Spatial Awareness Improvements

[solzenicyn 130]

Hello everyone,

 

recent update of development branch contains some important improvements to the spatial awareness in Arma 3.

 

Most important of them is the new UI element we call the Squad Radar.

Despite that it is clearly not a "radar" in the strict technical meaning of the word, we felt that this name can describe it in the most intuitive manner for everyone.

Alternatively, we can say that it as a spatial awareness indicator, that allows you to observe the relative position of certain important entities in your immediate vicinity.

Most important of these entities are your teammates - other soldiers within your group. Their individual positions are indicated by full soldier icons.

Color of their icons changes according to the team color assigned to them by the group's commander.

Other non-hostile entities are visualized like a small dots.

When Enemy Tags difficulty setting is enabled, you can also see enemy soldiers your group is aware of as a small red dots.

Squad Radar also indicate the cardinal directions and waypoint, so that it can be intuitively used for basic navigation.

Group members other than the group's commander also see the list of all group members next to the Squad Radar that can be browsed by F11 & F12 keys, just like commander's command bar.

Names of soldiers in the list are also colored according to the team color assigned by the group's commander to match their icons.

Squad Radar can be also turned off completely in the game's difficulty settings and can be positioned in UI layout editor freely according to your preferences.

 

Another subtle, yet surprisingly useful feature is the tactical ping.

It is a simple action that allows you to point at any particular spot and raise awareness of other teammates to it. Think of it as an in-game representation of a simple "look, over there" point out that you can make in real life.

Pinged location is indicated by a red circle with an exclamation mark. This icon gets bigger the closer you are to it. It will automatically fade out over time.

When you point out elsewhere, old ping location is replaced by the new one.

You can also immediately remove it when you point out and ping to the sky.

It is subject to the Waypoints difficulty setting and thus it can be turned off completely.

 

Both features are still in development and occasional bugs, glitches, collisions with other UI elements or some other weird behavior is to be expected and, most importantly, reported to us, if you will be so kind and provide us with your feedback.

We are tirelessly working on this and we will carefully monitor your feedback to steer our further progress in the right direction.

 

Last, but not least, I would like to express our sincere gratitude to the talented and passionate guys from the ShackTac, namely our collaborator Dslyecxi and master-of-code zx64 who kindly allowed us to use the scripted ShackTac Fire Team HUD as a starting point for our own implementation. Let this be another stepping stone on our road to ever closer and more fruitful cooperation with our dedicated community. Thank you!

[NoPOW 59]

 

Would be nice if Tactical Ping would also appear on the map; squad leader pings aoi -> planning approach continues on map with new draw command.

 

EDIT: and even have it bound to 'shift + LMB' (or make placing the marker on the map 'shift + T') so the same kind of actions are consistent in 3d and 2d space...

https://forums.bistudio.com/topic/143930-general-discussion-dev-branch/page-993#entry3041800

[roberthammer 582]

Great feature , it is possible to make the background of the radar dark? like its on ShackTac Fire Team HUD

that would be better for visibility because sometimes atm the radar really blends in the terrain thus making it hard to see

[laxemann 1673]

The features sure are nice additions for some parts of the playerbase, good job (tho some honouring of the ACE-Team regarding the ping would've been appropriate, I think ;) )

 

A small impulse from my side: I personally would like it if the ping wouldn't be linked to the waypoint settings. Since vanilla A3 doesn't bring gestures along, having the ping is a useful addition which makes up for it, even for milSim communities. Visible waypoints on the other hand can be a huge immersion break.

[CaptainAzimuth 714]

I haven't noticed any issues thus far with either of the new items. The Radar works as intended for me, however, sometimes team mates can't see the Tactical Ping. Other than that, seems well. Though, as RobertHammer Suggested perhaps a bit of darkening to the background of the radar, and maybe an option to toggle it on and off in game (hot key) Otherwise seems pretty solid.

[en3x 209]

Squad radar:

 

So main gripes are:

 

circle is too big

 

In default position is too high positioned

 

Circle is too visible

 

Circle rings representing different distances and they don't convey that

because of same transparent ring fill.

 

When someone dies dot disappears right away (who in combat situation

instantly knows who is injured or who is dying?)

 

Tactical Ping

 

I would like to have different symbol to point at something - like a dot or

hand symbol rather then red X.

 

Pointing at the sky seem nonintuitive to remove one - how about pressing

again the same key to remove it?

[froggyluv 2136]

 Could you please make the icon 'radio flash' or blink when they are speaking? If #4 is reporting "Enemy Front!" its just useful to get that info immediately rather than deciphering your icon symbols :P

 

 Not related to Radar but also please get rid of "Enemy 75m!" when the enemy is 10 feet away -especially in Tanao where imminent contact can happen all the time. Nobody speaks like that and it can get you killed. Anything shorter should tell you just that with emphatic screaming or whispering (if in stealth) "Enemy right here! Enemy close! Enemy right in front of me!" -that sorta thing

[NoPOW 59]

Tactical Ping

 

I would like to have different symbol to point at something - like a dot or

hand symbol rather then red X.

