2 replies to this topic

[jay35]

Note: This received a lot of positive support on reddit, so I figured it was worth a post here. Let me (and PGI) know what you think.

The addition of the MASC indicator is what got me thinking about this. I feel like these two elements (MASC and Current Heat Level %) could somewhat swap position (not directly their current locations, but their relative positioning on the HUD from bottom to center and vice versa) to be more efficient. A couple thoughts here for your feedback:

Item #1

[1] - When piloting an Executioner and using MASC, I find myself intuitively looking down near the speedometer for the MASC gauge because that is where I would expect it to be. But it is located up by the crosshair. It would feel more natural and intuitive down by its associated speed and motion indicators for the mech.

Item #2

[2] - In the Testing Ground with a new build that runs pretty hot, I kept wishing my mech's current heat scale % was displayed up by the crosshair so it is within view of my eyes when they are focused on a target under the crosshairs. This way the pilot can track their heat level in some form without having to glance away from their target to down at the bottom of the screen where it is currently located.

This comes into play when you know precisely how much heat a weapon group adds and you want to carefully ride the line of a shutdown without tripping it. If I know that firing two ERLLs on Caustic runs almost exactly 10 heatpoints in the build I'm running, then while I'm in the heat of combat I want to know precisely when the heat is dropping below 89% so I can safely and efficiently fire them again. Currently this requires looking away from the target and crosshair, to refocus down at the bottom of the screen and then back up to refocus again on the target.

Also, generally, I would cognitively associate the mech's heat scale more directly with its weapons systems and ability to continue the fight, which is centralized around the crosshair like the weapon group cooldown and status indicators are, just like with MASC I would cognitively associate more closely with the mech's motion and speed indicator at the bottom than with the crosshair.

Thoughts?

[Omi_]

Your mock-up in Item 1 looks great, and Item 2 has plenty of merit. In keeping with the position of weapon groups in the bottom right, I would rather replace the range display with heat percentage on the right side of the cross-hair and move the range display over to the left of it.

[jay35]

Good thoughts, Hornsby.

Bump for additional feedback.