CptWasp Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 It would be very useful and very nice to have more informative floating icons. Some simple ideas: - Floating icon border is dashed -> the unit is HIDDEN (very often I forget to set hidden status for some unit!) - Optional, pressing some key, the color indicates: level of supply morale command chain status etc. etc. (this works only for friendlies, obviously) Please consider this! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c3k Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 Nice. How about, INSTEAD OF JUST "?" for enemy, how about adding what it just was? For example, I see and identify an enemy HQ. I get a little flag. Cool. Next, due to incoming, the enemy HQ is suppressed and goes to ground. Now, for the next few turns I only see "?". Sometimes I leave the game for a few days. When I get back, I have no friggin' idea what half the "?" are. I'm sure my little men would know. How about adding the contact info? You know, put the little flag NEXT to the "?". That way I, the player, can see what it is. Obviously, you only get the extra icon info if you gained the intel earlier. Thoughts? Thanks, Ken 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdstrike Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 +1 for these. I'd also settle with a toggle text like in CMAK. And please also an option to turn off the "?" icons along with the others. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salwon Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 For example, I see and identify an enemy HQ. I get a little flag. Cool. Next, due to incoming, the enemy HQ is suppressed and goes to grounFor example, I see and identify an enemy HQ. I get a little flag. Cool. Next, due to incoming, the enemy HQ is suppressed and goes to ground. Now, for the next few turns I only see "?". Sometimes I leave the game for a few days. When I get back, I have no friggin' idea what half the "?" are. I'm sure my little men would know. How about adding the contact info? You know, put the little flag NEXT to the "?". That way I, the player, can see what it is. A pet peeve of mine: how did your men know that was an HQ, and not just an infantry squad? I like the idea of giving more info on lost contacts, but personally I think all contacts should be listed as rifle squads until proven otherwise (in LOS for an HQ ID, firing an MG/AT, etc). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CptWasp Posted October 28, 2008 Author Share Posted October 28, 2008 A pet peeve of mine: how did your men know that was an HQ, and not just an infantry squad? I like the idea of giving more info on lost contacts, but personally I think all contacts should be listed as rifle squads until proven otherwise (in LOS for an HQ ID, firing an MG/AT, etc). Yes I agree. It's sometimes too easy to pick the HQ. It should be identified only after some observation. For hidden units, another thing that should work is to have their floating icon semi-transparent. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkEzra Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 I certainly hope that future Icons will provide more info without becoming either too burdensome or distracting. There's real potential for improving quick glance status but I wouldn't want Icons to become some sort of stat sheet. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeatEtr Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 I asked about more floating icon types, like a sniper icon. This was Steves response from the huge "the road ahead" thread. Oops... overlooked MeatEtr's request for more "floating icon" types. I want to see more as well, so there will be. I'm not sure if I'll get as many as I would like (I didn't the first time around ), but I'm definitely advocating for more! Steve IMO the floating icons are underused for CMSF. The icons could be tweaked to show, as Cpt. Wasp said, whether a unit is hidden or not. But it could also show more like morale and the command link. It'd be great to see all this at a mere glance of the battlefield. I also like the idea of getting a more detailed info box like hitting the enter key for the CMx1 games. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salwon Posted October 30, 2008 Share Posted October 30, 2008 I just realized that the Airborne Assault series (esp. CotA) has a great implementation of this - basically you can cycle through what information is shown on the chits: morale, supply, current orders, etc. Just a small indicator of some sort on the floating icon would really help IMO. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CptWasp Posted October 30, 2008 Author Share Posted October 30, 2008 I just realized that the Airborne Assault series (esp. CotA) has a great implementation of this - basically you can cycle through what information is shown on the chits: morale, supply, current orders, etc. Just a small indicator of some sort on the floating icon would really help IMO. Yes, I had precisely that in mind when I opened this post. By viewing a single type of info at a time it reduces the clutter; and the info are only a click away from you. