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Archwing Ui General Improvements Needed: Has Some Of The Traits Of A Space Shooter, Doesnt Have The Ui For It


Neocyberman
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A number of things in the archwing UI are missing and some other portions seem to be without purpose.

 

General Missing Features

>Lacks speed indication, without which the only indication is particles moving by

>Area boundaries not marked

>Enemies not marked on minimap when triangle visual comes up

>Triangle visual does not seem to serve much purpose, seems like a lock on indicator, for homing skills,is not

>No indicators for dropped items/mods

>Map and damage indicators not suited for 3D movement. A proper 3D map might help in the development of more interesting maps.

 

 

There is a lot of what some call "visual noise" like stuff that looks like its important but isnt where there should be more stuff geared towards finding enemies. The triangles and screen shake and particles everywhere.

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I agree. The only change they made to the UI was static stuff that looks like a space shooter UI. It needs a real UI

 

 

This is the only point that I think we don't need, everything else is fine.

 

Yeah, I agree. We don't need a speed indicator. We can tell we are moving just fine.

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The radar display is a pretty awful fit for a space shooter; it is terrible for target acquisition because you're missing the single most critical piece of information: Bearing to Target.  You can kind of reckon this from the distance and "above/below" indication, but that's really spotty, because you don't know how far above or below you they are.  

I really hope it's a placeholder and the devs are looking at what other 3D shooters have used for this.

My personal preference and recommendation would be to do what Tie Fighter did: have circular "Front" and "Rear" radar displays, with targets directly ahead or behind in the center, targets directly to the side appearing at the edges of each, a gradient from the center to the edge indicating the bearing, and range indicated by the icon brightness (dimmer = farther, brighter = closer).  This system is very good at quick target acquisition and engagement (read: finding them and blowing them the heck up), and it's pretty intuitive after a quick introduction.

TIE_Fighter_PC_17.png

Whatever they do, I really hope they do something where the primary objective is helping you put the enemy in your sights; Archwing really, really needs a functional radar, since the enemies are so hard to see at distance, and can be literally anywhere in relation to you.  There definitely seems to be enough talented people to make it workable, and the mode is quite fun when it's flowing well.

Edited by Variatas
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If you guys played Ace Combat, the radar of that game might be suitable for Archwing.

Enemy marker will tell you the direction where the enemy is headed. Primarily, markers are red but if the enemy is in a lower altitude, it turns yellow - the lower it is, the yellower. For those who are above you, they are shaded with indigo and follows the same mechanics with yellows. This is applicable since the design of this game mode has a reference point for the horizontal perspective (since we can no longer base it on altitude like in Ace Combat).

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I believe we'll also need missile ui alert and map indicators so we'll know where to break it. Hellion dargyn missiles are the current killers due to its high damage and proc chance.

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If you guys played Ace Combat, the radar of that game might be suitable for Archwing.

Enemy marker will tell you the direction where the enemy is headed. Primarily, markers are red but if the enemy is in a lower altitude, it turns yellow - the lower it is, the yellower. For those who are above you, they are shaded with indigo and follows the same mechanics with yellows. This is applicable since the design of this game mode has a reference point for the horizontal perspective (since we can no longer base it on altitude like in Ace Combat).

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I believe we'll also need missile ui alert and map indicators so we'll know where to break it. Hellion dargyn missiles are the current killers due to its high damage and proc chance.

The problem I see with keeping a top-down radar plot is that the game mode may have a reference for horizontal perspective, but the game space mostly doesn't.  It'd be better than the simpler "above/below" icons, but not by much.  An angular display is much better at communicating the relevant information in an unrestricted three-dimensional battlespace like Archwing.

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Archwing controls are ground-based, but shoehorned into space flight. 

 

It's a pity the gameplay is still on the ground, despit the fact we are supposed to be flying. 

 

Until the game control scheme is changed to a real space flight - i.e. I can 'turn up' forever - gameplay will suffer. 

 

That is connected to the concept of radar the game will use. Sadly it was an early gameplay decision - a mistake IMO - so unless we rally together and RESPECTFULLY but relentlessly tell DE that 

 

ARCHWING CONTROL SCHEME SUCKS!

 

There will be no change to that, and Archwing won't grow up to its full potential. 

 

Archwing doesn't need a super-6DoF control scheme, but needs a decent 3D space-flight control scheme, not a ground-based one.

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