Interface.

[dmarkwick 261]

While patrolling the forum looking for a reason to start my very own ArmA3 thread, I note that no-one has mentioned the interface yet :)

So, what's the consensus? Lose the contextual mouse wheel actions? Utilise a rose system? Retain the number key menu choice system? Combos?

Contextual mouse wheel actions are frequently unusable IMO, trying to do something that relies on placing your view onto an object is often ballsed up by some grunt buffooning his way in front of you and changing the entire action menu, forcing you to chase it with the wheel, only to have to chase it back again when something else drifts into view.

For example :)

Myself, I'd like to see some onscreen menu drop-down system that retains it's structure, and who's structure can be modded if desired.

[Mr. Charles 22]

A must have would be the old number system, e.g. 5-5 "Status Report". Other than that I'd like to see ArmA2s point and click system revamped.

[Daniel 0]

I just hope they keep it simple and consistent. There seems to be too many different systems at work in Arma as it is, never mind once you add ACE and so on.

[Maddmatt 1]

I'd like a revamped and easier to use squad system.

Squad leader should be commanding fire-teams, not individual solders. Then the fire team leaders manage their men.

On a larger scale, each commander should command bout three entities. A platoon commander with three squads. The squad leaders each with three fire-teams, and each fire-team leader with three men.

Of course it will vary depending on the situation. SF groups may have 5 men, made up of a leader and two teams of two men. So it will need some flexibility.

Make the micro-managing optional, not a requirement.

[Cyteless 10]

I'd like a revamped and easier to use squad system.

Squad leader should be commanding fire-teams, not individual solders. Then the fire team leaders manage their men.

On a larger scale, each commander should command bout three entities. A platoon commander with three squads. The squad leaders each with three fire-teams, and each fire-team leader with three men.

Of course it will vary depending on the situation. SF groups may have 5 men, made up of a leader and two teams of two men. So it will need some flexibility.

Make the micro-managing optional, not a requirement.

It's possible in Arma 2 to assign fireteams ;)

[Maddmatt 1]

It's possible in Arma 2 to assign fireteams ;)

The colour teams? Yes, but it isn't as well developed as it could be. I'd like fire-teams to be the primary method of command.

[4 IN 1 0]

I only want my fire team organize better so that I don't need to go through 3 page of unit icon to dig up my AT guy who I have assigned to a fire team:(

to quote myself:

After a few test it seems BI have finally tackle the formation problem, unit seems will close the gap where the assigned colour team leaving the formation and away from the rest of the squad

However The current system still feel twichy, I understand that someone get used to the OFP ways of shift+F(1-5) keys to assign team, however I always feel that it is excessive waste movement to hold the shift key as generally when I assign a fire team I want to move the team as a group 90% of the time, wouldn't that be more reasonable to simply just press one key(assigned team leader) to select the hold team then double tab or shift+F(1-10) keys to select a single unit?

Also IMO, fire team should be sorted under their assigned team leader and removed from the first layer of the team member list, they should retain their numbers but their icon should only pop-up when double-tab or shift+(F1-10)keys to bring up their member list. Just to make sure that people knows what assets is in that fire team, it would be even better to add an icon or simply a key word(i.e AT, AA, MG, AR etc) at the side of the team icon. Thay way the system should work like High command, only on a squad level.

P.S: I know I should have post this on suggestion thread and that I might hijacked this thread, but since I have already posted something look alike in the interface related topic there a lomg time ago and seems not many people pay attention to it, plus the fact that I am not sure if anyone would like the idea and if it even work, which might lead to a beta patch as well, I think I should bring this up here again. Sorry if this is bothering anyone...

and

The mindset behind all these ranting is that there is still too many buttom smashing and stuff to care about for simple, big things. Team assigning is something that you really have to think of and take time on, how the team will be make of, what capacity the team will have, there is no escape for that, Ctrl+F 1-5 after going through a long list of soldier selecting the needed unit is good idea. The problem starts when you try to order your team. Like I said, you generally want to order your team as a hold 90% of time, just like you will do IRL, if this is the case, why make life difficult for having to pressing shift key every time? You can save that shift key for more complex things.

Now when you are fighting in a battle, a tank or APC suddently show up, chances are, that you have forgot where you put your AT guy, or that you don't know if the guy you are looking for is dead or not, by sorting them under 1 big icon and show the capacity of that team with a small icon or key word at the side will just save you from having to go down that long list of who is who and what can do to check if that guy is still there. Now when I want to do some micro managing on a single unit in a single team, I will have to go with more complex control, like double tabing the F 1-5 keys to bring up the full member list and select him with shift+F keys and give my orders.

Again, what it is about is how efficient you can get your team to work. Take away things that may get into your way and slows you down, increase your situation awareness on things that is important to make correct orders, make that 90% of time simple to understand and work with, then think about more complex stuff and control when you want to micro management, just so that you can get simple things done an extra micro-secound faster when big things is happening. This is what I am looking for here.