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenrick Posted October 30, 2008 Share Posted October 30, 2008 The Close Combat series had outlines that were adjustable to show what ever stat you wanted at a glance for your own troops. Holding down a key toggle'd that to a a different stat, and so on. Would be great to be able to have something like that indicating C2, ammo, suppression, what have you at a glance on the unit icon. -Jenrick 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Other Means Posted October 30, 2008 Share Posted October 30, 2008 I think we need to define: What information do we need What is an iconThen think of the best way to make the two match up. I've presented what I think is the best solution here enough times to become a laughing stock. My major driver is that I want all the tactical information I need at a glance. Immersion for me isn't seeing soldiers run around - it's an appreciation of the tactical situation at a glance. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CptWasp Posted October 31, 2008 Author Share Posted October 31, 2008 Personally I think that simple is good Having some dedicated icon for snipers, or a special icon for hidden units, should be not too hard. For ammo, morale...: keep it simple. Orange is bad, yellow not fine, green ok: using some key I can switch between normal, ammo mode, morale mode... and so on. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenrick Posted October 31, 2008 Share Posted October 31, 2008 CptWasp: Exactly! -Jenrick 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeatEtr Posted October 31, 2008 Share Posted October 31, 2008 I think we need to define: What information do we need What is an iconThen think of the best way to make the two match up. I've presented what I think is the best solution here enough times to become a laughing stock. My major driver is that I want all the tactical information I need at a glance. Immersion for me isn't seeing soldiers run around - it's an appreciation of the tactical situation at a glance. OM, great post and thread, thanks for the link. So we're just retreading over the same ideas then. What has been Steves response to this idea, I noticed no response in that thread. To sum up in a single sentence. We need not only more icons, but icons that give more user feedback. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salwon Posted October 31, 2008 Share Posted October 31, 2008 To sum up in a single sentence. We need not only more icons, but icons that give more user feedback. Eh, on further reflection...there's definitely a fine line between the good-more and the too-much-to-be-useful-more. It would be really easy to clutter up the UI with diminishing returns on gameplay, so I can understand why the icons are as they are. I think a simple shading of the icon might work best - completely filled is good, empty is bad. Then allow the user to cycle through a few options, let's say Strength, Supply, Morale, and Suppression. This way you could tell at a glance how your pixeltruppen are doing without having to squint to read the tiny bar next to the unit symbol. Again, it would be very easy to just create more clutter with things 90% of users would never use. Orange is bad, yellow not fine, green ok The only problem with this is that it would be hard to tell blue from red 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Other Means Posted October 31, 2008 Share Posted October 31, 2008 OM, great post and thread, thanks for the link. So we're just retreading over the same ideas then. What has been Steves response to this idea, I noticed no response in that thread. To sum up in a single sentence. We need not only more icons, but icons that give more user feedback. He agrees with most here but again - the to-do list is about 2 AU long. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan/california Posted October 31, 2008 Share Posted October 31, 2008 I think he means twice the distance from the Earth to the Sun, unless there is a military version of that abbreviation. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeatEtr Posted October 31, 2008 Share Posted October 31, 2008 I think he means twice the distance from the Earth to the Sun, unless there is a military version of that abbreviation. Wait a minute, I thought the list was as long as from the Earth to Saturn, or was it Uranus? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Other Means Posted October 31, 2008 Share Posted October 31, 2008 Oh at least mine. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdstrike Posted October 31, 2008 Share Posted October 31, 2008 Stellar comments, gentlemen. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CptWasp Posted November 1, 2008 Author Share Posted November 1, 2008 The only problem with this is that it would be hard to tell blue from red If the enemy is blue I see no problem; maybe with red enemy. But there are many solutions: in this mode enemy icons could be white or grey, so you can easily distinguish between friend and enemy. Or you can let blue and red icons and change the status icon mode colors. Again, I think status icons could be fine, but sniper and hidden units icons are IMHO much more important. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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