HUD Elements PS2 could borrow from BF

IceyCold · 2011-11-21, 08:17 AM

Before I get started let me point something out very quickly:

This is simply a thought, and I would love to hear some feedback on this but PLEASE DO NOT TURN THIS INTO A BF3 SUCKS / DON'T COPY / HATE THREAD. We have one of those already. Thanks.

With that out of the way let me start by saying there is one thing that the old Planetside was lacking that I have often found incredibly useful and intuitive about the battlefield games, HUD icons and the Radial Menu. Now of course to utilize this in Planetside 2 it would have to be modified, and it could be prettied up a bit for Planetside 2. Without any further bullshittery let me just post the images:

http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p...w18/BF3Hud.png

This is the first image. I simply hopped into BF3 and snapped it really fast and labeled it for this presentation. I'll go over the elements I think PS2 could benefit from and how they could be improved for PS2.

Wounded Allies Icon:
As a medic player, this is quite possibly the best HUD icon ever. It isn't hard to get confused in a firefight as to what is going on or to lose headcount and not realize that a soldier is down somewhere. One thing I absolutely hate is the “click button to spam medic in chat” feature than the earlier BF games had, since all it did was clutter chat and not really help me do my job as a medic since I was being spammed by so many people. This feature is great as far as I am concerned, and could be extremely helpful for medic players.

How to make it better for PS2:
My biggest concern here (and for many of these icons) is clutter. Let's face it, with 500 allies on the field this could become a problem quickly. So for PS2 a good way to handle this is to make it so that only Medics see this icon, and only for soldiers within a certain distance from them. Say 250 meters.

Allied infantry and vehicle Icons:
Let's face it, sometimes it is good to know where your buddies are; but it is even better to know where they are in relation to your current location. This one needs little explanation.

How to make it better for PS2:
This one is simple, make it so you only see these icons for your Squad/Platoon-mates. This would help immensely for coordination and for operating as a team.

Objective Icons:
Simple, it is an icon that shows the objectives in your area.

How to make it better for PS2:
Either have it only show the objectives near you (within say 2000 meters) or only display objectives set by your Squad/Platoon leader and the mission you are on.

Squad Leader Icons:
Allows you to see the leaders of yours and other squads.

How to make it better for PS2:
I actually like the idea of being able to see allied squad leaders, so you can get a general idea of where allied soldiers are. For a squad leader scanning the horizon to find allied troops in his AO this is a great tool since it gives a general concept of where your army is without cluttering their screen with icons. Having maybe another icon for Platoon Leaders would be great as well.

Spotted enemies Icons:
The second most useful Icon for the HUD. Allows you to spot and light up enemy soldiers / vehicles / and utilities.

How to make it better for PS2:
This one I considered for a while, because it can make life a bit difficult for infantry. So I came up with the solution I think works best.

When spotting INFANTRY: Infantry when spotted simply lights up the position they were in when spotted. Thus you don't get the big icon over your head making you an easy target. If you are spotted you can move from your current position and get to cover and try a new approach which gives you a fighting chance.

When spotting VEHICLES: Because vehicles are larger they are constantly tracked when they are spotted. This makes being in a vehicle a bit more challenging as anytime someone spots you they can see your movements until the spot wears off.

Finally, you would only receive Spotted Icons from allied infantry within 250 meters of you or your Squad/Platoon at any distance. The Spotted Icon should only last for 5 – 10 seconds for both infantry and vehicles.

The Radial Menu:

I wont dissect this because it is fairly self explanatory and it would not need much change for PS2. It simply works by holding 'Q' and moving your mouse to highlight the option you want. If you simply tap 'Q' quickly it will call out whatever you spotted.

One thing that would be nice is when you call for help (be it medic, ammo, backup, or pickup) an icon appears over your head, indicating which one you requested as well as the standard emote sound.

The “Need Medic” option changes to “Need Repairs” when in a vehicle. And the “Need Pickup” could change to “Need Passengers” for PS2.

Just some thoughts, would love to hear your opinions.

Coreldan · 2011-11-21, 09:20 AM

The comm's rose is BF3 is actually quote horrid, but I noticed you took the screenie from BF2142?

In BF3 it just SCREAMS how the game was made with consoles in mind. Pure PC catering for PS2, please. I way rather used the old "VNG" system of PS than the rose in BF3. The enemy spotting with Q was OK though.

Also, 250m for a medic to see the injured allies sounds a bit much. I don't think the respawn time will be long enough for a medic to at least run that far. Perhaps 50m would be better? If there are a lot of injured players nearby (assaulting a base for example), it could make the radius smaller (sorta like the map zoomed in indoors) instead of showing someone who is injured 100m away when you got 10 guys right in front of you.