 

Pointing at the sky seem nonintuitive to remove one - how about pressing

again the same key to remove it?

Has the icon been changed? I could swear it was an exclamation mark...

And since the icon disappears in matter of seconds, I find removing unnecessary.

 

 

PS. While holding shift-t you can move the ping icon fairly precise, and release shift-t to place it.

[Bamse 223]

Great feature , it is possible to make the background of the radar dark? like its on ShackTac Fire Team HUD

that would be better for visibility because sometimes atm the radar really blends in the terrain thus making it hard to see

 

 

A small impulse from my side: I personally would like it if the ping wouldn't be linked to the waypoint settings. Since vanilla A3 doesn't bring gestures along, having the ping is a useful addition which makes up for it, even for milSim communities. Visible waypoints on the other hand can be a huge immersion break.

 

Totally and wholeheartedly agree on both these points.

[fn_Quiksilver 1636]

There is already a background texture behind the vehicle compass/radar, could just use that for the squad radar also.

 

Not a fan of the Tactical Ping, I find it a bit disruptive. I think a player having to 'commit' the placement would be less disruptive, so they cannot move it around in real time. Set the position locally with existing controls and then propagated across the network when relevant controls are released.

[chompster 29]

So STHUD and ACE pointing are being added to vanilla, neat!

 

As darksides mentioned though, a on/off toggle button in-game would be very much appreciated if possible, one of the main reasons I never use sthud(gets in the way of screenshots!)

 

And another reason why i don't use it is because it gives you unrealistic amounts of situational awareness. Knowing where teammates around you in an open are is one thing, but as soon as they move behind a building, wall or any kind of cover it shouldn't show you where they are since you wouldn't know that because you cant see it. Not holding my breath but it'd be nice to have it as an option where if obstructed they wouldn't show up on the radar anymore.

 

As for ping, from what i saw in a screenshot i got from a friend, the ping circle is waaay too small. Maybe have this be adjustable from a users side, but man is it tiny. Having the persons name under or above(anywhere really) the ping would also be nice so you know you're looking at the right one.

 

Other than that, glad to see some mods making into vanilla.

[Sgt DeWolf 21]

I guess this will benefit the part of the player-base that doesn't use mods. I can think of two examples in the past where community based mods were superior to Bohemia's implemented version. VTS weapon resting and ACE's weapon resting actually worked much better than what Bohemia came up with. Also, Shack Tactical's stamina bar (which I still use) is much more elegant and visual pleasing than Bohemia's version. I hope that we will have the option to continue to use the community made content in lieu of this new implementation. Honestly, it would have made more sense to approach the creators of the original content and get their permission to use their work instead of reinventing the wheel.

[x3kj 1247]

Please enable an option to automatically hide the radar when you enter a vehicle (maybe per-vehicle config based). In Tanks you don't have any spatial awareness, and in planes you don't need it. So the UI space just is wasted (especially since the vehicle radar is much more usefull in this case). For vehicles with modelled cockpits, in default position it obscures cockpitelements as well, so even more reason to hide it.

[tortuosit 486]

Knowing where teammates around you in an open are is one thing, but as soon as they move behind a building, wall or any kind of cover it shouldn't show you where they are since you wouldn't know that because you cant see it. Not holding my breath but it'd be nice to have it as an option where if obstructed they wouldn't show up on the radar anymore.

Taking line of sight into account here is a super interesting thought! Probably ArmA code already has a los function like "isVisible [player a, player b]".

So if it would not be too heavy, I think as an option it would be great.

 

BTW, related: some other modder wrote an STHud like radar, where you can define how much you want to have displayed, so e.g. you don't get displayed what is behind you. Cannot be done here in vanilla radar. First I wanted to move down the UI element so my back cannot be seen, but then also the player names go out of screen...

[kylania 568]

 First I wanted to move down the UI element so my back cannot be seen

 

This isn't radar or simply vision, it's situational awareness.  While no, you can't see behind you, as a soldier you would know your squadmates were behind you either from training with them or hearing them or other slight indications which can't be replicated in game.  This "radar" is an attempt to replicate those senses.  So hiding what you "can't see behind your back" is just removing information your soldier should already have.

[S.Crowe 142]

Here is some feedback:

 

Squad Radar

• Be nice if we could turn the compass off. Just have the radar. 

 

• Also would be nice if we could change the color of the radar.

 

• I would remove the white dots showing someone not in your group because it causes identification issues. For example, I saw a guy in the woods, looked down at my compass, and no white dot so I knew it was an enemy. Because the radar has a about a 50 meter range, I can easily identify enemy targets 50 meters from my location. If it is an enemy, no white dot. Friendly, white dot. It can be used as a cheat.

[danny96 80]

 

Here is some feedback:

 

Squad Radar

• Be nice if we could turn the compass off. Just have the radar. 

 

• Also would be nice if we could change the color of the radar.

 

• I would remove the white dots showing someone not in your group because it causes identification issues. For example, I saw a guy in the woods, looked down at my compass, and no white dot so I knew it was an enemy. Because the radar has a about a 50 meter range, I can easily identify enemy targets 50 meters from my location. If it is an enemy, no white dot. Friendly, white dot. It can be used as a cheat.

 

think it should be kinda limited - Requirement of owning an item of some sort or like have that thing visible only when wearing Tactical Glasses or something. Fact that any civilian/takistani see everything around him all the time including compas.. it will break survival mission where you don't want your player to be able to have any idea of where he is (on which side)

[fn_Quiksilver 1636]

Regarding Squad Radar and when it should be shown and when not, here are some filters I applied for a similar system, food for thought:

/*/if (!isNull (objectParent player)) exitWith {};/*/
if (visibleCompass) exitWith {};
if (visibleMap) exitWith {};
/*/if (visibleGPS) exitWith {};/*/
if (!alive player) exitWith {};
if (captive player) exitWith {};
if (!(((uavControl (getConnectedUav player)) select 1) isEqualTo '')) exitWith {};
if (!(cameraOn isEqualTo (vehicle player))) exitWith {};
if ((count (units player)) < 2) exitWith {};
comment 'filters passed, prepare next frame';

[classic 38]

Please add disable show compass bearings and Name option to Squad Radar.

[panimala 25]

These features are well implemented and slick. I really like that the squad radar is movable using the UI customizer.

However I have some input that I hope you guys can take into consideration.

The first release of ST_HUD had no compass bearings, and our community plays with an edited version of the current ST_HUD that removes them. The first reason for this is for you to have a reason to use your actual compass. With the compass bearings we would immediately be able to shout out "North-northeast!" and everyone would immediately glance down to their HUD and be able to face the same direction. We basically stopped using the compass item unless for super accurate directions. The second reason is that the less HUD information you are presented, the more you pay attention to the world around you. I mean I could go on even more but you get the idea.

A difficulty option to enable/disable the compass bearings on the HUD would be greatly appreciated. There is also currently no information for what the rings actually stand for, so I made an example of what that could look like, as well one without the compass bearings.

    

 

The tactical ping feature is very slick and also super helpful. Maybe too helpful! With the current implementation, I can pinpoint with laser accuracy a single window of a house when overlooking an entire town to my teammates (Does everyone in your squad get the ping or just people close to you? I'm not sure).

I'm fairly sure the intention of this feature isn't to go for a realistic "finger pointing" mechanic, but the d_finger addon by drill was another very nice implementation. I personally use a version of that addon with a more subtle ring that looks like this:

This addon implementation also means that you can only see "finger pointing" by people within a few meters next to you. With this addon, ST_HUD and the compass all have their own distinct use for particular situations without overlapping their respective function. More gameplay aspects without necessarily making the game easier.

[haleks 8212]

Any chances to see the tactical ping being put to good use in SP?

It could be a very convenient way to order the AI to watch a location for a minute or two - it would be so usefull & intuitive. <3

[old_painless 182]

Yes that would be a great idea. For suppress and watch direction

[Jack-Johnson 7]

If i activate the new radar and leave the settings it is deactivatet when entering again ... what could cause this to happen.

 

Edit: no addons, other settings save.

 

Edit2: Switching from preview to rc client fixed it. Shouldn´t they be the same...the version number changed!?

[MartinFromZeusCommunity 15]

while you are at it you should add this

 

Especially the colored indicators, it's weird having them white now, while they are colored in the squad radar.

[Gudsawn 93]

Very pleased to see the squad radar added. However, there are some issues with it.

 

 

Current problems with Squad Radar:

• Units appear to be listed in order of rank. This is completely impractical for communities where a typical squad consists of 2 fireteams (e.g. a squad of 8 men: 2 fireteams of 4). A better ordering of units would be to order them by placement in the editor, this way the mission editor can explicitly define the ordering of units on the squad radar. Alternatively, order units by team color.
• Position of units in list is not fixed - when a unit dies/disconnects, the radar re-orders the units displayed in the list. This is very annoying. Squad structure should be maintained.

 

This shows the ordering issue I mentioned. I placed down 8 men one-by-one in the editor, setting the first 4 men to team red, and the other 4 men to team blue. This is the result:

 

 

Ordering is not intuitive. We should instead see team red grouped together in the list, and team blue grouped together.