comradeDing
Recruit
Quickly giving commands using the function and number keys can be clunky and annoying to use. Navigating the menus using the function keys in the heat of battle can become quickly overwhelming which can be compounded with the fact that you must move your hands off of the character controls and across the keyboard to use some commands or select all of your troops.
What I'm proposing is creating an intuitive, easy to navigate radial context menu that can be quickly accessed without moving your left hand or taking your eyes from the screen. Think along the lines of the weapon selection menu in the Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption series. Look them up if you're unsure.
Design requirements:
1. The menu should be accessed by either pressing or holding an unused left hand key. On US keyboards, this could be the "Q" key.
2. The selections in the menu shall be navigated to by either using the mouse pointer, or highlighting the section through relative mouse direction (like it is in GTA/RDR).
3. The menu selection shall be selected by a left mouse click.
4. The menus shall flow like they currently do. Certain menus can only be accessible by making selections in previous menus. For example, you shouldn't be able to give Unit Formation commands without first selecting a Unit of troops.
5. The menu should be able to quickly be exited, at any time, either by releasing the menu accessor key (in this example "Q") or, if the menu can be brought up by simple keypress and not a key hold, by pressing a default back key (in Bannerlord is either TAB or ESC).
6. The most commonly used commands may be placed in the middle of the context menu for quick access without the need to navigate the selector.
Design mock-ups:
The flow of the menus could happen as such...
Open the battle command menu by holding "Q". The first menu is the Unit Selection menu seen below:
The player selects Infantry by moving the mouse up and slightly left. The infantry selection is highlighted. The user clicks the left mouse button and the battle command menu context continues to the next sub-menu.
The player selects Movement. This time, they don't need to move the mouse, only click the left mouse button, as the movement selection is in the middle of the radial menu.
Turns out, the player doesn't wan't to move their troops! They move the mouse down and slightly right, highlighting the return selection. They click, and the command menu context moves back to the previous menu. The player selects Unit Formation instead. The context switches to the Unit formation menu.
Due the an impending infantry charge, the player quickly highlights Shield Wall and clicks to select. The menu closes as this is an end condition for the command menu context. The infantry, composed of simple Battanian Volunteers, then form a shield wall formation and are promptly decimated by a wedge of heretofore unseen Imperial Elite Cataphract charging from their left flank. They were in the wrong neighborhood.
Perhaps if the player were quick enough to reopen the context menus, they could have called the Face Enemy command in the Face menu of the battle commands. Alas, it would be in vain, for the poor bastards were woefully unprepared for this fight. Better luck next time.
If you made it this far, thanks for indulging my idea. I hope other people may potentially find this to be a nice quality of life mod and can share their ideas or concerns below. Feel free to share any suggestions, criticisms or encouragements you might have. If you have a discouragement you'd like to share, feel free to gtfo, thx.
As of the time of this post, I'm unsure of the capabilities of the Gauntlet UI system. It may serve that the Gauntlet framework won't be able to support an interface as described above, and if anyone who knows more can elaborate on this potential hurdle, please feel free.
What I'm proposing is creating an intuitive, easy to navigate radial context menu that can be quickly accessed without moving your left hand or taking your eyes from the screen. Think along the lines of the weapon selection menu in the Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption series. Look them up if you're unsure.
Design requirements:
1. The menu should be accessed by either pressing or holding an unused left hand key. On US keyboards, this could be the "Q" key.
2. The selections in the menu shall be navigated to by either using the mouse pointer, or highlighting the section through relative mouse direction (like it is in GTA/RDR).
3. The menu selection shall be selected by a left mouse click.
4. The menus shall flow like they currently do. Certain menus can only be accessible by making selections in previous menus. For example, you shouldn't be able to give Unit Formation commands without first selecting a Unit of troops.
5. The menu should be able to quickly be exited, at any time, either by releasing the menu accessor key (in this example "Q") or, if the menu can be brought up by simple keypress and not a key hold, by pressing a default back key (in Bannerlord is either TAB or ESC).
6. The most commonly used commands may be placed in the middle of the context menu for quick access without the need to navigate the selector.
Design mock-ups:
The flow of the menus could happen as such...
Open the battle command menu by holding "Q". The first menu is the Unit Selection menu seen below:
The player selects Infantry by moving the mouse up and slightly left. The infantry selection is highlighted. The user clicks the left mouse button and the battle command menu context continues to the next sub-menu.
The player selects Movement. This time, they don't need to move the mouse, only click the left mouse button, as the movement selection is in the middle of the radial menu.
Turns out, the player doesn't wan't to move their troops! They move the mouse down and slightly right, highlighting the return selection. They click, and the command menu context moves back to the previous menu. The player selects Unit Formation instead. The context switches to the Unit formation menu.
Due the an impending infantry charge, the player quickly highlights Shield Wall and clicks to select. The menu closes as this is an end condition for the command menu context. The infantry, composed of simple Battanian Volunteers, then form a shield wall formation and are promptly decimated by a wedge of heretofore unseen Imperial Elite Cataphract charging from their left flank. They were in the wrong neighborhood.
Perhaps if the player were quick enough to reopen the context menus, they could have called the Face Enemy command in the Face menu of the battle commands. Alas, it would be in vain, for the poor bastards were woefully unprepared for this fight. Better luck next time.
If you made it this far, thanks for indulging my idea. I hope other people may potentially find this to be a nice quality of life mod and can share their ideas or concerns below. Feel free to share any suggestions, criticisms or encouragements you might have. If you have a discouragement you'd like to share, feel free to gtfo, thx.
As of the time of this post, I'm unsure of the capabilities of the Gauntlet UI system. It may serve that the Gauntlet framework won't be able to support an interface as described above, and if anyone who knows more can elaborate on this potential hurdle, please feel free.
