UI suggestions (Geo and Battescape)

HI all,

After playing some more, the UI really feels clunky, especially compared to other modern games like XCOM 2or Mutant Year Zero.

Here are a few suggestions on what can be improved.

Battescape :

  • the actions/abilities bar has almost no hotkeys linked to it. In XCOM and XCOM 2 you could the number keys (1 to 0 ) to be able to quickly pick your ability/skill. Case in point here being multiple Quick Aim or Dash activations.
  • on the action bar itself, it can use a solid background. The icons there are of different quality and not all them are easily discernable.
  • when you are out of ammo you see the Out of Ammo bar on top of your soldier, but the game does not display the shooting trajectories if you move to a new tile. I would suggest to keep that even when out of ammo, just use a different colour to let the plr know that they can not shoot.
  • there needs to be a quick access way to the INFO page of an enemy when you target them. In XCOM 1&2 that would have been a simple F1, even during the targeting process. Currently you have to completely cancel any targeting, move your pointer to the enemy and left-click twice to get to the INFO page.
  • Health regeneration works on different parts, depending on who you are facing. Triton heal their whole body, while Berserkers only the torso and arms. It would help if a unit has regeneration, to hightlight the body parts that regenerate (on the damage model). For example on Berserkers only the torso and arms will be highlighted, thus giving you a simple indication and reminder what to expect.
  • we need more tooltips in the INFO panel and in general. Especially for what the different damage types do - Shock, Sonic, Viral, Poison et cetera.

Geoscape -

  • there should be a more formal way of transferring soldiers and craft between bases. Currently the only way I have found is to do it manually.
  • Navigating through multiple transports is a hassle. Go above two and you are done for. There should at least be an icon for each one currently active like you have for your soldiers on the Battescape. Or have an expandable window (not the current dropdown menu) where you can monitor them in real time - cargo, position, current activity.
  • After a few lair/nest battles the Geoscape starts to get cluttered in some areas. I am not sure what was the reason behind keeping them after destruction on the map, but possibly either remove them when the mission finishes successfully or provide us with a second type of mission to dispose of those locations ?
  • We need hotkeys for the different Geoscape menus. XCOM 1994 had them, Firaxis’ two XCOM’s also had them.

That is all for now, if I think of something I will update this accordingly. Thank you for reading thus far. :slight_smile: