HypnoticChronic1
Recruit
Allow me to start off by pointing out that I am a console player and this is where this suggestion stems from, as it stand now the UI for the inventory is pretty clunky for console both in terms of usability and function. The cursor is janky at times and the hotkeys are kind of odd in their layout and the vertical scroll has a bad habit of shooting you back to the top of the inventory list once you move a item out of your inventory.
So suggestions for improvement.
1. Swap/Free the Hotkey Selection: In most other games if you want to quick move a item from right to left you would hit a button which corresponds with that direction i.e. left D-pad or L1/L2, this however is not the case in Bannerlord to do that aforementioned example function you have to hit R1, now why does this matter? It matters because it goes against our ingrained intuitive functionality that has been built up over years of gaming.
Yes I do recognize that every game has certain button quirks that you have to relearn for the game to function right but, it does not need to be the case here. A case example you pick up any FPS/TPS and almost without fail L2 is the ADS function while R2 is shoot, certain commonalities like that across games afford us as gamers less time spent relearning controls and incorporating them into muscle memory.
So my solution for TW here is simplistic allow us console players to keybind to our hearts content, it take the load off the dev team to try and redesign the layout while allowing us players freedom to setup things as we like and that is intuitive to us.
2. Cursor Oddities: Needless to say using cursor on a controller is odd but still viable, the issue comes with when the cursor being used across multiple menus and instances of gameplay and the speed in which it moves in each case (this is probably a bug but the cursor does tend to spaz out and artifact in the smithy screen upon loading in). I think a simple fix here would be seperate cursor calibration for menus and map.
3. Vertical Scroll Problems: While I think this maybe just a bug since I have yet to see it occur on any PC videos I have seen, nevertheless if its not a bug having the scroll shoot back up to the top while you are halfway down the inventory/troop list is aggravating to say the least. All I can say here is just let it remain static until we decide to move it please, moreover allow us to click and drag the scrollbar like you would on PC.
4. Equipment Upgrades: With the amount of loot we get in this game having to scroll over everyone just to see and compare the stats is needlessly tedious and time consuming. My suggestion here and what is typically done in most other games, is to have some sort of indicator to allow us to hone in on what would be considered statistically better items, maybe a chevron in similar appearance to the troop upgrade icon.
5. Sell/Refine/Smelt All Function: Yes while we do have sliders and the drag and drop option both are kind of clunky to use (with controller), my suggestion here is to retain the slider but give us a sell/move all button in that same drop down menu where the slider is located. And we just need a straight up refine/smelt all function in the smithy period as long as our stamina allows for it.
6. Troop Squad Management: I suppose this kind of falls within the UI apparatus and it seems like a bit of a waste to make a separate post for these next two suggestions. That being said I would like to have the ability to manage which units go into which squad outside of a battle, since the current interface doesn't afford much flexibility and is very broad affording very little nuance i.e. I am unable to separate my crossbow and traditional bow units from each other. So I think a viable solution here would be to add a "troop distribution" screen to the party menu that we can tab over to.
7. Battle View UI: Now while I do enjoy the fact that Bannerlord affords me the ability to control placement of troops at ground level during combat, more often than not to I can never get the placement exactly how I'd like it and more just in a general area. Thus I think I would like to see us be able to use the top down placement screen we get at the start of the battle for the whole battle (I come from a Total War background so that interface is quite intuitive to me), alternatively what could be done instead is making it a preference option with "classic" being what exists currently and "tactical" being that top down view point.
So suggestions for improvement.
1. Swap/Free the Hotkey Selection: In most other games if you want to quick move a item from right to left you would hit a button which corresponds with that direction i.e. left D-pad or L1/L2, this however is not the case in Bannerlord to do that aforementioned example function you have to hit R1, now why does this matter? It matters because it goes against our ingrained intuitive functionality that has been built up over years of gaming.
Yes I do recognize that every game has certain button quirks that you have to relearn for the game to function right but, it does not need to be the case here. A case example you pick up any FPS/TPS and almost without fail L2 is the ADS function while R2 is shoot, certain commonalities like that across games afford us as gamers less time spent relearning controls and incorporating them into muscle memory.
So my solution for TW here is simplistic allow us console players to keybind to our hearts content, it take the load off the dev team to try and redesign the layout while allowing us players freedom to setup things as we like and that is intuitive to us.
2. Cursor Oddities: Needless to say using cursor on a controller is odd but still viable, the issue comes with when the cursor being used across multiple menus and instances of gameplay and the speed in which it moves in each case (this is probably a bug but the cursor does tend to spaz out and artifact in the smithy screen upon loading in). I think a simple fix here would be seperate cursor calibration for menus and map.
3. Vertical Scroll Problems: While I think this maybe just a bug since I have yet to see it occur on any PC videos I have seen, nevertheless if its not a bug having the scroll shoot back up to the top while you are halfway down the inventory/troop list is aggravating to say the least. All I can say here is just let it remain static until we decide to move it please, moreover allow us to click and drag the scrollbar like you would on PC.
4. Equipment Upgrades: With the amount of loot we get in this game having to scroll over everyone just to see and compare the stats is needlessly tedious and time consuming. My suggestion here and what is typically done in most other games, is to have some sort of indicator to allow us to hone in on what would be considered statistically better items, maybe a chevron in similar appearance to the troop upgrade icon.
5. Sell/Refine/Smelt All Function: Yes while we do have sliders and the drag and drop option both are kind of clunky to use (with controller), my suggestion here is to retain the slider but give us a sell/move all button in that same drop down menu where the slider is located. And we just need a straight up refine/smelt all function in the smithy period as long as our stamina allows for it.
6. Troop Squad Management: I suppose this kind of falls within the UI apparatus and it seems like a bit of a waste to make a separate post for these next two suggestions. That being said I would like to have the ability to manage which units go into which squad outside of a battle, since the current interface doesn't afford much flexibility and is very broad affording very little nuance i.e. I am unable to separate my crossbow and traditional bow units from each other. So I think a viable solution here would be to add a "troop distribution" screen to the party menu that we can tab over to.
7. Battle View UI: Now while I do enjoy the fact that Bannerlord affords me the ability to control placement of troops at ground level during combat, more often than not to I can never get the placement exactly how I'd like it and more just in a general area. Thus I think I would like to see us be able to use the top down placement screen we get at the start of the battle for the whole battle (I come from a Total War background so that interface is quite intuitive to me), alternatively what could be done instead is making it a preference option with "classic" being what exists currently and "tactical" being that top down view point.