IceyCold · 2011-11-21, 09:49 AM

Originally Posted by Coreldan

The comm's rose is BF3 is actually quote horrid, but I noticed you took the screenie from BF2142?

In BF3 it just SCREAMS how the game was made with consoles in mind. Pure PC catering for PS2, please. I way rather used the old "VNG" system of PS than the rose in BF3. The enemy spotting with Q was OK though.

Also, 250m for a medic to see the injured allies sounds a bit much. I don't think the respawn time will be long enough for a medic to at least run that far. Perhaps 50m would be better? If there are a lot of injured players nearby (assaulting a base for example), it could make the radius smaller (sorta like the map zoomed in indoors) instead of showing someone who is injured 100m away when you got 10 guys right in front of you.

The Comms Rose in BF2142 is SO much better honestly, that is indeed why I used it

. (BF2142 was a better game all around, but eh. lol)

Probably a good point on the range actually. 50m probably would be better.

Coreldan · 2011-11-21, 09:56 AM

I think it's still worth considering whether a comm's rose is the best way to go on a PC that has a lot of more buttons at it's disposal. The comms rose is the best way to do it on a console, sure, but how about on a PC?

I recall BF1942 had it so that it was like F5-F8. One button would be for "Spotted:", another one for "Need: (ammo, pickup, etc)", stuff like this. I think that worked pretty well, but I also think the good old V-N-G (we need a gunner is just so legendary so it's my example

) worked just fine on a PC that had the buttons to spare.

The comms rose could also be an option though for those who want it or generally for some very commonly needed voice macros, but overall I'd rather have something a bit more in-depth, such as the system used in BF1942 or PS.

IceyCold · 2011-11-21, 10:26 AM

Originally Posted by Coreldan

I think it's still worth considering whether a comm's rose is the best way to go on a PC that has a lot of more buttons at it's disposal. The comms rose is the best way to do it on a console, sure, but how about on a PC?

I recall BF1942 had it so that it was like F5-F8. One button would be for "Spotted:", another one for "Need: (ammo, pickup, etc)", stuff like this. I think that worked pretty well, but I also think the good old V-N-G (we need a gunner is just so legendary so it's my example

) worked just fine on a PC that had the buttons to spare.

The comms rose could also be an option though for those who want it or generally for some very commonly needed voice macros, but overall I'd rather have something a bit more in-depth, such as the system used in BF1942 or PS.

Personally I think the Comms Rose is a great system on both PC and Console for common things you might use constantly. Even have it to where there is a tab in the options menu to customize your Comms Rose with the calls you want so it is a quick one button away. No need to do away with other emotes, simply put the most common ones you would need to use quickly on it. Just because the PC has more buttons, doesn't mean everyone wants to memorize every button on the keyboard.

Just because something is easy isn't always because it is dumbed down, but sometimes because it is simply more intuitive. With todays shooters many of the more complicated systems have been streamlined and though us veterans are just fine with a simple V-V-E many of today's shooter players want something easy to learn and use. The Comms Rose accomplishes this in an excellent way.

Wizkid45 · 2011-11-21, 12:54 PM

There will be waaaaay to many people in Planetside to have some of these things work. They're great for smaller games but not something with hundreds of people in one area at once. Your whole screen would be filled with icons displaying all of your allies, spotted enemy vehicles and soldiers, dead friendlies etc. I get what your saying, but not for this game.

The one thing I would like is if you are and Adv. Med, then every time someone dies you can see a skull, or maybe have it on the minimap like PSide1. If you arent Adv. med, then you don't see anything.

Also, the red triangle and the name over your enemies head is neat for BF3, but I like PSide's implementation infinitely times more (Name in red, Health and MUCH BIGGER, so hard to see it in BF3 cause the font is so small). I'd rather it be kept like original Planetside than something like BF3.

Khellendros · 2011-11-21, 01:01 PM

I think the only HUD icons should be your SL, PL, and any other defined outfit leader roles, as well as squad waypoints. Everything else should be on minimap.

FIREk · 2011-11-21, 01:06 PM

You wrote a lot of wisdom here, OP.

I think that we could easily leave the moving spot marker, though.
For one thing, a stationary one would be confusing, BF3's 3D spotting removes all the Exploitable from spotting and, finally, seeing enemies in PS2 most likely won't be such a problem as in BF3, where you can't see a thing.
There's one thing that we should consider about spotting, though - night time. This is where a moving spot marker could be quite exploitable.

