Injury icon [Feature Request]

[Muzzwezz 10]

What I hate is not knowing if im injured, and if I am some of the time I never even know where.

Sometimes the first indication of being injured is him starting to make pain noises, or even if you do know that you've been shot trying to find the location can be hard or impossible. Using free-look [if third person is disabled] is our only method to try and see if ive been shot in the torso or arm, and its ridiculous.

All I want is a simple diagram of a body and a little icon to tell me where ive been hurt, I know it sounds a little "COD like", this is not unrealistic, whats unrealistic is running around whilst been shot in the torso but not realizing it until 5 minutes later he makes a strange sound, which you might even mistake for the person next to you [or mistake their sound for your own injury]!

[maddogx 13]

I second this.

Having a diagram of the body would basically emulate the "feeling" of where you're hurt. It's not like we can actually feel that we've been shot in the leg, so visualizing it would be the next best solution, I think. :)

[NoRailgunner 0]

Perhaps as an option for those who like cluttered and consolish HUDs. ;)

Imho its better to improve and add more + different wounded animations and rework the speech/voices on player and AI.

[An Fiach 10]

Unless you are wounded bad enough to affect you, is it really necessary?

[Curry 10]

In combat you're in stress and under adrenaline so you will not notice immediately where you got injured or that you're injured at all, pain is coming later etc. etc..

In my opinion a "diagram" of the player like in Call of Duty or whatever is way too arcadish.

The system as it is now is good (hit in the arm or hand = bad aim / hit in the leg= you're not able to walk anymore), the system in Ace where you see your blood and blood trails is even better. Is it so importand to know if you were hit in the right or left leg? In combat definitely not, the only person that wants to know it exactly is the corpsman.

Edited December 17, 2009 by Curry

[LJF 0]

If it were to be implemented I'd rather it be able to be (a. disabled, and (b. made to pop up with a key press or only when you are wounded, I don't want more clutter, I hate that irritating command bar enough as it is :( Why can't that only come up when you press the command button or select a unit :( Definitely a great idea though, I get that too, "hmm, have I been shot recently? Hey Brad mate! Have I been shot? Is there blood on my neck?" :D

[Deadfast 43]

You can always use freelook to check your body for wounds.

[Alex72 1]

Like stated above - i always just look with my head (BIS didnt give us freelook for nothing :) ) and i can see where im hit.

If someone wants icons and they are optional - go ahead - but personally i would never use it. I like my screen completelly clean. That gives IMO the best feeling when playing. All the years since i started to play FPS i wanted clean screen. With this game i got it and like to keep it that way. :)

[Muzzwezz 10]

NoRailgunner

- It doesn't have to clutter, make it small, translucent and only appears when your injured

anfiach

- Yes actually, because that EXACTLY the kind of thing that makes it "more arcade like", ruining around injured like it doesnt matter. Not to mention when my guy starts grunting I get paranoid because im immersed into the game, and it can give away your position.

Curry

- thats totally dependent on the situation and wound

- i only suggested as diagram as it doent have to give away unrealistic information such as "83% health", the diagram would be the most realistic way to go and it would just show a location on a body, and maybe the severity of it

- have you never had it when your player starts complaining, but theres no blood or no wound?, have you never had it when you see a badguy and bring up your sights to shoot to find you cant aim for shite and without realizing yove been injured in the arm?, ever gone for a car journey to then get out and suddenly be injured to no reason

LJF

- of course, but the idea was the diagram doesnt have to clutter and would be the most realistic method,

Deadfast

- no you cant, sometimes it doesn't show and i dont really want to be doing that mid-firefight anyway

Alex72

already replied

It twas just an idea anyhoo.

[no use for a name 0]

I think something like a better visual/audio cue instead of a diagram. You get hit in the arm, aim is shaky and your guy yells about his arm. Hit in the leg, you movement speed is decreased and he yells about his leg. Hit in the chest and you have a hard time breathing so running/aiming is fairly difficult. Some of these features are already in the game; but it would be better if it was easier to localize; but I don't see a need for a diagram on the HUD. But if it was an option, then it'd be cool with me :D

[An Fiach 10]

anfiach

- Yes actually, because that EXACTLY the kind of thing that makes it "more arcade like", ruining around injured like it doesnt matter. Not to mention when my guy starts grunting I get paranoid because im immersed into the game, and it can give away your position.

