Better useage of 2 or more monitors

[terox 316]

I, like many gamers have more than 1 monitor.

Many have 2 monitors

An ideal scenario for better useage of this would be to allow the "MAP" view to be permanently displayed on the secondary monitor.

If you were able to take this even further, maybe we could also display user defined GUI's/overlays, such as Orbat lists or rear view cameras etc.

Just a thought

[mr burns 132]

+1 Like

Possibilities seem endless, server admin tools obviously would have a place on 2nd monitor aswell.

[NoRailgunner 0]

Nothing against outsourcing features/tools to another screen like monitor/admin the server. Permanent map view on 2nd (big) monitor is likely more of a cheat especially if its updated constantly and the player don't need to look at it ingame or open/activate it ingame. One has to remember that his ingame character/avatar is not only sitting in front of multi-monitor setup and very often does not have the same comfort like the player.... maybe you will gain a perfect overview but you will loose the tension, atmosphere, the thrill and immersion. ;)

[[frl]myke 14]

Nothing against outsourcing features/tools to another screen like monitor/admin the server. Permanent map view on 2nd (big) monitor is likely more of a cheat especially if its updated constantly and the player don't need to look at it ingame or open/activate it ingame. One has to remember that his ingame character/avatar is not only sitting in front of multi-monitor setup and very often does not have the same comfort like the player.... maybe you will gain a perfect overview but you will loose the tension, atmosphere, the thrill and immersion. ;)

Well, same as 3rd person view or crosshairs: make it toggleable by server settings. Problem solved.

[NoRailgunner 0]

As long as it's an extra feature which is separate from other settings and visible to all players before joining a server....

[metalcraze 290]

No map view please.

a) cheating

b) unrealistic

You don't have a map floating to your right IRL

use mods for that.

Toggleable is a bad idea still because whatever you do the person that has 1 monitor (the majority) will be at a constant disadvantage. Especially at an already cheaty regular difficulty.

[PuFu 4600]

No map view please.

a) cheating

b) unrealistic

You don't have a map floating to your right IRL

use mods for that.

Toggleable is a bad idea still because whatever you do the person that has 1 monitor (the majority) will be at a constant disadvantage. Especially at an already cheaty regular difficulty.

also, please remove/block the eyefinity support, multi munitor support of all kind, resolution above the average of 1080p and so forth. It just gives an unfair advantage to a number of ppl.

/sarcasm

You don't shoot with a mouse IRL either lad.

[metalcraze 290]

also, please remove/block the eyefinity support, multi munitor support of all kind, resolution above the average of 1080p and so forth. It just gives an unfair advantage to a number of ppl.

/sarcasm

You don't shoot with a mouse IRL either lad.

Yes man rotating your head for reals with 3 monitors and rotating your soldier's head with 1 to look and see in the same direction are not the same thing. But a map permanently floating to the right while you pop heads - all while 1-monitor dudes will have to stop, holster weapons and open it is the real deal.

Your comparison was so witty I'm in awe

[SnowSky 12]

..., such as Orbat lists or rear view cameras etc....

What? I can understand if you want to observe a bigger angle with more than 1 monitor (which should be already possible)

but I really dislike the rest of your ideas (please don't take this personally).

[heroes maker 10]

i have my idea about this, i can see for the permanent map people will call it cheating or unrealistic ( what if in the future, soldiers will have GPS attached on their wrist ? you'll still call this unrealistic ? )

here how it goes :

when map is not activated - the player see the leaderboard or a menu showing his caracteristics, everybody know that BIS saids the movement and stamina of the player will depend on it's gears, so how about showing what he wear ( except magazines and other object ) and if they are damage or not, if you prefer, a "body" icon like in SWAT 4 showing the damage received on the armor/helmet/player with colors ( green, yellow, orange and red ).

when map is activated - the player actually see the map on the second monitor

so what did you guys think ?

[industrialdonut 1]

No map view please.

a) cheating

b) unrealistic

You don't have a map floating to your right IRL

use mods for that.

Toggleable is a bad idea still because whatever you do the person that has 1 monitor (the majority) will be at a constant disadvantage. Especially at an already cheaty regular difficulty.

