SP - UI Compass UI for face direction command (Debate Area)

[Terco_Viejo]

In this new M&B installment we have been introduced to a new command which broadens the tactical possibilities; Facing. However its interface and how it fits into the game has been giving problems to users that go beyond the F1-F3.

During the alpha-beta period this problem was discussed in different threads ([Suggestion] combine face direction with formation location - Suggestion for Troop Commands - The tactical way: beyond the melee cluster). Unfortunately there has not been any change in order to " tune " this interface.

I do not bring any messianic solution, but open again this point of discussion by proposing the following:

I consider the player as the main core of the battle, therefore the player must be the backbone of the game in terms of commands. The way the facing feature is currently set up is the arrow wheeling around the axis positioned in reference to the bots group/unit. I suggest moving that axis to the player as the main center.

Basic applied conceptualization

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As a tactical player I need orders to be executed quickly and accurately and the experience I have with the current system is confusing, unfriendly and slow. If I leave an infantry formation positioned while directing a cavalry formation, the first one is almost impossible to manage from a distance because the rotation axis is positioned in the center of it.
Imagine the chaos that I get with the current system when I split groups into different sections (by the way i love this "splitting" feature).

Therefore

Face direction: Player as reference point in a compass like radial interface. Where the player aims (green triangle with banner) the formation heads.

Face enemy: With the current system it works fine. Fast and easy order that faces the enemy vertically.

A poll to quantify the general interest.

 

[Woopzilla]

This would definitely help. Trying to give a 'face direction' command in the heat of battle is difficult because the arrow can be very easily obscured by troops and scenery.

 

[ZydrateTheSmoothCriminal]

+

 

[Terco_Viejo]

Bump as a reaction to the latest changes in 1.5.6

 

[Ling*]

This change looks great, and absolutely needs to happen especially in light of the recent changes made in 1.5.5 where they have made the face direction command sluggish and hard to access for PC players, all for the purpose of making the commands work for controllers for consoles.

How it used to work: F2+F1 in the direction that the player specifies with a command flag.

How it works now: F3+F1 to face enemy, then F3+F1 again to face direction. In the heat of battle this is absolutely ridiculous and slow, especially when unit responsiveness and positioning is so important in Captain Mode. Us players need to be able to reliably and quickly reposition our units to face the proper direction in order to counter any flanking maneuvers or surprise attacks as soon as they happen and not after the fact.
With our current system it takes way too long to give these orders as first our units must face enemy before we can tell them to face the direction we want.

How it should work: F2 will bring up the compass that indicates a direction as mentioned in @Terco_Viejo's suggestion, moving the mouse along until the arrow is pointing in the direction we want them to face, and then when we press F1 the units move into the specified position. I think what Terco has suggested makes the position of the troops easy to understand and clear to see so there is no mistake as to where you are ordering your troops to face, it is a solid idea and I think it could be a great asset to the game if the taleworlds team implements it going forward.

@AVRC I know that its been mentioned that this change was made for console players and that "most probably" this new command system will be optional rather than mandatory, but I just want to stress how important this subject is to PC players, we really really want to return to our old command structure as it simply works better for a keyboard, the change is more than just annoying, it changes the way we are able to play the game and not in a positive way. Please, please Taleworlds team give us the option to return to our old command structure it is crucial.

There are some aspects of the game such as controls that are not necessary to be identical across platforms, and the attempt to make them consistent reduces the overall quality of the system. We have more buttons on a keyboard than exist on a controller so naturally we will have access to more complex control capabilities, simplifying this system for keyboard users in favor of controller users is detrimental to the game on so many levels. Imagine for example you made a Bannerlord port for the Nintendo Gameboy that has two buttons, and you then decided to re-design the entire command structure of the game to revolve around fitting and working for the Nintendo Gameboy but you made that new system mandatory for PC and Console players as well, I'm sure you can see how this is a limiting and unreasonable thing to force players who are using different platforms to conform to. This is exactly what has happened with the most recent changes to the command menu.

Bringing the old system back and making the new system optional would require minimal coding effort since the design for both already exists and is fully coded and would absolutely be worthwhile to do.

 

[MRay]

@Terco_Viejo To gather information, does the camera lock while giving the direction order?

@Ling* I'm currently working on adding "Face direction" order to a single key like F4.

 

[Terco_Viejo]

@Terco_Viejo To gather information, does the camera lock while giving the direction order?

If you refer to "the idea" of the proposal; yes.

Remember that the original application of face direction (before the gamepad modification) positioned the axis (green flags) in the middle of the group of soldiers and the player had to select the direction point. The player had to position the camera (mouse) just in the direction in which he wanted to apply the face direction. The proposal is based on transferring the army's axis to the player itself.

As I try to describe as a "conceptual placeholder" in the initial message, after pressing the command face direction would take the same control of the camera (mouse) that we can have in a radial menu (but on an inclined plane not to hinder much vision).

In the radial menus the view (mouse) is momentarily locked and unlocked by selecting an action from it. Instead we would be selecting a direction, as a compass.

Generic radial menu	Compass menu

Despite not having the group of soldiers in our field of vision (player by mouse), we could have control over the face direcction independently.

An example:

Imagine that we control that character on top of the horse and right at our 7 (clockwise) we have an infantry group that we want to rotate. We press the command button and although we would have control over the character's movement (wasd), the view (mouse) would be momentarily blocked because we would be in the direction selection mode. With the direction arrow (like a compass / tank turret) we would mark the position to 1 because that's where we want to face to the enemy.