Having a wound indicator will change this how? If you don't know you've been shot in game you must be playing with eyes closes and ears plugged. The feedback the game gives you tells you if you are wounded. If they are minor, they won't effect you and if they are major you had best get medical attention. Nothing unrealistic about running about wounded or injured, it is the severity of it that is important. As for the grunting, the corpsman will either treat you or not. An indicator won't fix that.

Have at it though, as long as it can be turned off I'm ok with it.

[Dwarden 1125]

it would actually help these who got imparied hearing or are deaf ...

lot of people not realize that these people are also gamers ...

don't even get me started with partial colorblindnesses and so on...

[tcp 10]

I agree that steadiness and mobility effects are done nicely and are good indicators. The wincing and grunting is OK, but the yelling of "My leg" is probably the part that annoys people the most. If you went through the trouble of creating a system to track and report injuries, I think you should just go all out and instead of a rudimentary HUD, create a camera view for examining your limbs and torso. It would be less disturbing to realism fans. Press a button and move your mouse as if you were looking down at your body. You would want to gauge the severity of each wound, but the current blood and wound detail textures probably wouldn't be worth changing. Actually, all you would need to do is flash the screen with a variable saturation of red when you looked at a particular wound. It would simulate the feeling of shock you get when you look at your own wound.

If the medic system in ACE progresses and gets more advanced, maybe there could be a popup dialog to detail the extent of your injuries so that the medic knows what type of aid to provide. Or if you have to bandage yourself and had limited supplies, you could choose which site to treat. Possibly, your ability to stay in the fight would be determined by how attentive you are when controlling the initial and subsequent bleeding. However, I don't see how after receiving morphine or requiring a tourniquet, you could be be healed completely. For more grievous injuries, it should require constant stabilization until a medevac arrives (ambulance or helicopter). You would get loaded into the vehicle, and as a reward for saving a life, you would come back out fully healed and be considered a reinforcement.

Edited December 19, 2009 by tcp

[An Fiach 10]

it would actually help these who got imparied hearing or are deaf ...

lot of people not realize that these people are also gamers ...

don't even get me started with partial colorblindnesses and so on...

You have a good point there. Shame on me.

[CarlGustaffa 4]

@tcp: I would agree with you if there was a lot of shooting and limited casualties, like it appears to be in real life (against insurgency warfare). Unfortunately, people wants to shoot as good as they do on the range, and cry massively when they don't (early versions of ACE1). When humans get to shoot this good, AI have to do so to to achieve balance, hence 7-8/10 bullets that hits me in Arma2 kills me (subjective feeling I've got).

Servers are running AI skills so high that you'll never ever get close to them. It becomes a distance turkey shootout where scopes reign the battlefield. Not sure why, some macho thing maybe? Getting killed all the time, and for the "wrong reasons" can be frustrating for many. Magic healing is helpful here. Requirement for constant stabilization would be too much for me, given the mentioned lack of proper firefight issue.

Another problem is lack of assets. In Arma2 battles, you don't have the option of setting up a game to realistic proportions to provide the needed securities. We often have a single squad performing battalion missions. Exceptions exist, but often considered too hard core for the general player to appreciate, and quite often very non dynamic.

Then again, I could be too messed up about it since my "feelings" are mostly based on the insurgency fighting. Meaning I'm having a mental problem seeing how a US vs Russia war would "look".

I'm usually very found on "the more realism the better", but at the same time I don't want Arma2 to become ultra realistic modern warfare, if you catch my drift :)

As for the magic injury icon, I'm all for it as a personal setting, despite adding a GUI which I'm generally against. With the current system, I have to ask myself, "Am I hurt, or is it the guy next to me who is hurt?", then move away to see it the sound level changes. Horrible! Sometimes there is no blood (to be seen, I think). I have to have a scope to see slight weapons shake. I have to use weapons crosshairs to see increased bar spread.

To me, knowing I'm hurt provides a greater sense of realism than being able to fight as if nothing happened. I agree that it can take a while before pain sets in (experienced this, but not from being shot upon), but you do tend to notice something. Numbness around the wound. Wet from bleeding. Dizzyness from bleeding out. Things that are hard to portray in a game.

Naturally, Dwardens argument for it can't be neglected either :) Not sure how I would visualize for deaf people that bullets where flying around them though.