Seriously, think about it in the way that, Arma 3 is a sim, not a run-of-the-mil shooter. If you think about it, having your own map will basically turn this into Battlefield BECAUSE you now have a mini-map that constantly shows where you are and such, and except its a full map. This is NOT a good idea to have this option.

[naizarak 4]

I, like many gamers have more than 1 monitor.

Many have 2 monitors

An ideal scenario for better useage of this would be to allow the "MAP" view to be permanently displayed on the secondary monitor.

If you were able to take this even further, maybe we could also display user defined GUI's/overlays, such as Orbat lists or rear view cameras etc.

Just a thought

would be nice, but most people play on a single monitor so this isn't a priority

[gammadust 12]

I am kind of suspect to say, but imo, the player balance issue is a non-issue, there's lot of hardware which tip the balance between players and it is not realistic to level players towards the least common denominator (gamers loosing too much in the process).

I think it is all up to the mission designer to impose any limits if appropriate (ie. tying the possibility to use the 2nd monitor map (or any other facility) dependent on inventory existence of said item).

[Messiah 2]

and if they are damage or not, if you prefer, a "body" icon like in SWAT 4 showing the damage received on the armor/helmet/player with colors ( green, yellow, orange and red ).

Body damage colour coding? You've been shot, not molested with a paint brush ;) I've always enjoyed ArmAs unforgiving/blatant damage indications; alive, injured or dead.

[Zaippo 1]

Well, you really can't really stop people from using maps on their second screen (pretty much every LPer that plays DayZ [it's popular, and you don't have map to start with] uses map on their second screen and 'pro gamers' might do the same) so why not put it as option in-game? Like amount of info you see could vary by difficulty and possible server option.

IMO I would find this very useful in vehicles. If you could customize your HUD and move objects around (pretty much like most MMOs do) and control their size, that would be useful and possibly allow to have more non-necessary info on screen. And by 'non-necessary' I mean something that chopper cockpit might have that A2 HUD doesn't show (map, external cameras and all kind of tech.)

OFC if it would be unbalanced if 2-screeners would only get all necessary info, so all necessary info would be on screen no. 1. And if you would take idea even further, it would be useful for second screen to see your heligunner's view. I hope you could see it in normal A3 heli's cockpit with new picture-in-picture tech (or whatever it's called, like on Strider you can see reversing-cam.) Homever I highly doubt there will be that kind of 2-screen tech on release, though some mod or expansion pack could try to add it. But I support trying to implement it in some manner, as many of you likely do.

But then again, ArmA III is pretty much trying to get 'as close to real life you can get' while making sure it's a video game in the end. So thinking that way, we could see some limited 2-screen use? But no hovering maps or magic holo-inventorys :D

[Cwivey 1]

It's not neccessarily the map that's the issue, it's the Icons, Objectives, Players and waypoints that appear on it. The one's people use for DayZ have no extra information on them other than town names in English and Russian. (dependant on skill level, nothing shows on the map when playing in Expert mode)

If the ArmA map was on the second screen, those players would have an advantage over those with a single screen.

[Steakslim 1]

...not if the difficulty was set to something higher. Unit markings and such only appear in the lower difficulty settings, but I believe Expert and Veteran there are no indications of unit locations present. This of course can also be adjust by the server if I recall. I don't really see what the issue in this thread is.

[pathetic_berserker 4]

No map view please.

a) cheating

b) unrealistic

You don't have a map floating to your right IRL

use mods for that.

Toggleable is a bad idea still because whatever you do the person that has 1 monitor (the majority) will be at a constant disadvantage. Especially at an already cheaty regular difficulty.

By the same token i dont wrap a map around my head and lose all peripheral vision, and the ability to react to my imediate environment when reading a map. If you'd ever done an orienteering run you'd know that some of us can even read a map and run at the same time (sort of).

Honestly neither option is particulaly realistic but if you have to take your eyes off one screen to concentrate on another, thats enough realism for me and the lesser of the two bannanas. Though I still wonder why you'd bother, better to just up the size or scale of the gps and keep all the single monitor and surround vision people happy as well.

