Quit clickin sectors jackass...

[Freyja]

If something doesn't make it into r6, you never know- it might make it into a subsequent release.

[Jimen]

QUOTE (Xynth @ Aug 31 2010, 12:06 PM) Sure you could type attack miners virk, then your team mouses over half the sectors in F7 to see where virk is and then they head there, but I'd rather spend those 5-10 seconds on my way to the miners.

I don't think you get a more meaningful connection between comms and players when the commander types the letters "virk" as opposed to sending a highlight.

This is why most comms say "attack miners low" or "attack miners by their op" instead.

If there's any part of the GUI that needs updating, I wouldn't point to the minimap, which is already by far the most expressive piece of the GUI with easily-accessible information on the state of the entire game as known to your team. Rather, I'd aim for the largely useless bottom notification display, and the barely-managable orders system.

[Gandalf2]

On the flip side, "get to freya" or such-like can often take 10-15 seconds to figure out if you're on a decent-sized map as you hover over every sector until you find the one the commander just named.

[jbansk]

I fear we'll be dealing with a year of this before it's "fixed".

[Makida]

QUOTE (Gandalf2 @ Aug 31 2010, 01:29 PM) On the flip side, "get to freya" or such-like can often take 10-15 seconds to figure out if you're on a decent-sized map as you hover over every sector until you find the one the commander just named.

This raises another interesting point -- sector names.

How about going into the maps and changing the names of sectors to be something more intuitive? Develop some sort of system for it so that you can tell approximately where a sector is just from its name? For example, something like a chess-board -- sectors with names with a letter and a number component, the letters indicating order horizontally left to right, the numbers -- vertically bottom to top. Doesn't have to be something very precise -- even if it just gives you a rough idea of where the sector is, in many cases, it'd be enough. Nor do the names have to be boring -- for example, perhaps they could still have names, with just the first letter of the name being determined by location, and then a number after it. Alpha-3, Betelgeuse-1, Barsoom-2, etc., etc. Even without taking the time to figure out EXACTLY where on the grid a sector will be, you know if your commander is asking you to go to sector Zoro-2 you need to start looking at the right of the map, and probably mid-low.

[raumvogel]

Confesions of a psychotic nanite scout:So I'm sitting near my forward miner when the commander says: "Attack miners in Titty". So all of the people on the team exept me rushes to Titty to kill miners.Just as they get there, 2 ints enter my sector and one kills my miner while the other chases me around trying to kill me. Then they bomb the op 2 sectors from Titty. My point is a bilnking sector doesn't assign who should go where, so everyone thinks that THEY need to go to the blinking sector.

[the.ynik]

QUOTE (jbansk @ Aug 31 2010, 07:44 PM) I fear we'll be dealing with a year of this before it's "fixed".

Huh? I thought only the commander can highlight and de-highlight sectors. If your minimap looks like that, it's time for #munity

[DasSmiter]

QUOTE (girlyboy @ Aug 31 2010, 12:58 PM) This raises another interesting point -- sector names.

How about going into the maps and changing the names of sectors to be something more intuitive? Develop some sort of system for it so that you can tell approximately where a sector is just from its name? For example, something like a chess-board -- sectors with names with a letter and a number component, the letters indicating order horizontally left to right, the numbers -- vertically bottom to top. Doesn't have to be something very precise -- even if it just gives you a rough idea of where the sector is, in many cases, it'd be enough. Nor do the names have to be boring -- for example, perhaps they could still have names, with just the first letter of the name being determined by location, and then a number after it. Alpha-3, Betelgeuse-1, Barsoom-2, etc., etc. Even without taking the time to figure out EXACTLY where on the grid a sector will be, you know if your commander is asking you to go to sector Zoro-2 you need to start looking at the right of the map, and probably mid-low.

Because no

As for the worries about the blinking minimap, why not just make it a "ping" like in most std RTS games that makes it last say 3 seconds on the minimap?

Taking off of whoever's idea for the commander chat pane (I think GB's?) I always envisioned the orders pane being more like this:

Comm gives an order to Defend [ExpansionCon1], another to Attack Miners [Here], and a third to Defend Miners [here]. These orders sit in a little pane in the top left of the screen if the state is neutral, but if you click on one of these missions you are pushed into a wing with other people who have done the same and this "Commander Command Pane" is replaced by a chat for that wing that stays up there until you go back to the neutral state of not having a mission.

That's the central idea and it can be improved with a few other things if anyone is interested, but generally this would be limited to perhaps 5 commands (so 5 separate wings) and we would have to do some jigglin with how the info is sent to the comm channel (like perhaps people in the defend this con wing see all constructor commands but not miner commands?). It makes use of a the currently almost useless wing feature, while leaving enough wings open that people who are using them as a private chat room can still do that.

Comm would of course need to be able to see chat in all wings (probably a new command wing feature?) as well as being able to tab to that wing to speak to people on that mission.

My idea also maintains the current level of comm chat with team (and hopefully makes it more useful) so yay for that!

[string]

*
This raises another interesting point -- sector names.

How about going into the maps and changing the names of sectors to be something more intuitive? Develop some sort of system for it so that you can tell approximately where a sector is just from its name? For example, something like a chess-board -- sectors with names with a letter and a number component, the letters indicating order horizontally left to right, the numbers -- vertically bottom to top. Doesn't have to be something very precise -- even if it just gives you a rough idea of where the sector is, in many cases, it'd be enough. Nor do the names have to be boring -- for example, perhaps they could still have names, with just the first letter of the name being determined by location, and then a number after it. Alpha-3, Betelgeuse-1, Barsoom-2, etc., etc. Even without taking the time to figure out EXACTLY where on the grid a sector will be, you know if your commander is asking you to go to sector Zoro-2 you need to start looking at the right of the map, and probably mid-low.

+1
and" because no" is not any clarification.

[RealPandemonium]

Useless feature imo.