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- New 'Mech Select' button and full-sized popup. When you click on this button to see your whole window faded over in blue and you got this menu that looks very familiar to the ones in CW and PM. Everything feels compressed on these small windows that only use up 50% of my screen. Needs more breathing room.
- I like the new menu for picking out equipment, however even on a 40" screen I find alot of the new icons a bit too small as I think about players on a typical 20-27" monitor in 1080P. Especially if you run the game in 4K on a not-a-TV. For some I think having small text everywhere will be a little bit tough on the eyes.. especially those omnipod icons.
- The new "loadout" window that sits beside the left menu leaves an eyesore of a gap. This leaves the left side looking unorganized. Also if you are like me and leave your game on all the time your 'currency' boxes on the bottom left tend to start moving their way upwards, covering the left menu options until they eventually move vertically out of the screen. I don't know if that was fixed or was ever reported before.. from what I see it happens in the PTS. However, I would suggest 1 of 3 things for this new window; Merge it with the left menu options and have it animate into a sub-menu when "load out" is selected, or make it a window that can be moved and re sized or merge it with the new warehouse menu with an arrow to slide it open and closed.
- I have been hoping that more of the pop up menus (especially now that there are a few more) could be moved and re sized, with close buttons rather than check boxes. Adding more drop-down arrows for sub menus and pop up windows can also be very effective in keeping the UI seamless and transparent.
- From the first UI I really miss being able to click on the mech's components themselves in the mechlab and have all my necessary menus pop up. The camera movement around the mech as you clicked on components did add some subtle immersion to the mechlab.
- Allowing us to click and type in how much available armor we want on our components for those moments when click-and-holding from 0-80 takes up precious time.
- Adding a "free look" camera option when drooling at our pretty mechs. Giving us camera controls like we would in a typical Gran Turismo game. More than just spinning our mechs back and forth. This would make a great addition while in the 'Camo Spec' or 'Home' areas of the UI.
- In "Layout" mode, that white and yellow text information that sits to the right of the new 'Load out' window could be merged with the 'Mech Stats' window on the bottom right. Having the same information in multiple places (like the weight for example) can get confusing. This will help cleanup.
- I would love to see more animations added to the Mech lab. For things such as the removal of omnipods or if you just finished a match, you can see your mech undergo the finishing touches of it's repairs. Having variable sequences that could last from 1-5 minutes and be capable of transitioning into moments when you plan to to some configurations. Maybe I am just dreaming some more... who knows.
- In Expanded mode is a great addition to the mechlab but feels rather.. flat and a bit lifeless. Again here the text information that sits above the smurfy-like component tabs could be merged with the bottom right information box to avoid clutter and having information displayed in more than 1
- Don't be afraid to use different text sizes for your menu options. Make some of the texts for the new mechlab a bit bigger. Same with some of the buttons like the little blue ones.
- Another suggestion for our currency and xp values.. they could always be merged onto the bottom bar of the UI to save room. There is alot of things that can be put there to act similar to what a typical operating system does if merging some of the scattered information in the mechlab isn't much of an option.
- Add brighter highlights to interactive (especially click and drag) options, adding minor pulse effects to the more critical buttons. and a bit more vividness to the lighting to give the highlighted options. I see that some of the new features already have pulsing light effects.. most of them are white, this is a good start.
- Adding a voice to the UI similar to BB. Good for notifications, alerts, error codes, being too poor to afford that module or new build loadout, audio playback for critical prompt pop ups. And most importantly for those who don't wan't an AI babbling in their ear can optionally switch it off or adjust the volume. This will really additional immersion to the game for those who love cinematic or role-play related experiences in their game play.
- The horizontal lines in all the windows/ info boxes have needed a look at since the launch of UI 2.0.. these new mech lab info boxes need to be cleaned up as well.
- A "Click to view faction details" gets stuck on the screen in random places where I'm guessing we will now have typical tool tip popups.
- A "Return to Default" button that will allow us to instantly bring a mech back to stock. If the player doesn't currently have all the required equipment a prompt up window should pop up containing all the stuff needed to be purchased in order to complete. Provide warnings to mechs that are currently using upgrades such as "double heat sink"
- Stop making us pay for upgrades over and over when deciding to create a new build. For example, if using a Jagermech that I paid 1.5 million for double heat sinks and want to make a build that requires using single heat sinks, we shouldn't have to pay for it again and again.
- Cockpit Free-look. Just because and I am certain I'm not the only person who wouldn't mind to needlessly look around in side my cockpit while tinkering with my vanity items. Speaking of those.. can we see more colored fluffy dice and sponsored give away gift codes like you have done before. Similar to the Razer dice and Alien ware head hanging items. Sorry to derailing the topic, had to get that out there.
- Adding "Strip cockpit items" To the prompt window for the new strip button on the bottom right.
- Add "Strip Modules Globally" with priority prompt window giving an option to filter IS, Clan and other potential options for convenience. This will save alot of time hunting down modules.
- Merging the bottom UI options to the top menu. I honestly see no reason why the bottom menu bar exists. Merging the 3 very small and wide-spread buttons to the top menu will simply make the UI less.. well.. so back and forth. Put the 'Log Out' button way at the top left and give it a color between orange and red. merge the Friend button with the top menu, and merge the settings button to the left side of the top menu and give it a blue color.
- Menu Animations, fade in/ out effects for popups. It is the front end, I am sure we can spare a bit more CPU power for smoother transitions between our new UI options. And if it does happen to be much for some users, give them the option to turn menu animations off.
- Adding Keyboard controls to the UI. When too much clicking around is taking up alot of time, typical Windows hotkeys might really help some of us out. Especially if right now with this first public exposure of the mechlab PGI really expects us to click and drag everything we need across our displays.
- Fixing color bugs for many IS mechs. Take a Stalker or a Shadowhawk for example. Paint them 'night blue' for primary and throw some 'AJ Dark Orange' on it.. and see how that night blue turns purple. or adding white secondary to black primary.. the color shadings are mixing up on many mechs since Phoenix. Would be a wise idea to look into this before releasing custom decals.
..But like I said, I am so far enjoying the execution that was put into this new mech lab. I guess a little more transparency, and diversity is what it really needs. From the top of my head I think I got a alot of things covered that I wanted to share. I'll continue tinkering with the new mech lab and report soon.
Edited by M A S E, 07 May 2015 - 02:21 PM.
