135 replies to this topic

[InnerSphereNews]

**LATEST UPDATE**

The Hot-Fix is arriving today, Wednesday June 22nd at 6PM PDT (June 23rd at 1AM UTC). Thank you for your patience!

Scheduled Hot Fix: Wednesday June 22nd at 6 PM PDT (June 23rd at 1 AM UTC)
Main Hot-Fix Details Post

EXPLAINING OUR APPROACH TO THE NEW MINI MAP

The addition of the Command Wheel in the June 21^st patch required essential updates to the Mini Map and BattleGrid to support the new Commands. Part of the reason for the drastically zoomed out appearance of the new Mini Map was to help account for that array of new Commands, and how we wanted them to be displayed: when a player was calling for Help with the new Command Wheel we wanted that alert to be visible to all teammates on the Mini Map itself, without a reliance on the Compass or BattleGrid.

Beyond implementing support for these new Commands, we used this opportunity to fundamentally re-evaluate the Mini Map as a whole: what kind of information was conveyed to players through it, how that information was conveyed, why that information was available to begin with, and how all of this information could relate to InfoTech mechanics.

The Mini Map was thus re-designed with those considerations in mind. It became abundantly clear once the patch was live however that too much of the redesigned Mini Map was in anticipation for features not yet implemented.

WHAT WE ARE DOING NOW TO FIX THE NEW MINI MAP

We are scheduling a hot-fix this week (exact ETA pending) with the following changes:

• The Player Torso Orientation Cone and Leg Orientation arrow are being restored. This is critical information to have, but was removed to account for the full-scale representation of the Map.

• The Mini Map will now again rotate with your ‘Mech, as it did with the previous Mini Map. It will no longer be locked in position, as it was with the initial June 21^st patch.

• Rather than displaying the Map in its entirety, the Mini Map will now instead display a 2000m^2 area around your ‘Mech. This is a slightly larger area compared to the pre-patch Mini Map, which displayed an area of 1600m^2. To compensate for this larger size relative to the original, we have scaled down the size of ‘Mech, Command, and Capture/Control Markers in the new Mini Map to help prevent excessive overlap when in close quarters.

• In light of the above change to the Mini Map zoom we have restored the grid markers back onto the Mini Map itself; they are no longer placed on the border, as in the initial June 21^st patch.

• With the placement of the grid markers back onto the Mini Map, we have slightly increased the size of the Mini Map UI element itself, to make use of that available space.

LOOKING AHEAD

Our next steps, in a future patch, will be to implement the acquisition of Enemy ‘Mech Orientation Intel through the use of intel-gathering systems such as TAG and UAVs.
We will also be adding the ability to toggle the level of zoom on the Mini Map, between the 2000^2 scale and the full-Map scale seen in the initial June 21^st patch. We still want players to be able to quickly glance at the battlefield as a whole, without needing to rely on the BattleGrid.

Beyond that, future patches will see additional refinements to InfoTech mechanics and how they can relate to the Mini Map. Certain ‘Mechs with specific capacities, such as the Atlas D-DC and its Command Console, will be able to convey their own Enemy ‘Mech Orientation Intel. In addition, allied ‘Mechs within range of the D-DC will be able inherit the properties of its Command Console and convey their own Enemy ‘Mech Orientation Intel to their teammates. Mechanics such as those are still in the design phase, but hopefully that sheds some light on the direction we are looking to take the Mini Map and its relation to InfoTech in the future.

Thank you for your feedback, MechWarriors.

We look forward to seeing you on the battlefield!

- The MechWarrior Team

[rolling thunder]

I'm not really a fan of change on the whole once i'm settled into my rut but the new mini map was unwelcome. I can't understand why it was done like it was but I didn't like it, i'm glad you are revising it.

[OldJackNo7]

THANK YOU!!!

[Dr Angst]

Won't play until this "hotfix" has rolled out.

Also, sincerely hope, the icons for light to assault are confined to the big map and not the minimap.
Seismic sensor needs to be useful and knowing which direction your allies are facing are crucial at a glance on the minimap.

[Tiantara]

- Ill wait for it! And believe in good result.

Dr Angst, on 22 June 2016 - 09:23 AM, said:

Seismic sensor needs to be useful and knowing which direction your allies are facing are crucial at a glance on the minimap.

- I think seismic radar now works again. About directions of facing... let's try when hot-fix arrive. And than decide - need that function, or we can play with little new mechanic.

[ExoForce]

Do not dare to hide enemy mechs/targets orientation on the minimap again.
Please?