[Cwivey 1]

...not if the difficulty was set to something higher. Unit markings and such only appear in the lower difficulty settings, but I believe Expert and Veteran there are no indications of unit locations present. This of course can also be adjust by the server if I recall. I don't really see what the issue in this thread is.

... (dependant on skill level, nothing shows on the map when playing in Expert mode)

You missed the part where I typed that? :X

[Steakslim 1]

woops, yes I did

[dmakatra 1]

I think that a map on the second screen would be fine, but what really needs to be made and supported is a Arma3 map iPad app.

[CarlGustaffa 4]

Myke;2201781']Well' date=' same as 3rd person view or crosshairs: make it toggleable by server settings. Problem solved.[/quote']

Did this change? Last I checked (probalby very long time ago), server still pretty much dictates my settings rather than allowing me to get rid of the annoying crosshairs.

[[frl]myke 14]

Did this change? Last I checked (probalby very long time ago), server still pretty much dictates my settings rather than allowing me to get rid of the annoying crosshairs.

Well, that's another topic IMHO. This would be some kind of system that does not dictate what is enabled but determines what can be enabled. So higher restrictions clientside would override lower restrictions serverside. So if clientside the crosshair is disabled but serverside enabled, client would override server in this case. I think you get the point but as said, this is another topic.

Regarding map on second monitor, i fail to see how people can be against a optional and toggleable feature. And having a second monitor isn't exactly luxury. Every graphic card that is capable of running ArmA 2/3 does have more than one connector. And a second monitor isn't that expensive either, i got my second even for free because someone in my family didn't needed it anymore.

[terox 316]

With Reference to cheating:

There is other hardware that you could also argue is a form of cheating.

• A Higher spec PC can run a higher viewdistance (If the mission allows) or a 30" monitor is a much bigger advantage than a 24".
  
• A better sound card outputs sounds better, so you can hear the footsteps whereas somebody with a less expensive sound setup cannot.
  
• A Joystick outperforms a mouse when flying
  
• AND what about Track IR
  

Where are these concerns posted in these forums ?

I take it this is coming from PvP players, thinking only about PvP mode.

Easily rectified, because the ability to display a "Dialogue" or "Overlay" on a second screen could be mission maker or difficulty setting defined. So no biggie there.

The information that is displayed on the map, is defined by Difficulty settings and user scripts anyway. Easily fixed, simply setup your difficulty settings on the server to those that you require

For CooP, this would be a great enhancement, especially for a commander running a large scale operation.

I was personally thinking about a command and control GUI, where a mission commander could sit inside a vehicle or against a tree and have 1 screen with the internal player view while using the other for his command and control gui (Laptop or tablet), seeing where each group was, ordering units about, calling in Arty or CAS, the possibilities are really endless

For someone to state categorically "No", without looking at the bigger pictiure or the flaws in any argument they put forward, removes any possibility for those who say "YES".

If you dont like the system, idea, fair does, but rather than argue against any implementation that could occur, argue instead for a toggle system where the implementation can be turned off, such as the ability to swim with your gear.

With Reference to Realism:

As for the realism buffs, who do not like this idea , I would suspect some of you like the idea of being able to swim across a body of water while carrying backpacks or secondary weapons, or even belt gear come to think of it, or they maybe like the revive systems Those folks need to question their view on realism. Its a game, its not real anyway.

That by the way is a seperate discussion.

It would be nice to get this back on track and work around the disagreements, and come up with a solution or more implementation ideas, which as far as I can see, is just the ability for a mission maker or server admin to toggle this "feature" on or off.

I do see endless uses for this, all of which can enhance the game experience

REMEMBER, this is only a discussion, its not a bar room brawl, and who is to say that BIS will take any notice of this thread or even if the time taken to implement this functionality is within their current resources. They may not be interested in it at all.

Edited August 6, 2012 by Terox

[NoRailgunner 0]

Its more about what one (as character/avatar) can do ingame vs possible additional extras for a more arcade gameplay. For example: how do you explain that players don't have to open/activate or close/deactivate the map ingame just because they can watch it anytime on their 2nd monitor? Perhaps there is a clever solution so players with multi-monitor setup will still feel good playing A3 and not god-like. :)