Add icons for Mech commands

[Keroman]

 

Anyone who regularly uses Mechs knows that it can be tricky to switch between exosuit equipment when in the heat of combat. I've heard that on other servers there's Mech icons so I'd like to propose we implement something similar.

 

What I'd like to see:

- An icon to open the "Stats" menu as that's where the majority of your control over the exosuit comes from.

- An icon to eject in case you need to do so in a hurry and don't have the Exosuit tab open.

- An icon for each of the equipped exosuit modules so you can switch between then quickly.

 

The first two would be simple enough. The buttons could simply say "Stats" and "Eject" respectively. The third point would be more difficult as icons would need to be found or made for each of the mech modules available which can be "equipped" while piloting the mech. Certainly there are some passive modules which don't need an icon.

 

Thoughts?

 

[Regen]

ooooo, interesting, not very sure how it'd work with equipment though, perhaps a "Use primary" "Use secondary" button system for switching between the different exosuit equipables?

[Keroman]

 

Well I was more thinking of having an icon for each of the equipped modules so you click on one and that one is then equipped, with the icon being highlighted to show it's active. Instead of saying "Module 1" it would say, for example, "PBT Pacifier Taser" with an icon that shows the in-game sprite. There's not a TON of modules for exosuits and each icon would just need two variants (active and inactive).

 

There could potentially be a reload icon for reloading the equipped module if it's one that requires reloading like the missile/grenade launchers or the autorifle module.

 

Also for modules like the hydraulic clamp you could have an icon to eject all cargo from the storage compartment, although I imagine having the ability to unload specific items from the cargo compartment would involve making icons for every item that can be stored which would be a much bigger job than what I'm proposing.

 

When I get home from work I'll look at some icons and mock up some to better showcase my idea.

 

[Farya]

I saw thing like this on Tau Ceti colonial marines server. There were buttons for: eject, open menu, internals, radio, switch to next module.

[Keroman]

 

I saw thing like this on Tau Ceti colonial marines server. There were buttons for: eject, open menu, internals, radio, switch to next module.

 

That sounds very close to what I'm imagining, although instead of an icon to "switch to next module" there'd be an icon for each equipped module so you could click on the one you want.

 

I don't know if we could port something like that and tweak it a bit but if we could that'd get be a big step forward.

 

[ProperPants]

 

That sounds very close to what I'm imagining, although instead of an icon to "switch to next module" there'd be an icon for each equipped module so you could click on the one you want.

 

I don't know if we could port something like that and tweak it a bit but if we could that'd get be a big step forward.

I don't know how it would be done, but each module could be made to be one of those tabs in the top left of the screen, like spells and magboots and hardsuit helmets and whatnot.

 

[Keroman]

 

I don't know how it would be done, but each module could be made to be one of those tabs in the top left of the screen, like spells and magboots and hardsuit helmets and whatnot.

 

That's actually exactly what I'm talking about: have icons for Mech commands in the upper-left corner that correlate to some of the commands in the "Exosuit" tab as well as some of the commands in the "Stats" window that you can open up from the "Exosuit" tab.

 

[tigercat2000]

don't know how possible this is with our current mecha code. -tg- did it, but they also rewrote mechs nearly from scratch.

[ProperPants]

 

don't know how possible this is with our current mecha code. -tg- did it, but they also rewrote mechs nearly from scratch.

Perhaps this could be the next great task, similar to how surgery was. It'd be nice if someone could start it, even if it takes months to finish. There's also a thread discussing "modular mechs" somewhere that could be considered if someone chooses to undertake this. It would be wonderful and beneficial in the long term to have modernized code, even if it takes a few months or however long surgery did.

 

[tigercat2000]

 

Perhaps this could be the next great task, similar to how surgery was. It'd be nice if someone could start it, even if it takes months to finish. There's also a thread discussing "modular mechs" somewhere that could be considered if someone chooses to undertake this. It would be wonderful and beneficial in the long term to have modernized code, even if it takes a few months or however long surgery did.

 

do you have any idea how many things we have already done

-tg- surgery, new internal organs, life refactors, bot refactors, expanding our hud system, replacing virus2, getting abductors, cameranets, the advanced camera consoles, -tg- shuttles, SNPC's

 

there's a point at which we really need to pause for a second and look back at all of this and get it all working perfectly before starting another massive refactor

 

[Keroman]

 

Hmm... You're saying there'd be more to it than having the icons call the specific commands that are available in the "Exosuit" tab and "Stats" menu?

 

If it would take a huge rework of how mechs work then I'm sure we can wait until the time is right for it. I'll still try to mock up a few icons so people can better see what I'm talking about.

 

[Fox McCloud]

 

Perhaps this could be the next great task, similar to how surgery was. It'd be nice if someone could start it, even if it takes months to finish. There's also a thread discussing "modular mechs" somewhere that could be considered if someone chooses to undertake this. It would be wonderful and beneficial in the long term to have modernized code, even if it takes a few months or however long surgery did.