[Steel Raven]

I happy PGI recognized the mistake so quickly but this could all been avoided if someone actually play tested the new code before the patch went live. I guess we are still playing a BETA

[ulrin]

ty pgi,
enhancing minimap was a long needed thing, and ure reactive for hotfix !
Great !

[Tiantara]

ExoForce, on 22 June 2016 - 09:33 AM, said:

Do not dare to hide enemy mechs/targets orientation on the minimap again.
Please?

- They return centered mini-map + cone of view with quadrant. But icons remain the same. Classified by mech class. Not a spinning triangle. Please, let's see how it plays before blame developers for that change. I see there some possibilities for long-playing strategy, not fast death-ball rolling. Give them a chance.

[ExoForce]

I respect Your point, but If I dont know how my teammates are oriented/positioned towards the enemy, no way I will do some action on my own that may even be crucial for the outcome.

Edit: if we will see mech classes on the minimap -> charge to assaults full force full speed - shorter gameplay not longer.

Edited by ExoForce, 22 June 2016 - 09:48 AM.

[AdamBaines]

I like the new Mini Map, and like the Hot fix even better. The Hot fix was needed to make it really work. Thanks for it PGI.

[Shuruga]

Confidence restored. The rotation of the map is really key for situational awareness.

Regarding the icons and other features, this is something I would look forward to, because it will increase the overall strategic elements in the game. I guess it will take a couple rounds of adjustments and player feedback, but nothing that I worry about much. I guess key is really incremental, not fundamental adjustments.

[MoonUnitBeta]

One thing I actually did like was that the numbers and letters were around the edges of the map...
It'd be nice if the battle grid receives that.

1) It looks nicer.
2) It's actually easier to figure out the square... I feel like I'm looking for waldo when the numbers are in the grid squares for the Battlegrid (I only could play for 10 minutes last night and didn't check to see what the battlegrid looked like)
Makes sense to have it designated in the mini-map though.

Apart from that, the changes are very welcome. Thanks...
A bit upset still that we can't see where our team mates are looking. It's very confusing when you're trying to get a natural bearing of where people are going, and how they're reacting to the situation. It makes pugging... unsettling.

Edited by MoonUnitBeta, 22 June 2016 - 09:57 AM.

[Triordinant]

Two side questions:

1) Will the current Event be extended so those who couldn't finish due to vertigo or other issues with the new minimap will have a chance to complete it?

2) Will the Premium Time activated during the Event be "refilled" for the players in Question 1 who couldn't play?

[Tiantara]

ExoForce, on 22 June 2016 - 09:44 AM, said:

I respect Your point, but If I dont know how my teammates are oriented/positioned towards the enemy, no way I will do some action on my own that may even be crucial for the outcome.

- Why not? You see enemy and action in quadrant with knowing what mech class take battle and can decide. Help, run, distract and so on. Just looking on mech, not in arrow. Just try. Also you can provide your own action using zoom, advanced zoom and so on. naming target and line of sight. Just rely on what you actually see.

[H y d r o]

ALL of this mess would have been resolved if PGI had simply ASKED THE COMMUNITY. Eve Online, an example I'll use since Russ mentioned it in a previous Town Hall, has an elected panel that actually talks with the DEV's. I'm certain the dozen people leading the dozen largest/strongest units would jump at this chance.


That said, this looks like a great idea. Rotation & zoom are basically the hot ticket here, and I like that they'll make UAV and TAG more useful. After playing with it the only reason I'm okay with the current "new" map is that it lets me kite an entire team of n00bs w/o them realizing it, but it makes me feel dirty...

[The Unstoppable Puggernaut]

Good move PGI and thank you. This needs to be rolled out ASAP.

I just can't but think, if you tally up the complaints, surely someone in the testing team would have said...This is wrong, don't roll this out yet. The people saying to introduce this to community, well, this would have been a good idea.

I honestly never knew how much I relied on that minimap

[John McHobo]

While the new Map is certainly disorienting at first, I kinda liked the change of having the entire battlefield on the radar.
Not being abled to see what way the enemy faces made me much more careful.

This is an actual minimap, not the magical macromapradar people are used to.

[Rogue Jedi]

thanks,

that update should address all my concerns regarding the "new" minimap

[Rebas Kradd]

PGI...this is why you guys create meltdowns. You should have posted this before the patch. It would have given users some context behind the changes and allowed for real discussion. Instead we all hit it blind, with no rationale for the changes, and what are other people supposed to do? You could have saved yourselves so much trouble.

Seriously, learn PR. Frontload your community with your design mentality before going in. It's been four years of the change-meltdown-hasty explanation and backtracking cycle and you guys haven't figured it out yet.

Edited by Rebas Kradd, 22 June 2016 - 10:02 AM.