So, we all think the existing cover indicator is useless. While experiencing some frustration over the mismatch between how scenery features appear in the tactical view and how they actually impact LOS, I had an idea for a new one.
One of the things that I really like about PP is how varied the battlefield scenery is in its physical dimensions. Imagine a cover indicator that reflects that: a box that, when totally filled, represents a feature that is one full tile wide and at least one human height tall. Then, whatever shape fills the box represents the cover that the feature provides. So, a skinny tree would be full height but only a fraction of width. A low box would be full width but a fraction of height. Then, we could know at a glance the true dimensions of the feature.
Cool idea. I’m just not sure if it is easy to implement such “reader of props real (instead of maximum external) dimensions” with proper graphical representation into UI.
yes, final is a rectangle in a box for easy reading for the player. But…
What if object to represent has irregular shapes? How would you tranlate that into rectangle? And what about different angles to that cover, it would need to change depending on which side of object soldier can stand, as different side of an object would probably have different shape.
With procedural map building and random objects spawned there, along with destruction of such objects, it would have to be dynamic reader of what is in there.
Not sure about it, but if you say it will be better than current ones I guess it is OK. From cover icon I need just an information if shooting will require sidestep or not.
Other than that, I wish there would be a way to “phantom” soldier in a spot without actually moving him, or just “impersonate” the spot so I could free aim and see how my soldier would see before he actually moves there.
Haven’t you had the experience where you’re sure that a position is a good one, only to discover that the scale of the terrain feature is very different than what you thought it was based on the tactical view? A graphical indicator of the scale of the terrain feature would help a lot in interpreting what we see onscreen in the tactical view.
As for free-aim view, I long ago suggested the ability to switch freely to and from free aim view, even if you lack the AP to shoot. The soldier’s-eye view is often way more useful than the tactical view, which really compresses vertical details. It got very few votes on Canny.
As for original idea, I still think it is too much work for little value. Unless each obstacle will have some predefined icon indicator and it wouldn’t be calculated based on real shape of obstacle and size of character (his armor). So it wouldn’t be really accurate indicator, but at least some estimation - still people hate if estimations are not precise.
Perhaps, but it’s much worse to have no idea at all, which is the case right now. Personally, I’d find it very useful, as it would give me a more objective measure of the distorted object that I’m seeing onscreen.
Might be just me but that’s something I find enjoyable, looking at a position and figuring out where it can be targeted from, what can be targeted from it, and making an educated guess.
That’s the thing, though: it’s not educated. The distortion of the tactical view makes it more of a crapshoot. In the tactical view, it can look like a position is great, but in reality its sight lines can be seriously limited. I hate that, because I shouldn’t have to guess about something the soldiers would know automatically.
Hmm, sure, but what do you mean by not good tactical position? It is about assessing defensive value of the cover or how coverage will potentialy affect free aim targetting?
Because in the very most of my cases the position issue wasn’t related to defensive value, I think I am pretty good in assuming the scale and form of a cover. It is the line of sight that bothers me and I wish to know how and from which point my soldier will shot. Scaled cover indicator would be better than what we have right now, but current indicator just isn’t the source of my occasional problems.
So what @VOLAND said, kneel indicator or sidetep direction would be great. I wish I could somehow “free aim from here” without moving but thats just me.
For me, it’s mainly about LOS. I’ve often taken position behind cover that I thought would give me good sightlines, only to discover that it was bigger than I thought and totally blocks LOS in some directions. The vertical dimension of scenery in the tactical view is heavily compressed, and it makes grasping the true height of the object difficult.
Zoom around solider option, something like free aim, so we can get feel of surroundings. That is basically free fast fix and feature is already in place. After few usages, you would stop hiding behind damn tree