It seems, however, that even without removing the ability to give order to individual unit, some people thinks that having to double tab the same F-keys is much more trouble then going through 3 or maybe 4 pages of units icon, gazing down long list of green square while being shoot at.

Edited May 20, 2011 by 4 IN 1

[CarlGustaffa 4]

For action menus, a delay and flashing effect before removal would help immensely. If it flashes, don't press "increase 30 seconds" which turns into a detonate. I don't want to see the old commanding style gone either, but at the same time I would love to get my hands on new "methods" to experiment with to see if it works. I've explained my 16 slot context sensitive (but consistent) multi compass menu in the past, which I know works well in 3D software. But I don't know for sure how well it would work out in practice. OFP DR messed up badly in their design, that's for sure.

Another thing would be color coded and groupings of action menu entries. Why do I have to "read 'assign to blue team'" rather than see the color blue there? Green "set timer" vs red "detonate" is also a winner - you can skip the actual reading. Why does it always have to look like a flat list? Directions in a rose would feel more natural. Lack of info in the target menu. Not to mention actual errors in the tutorials :D Should commands be given by numeric keys on numpad (if I wanted to)? Should there be more commands by utilizing both numerals? Commands to be available from the scripting language. Etc etc etc. The list is pretty endless.

[instagoat 133]

I´d be all for a complete overhaul of the numbers system, and a new, more intuitive context sensitive menu. The context sensitive menu actually has kind of grown on me, I couldn´t do without.

It just needs to be streamlined, more self-explanatory, and replace some of the silly commands with more useful ones, such as redundant commands (wait and stop for example).

New commands such as "Assault Location" or "Defend Location" would be useful, because right now ordering the AI to assault into a position can only be done by micromanaging them forward. Commanding them to "move" has them run headlessly to their target point, prioritizing movement over fighting, and thus getting shot up a lot. They also for some reason don´t leapfrog anymore in the latest patch, which makes them doubly vulnerable.

So yes, complete overhaul please. But keep the good parts.

[rye1 21]

I'd love to see a better weapon selector interface where you don't click f 100 times to get to certain options or overfill your action menu with grenades, smoke grenades, ir strobes, other grenades, full and semi auto mode - when you are just trying to select the M203!

It would be better to say hold 'F' and it comes up like a Crysis-like menu of options in a circle and you just hold you mouse to it to select it. Skip all the modes so you can finally use specific items quickly.

And you could still click F to swap aswell if it was slightly quicker in that scenario say from semi to full auto.

Just a quick thought...

Edited May 21, 2011 by Rye
Missed a part

[dysta 10]

I'd love to see a better weapon selector interface where you don't click f 100 times to get to certain options or overfill your action menu with grenades, smoke grenades, ir strobes, other grenades, full and semi auto mode - when you are just trying to select the M203!

It would be better to say hold 'F' and it comes up like a Crysis-like menu of options in a circle and you just hold you mouse to it to select it. Skip all the modes so you can finally use specific items quickly.

And you could still click F to swap aswell if it was slightly quicker in that scenario say from semi to full auto.

Just a quick thought...

In Crysis (not 2), selecting firing modes with grenade launcher or TA, will also switching to use it along with rifle modes, which is the same as ARMA, but with animation it means serious delay as well.

[Tonmeister 14]

as much as i don't like things popping up in my view everytime i need to select something, i do think the interface needs a revamp from the current system. although i have absolutely no clue what could be better implemented.

[xxbbcc 6]

I have no problem with getting new (additional) ways of controlling units but I want the number system to stay as is.

So far it still seems to be the cleanest and most logical way to control. (It's clunky and complex, but then the game itself is very complex so the UI will be complex one way or another.)

Having better clues (like color coding, more info in menu items etc.) would be nice.

[mrcash2009 0]

While patrolling the forum looking for a reason to start my very own ArmA3 thread

How many people are racking their brains to do the very same thing :)

I think that anything "new" brought into this for A3 should be an overlay system with "Legacy" control under it as optional.

So we have whatever the new system might be and then the original system as a setting in setup menu.

Id like to see contextual options like Raven Shield had in some respects, but I would not like to see the old system be overhauled away from the numbering game style.

I would also like to see something realy basic and that "GUI on/off" key option, so you can HIDE the HUD entirely while playing and flip it all back when you want.

Maybe the ability to have the team menu active on mouse over so you can right click colors etc by mousing over, something that makes the GIU active to mouse in some way (bottom left team menu I refer too). Also ablity to move GIU to different areas of the screen (snapping to corners and scaling) etc.

Edited May 21, 2011 by mrcash2009

[dmarkwick 261]

In keeping with other areas in which the modding community has sprung surprising improvements & developments, perhaps BIS might consider making the interface more open, that way people can try things thay think might improve certain procedures etc, and thus the interface can evolve via mods.

