An upgraded compass, finally?

[noubernou 77]

In the future period that Arma 3 is set in, have the US/NATO forces procured a 6400 milliradian compass yet?

This has been a bug/feature since OFP days and I really hope that its been changed. :D

Also, by default I hope the compass is larger and not tied to the UI size anymore. :p

[no use for a name 0]

I'd like to have the compass, GPS, and watch modeled on the character so that all you have to do is either look around in freelook to see them, or press a hotkey and it will actually pull them up in view a la Metro 2033.

Say for instance you want to check the time, then press the hotkey and your character will turn his wrist so you can see the watch, or pull out the GPS/compass in one hand.

Having them just pop into view is kinda lame IMO. But yes, an actual "milspec" compass would be nice too hehe

[noubernou 77]

Yes, I'd like to see interactions with the players avatar for things like this as well. It would add a lot to the immersion.

Also being able to fold up the lensatic compass, so it appears like the one in VBS2 for spotting objects at a distance and getting a bearing would be really nice. Also including the floating compass dial in VBS2 (where it lags slightly behind your movement) would make it much more immersive.

[zoog 18]

Would take up even more keybinds, although I like the idea ala Metro2 2033. Or you could make it in a self-interaction menu ala ACE2. But that might be not very intuitive.

[Mr. Charles 22]

wat

just replace the old "2D" compass/clock/gps

[purepassion 22]

?? doesnt make sense zoog ;)

you still have the same key :STRG+K, STRG+O etc..

its just an animation and 3d model you would have to make

[NeMeSiS 11]

I'd like to have the compass, GPS, and watch modeled on the character so that all you have to do is either look around in freelook to see them, or press a hotkey and it will actually pull them up in view a la Metro 2033.

Say for instance you want to check the time, then press the hotkey and your character will turn his wrist so you can see the watch, or pull out the GPS/compass in one hand.

Having them just pop into view is kinda lame IMO. But yes, an actual "milspec" compass would be nice too hehe

Remember Boiling Point? In that game you could press a button and your character would bring up his arm so you could look at his watch. That was pretty cool.

[zoog 18]

?? doesnt make sense zoog ;)

you still have the same key :STRG+K, STRG+O etc..

its just an animation and 3d model you would have to make

oh yeah, normally I just press 'M' and check clock etc. I completely forgot about the existing keybinds :o

[ryguy 10]

Do tell, what is 6400 milliradian?

[noubernou 77]

It is how the army measures angles. They don't use degrees for a lot of things, but milliradians, which there are 6400 of in a circle (roughly, NATO uses 6400, Warsaw Pact used 6000, 6283 is the real measurement).

The cool thing is the measurement tricks you can do easily with them, like finding lateral and height distances, and also ranges just using binoculars mil markings. Roughly 1 mil at 1000 meters is 1 meter left/right or up/down. You can reverse that as well so that for every 1000 meters 1 meter is 1 mil. So you can take a known measurement, like the height of a T-72 or a door and derive the range to the target.

Thats how they did things before easy access to laser range finders and GPS. ;)

[dysta 10]

What if that is OPFOR, do they still have to carry old school compass and paper map instead of electric toy?

[Primarch 10]

What if that is OPFOR, do they still have to carry old school compass and paper map instead of electric toy?

OPFOR(=Iran?) ain't exactly no more USSR or some other backwards country.

They will probably have even better gear than blufor since they have won most of NATO and EU coalition in Europe.

[Chill xl 10]

I would like to see the compass being used ingame like a "real" object somewhat similar how weapons are used and not as the current "overlay" thing. Meaning, when you want to use it, the avatar slings or holster the current weapon and "pulls out" the compass and holds it infront (like a weapon), i would like to see the same for the map too.

Edited June 23, 2011 by Chill xl

[CameronMcDonald 146]

I'd just like to be able to see the damn thing when I look at it.

[dmarkwick 261]

It is how the army measures angles. They don't use degrees for a lot of things, but milliradians, which there are 6400 of in a circle (roughly, NATO uses 6400, Warsaw Pact used 6000, 6283 is the real measurement).

The cool thing is the measurement tricks you can do easily with them, like finding lateral and height distances, and also ranges just using binoculars mil markings. Roughly 1 mil at 1000 meters is 1 meter left/right or up/down. You can reverse that as well so that for every 1000 meters 1 meter is 1 mil. So you can take a known measurement, like the height of a T-72 or a door and derive the range to the target.

Thats how they did things before easy access to laser range finders and GPS. ;)

Ah yes :) I spent many a happy hour in Silent Hunter 3 on max realism working out the distance to ships using a mast-height lookup table and a periscope verticle angle reading :D

[Tobie 10]

Yes, I'd like to see interactions with the players avatar for things like this as well. It would add a lot to the immersion.

when we are on that topic already, then i must say that there also should be animation improvements when getting in vehicles, instead of just spawning in and out^^

[Steakslim 1]

I'd just like to be able to see the damn thing when I look at it.

lol no kidding. Everytime i break it out, the goddamn sun causes the thing to bloom to where you can't read it.

[CameronMcDonald 146]

lol no kidding. Everytime i break it out, the goddamn sun causes the thing to bloom to where you can't read it.

Yup. :)

[CarlGustaffa 4]

It helps to turn down the brightness.

[CameronMcDonald 146]

It helps to turn down the brightness.

Turning down the brightness just turns the whited-out mess into grey. I would like to see the compass a bit less susceptible to bloom, especially when I could always shade my compass from the sun with my hand in a similar situation.

[onlyrazor 11]

Actually, this is a bit off-topic, but when skydiving (or HALO jumping, however you call it), it'd be cool if you had an altimeter on your hand. It'd be pretty practical, even if it used the same pop-up system as Arma 2.

[dysta 10]

Actually, this is a bit off-topic, but when skydiving (or HALO jumping, however you call it), it'd be cool if you had an altimeter on your hand. It'd be pretty practical, even if it used the same pop-up system as Arma 2.

A reference from movie Stealth? (Actually it's a timer, but how could let pilot know the attitude so accurate?)

[rye1 22]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altimeter

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v353/Hatchetforce/HALO18_JPG.jpg

[CarlGustaffa 4]

Turning down the brightness just turns the whited-out mess into grey. I would like to see the compass a bit less susceptible to bloom, especially when I could always shade my compass from the sun with my hand in a similar situation.

Do it using the ingame brightness slider, not on your monitor :) Glow is an internal post process working off from the image buffer. Brightness works on this buffer, not the end result. Reducing brightness reduces the amount of pixels becoming bright enough to trigger/contribute to the glow. Brightness is not a color filter reducing everything, check the sun to verify - still white, yes? :)

[CameronMcDonald 146]

Here's me getting pissed off with the unreadable compass, ingame brightness 1.0.

Here's me getting pissed off with the unreadable compass, ingame brightness 0.5.

:dj: