Congratulations on 100K!!!!
After watching the tech demo on the tactical interface, I am very excited. I thoroughly enjoyed your ideas over the standard drop down menu type. I had a few thoughts though and just wanted to share.
How about some kind of tier system for the radial menu, to allow for more complex commands? We have a lot of ideas here on the forum and this radial menu could be utilized to accomplish most if not all. Here is what I am thinking:
First Tier Radial Menu:
ATTACK -- naturally this would mean engage target until target explodes(possibly some kind of "disable/destroy" option here?) or given other orders.
GUARD -- follow and defend target from any aggressors until aggressors are destroyed or retreat (to certain distance/disengage?) or given other orders.
FOLLOW -- simply follow target (at specified distance?) until further orders given.
SPY -- now this is the same as follow, except that the AI will attempt to evade detection(don't know if possible) but will create a log entry for noteworthy events i.e. where target docks, planets visited, parties engaged in combat(whether aggressor or in self defense) or something to these effects. Maybe customizable to extract only specific information of some kind.
MINE -- this could be a bit more general, for instance point to an asteroid and select "mine" and they would mine it and fill cargo. Whether or not you have a bigger hauling ship or something would allow the npc to drop off a load and continue mining etc. But if you selected say a wreck or pile of unclaimed treasures the menu option would be "collect." Or something to this effect.
CLEAR -- this to alleviate the awkward situation of having to change orders from something you don't want your NPCs to do to something else you don't want them to do.
ADVANCED -- this option could allow for a second radial menu to command things like:
PREPARE TO MANIPULATE -- this could be to let your NPCs know you are wanting to tow a large disable ship or asteroid. In effect, if you had to collectively tow something too large for your own ship to do it, this command would let your NPCs know they will have to pull at the same time as you. Just like "follow" but more of an in unison propulsion than reacting to how far away you ship becomes for them to engage thrusters in order to get back into certain distance from you. ( Hope that made sense)
-Pay or Trade With -- this would allow you to have your NPC transfer credits to a trader and accept the cargo, instead of having to trade yourself then transfer the cargo over to your NPC ship so that you could accept another contract/trade etc. [/color]
***This second tier really could have many different things, and I am sure you have actually thought of many of them. This tier system could also be implemented for each button instead of a second menu. Something like ATTACK->DESTROY or ATTACK->DISABLE.
Edit: Removed color, looked way too fruity.
Post
Tue Dec 04, 2012 7:10 am
#1
Tactical Interface Demo
Last edited by NuttyRob on Tue Dec 04, 2012 4:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"The end is always coming, and the beginning will never come back..." --Nutty