[Dwarden 1125]

flying bullets can be hinted by some 'danger icon' or just 'darkening/blurring' the screen ...

even direction being done in many games by the 'awareness' indicators of incoming fire (usually circle split to 45 degree or 30 degree portions)

take in mind that games which think about such gamers allows this to be disabled ...

tho i can imagine people wan't it to be server enforced as it can be classified as cheat

but there is so many things to implement ... and there is only limited amount of resources and time :(

[Murklor 10]

flying bullets can be hinted by some 'danger icon'

A giant yellow triangle with a red exclamation mark in the center of the screen? :D

I think icons has a place, on one condition: its not visible ALL the time. That's something that Arma does good and what many other games suffer horribly from. Just flash the info quickly. If I get hit in the leg, I wouldnt mind a small body icon with a red leg popping up at the bottom of the screen for 3 seconds.

The coolest ways is always integrated in the game though. Imagine if your leg was hit, you collapse down on your other knee and the view looks down at your leg with the hand feeling the wound for severity. Lots of blood on your hand, bad wound. Little blood, just a scrape. And then your in control again.

[[frl]myke 14]

The coolest ways is always integrated in the game though. Imagine if your leg was hit, you collapse down on your other knee and the view looks down at your leg with the hand feeling the wound for severity. Lots of blood on your hand, bad wound. Little blood, just a scrape. And then your in control again.

Pretty bad idea.

If you got hit probably means you're in the line of fire of an enemy. Pretty bad to take away players control right now.

Great cinematic, true, but horrible for gameplay. Remember this is not OFP: DR so the AI is pretty well able to hit you a second time pretty shortly after first hit.

Sorry, couldn't resist :D

[trickster1982 10]

I think the game covers this well enough as it is to be fair, its a pretty obvious sign that your even slightly injured when your crosshair starts weaving all over the place while trying to shoot! And theres a fair few times ive been shot in the leg, stood back up, tried to move & ive fallen back down into prone with a red flash on the screen & a groan from my character. Thats usually a cue for me to start calling for a medic.

As others have said having some body icon flashing up on screen would ruin the immersion & would start looking very console/arcade-ish which, as we all know, Arma 2 isnt about!

[Master gamawa 0]

I think injuries should be amped up by using already existing effects.

Viewbobbing for example should be activated in most major injuries. If you get it in the leg the bobbing should be activated only on one side of your body to simulate limping. The next stage of course should be the "falling down every time you try to walk" routine that is already used right now.

In the case of arm injuries you still have the cross-hair swaying but they should take it one step further and disable our ability to use weapons that require two hands or those that are very heavy. When you get a bullet in the arm it's time to pull out that stupid sidearm, right?

Head injuries should have a blurry effect, darkening of vision or even loss of color info.

Body/Torso injuries should be associated with heavy breathing and loss of stability etc.

Here is an effect list of injury location/severity

-----light / medium / heavy injury

Arm: crosshair swaying/more swaying/disable injured arm - (player targeting is affected)

Leg: limping/heavy limping and accented viewbobbing maybe with a a chance of falling down on your face every few meters /disable legs - (player movement is affected)

Torso: heavy breathing/ unable to run, crosshair swaying/ incapacitated - (player ... everything should be affected really)

Head: stun effects/ darkened vision, blurry effects, distorted sound/ incapacitated (player senses are affected)

That way you know where you are injured straight away without having to wait for audio clues.

Edited December 22, 2009 by Master gamawa

[CarlGustaffa 4]

Definitely don't want an icon to occur every time I get shot or take damage. As I already said, pain or other clues can set in later. Once I stepped into a small pond of broken glass, barefoot. I didn't notice anything, until about 30-60 seconds later when it started to "feel wet". Friends was like, "uhh, I think you're hurt". Smacked a sock around it and went home by foot, leaving a blood trail through the town :D Pain didn't set in until a few hours later actually. Goo and flesh pouring out of the wound when I tried to clean it. Don't know why, torn nerves and/or blocked pain signals? So, no to instant notification.

But, when you get suspicious that you're wounded, it would be nice with an icon on request that showed you your bodily functions. Maybe a limit to how often you could do this check?

[kremator 1065]

Just change the call-outs ....

"By Jingo, that smarts. Blimey! I've gone and been hit in the **INSERT BODY PART HERE**. This is really going to give me gip in my old age, I'll warrant! Tally-ho Ginger !"