[REQ] 6 Dials / 4 Gauges

[CCIP]

So, any takers for bringing back a couple of staple SH features for easy access?

What I mean by is re-introducing the basic, round dials for telegraph/speed, heading/rudder, and depth (shallow/deep); and gauges for fuel, battery, compressed air and CO2. These should be no more (and preferably less) than a click away and located in the game's main screen. Otherwise floating, pop-out or zoom-in - all would be just fine for me.

I would really, really like to see these tools back - I personally don't really have any huge gripes with the new interface besides this.

I haven't quite the graphics prowess to design these properly. I know it's not much, but I'd be happy to sponsor a Subsim mug or shirt for the first person who can make this [REQ] into [REL]

[Sailor Steve]

When you say "6-Dials" I think of FLB_Sales's 'Simfeeling' mod, where nothing is on the screen at all - it's all a slideout. I still use it, and I'm still waiting for something like it for SH4.

I have a feeling I'll be waiting a very long time.

[CCIP]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

When you say "6-Dials" I think of FLB_Sales's 'Simfeeling' mod, where nothing is on the screen at all - it's all a slideout. I still use it, and I'm still waiting for something like it for SH4.

Yeah, I had slideout dials in mind too, but honestly SH4's pop-out dials worked just as well for me.

TECHNICALLY, it's not complicated to program these in - it never required any hacking of complex file formats, and was determined purely by menu config files + simple graphics. And I suspect the new menu editor may (or may not) make this a lot easier. It's just that it requires someone with a little bit of experience in creating game menu graphics and that's definitely not my forte.

[Sailor Steve]

Nor mine.

But, are you aware of my Ship Names mod for SH3 Commander?

[CCIP]

Yes I am and it's pretty fabulous

For several reasons though, SHIV+OM rather than SHIII+GWX has been my main steed lately. I sorely miss Commander from that, but c'est la vie I suppose...

As for the dials, I've seen many excellent solutions actually, not just the pop-out dials. Pop-out mechanisms in general are great, but if anything, I think SHIV's solution of a bottom bar + tabs for officer commands + floating alerts at the top is basically a good standard. SHV at the moment has a lot of good features, many I'd want to keep, but the main control layout is not as intiutive. Course changes especially are a little bit of a pain at the moment - I really grew to rely on the compass for them, and it's just flat out not there anymore (instead you have to mess around with the mini-map now to plot the course, or to use the "heading to view" shortcut to get what you want).

[Sailor Steve]

That's not good to hear. It would be nice if you could just type in the desired course (only way to ever get it exactly), but the compass is still good to have.

Originally Posted by CCIP

SHIV+OM rather than SHIII+GWX has been my main steed lately. I sorely miss Commander from that, but c'est la vie I suppose...

My feelings exactly. I was dividing my time equally between 3 and 4, because I run several careers simultaneously. But an SH4 Commander would have been so nice, especially since SH4 makes it vastly easier to have many different countries for each model without increasing the load times.

[gutted]

Originally Posted by CCIP

It's just that it requires someone with a little bit of experience in creating game menu graphics and that's definitely not my forte.

Exactly.

I poked about and saw that alot of the resources are still there.. we just need to plug them back in. I kinda toyed around with the menu editor.. but like you said, it's going to take someone with experience in UI modding (and knows how everything is suposed to interact) to make sense of the thing.

I was able to figure out how to get a graphic on screen and move it around, but how to make it tie into something i dunno.

[Highbury]

Just want to second this request.

Overall I am content with SHV, but how on earth they thought a U-Boat would not need to see it's heading is beyond me. Couple that with no "Set heading to XXX" command and I am left scratchin my head...

This is not just a visual mod request, it is necessary for game functionality IMO.

[UberMatz]

It's as if many aspects of the GUI have been dumbed down. I'd love to have a pop-out compass and other gauges.

[Galanti]

Why they took this immense leap backwards in terms of interface is beyond me. Words fail.

I'll volunteer for the graphical side of things but currently have no idea how the coding works. I took a brief look at some of the files in Data\Menu\Gui\Layout last night and noticed that the lame depth and speed indicators are part of one larger image, so mapping in circular dials will certainly involve some .ini fudging.

I've started making my own interface mod, mainly to replace the lifeless and post-modern looking 2d HUD elements, and was able to replace the SH5 radio message popup (Gawd, what an ugly POS) with the much more authentic SH4 one. So in some ways, we'll be able to 'regress' the interface to the old ones we know and love.

That glowing '!' indicator at the top of your screen has got to go, too.

[mookiemookie]

Yes! This is something very necessary. I have no idea what the devs were thinking when they omitted this stuff.

[Ducimus]

Improving the UI, is probably THE most important thing a modder can do right now.

The current UI is obtuse, incomplete, and is seperating the player from some of the core aspects of command and control that is the staple of SH3/4, and in that sense, kills any sense of immersion or link from the player to the sub.

This, IMO, has to be corrected first, and THE most single important thing right now, above ALL else. If i had any clue what i was doing with the UI, id be all over this. But since i don't, add my name to the request list.

[Wilcke]

Agreed on this one! Its either me or the sim, but I truly feel lost in trying to manage my sub. If I am to RPG and be the skipper, I either need the dials from SH4 or I need to give commands for course settings, speeds and depths. Where are my menus?

[Frederf]

I hate to say I was never a big fan of the older SH3/SH4 style of command. You wouldn't drive a race car with a remote 2D app on an iPhone so why should you command a submarine with the equivalent of the Windows XP taskbar?

I'm not saying that the SH5 method is better but that going back to an SH3/4 style bar is almost as bad. I don't want to click a floaty bar to change course I want to talk to the helmsman through a phone/speaking tube/in person.

[Nico71]

A halfway precise compass with 1 degree of precision for entering and reading, either numerically or graphically, would be helpful (like in GWX), especially, but not exclusively, for the real nav crowd. I have a bit of trouble in this regard in SH4.

The graphics part is not a big deal, but why reinvent the wheel anyway when there are so many ready made mods out there?