Interface discussion

[horror1]

i would be glad if the comenu could be exactly like in arma1 , it was absolutely easy and good for me that way, now arma2 menu is a pain to control ai soldiers cause u have to push way more buttons to perform simple tasks i could order in arma1 with simple spacebar and mouse.

[ruebe]

I dislike those `action-icons` showing up in the middle of the screen. Sure, some indication is nice, but please not like this.

A Scenario: You're under fire, crawling to a dead buddy ahead of you to find at least some cover and opening fire from there.

The Problem: Lying infront of your dead buddy offers you the option to grap his stuff and so there's this `action-icon` right there in the middle of the screen. And to make things even worse. Try to look through your scope and the icon is still obscureing your view! That's just ugly.

I'd favor some other indication, not in the middle of the screen if possible. In good old OFP, there was the action-menu poping up at the right bottom of the screen. That was a lot better (placement of indication).

In case this is not possible, at least consider the following refinements:
1) Hide/Blend-out `action-icons` after a few seconds if they are not used.
2) Always hide them immediately if you look through a scope/iron sight. It doesn't make sense to offer any such option while in this position.

[Gemini]

I totally agree with horror1 ! The command menu was perfect in ArmA I, because we could use only one or two buttons to lead a squad: why did you change it ? Now it's more difficult and longer.

I really don't understand why you did this. Please let us the possibility to choose the old interface !

I hope that BI will read this, please think about old ArmA users...

[thegunnysgt]

Yeah, the Command Menu needs to be more simple like in A1. As it is right now, I can't do squat with my AI, can't tell them to change seats or get in a vehicle that is not in view of me. It is also harder to control them as I can't bring up the command view used with AI (spacebar x2 in A1). The old A1 command interface was more simple and easy to command your AI and tell them what to do.


Also, where you can change the channel you type text into, needs to be moved. As it is right now I can't see what channel and what text I am typing due someone else messages covering it all up. It has caused me to type a message in the wrong channel type and have to retype it and almost cause me to crash if I was flying.

[redmotion]

Can we have new controllers configured automatically to SET UPs that have been tested as useful please!

I am sick of having to reconfigure new controllers attached to my computer. Seriously, the configurations are random. It even assigned button/switch-type controls to my pedals controller - must be AI selected I guess!

Can't we have working tried and tested presets for all the main crontrollers (xbox controllers/ch products/saitek/microsoft/etc) please?!

Also the controls selection panel is horrible. You can't even see half of the options selected because they go off the screen and it also happens to be the thing that causes CTD most of all - which infuriates me even more. (most often press 'next' and 'previous')

[xxbbcc]

The new team command menu is basically useless. The old one from ArmA 1 needs to come back (with the hierarchical numbers. - 1.1 - fall back into formation, 7.2-danger, etc.)

I know I can still use the combinations, but I don't remember every item by heart, just the frequently used ones. The menu was easy to use and relatively simple.

Also the action icons in the middle of the screen need to go down to the screen bottom to be out of the way. Its very annoying when they obstruct the view through a scope.

[Essobie]

- Looking around in air vehicles should allow finite turning in not only vertical looking but horizontal looking. Currently the only way to get a good look around while flying is by spending 150 US on TrackIR5. Ideally pressing your Look Left key/button/POV hat direction should turn your head a little then leave it there when you let go. This is how looking up and down work, so I'm not sure why looking left and right should be different. Then just utilize the "Center Look" function for when you want to snap back to center.

The above issue was the result of some strange corruption in my player profile as I was going through and replacing many of the default controls. For some reason it was removing left/right looking. After creating a new profile and trying it again, left/right worked fine, so I went into my original profile and attempted to set all the "Look..." functions to default, and the game crashed half-way through the process. I had to start another profile from scratch to get it to work.

- Would be nice to offer FreeTrack support, as I don't believe TrackIR is worth that much money and I have plenty of Wii remotes at my disposal. I'm more likely to do a do-it-yourself weekend to create a FreeTrack setup than I am to shell out that much cash.

- Remove the lag that the gun has when moving the mouse around quickly while using Infantry controls. It seems like this might actually be a technical problem with low frames per second, but it half feels like it is intentional to give player models some time to catch up to very fast mouse movements. It can be forgiven to see other players do a near instant 180 spin if it means the in game controls benefit.

- Revamping of entire Load/Save functionality for Single Player. There are many examples of this functionality in many different games that could be used for an example of an easy to understand save system, and this game's doesn't adhere to any standards in this regard. There doesn't seem to be a way to go back and load a specific save if you restart a mission for any reason. I recommend something where the entire list of all saved games appear in a scrollable dialog complete with screenshots of what you are looking at, the name of the chapter (in your case, the name of the mission), and the date/time it was saved, and then listed in ascending order by that date/time.

[EricM]

there's good and bad in the new quick command system, but they took off some basic features as well :
1) when you have more than 10 people in your squad, you've got an arrow that tells you there's more but no way to actually see how to access them. I pressed F12 to see if it was working like in Arma 1 and it did, but how can someone new know that ? there's no visual clue to that.
2) when you're on the second page of you troops (F12), you can see your extra guys, 11,12 etc... but there is no visual clue either as to which key you must press to access them (F1, F11?). Once again, if you were familiar with Arma 1 you might find it, but it's clearly not for newcomers.
3) In the new highcommand and warfare how do you give "missions" (eg : take nearest town) to the other groups under you're command, not only specific waypoints? how can you order them to rearm, upgrade ? how can you etc...

Note : backspace brings up the old menu for those who wonder...

[Baff1]

Apologies if this has already been covered,

in 4:1 aspect ratio for surround gaming, the window for flight speed and altitude is on the top left of the left hand screen.

Would it be possible to reposition it into the top left of the centre screen please?

When using Track IR I have to move my head to check my speed and altitude and doing so sets the track IR off and I start looking all over the place.
As checking speed and altitude is a pretty much constant interaction (especially during landings) I can't maintain a stable view to pilot.
Currently, either I can't see where I'm going or I can't check on my speed or altitude.

[Essobie]

Another annoyance with the interface:

Function keys and top row Number Keys should be re-assignable in the controls interface. The defaults can certainly be the functions they do now (selecting squad members, AI commands, etc), but they should be able to be changed to things that players are more likely going to use more often especially because the left side of both the function keys and top row numbers are within reach of the player's left hand.

I'd love to bind common functions I currently have to scroll through in the action menu to buttons 1 through 6 (such as Get Out).

And finally, I think there should be a "Prime Grenade" and/or a "Throw Grenade" button with the option to prime while holding, throw when releasing. Having hand grenades tied to the weapon toggle function doesn't seem correct as I think of that function as the setting for the current weapon I'm holding (burst/semi/full). To have hand grenades buried in that menu is cumbersome and not at all clear. I had to ask experienced players how to actually throw a grenade last night, and throwing a grenade should be obvious.