Clickable interface in Steel Beasts Pro PE

[alloy]

I was thinking about clickable cockpits in Steel Beasts Pro Personal Edition (SB Pro PE) and started wondering how this feature might be implemented and then how it would be used by the player.

For the Most part the clickable cockpits I’ve seen in simulations have been most useful during those in-between times while I’m on my way from one location to the next. I don’t think of Steel Beasts as having a lot of downtime during game-play and that makes me wonder when I’d have a free moment to make use of this feature.

Also, a clickable interface can not only enhance the authenticity for hobbyists but group functions together in a visual presentation that is more accessible than keyboard key combinations. This is especially important with simulations that have many key bindings but could anyone more knowledgeable about tanks than myself comment as to whether there are tasks at a crew station that are so involved that a clickable interface is necessitated?

Until I actually run SB Pro PE I won’t fully be able to know what the benefit of clickable crew stations is and how this functionality will be different from its inclusion in Steel Beasts, till then I have these and other questions.


Related threads-
Gallery Images! (Cpt_Grogg. Jun 06, 2004 - 10:03 PM)
http://www.steelbeasts.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=3127

SB pro PE - Estimate or Guesstimate Please (Ssnake. Dec 17, 2004 - 09:35 AM)
http://www.steelbeasts.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=4306&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=25

[TopKick]

SB is clickable now. Go to F4 view and click around in the Gunner's position. Stuff works. Is that what you mean?

[dejawolf]

and that's the way it is on pro PE too.

[mapman]

SB is clickable now. Go to F4 view and click around in the Gunner's position. Stuff works. Is that what you mean?

LOL...after two years I did not know that...of course I never spend time in F4!

It would be nice to be able to program the keyboard AND the mouse including the mouse wheel, in the same manner that we can now assign Joystick buttons.

[TopKick]

Crute! LOL!

I think I read somewhere that the scroll mouse wheel will have several functions in SB Pro and SB2.


When all else fails, read the instructions.

[Bluewings]

LOL...after two years I did not know that...of course I never spend time in F4!
Same here ... I 'm ashamed :oops: :lol:

Cheers . :3starSK:

[TopKick]

Another Crute! You guys need to spend some serious time in a gunners seat. Eat, sleep, work and live there until you can keep up with your tank's position on a paper map by looking throught nothing more than the unity sight.

[mapman]

Hmmm...not sure what "Crute" means, and not sure that i want to know...

When driving and gunning I spend quite a bit of time in the Unity Site (F3, not F4) in the M1. The unity site in the Leo is worthless, IMHO.

[TopKick]

Crute = short for Recruit , FNG, etc., etc., anyone still in training and unfamiliar with weapons systems and procedures and techniques required to be proficient. Basically it's a term used to aggravate professional soldiers who keep making the kind of mistakes a recruit would make. I used it here as a joke.

When I first got SB I made sure I knew what each key on the keyboard did and when I brought up the gunner's position I made sure I knew which switch did what before I rushed into battle and saved the world from those "Rooskie" tanks that seemed to be everywhere.

[mapman]

So...you still hop in F4 to index your ammo? JK...LOL.

[TopKick]

LOL!

No, but I spend a lot time there on long road marches reading old Sgt. Rock comic books, and of course, FM 17-12.

[mapman]

...of course!

[alloy]

SB is clickable now.

I acknowledged that the interior view (F4 function key) of Steel Beasts is clickable in the final paragraph of my opening post in this thread. I was trying to be concise and may have congested too many thoughts into too narrow a space.

and that's the way it is on pro PE too.

I interpret you to mean that having used both SB and a build of SB Pro PE you have found little to no difference between the two when it comes to clickable interiors. I listed two threads in my above post and Ssnake in the thread titled Gallery Images comments that “we intend to make as many switches functional as possible.” This and Ssnake’s statement that “We're still working on how to implement it best,” suggests to me that more clickable functions are being added than were available in Steel Beasts (Ssnake).

I think I read somewhere that the scroll mouse wheel will have several functions in SB Pro and SB2.

I originally wanted to address the larger subject of interface and how one interacts with SB Pro PE differently than SB. In favor of brevity I omitted a question concerning wheel mice. Does anyone else have any insight into how the user’s experience will have changed between these two simulation as it relates to the subject of interface?

So...you still hop in F4 to index your ammo? Joking...laughing-out-loud.

Laughing-out-loud! No.

Though I think this exchange was intending nothing more than humor you’ve actually addressed the underlying sentiment of my former post. In what way might a clickable cockpit become more vital and integral to the operating of Steel Beasts Pro PE?


Works cited
Ssnake. “Gallery Images!.” 6 Jun. 2004.
http://www.steelbeasts.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=3127

[dejawolf]

the interior might become more useful as a tutor tool, and shortcut reference, as well as seeing the inner workings of a tank, will make it easier to understand what you're doing. with SB1, some people have a hard time figuring out what is happending when they're jumping from the TC's and gunners place (althoug that comes with time) which is easier when you actally see that you've switched to a different person.
if we add small popup floaters above buttons with a short description, shorcut key, and in which mode it's supposed to be used, the learning curve can be dramatically reduced.

[koga]

sounds really cool

[Bluewings]

wtf is that "boxybbrown2" shit ?? :shock:

Cheers . :3starSK:

[dejawolf]

i think he had to show how cool it sounded, by showing us a "cool" image.

[Bluewings]

?... cannot find anything cool in it ...
I must be thick ... :roll:

Cheers . :3starSK:

[mapman]

I must be thick > Thick as a Brick > Jethro Tull

AAAHHHH...wrong thread again!!!

[alloy]

If we add small popup floaters above buttons with a short description, shor[t]cut key…

A “popup” text overlay when a keyboard key was pressed was, like the wheel mouse, another thing I was specifically going to suggest before I edited my post down. Like you, I also think this would help familiarize and orientate the player with the interior screen as well as serve as a reference for more experienced users.


It’s only inference and a presumption on my part that the function key (F4) view will be fleshed out a bit further in SB Pro PE, but, if it is, I wonder if applicable sections of the in-game tutorial will concern its proper navigation.

[Ssnake]

The clickable interfaces are valuable for armies to reduce the amount of learning for the soldiers to handle Steel Beasts. They don't have to memorize so many hotkeys, but can simply click the very buttons that they already know as a part of their training. I also think that you will find the 3D interiors useful when familiarizing yourself with the rather complex TC interface of the Leo 2A5 (well, the 2A4 isn't THAT much better - except the GPS receiver and the TIM it's basically the same).

[NEpi]

does it work as intended?
do they use the special "buttons window"?