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I was thinking the same thing as RelayeR.
Here's what the new UI would look like with less red.
http://lemming.localnetsys.com/station_interface.jpg
http://lemming.localnetsys.com/station_interface.jpg
WoooooO!
But now its called Station, not Bar?
But now its called Station, not Bar?
Eh, I think Lebermac's looked cooler... but hey, that's just me.
I actually prefer the one from Guild to mostly everything else I've seen, mostly because it's leaner and cleaner. maybe I'm getting old. =)
Beolach, you can see monies on any *tab* (look on the right hand side :)
I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about, yoda. -.o Me, not see something in plain sight, and then delete my post when someone points it out? Never.
I dont like the shade of blue, tis' all I can say. if you give it a light green...that'd be awsome.
It WILL be customizeable. But, let'em finish the default version first, OK?
seldon no offence but...
THAT SUCKS!!!
THAT SUCKS!!!
freespace :P
The narrow-minded attitude of many people here has caused me to not be playing as much as I might otherwise. The whole "the game has PERFECT gameplay" attitude is ridiculous, because it clearly doesn't, and not only that, but the interface itself lacks many of the tools that other games have had for over a decade.
By the way, that screenshot shows the dumbed-down Freespace HUD. The greyed out features are all things that Vendetta is missing entirely, with a few exceptions (because some features don't fit into Vendetta gameplay) like shield management.
Despite the "multiplayer" aspect of Vendetta, and the fact that it has Newtonian physics, I've found myself opting to play Freespace recently because it's a much more pleasant experience, as it has great gameplay, excellent controls, and I don't have to deal with some of the more annoying players. It's rather a nice change of pace.
Each to his own, I guess.
By the way, that screenshot shows the dumbed-down Freespace HUD. The greyed out features are all things that Vendetta is missing entirely, with a few exceptions (because some features don't fit into Vendetta gameplay) like shield management.
Despite the "multiplayer" aspect of Vendetta, and the fact that it has Newtonian physics, I've found myself opting to play Freespace recently because it's a much more pleasant experience, as it has great gameplay, excellent controls, and I don't have to deal with some of the more annoying players. It's rather a nice change of pace.
Each to his own, I guess.
Seldon has seen the light!
Making it customizable is part of the Plan, as I've said. But yes, we just need to get something to work first.
Having multiple selectable huds and radar types was something I wanted back in the 90s. Actually, I believe Ray has implemented a couple of selectable radar types for the new HUD.
Having multiple selectable huds and radar types was something I wanted back in the 90s. Actually, I believe Ray has implemented a couple of selectable radar types for the new HUD.
Harry Seldon:
What about the freespace controls is lacking in VO? I would certainly like to steal, er, use ideas from freespace and other space games when it comes to flying around.
If you could give a couple examples of differences, that would be great. I tried to make the flight-assist mode more like freespace/x-wing/etc... but it kinda missed its mark.
What about the freespace controls is lacking in VO? I would certainly like to steal, er, use ideas from freespace and other space games when it comes to flying around.
If you could give a couple examples of differences, that would be great. I tried to make the flight-assist mode more like freespace/x-wing/etc... but it kinda missed its mark.
raybondo,
i don't think you can make FA mode too much more X-wing like, given it still has to use the same physics model (not a problem IMO Vendetta's physics model is better)
also is it posable/planed to make a different HUD for FA on and FA off (perhaps something along the lines of a compus that tells you you're berring using the center of the system as 0, and a eye candy "active thrusters" marker in that box with the wireframe ship for when FA is on, both of which diappear when you turn off FA (inplying these indicators are part of the fly-by wire system)?
i don't think you can make FA mode too much more X-wing like, given it still has to use the same physics model (not a problem IMO Vendetta's physics model is better)
also is it posable/planed to make a different HUD for FA on and FA off (perhaps something along the lines of a compus that tells you you're berring using the center of the system as 0, and a eye candy "active thrusters" marker in that box with the wireframe ship for when FA is on, both of which diappear when you turn off FA (inplying these indicators are part of the fly-by wire system)?
