on.

I'm trying to keep my idea to something that BF doesn't have to spend a lot of time on. So far, these would only be minor graphical changes to the compass and what seem like minimal coding requirements.

A weather vane and such would be a larger undertaking, IMO.

[Ithikial_AU]

At the moment I can't see much point as the wind direction and strength doesn't change. However if something like dynamic or alternating weather was introduced into the game as discussed in another thread I think it would be pretty important.

[Macisle]

At the moment I can't see much point as the wind direction and strength doesn't change. However if something like dynamic or alternating weather was introduced into the game as discussed in another thread I think it would be pretty important.

It makes gameplay smoother by not forcing the player to hunt in submenus for the info. Particularly for players with lots of games going, having the info on the compass at a glance when they want to use smoke would remove a small, but annoying time/effort tax on the player.

[Michael Emrys]

It makes gameplay smoother by not forcing the player to hunt in submenus for the info. Particularly for players with lots of games going, having the info on the compass at a glance when they want to use smoke would remove a small, but annoying time/effort tax on the player.

Okay, I can accept your argument. BTW, I like your first design best, FWIW.

Michael

[Macisle]

Here's one last one:

This uses the stock compass graphic with a different hand. The wind strength would be shown by the white marks in the center circle. No wind hand or marks equals No Wind. Then, a hand plus one mark per wind level, up to four as shown for Strong Wind.

[poesel]

That looks very nice.

One thing would still puzzle me: is the wind blowing from E or to E? Maybe you could add a little arrow on the blue line (middle, not end) which points toward the centre so that it is clear that its from E (if that is what was meant here )