UI improvement for NS2
Slink
Join Date: 2003-07-01 Member: 17829Members
Join Date: 2003-07-01 Member: 17829Members
There's a problem in NS that I run into. Welding in NS is somewhat of a guessing game. Yes, the "need weld" menu option and the armor circles when the welder is active are better than nothing. But they both have their flaws, particularly in a combat situation, like a siege. The "need weld" command is hidden away in a menu or bound to a key, both options lowering the player's combat readiness. Switching to the welder to bring up the armor circle reduced the combat readiness of the player welding.
What I think needs to happen is some way to determine who needs welding require no other menus or weapon switching. I propose two ideas to alleviate this, I'm sure there could be more.
One idea is to make marine models drastically more visually unique. This serves to make it easy to distinguish between which marine is which. To determine armor levels the welder has to remember who got hit, but it's better than the current system. To do this, I would like to see somewhat customizable avatars. If you look closely at the NS splash screen, one of the marines has a cybernetic leg. Expanding on this idea could easily create fairly unique avatars. I'm imagining selectable slots, with customizations for each one. Head, left shoulder/arm, right shoulder/arm, chest, left leg, and right leg. It might also be nice to have customizable appearance for aliens, too. Selecting these options could be done in the player menu, or possibly randomized on spawn. This would also take some art asset developement time.
Another option is an easily visible graphic difference between remaining marine armor. I'm talking more than just some cracks on the breastplate, you're never going to see those at the high speed of NS combat. I think you'd need a difference in polygons, with pieces of marine armor actually dissapearing. I don't know how feasible this is to program, I think it would take a bit of time.
Optimally, I would like to see both ideas enacted at once. It would be by far the most developement effort, however, since doing both ideas would multiply the amount of work needed to be done.
One thing to remember is that these ideas do not just affect the marine team. If you make it so marines can visually identify either individual players or a player's armor level, then aliens can use this information too. That means the focus fade may be able to tell who's been hit once, and who's full armor.
The first idea, with a unique customizable visual appearance, affects gameplay in diverse ways, too. It allows players to know who's on their team, without having to press tab. Being able to say "John, cover me I'm reloading." or "Wait there Randy, I'll bait." without having to highlight players and waiting for their nametag to go up changes gameplay. It increases the effectiveness of communication It also has a side effect of strengthening community ties. This is why I mention that customizable options might be nice for aliens too, and not just marines.
P.S. I think something along the same lines would be nice for the comm. Marines should have nametags for the commander. I'm tired of not being able to tell specific marines information, either that they're in the wrong spot, or to give them praise and encouragement.
What I think needs to happen is some way to determine who needs welding require no other menus or weapon switching. I propose two ideas to alleviate this, I'm sure there could be more.
One idea is to make marine models drastically more visually unique. This serves to make it easy to distinguish between which marine is which. To determine armor levels the welder has to remember who got hit, but it's better than the current system. To do this, I would like to see somewhat customizable avatars. If you look closely at the NS splash screen, one of the marines has a cybernetic leg. Expanding on this idea could easily create fairly unique avatars. I'm imagining selectable slots, with customizations for each one. Head, left shoulder/arm, right shoulder/arm, chest, left leg, and right leg. It might also be nice to have customizable appearance for aliens, too. Selecting these options could be done in the player menu, or possibly randomized on spawn. This would also take some art asset developement time.
Another option is an easily visible graphic difference between remaining marine armor. I'm talking more than just some cracks on the breastplate, you're never going to see those at the high speed of NS combat. I think you'd need a difference in polygons, with pieces of marine armor actually dissapearing. I don't know how feasible this is to program, I think it would take a bit of time.
Optimally, I would like to see both ideas enacted at once. It would be by far the most developement effort, however, since doing both ideas would multiply the amount of work needed to be done.
One thing to remember is that these ideas do not just affect the marine team. If you make it so marines can visually identify either individual players or a player's armor level, then aliens can use this information too. That means the focus fade may be able to tell who's been hit once, and who's full armor.
The first idea, with a unique customizable visual appearance, affects gameplay in diverse ways, too. It allows players to know who's on their team, without having to press tab. Being able to say "John, cover me I'm reloading." or "Wait there Randy, I'll bait." without having to highlight players and waiting for their nametag to go up changes gameplay. It increases the effectiveness of communication It also has a side effect of strengthening community ties. This is why I mention that customizable options might be nice for aliens too, and not just marines.
P.S. I think something along the same lines would be nice for the comm. Marines should have nametags for the commander. I'm tired of not being able to tell specific marines information, either that they're in the wrong spot, or to give them praise and encouragement.
Comments
Differences in general appearance between marines I'd also support, as long as they all wear the same outfit/uniform. The differences should be only differences that the TSA couldn't/wouldn't hide. My reasoning behind this is simply the same reason generals and new recruits use the same (non-parade) uniform in most western armies. They're supposed to look alike to create team-spirit and empathy with each other (...and NS is a team game).
I like how the TSA helmet covers most of the face in NS, so that you can still <i>imagine</i> a difference, which is a good solution when you can't have many models anyway. If this isn't the case for NS2, maybe you could allow for at least showing the differences like skin color, minor facial differences and the like not hidden by the outfit.
A cybernetic extremity (arm, leg) is naturally easy to discern and would be visible. This entertains the notion of there being a lot of veteran marines who are fixed up to continue fighting. I only hope that if we see this in NS, something is done to insure that it isn't overused so most soldiers have them. ;)
I'm looking forward to see a bestselling NS2 to have a lot of bestselling solutions. ^_^