Part 1 here
Good day Battletech developers
Today I'm providing feedback about Mechbay Main Screen,and what could be improved.
Mechbay main screen
1) Empty space is unclickable to get new mech from storage though the look suggests it is
That big + sign screams "Click me!",yet does nothing on that action.Quite confusing for the user which is forced to click "Storage" button.A simple solution would be to bind onClick action on it to the code which handles "Storage" button,or even easier send onClick event to "Storage" button.
2) Cannot change placement of mechs in mechbays
After getting 2nd mechbay,a bunch of heavies and mediums the mechbays start to become total mess.Ability to freely drag and drop mechs would greatly help to sort out that mess,ex I'd like to have brawlers in top mechbay,fire support mechs in 2nd,and say LRM boats in the last.
But attention!These sortedy by player mechbays must be also presented on the lance setup before deploy screen too to make sense!
3) Double click on a mech in mechbay will go into refit lab
Pretty straightforward,simple to add,and will improve user experience in a good way.
4) Mech details box
Mech stats as bars are very uniformative.
As a mercenary unit commander I'd like to know exact details about everything,so:
Armor indicator silhouette is very inconvenient to use
No only it occupies so much space,but also does not allow to see armor values in location with just one look at it,without further interaction.Quite cool looking,but very badly designed from usability point of view
Loadout list.
See that a half of space occupied by name is in fact unused.Add to that big,space-eating silhouette of a mech,and you see how ineffectively that space has been used.
Mech icon here is redundant,as I have it on the left in mechbay
Looks nice,but eats space needed for vital information.
Pattern choosing as combobox.
This would allow to setup the desired pattern much quicker and without wasting time on applying not wanted pattern on the way to the one a player wants,which as you know is hmm,not so fast.
Well,I suggest to redesign details box entirely,and the screen itself quite significantly.Look at the below screen:
Fig. 2 - hit how the get more space for mech details box
All the extra space should be used to present mech loadout just like we see it in the refit lab - the vital informations here are stuff placement and armor values in a location.And these have to be displayed using ex some nice font size,not say that shop/storage quantity numbers you need a magnifying glass to see.Also,mech weight class and full name with model,ex Battlemaster 1G.And of course all these mech stats mentioned above.
Non-vital elements (so drop them in case you run out of space for presenting vital ones) would be mech nickname,pattern combobox,and initiative value.
Well,I could design that new detail box for better illustration,but not before I'll have certainty you devs are truly listening.
As before,some indication you've seen the feedback,and wish to get more would be nice.
Kind regards for
@HBS_CaptKerberos
@HBS_Comanche
@HBS_Corvus
@HBS_Dagger
@HBS_Eck
@HBS_dlecompte
@Colonel Flamestalker
MasterBLB
Good day Battletech developers
Today I'm providing feedback about Mechbay Main Screen,and what could be improved.
Mechbay main screen
1) Empty space is unclickable to get new mech from storage though the look suggests it is
That big + sign screams "Click me!",yet does nothing on that action.Quite confusing for the user which is forced to click "Storage" button.A simple solution would be to bind onClick action on it to the code which handles "Storage" button,or even easier send onClick event to "Storage" button.
2) Cannot change placement of mechs in mechbays
After getting 2nd mechbay,a bunch of heavies and mediums the mechbays start to become total mess.Ability to freely drag and drop mechs would greatly help to sort out that mess,ex I'd like to have brawlers in top mechbay,fire support mechs in 2nd,and say LRM boats in the last.
But attention!These sortedy by player mechbays must be also presented on the lance setup before deploy screen too to make sense!
3) Double click on a mech in mechbay will go into refit lab
Pretty straightforward,simple to add,and will improve user experience in a good way.
4) Mech details box
Mech stats as bars are very uniformative.
As a mercenary unit commander I'd like to know exact details about everything,so:
- Not Firepower +++++ but ex Alpha Damage:<exact value here,say 200>.For total sweetness,but on tooltip perhaps,alpha possible at distance close,medium,far and extreme.
- Not Movement +++ but some like Mobility 3/5/0/0 hexes or whatever units are used.3 for normal move,5 for sprint,and the two last would show how far you can jump with current jumpjet setup,and what max height you could reach vertically.This depends on terrain so it may be a bit tricky,but you got the idea.Just assume these would be on the most common,flat terrain.
- Durability and Average Range could go away completely,as they are rather not relevant (especially if you ass Alpha Damage on ranges toolti[),and free space for improvement below
- For heat efficiency instead of bars I'd like to see exact number of heat generated by my alpha + movement + jumpjets and the exact value of heat my heatsinks will dissipate each turn.Assuming you'll have spare space by removing Durability and Average Range you could improve it futher by adding ex combobox to set environment<normal,polar,vacuum,badlands etc> and some checkboxes to mark you've moved/jumped.
- And for melee the same,exact value of a punch instead of bars
Armor indicator silhouette is very inconvenient to use
No only it occupies so much space,but also does not allow to see armor values in location with just one look at it,without further interaction.Quite cool looking,but very badly designed from usability point of view
Loadout list.
See that a half of space occupied by name is in fact unused.Add to that big,space-eating silhouette of a mech,and you see how ineffectively that space has been used.
Mech icon here is redundant,as I have it on the left in mechbay
Looks nice,but eats space needed for vital information.
Pattern choosing as combobox.
This would allow to setup the desired pattern much quicker and without wasting time on applying not wanted pattern on the way to the one a player wants,which as you know is hmm,not so fast.
Well,I suggest to redesign details box entirely,and the screen itself quite significantly.Look at the below screen:
Fig. 2 - hit how the get more space for mech details box
All the extra space should be used to present mech loadout just like we see it in the refit lab - the vital informations here are stuff placement and armor values in a location.And these have to be displayed using ex some nice font size,not say that shop/storage quantity numbers you need a magnifying glass to see.Also,mech weight class and full name with model,ex Battlemaster 1G.And of course all these mech stats mentioned above.
Non-vital elements (so drop them in case you run out of space for presenting vital ones) would be mech nickname,pattern combobox,and initiative value.
Well,I could design that new detail box for better illustration,but not before I'll have certainty you devs are truly listening.
As before,some indication you've seen the feedback,and wish to get more would be nice.
Kind regards for
@HBS_CaptKerberos
@HBS_Comanche
@HBS_Corvus
@HBS_Dagger
@HBS_Eck
@HBS_dlecompte
@Colonel Flamestalker
MasterBLB
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