Okay, I'll give you some examples. A lot of these have to do with targeting, HUD elements, and the like. Please use http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v178/Dimpfinator/HudConfig.png for reference when I reference the HUD :). I'll use the default keys in Freespace in my examples, even if they conflict with VO keys.
Targeting Controls:
A few notes: For the most part, when the "Target next [.......]" used, for example, if the "h" key is used, the "shift-h" combo would perform "Target previous [.......]".
Also, the keys I'll give are not caps sensitive.
1. Target Next Ship: In Freespace, the "T" key cycled through targets, both friendly, neutral, and hostile, rather indiscriminately. Wasn't used much, but with the current standing system, it's needed.
2. Target Next Closest Hostile: Cycle through enemies by distance. H key by default.
3. Target Target's nearest attacker: useful for finding ships bombarding capital ships. Target the cap ship (usually in your Monitoring list, which I'll explain in my HUD section), then press the G key. There are a number of other ways to stop bombs specifically, like the....
4. Target Nearest Bomb or Bomber: B key by default. Not used in VO at the moment, but Be Prepared, right? There are also keys to target turrets on cap ships, like the...
5. Target next live turret: K key by default. Targets next live turret. And it's "next" and not "nearest" because of the variation in weaponry on the Freespace caps. For VO at the moment, I'd reccomend using "nearest".
6. Set Throttle to max/min: [DELETE] and \ keys by default. Useful to have, and I know it's possible through binds. But it's still good to have in the controls list.
7. Target Newest Ship in Area: Nuff said. N key by default
There are a bunch more that are really useful, but they don't really apply to Vendetta gameplay, like the "launch countermeasure" or "target subsystem" key. Also useful though, was the "Auto-target closest hostile" key, which would automatically target the nearest hostile when you made a kill.
HUD Section:
1. w00t for circular radar. Thanks for putting that in.
For these next few suggestions, I'll be addressing the dead center of the HUD, the main reticle:
2. Hull indicator of the enemy in the lower middle of the reticle. AWESOME to have, because you don't have to keep glancing at the top right of the screen.
3. Warning indicators for incoming fire or missiles. Mostly useful in VO for proximity of missiles (flashing more often for how close it is). Visual confirmation is a good thing, and adds to the atmosphere. Fire indicator is also useful. You'd think you know when someone is shooting at you, but it's useful when somebody is sneaking up on you.
4. "Where the missile is coming from" indicator: The triangle with the line coming out of it (normally yellow) indicated where missiles were coming from. The lower hemisphere indicated the rear hemisphere, while the upper hemisphere indicated the front of your ship. The line coming out of the indicator also helped indicate how FAR each missile was from you.
5. Offscreen Target Indicator: On the edge of the screen (when your target was off the screen), it had 2 triangles (like in the top of the screen, next to the message window) that grew closer together as the enemy got closer to your front (or vice versa), as well as displaying the distance to the enemy.
6. Auto-Target (see bottom-right corner): Indicated if it was enabled or disabled. Should be extended to auto-aim and Physics mode/FA mode, in my opinion.
7. Monitoring list: This should be a modifiable list (with a button), in which you can add specific in-system ships, or maintain a list that, if a specific ship type is in a system, they are automatically added to that list, which monitors health.
IE: SMV Great Lady would automatically added to the list, or the Sola, etc, no matter your nation, and they would appear in nation-specific colors. Note: this is in addition to the group list.
8. Directives list: Showed what your current objectives were. This wouldn't replace the missions tab, but supplement it with an easily-viewable list of objectives.
...so yeah, a lot of what I'm annoyed with is how much work it is to do things like target hostiles within range. Sector list is unbelievably annoying compared to Freespace, for instance. Sector list should stay, granted, but better targeting controls (among other things) are really necessary, in my mind.
That's it for now. I'll bring this up again if I have any more to add.
