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Hold mouse button for Aimed Shot


HWP

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It may be a bit late for suggestions, but this one is about UI. I've been thinking about how it could be streamlined in the good sense of the word.

Pressing and holding a button on an alien, right now, does the same as just clicking. What about a mechanic where:

Normal click - acts mostly .as now.

Holding the button - Selects aimed shot. Fires on release.

Alternatively, if you have snap shot selected, holding LMB can first select normal, then aimed.

Right click while holding would still cycle modes. Scroll wheel can also do the same.

Moving the mouse away while holding cancels the shot.

It's very organic, like gradual aiming or using a set trigger, and provides a small degree of protection against accidental clicks for mice with light triggers. This also resembles common modern GUI mechanics.

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How would you handle weapons like the sniper rifle with multiple levels of aimed shot? The only way I can see that working would be if they cycled through the available options over time; so hold for up to 1 second is snap, 1-2 seconds = normal, 2-3 seconds = aimed, 3-4 seconds = aim++.

The issue with this is that it doesn't seem to offer any benefit over RMB clicking; to select aim++ you would have to wait 3+ seconds, while clicking RMB 3 times can be done much faster. Also, if you want an intermediate level of aim, you need to time it correctly, as you will only have a one-second window (you could make the windows longer, of course, but then somebody waiting for aimed shot has to wait even longer).

It also doesn't protect against accidental mouse release; not sure how common this is compared to accidental clicks.

Most GUIs that I have seen that have a distinction between click and click-hold have been touchscreen (so press and press-hold, really); this makes more sense as touchscreens don't have an alternative click mode equivalent to RMB.

EDIT: also, I don't know about anybody else, but I often quickly cycle through all the fire modes once or twice before taking a shot, to check what my options are in terms of TU use and accuracy. This would be much more difficult under the proposed system (although I do note that the proposed system still allows RMB to work)

Edited by MrPyro
Missed something out
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How would you handle weapons like the sniper rifle with multiple levels of aimed shot?

The only way I can see that working would be if they cycled through the available options over time; so hold for up to 1 second is snap, 1-2 seconds = normal, 2-3 seconds = aimed, 3-4 seconds = aim++.

You don't hold for snap, just click. Your default selection for SR is probably already at least "normal", so it's more 1.5 to get to aim++.

Or holding the button can just always go straight to maximum accuracy.

( One second is actually a pretty long time. The usual distinction between normal press/click and hold seems to be about 0.7 seconds for keys and less for mouse buttons. )

It also doesn't protect against accidental mouse release; not sure how common this is compared to accidental clicks.

In standard windows GUI a click is only registered on release. Same in most non-action games I've seen.

Behavior with clicks being registered on mouse-down is actually non-standard, mostly used in shooters, where it's needed for automatic weapons.

Protection is minimal and just a side effect, but accidental click (press+release) is still a subset or accidental press-down (which happens).

EDIT: also, I don't know about anybody else, but I often quickly cycle through all the fire modes once or twice before taking a shot, to check what my options are in terms of TU use and accuracy. This would be much more difficult under the proposed system (although I do note that the proposed system still allows RMB to work)

You still have RMB. Or the mouse wheel can be reassigned to cycle through modes while holding. Though, alternatively, it could be reassigned to only cycle through soldiers that can see this particular target.

Depending on mouse design and user's skillset, such use can be very convenient, or not at all, but still.

BTW, I think it makes sense to just list the accuracy of each shot straight away, in a list, current type bolded/red/etc. Although it may look more cluttered UI, so its chances of being accepted are limited (for me, though, it's not an issue at all, the game is about tactics, not UI).

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I generally am all for streamlining clicks, but in this case I'm not so sure. There is a certain joy in right clicking to get that aim up and seeing the percentage jump and not knowing where exactly it will end. :) I'm sure it'd be more efficient to see them all at once though.

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Nah, sorry, I don't like this idea.

If the game was a real time game then I might be swayed, but as time taken isn't an issue, I'd rather keep the fine control given by the current system.

I also tend to hate control systems where I've got to hold buttons down to scroll through options, especially if I make a mistake and go too far so have to scroll through all the options again. With an action that happens frequently, a system like that gets infuriating very quickly.

You've also not put down how you'd cancel the action if you've held down the right mouse button but then decided against it.

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You cancel the action the same way as standard in GUI - move the cursor away from the object to interact with before releasing the button.

So scratch cycling through options, then holding can be set to go straight to max accuracy shot.

Right mouse button not going anywhere while at that. It's just a change of behavior for what right now has no function.

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