I agree in pretty much all the rest except for the radial menu. It could be optional, but PlanetSide is not PlanetSide without V-V-V.

IceyCold · 2011-11-21, 02:04 PM

Originally Posted by Wizkid45

There will be waaaaay to many people in Planetside to have some of these things work. They're great for smaller games but not something with hundreds of people in one area at once. Your whole screen would be filled with icons displaying all of your allies, spotted enemy vehicles and soldiers, dead friendlies etc. I get what your saying, but not for this game

That is why I suggested they either be limited to just Icons in your immediate area or those of only your squad/platoon mates.

But I won't lie, it could potentially get out of hand if you had an extremely large battle. I was more interested in having the Med icons than anything.

Originally Posted by Khellendros

I think the only HUD icons should be your SL, PL, and any other defined outfit leader roles, as well as squad waypoints. Everything else should be on minimap.

Can see your point, I'd still like squad/platoonmates to show up on my HUD as well though.

Originally Posted by FIREk

You wrote a lot of wisdom here, OP.

I think that we could easily leave the moving spot marker, though.
For one thing, a stationary one would be confusing, BF3's 3D spotting removes all the Exploitable from spotting and, finally, seeing enemies in PS2 most likely won't be such a problem as in BF3, where you can't see a thing.
There's one thing that we should consider about spotting, though - night time. This is where a moving spot marker could be quite exploitable.

I agree in pretty much all the rest except for the radial menu. It could be optional, but PlanetSide is not PlanetSide without V-V-V.

Oh, I assure you; I do not want to play a Planetside without a V-V-X :P. I stated later in the thread that a good implementation for PS2 would be to let you set the V-Emotes you most often use to the menu. So instead of V-N-M I can just hit Q and get my medic.

Peacemaker · 2011-11-21, 06:02 PM

Platoon mate Icons, Medic needed Icons, and thats about it. Flanking actions shouldn't be blown because one guy spots your squad and you blast him. Too late anyways. Ambushes, sniper locations, flanking actions, and cloakers all suffer too much from that kind of stuff.

SniperSteve · 2011-11-21, 06:09 PM

V-V-N

SKYeXile · 2011-11-21, 06:48 PM

Yea, VVN to com rose, I think that says it all really.

I think though with the amount fo epople dying and shit happening in PS2 even the most closet people for the medic to res would be an eyesore, PS1's system of using the minimap to show where an advanced medic is and the advanced medic uses the radar to see where people are, i guess there is also some options for customisation too, like only show people within 50m, LOS, show 10 closest or something.

But yea the other elements of BF3 UI is pretty neat, i like it.

Personally i jsut prefere giant red names over peoples head though, less camping that way, with an 8X8 content...there alot of potential spots to camp, giant red names would keep that to a minimum.

Pillow · 2011-11-21, 06:57 PM

I wish BF3 copy alot from Planetside instead.
I hate chasing medics and pressing Q when im wounded it always ends up in me kneecapping the medic anyway.
And i dont want spotting in PS2 i dont want my hud flooded with icons evrywere and if you insist in having spotting in PS2 make it recon class exclusive like binaculars or an implant.

Originally Posted by SniperSteve

V-V-N

+1

IceyCold · 2011-11-21, 07:36 PM

Eh was just a thought, but I kind of expected that most people would be against it really just tossin ideas out there. Honestly I don't really care one way or the other. Would be interested to see alternatives that people might be able to come up with.

And thanks to all those who actually listed their reasons and gave actual thought to the thread for contributing instead of just putting some lame attempt at wit :P.

Metalsheep · 2011-11-22, 02:19 PM

Planetside already has a Medic Icon, only Adv Meds can see it and a dead friendly comes up as a gold cross on your mini map. Also, if you are dead, Adv Meds show up as a Cross as well.

Same with Spotted Enemies. The way the Radar works in Planetside, is that if your Squad or Platoon mates, or you, See or Sense (Audio Amp) A nearby enemy they show up on your radar as a Red Dot, or whatever vehicle they are in. (Vehicles show up all the time regardless of being spotted, unless it is shielded from Radar like the harasser and Deployed AMS) Of course Motion Sensors/Upgraded Aegis Shields/Mossy Overflight (should get SEP for overflight.) and Interlink radars show enemies all the time.

With the new mission system, i'm sure they will add Objective markers for Missions, Squads and Platoon objectives.

If SoE keeps those systems from Planetside1, there aren't many changes that need to be made. They all work, and were done before in Planetside.