 

do you have any idea how many things we have already done

-tg- surgery, new internal organs, life refactors, bot refactors, expanding our hud system, replacing virus2, getting abductors, cameranets, the advanced camera consoles, -tg- shuttles, SNPC's

 

there's a point at which we really need to pause for a second and look back at all of this and get it all working perfectly before starting another massive refactor

 

I'd just like to emphasize this point and add something else.

 

We're real people, people with lives, jobs, hobbies, and other things we could be doing. We code, implement features, port things, bugfix, and design things on our own 100% free time---and we've invested hundreds of hours into it---hours that we could have easily been spent elsewhere---and all for literally nothing in return. We don't just snap our fingers and magically a PR ports itself; it requires hours upon hours of work and investment to get a system implemented or something new coded, working well, and tested so it doesn't cause bugs.

 

Take abductors, for example; I invested over 24 hours of my own free time into that to get it working--that's over half a full-time work week---and I didn't get paid for implementing it (not suggesting I should, don't take that the wrong way).

 

Fethas' organ rewrite took several hundred hours of time investment--same deal for her---same with Tigercat and his many refactors--or any our coders, really.

 

I'm not trying to condescend you or talk down to you or say "give us respect" (far from it), I'm just saying that "do this", "do that", "implement this right now", or "maybe you should actually work on this instead doing 'X'." can really rub us the wrong way...because at the end of the day, we're unpaid volunteers.

 

 

More On Point

 

Yeah, this is a realllllyyy nice system; the more things that can be moved into dynamically generated action buttons, the better---as it means less, overall, UI clutter (for example, internals are UI clutter; they're there if you have internals or not) and it makes things easier to access, but as Tigercat correctly pointed out, this system was accompanied by a dramatic rewrite of mechs. It wasn't just a refactor or behavior improvement here and there--basically most of mech code was rewritten. I don't think many would oppose such a system, it's just the time and resource investment that we'll have to invest into it for some minor functionality improvements (from a player perspective)---especially when mechs are already 99% self-contained anyway (incidentally, this is also why gun code hasn't been touched much....it's a huge amount of time+resource investment for something that will essentially be 99% of the same to a player when they use it).

 

[ProperPants]

Jesus, sorry. I didn't demand it or suggest it in place of anything else. I said "maybe," "would be," and "if someone choose to do this." I was just saying that when another huge refactor or rewriting of code happens, be it days or weeks or months from now, mechs might receive that treatment. I understand vaguely how hard it must be to code something like that, because I've had enough work and stress after my three tiny PRs; I can barely imagine how hard an actual project is. I also overestimate how much free time people have because I've got a lot.

[tigercat2000]

 

Jesus, sorry. I didn't demand it or suggest it in place of anything else. I said "maybe," "would be," and "if someone choose to do this." I was just saying that when another huge refactor or rewriting of code happens, be it days or weeks or months from now, mechs might receive that treatment. I understand vaguely how hard it must be to code something like that, because I've had enough work and stress after my three tiny PRs; I can barely imagine how hard an actual project is. I also overestimate how much free time people have because I've got a lot.

 

Sorry, just felt it needed to be pointed out at a casual mention of another massive overhaul.

 

[Fox McCloud]

 

Jesus, sorry. I didn't demand it or suggest it in place of anything else. I said "maybe," "would be," and "if someone choose to do this." I was just saying that when another huge refactor or rewriting of code happens, be it days or weeks or months from now, mechs might receive that treatment. I understand vaguely how hard it must be to code something like that, because I've had enough work and stress after my three tiny PRs; I can barely imagine how hard an actual project is. I also overestimate how much free time people have because I've got a lot.

 

Sorry, just felt it needed to be pointed out at a casual mention of another massive overhaul.

 

This.

 

If I came across as harsh, that's not my intentions, at all. I just wanted to convey how much time and effort we all put into this for essentially no compensation, at all. But that's ok with most of us--it's a game we love and we enjoy doing what we do---and some things we, ourselves, drool over in coderchat---but it's the matter of actually getting them up and running on our codebase first...or implementing prior systems before it can be a reality (for example, I wanted abductors to be a thing over a year ago, and that's now just coming to fruition).

 

Again, we're all more than happy to do what we do, and we'd love to do this, it's just the casual throwing around of "do this/do that' without fully understanding how much time/energy/effort is required that can be disheartening, sometimes.

 

[Farya]

 

And a bit more about mechs. We have no means of taking pilot out of the mech if he is unwiling to do so or just died/unconsious inside. I think there must be a way to manualy open cockpit of the depowered or just severly broken mech using tools and maybe robotics ID. Or just forcefuly force open cockpit and rip pilot out horribly animatrix style.

 

 

 

[ProperPants]

 

And a bit more about mechs. We have no means of taking pilot out of the mech if he is unwiling to do so or just died/unconsious inside. I think there must be a way to manualy open cockpit of the depowered or just severly broken mech using tools and maybe robotics ID. Or just forcefuly force open cockpit and rip pilot out horribly animatrix style.

 

 

 

I could have sworn there was a way to do this on another server I played on, but I couldn't find it. It involved a wire panel that could be accessed once you removed the battery from a mech.