Cheers.
Targeting Controls:
A few notes: For the most part, when the "Target next [.......]" used, for example, if the "h" key is used, the "shift-h" combo would perform "Target previous [.......]".
Also, the keys I'll give are not caps sensitive.
1. Target Next Ship: In Freespace, the "T" key cycled through targets, both friendly, neutral, and hostile, rather indiscriminately. Wasn't used much, but with the current standing system, it's needed.
2. Target Next Closest Hostile: Cycle through enemies by distance. H key by default.
3. Target Target's nearest attacker: useful for finding ships bombarding capital ships. Target the cap ship (usually in your Monitoring list, which I'll explain in my HUD section), then press the G key. There are a number of other ways to stop bombs specifically, like the....
4. Target Nearest Bomb or Bomber: B key by default. Not used in VO at the moment, but Be Prepared, right? There are also keys to target turrets on cap ships, like the...
5. Target next live turret: K key by default. Targets next live turret. And it's "next" and not "nearest" because of the variation in weaponry on the Freespace caps. For VO at the moment, I'd reccomend using "nearest".
6. Set Throttle to max/min: [DELETE] and \ keys by default. Useful to have, and I know it's possible through binds. But it's still good to have in the controls list.
7. Target Newest Ship in Area: Nuff said. N key by default
There are a bunch more that are really useful, but they don't really apply to Vendetta gameplay, like the "launch countermeasure" or "target subsystem" key. Also useful though, was the "Auto-target closest hostile" key, which would automatically target the nearest hostile when you made a kill.
HUD Section:
1. w00t for circular radar. Thanks for putting that in.
For these next few suggestions, I'll be addressing the dead center of the HUD, the main reticle:
2. Hull indicator of the enemy in the lower middle of the reticle. AWESOME to have, because you don't have to keep glancing at the top right of the screen.
3. Warning indicators for incoming fire or missiles. Mostly useful in VO for proximity of missiles (flashing more often for how close it is). Visual confirmation is a good thing, and adds to the atmosphere. Fire indicator is also useful. You'd think you know when someone is shooting at you, but it's useful when somebody is sneaking up on you.
4. "Where the missile is coming from" indicator: The triangle with the line coming out of it (normally yellow) indicated where missiles were coming from. The lower hemisphere indicated the rear hemisphere, while the upper hemisphere indicated the front of your ship. The line coming out of the indicator also helped indicate how FAR each missile was from you.
5. Offscreen Target Indicator: On the edge of the screen (when your target was off the screen), it had 2 triangles (like in the top of the screen, next to the message window) that grew closer together as the enemy got closer to your front (or vice versa), as well as displaying the distance to the enemy.
6. Auto-Target (see bottom-right corner): Indicated if it was enabled or disabled. Should be extended to auto-aim and Physics mode/FA mode, in my opinion.
7. Monitoring list: This should be a modifiable list (with a button), in which you can add specific in-system ships, or maintain a list that, if a specific ship type is in a system, they are automatically added to that list, which monitors health.
IE: SMV Great Lady would automatically added to the list, or the Sola, etc, no matter your nation, and they would appear in nation-specific colors. Note: this is in addition to the group list.
8. Directives list: Showed what your current objectives were. This wouldn't replace the missions tab, but supplement it with an easily-viewable list of objectives.
...so yeah, a lot of what I'm annoyed with is how much work it is to do things like target hostiles within range. Sector list is unbelievably annoying compared to Freespace, for instance. Sector list should stay, granted, but better targeting controls (among other things) are really necessary, in my mind.
That's it for now. I'll bring this up again if I have any more to add.
Cheers.
/me agrees with Zoras "OMG IT"S BEAUTIFUL!"
yes, please with some more interesting targetting controls... would help leagues.
Like being able to target a mine in front of you, without having to scroll through all the asteroids too. I mean that's just absurd.
Like being able to target a mine in front of you, without having to scroll through all the asteroids too. I mean that's just absurd.