[Primarch 10]

The weapon interface should be a BF2 commo-rose like. It is simply the best way to implement it to this game. When you hold the F key, you'll have the commo rose up and just tapping it switches firing mode from auto to semi and so on. Also when you have stuff like M203 in the commo rose, quickly releasing the F when selecting the M203 will have the HE rounds selected. Waiting like 1 second before releasing the F will expand the M203 slot ot another commorose which will show you different ammunition. The same goes for launcher slot and weapon slot as in different magazines such as tracer rounds.

[pathetic_berserker 4]

. They also for some reason don´t leapfrog anymore in the latest patch, which makes them doubly vulnerable.

.

Weird you say that,I have latest offical patch and they're definately leap frogging.

On topic. Quite like the way things are set up now, though maybe a rose for weapon selection would be nice.

[BeerHunter 0]

I wouldn't mind some kind of "stacking" command where you could command units to perform some tasks (ie #2 move there , target that unit , #3 , move there , hold fire etc.) and nothing happens until you issue a "GO" command.

[-=seany=- 5]

Of all the of Bis's games I think OFP had the best interface for commanding and interacting with the AI. The improvements they have added over Arma1,2 and OA have not made anything easier. I never use any of the new methods of controlling AI squad members. In fact, I avoid using AI now (especially for commanding and fighting in vehicles) more than ever. Just bring back the Flashpoint Number Menu system, Targeting system and Tactical View functionality. Get rid of quick space bar/context action menus and annoying backspace menus that can't be closed.

One of the most infuriating things since Arma1 is trying to interact with the map while your in tactical view, you cant zoom, you cant click the map etc, all because of that BackSpace menu that HAS to be there if your in tactical view. You have to exit the map and go to 1st or third person view, then open the map, then do what you wanted....

Either redesign the whole thing from scratch or just go back to what worked, which was Operation Flashpoint. But please, please don't put another band-aid over it in an attempt to revamp or "simplify" it, like has been done up to now.

[dissaifer 10]

They should leave in the old command style and have a default called "Legacy" so people won't complain. That 0-0-1 stuff has gotten me killed so many times it's not even funny... I avoid using AI as well.

I would recommend they'd remove the spacebar command. It seems like a good idea, but in practice it doesn't work like you need it to (well, I don't tend to use it anyway). And there were a bunch of complaints about spacebar scanning. Maybe I'm wrong, I just don't use it that much.

I'd really like to just tell the AI the formation and mode (aggressive, stealth, etc)... I realize that isn't possible sometimes, but I don't want to feel like I am micro managing them... you, look over there, be aware... like shouldn't they be aware anyway? Maybe the default shouldn't be safe... I don't know.

[4 IN 1 0]

It wouldn't be so much problem if it doesn't get in the way when I want to use the old system or action menu, but it did, and that is a problem.

[RSF TheCapulet 59]

For menu UI, I think they should deff take pointers from the PR team.

And I would love to see a full featured rose system for commanding. In current A2 games, I almost always avoid giving orders, just simply because it is a huge pain in t he ass.

[Flogger23m 2]

I would like to see a SWAT 4 or Raven Shield type of command interface.

I can issue orders much quicker in those games. I know that ArmA has more commands/communications overall, but at least the basic ones should be in a mouse responding list or radial.

Of course, the original control method can be left in. :)

[dmarkwick 261]

I thought I would repeat these images for interface suggestions:

Radial Menus. Some people say it's too much like OFP:DR and that because OFP:DR had a terrible menu, then all radial menus are now bad. You could do a radial menu the same as with the standard menus, bunch of options, one button for "more" if all available actions don't fit on the particular menu. It could work. But, oh well. I do think a radial menu would be good at least for attachments and weapon selection, like these radial menus from AA3 (America's Army 3; Armed Assault 3 is ArmA 3...):

http://manual.americasarmy.com/images/7/77/4blademenu.jpg

http://manual.americasarmy.com/images/2/2e/8blade.jpg

http://manual.americasarmy.com/images/5/57/Commoradial.jpg

http://manual.americasarmy.com/images/4/4b/Weaponradial.jpg

http://manual.americasarmy.com/images/0/06/Grenradial.jpg

And, if they were like the AA3 menus, the middle yellow button could be a button for more options, like more commands or actions. It could work and still be just as complex as the current system.

Seems like a great idea. The current numbers system could very easily be doubled up for a radial system, makes more sense if you ask me. Each radial when clicked on would either execute that command or open up a sub-radial.

I might suggest a keyhold for bringing up the root radial menu, that would certainly not be any more intrusive than having to hunt the keybard numbers or chase the wandering context-sensitive action commands up & down :D

[NoRailgunner 0]

Against any screen cluttering with menu/rose/colored buttons etc.

- mostly they are distracting players from the actual situation

- some of those systems even break/stop/slowdown the mission while beeing activated (one can even say its somekind of cheating because the player has now a "bonustime")

- design of such systems is mostly oriented on console gaming where players usually don't play with keyboad+mouse

- direct commands/orders are changed faster by keypress than through a radial system

Better if BIS improves their context-sensitiv system and keeps the number system as backup.

Guess only kids, trend victims and old men like to have a break & look on a stylish interface system... :p