Concept discussion: Remove Hud - Benefits/Problems/Fixes

W

wingnut

New Member
With the likely unintentional unlocking of several higher-end vehicles(BTR-60, Mi-24, etc), servers have been implementing these vehicles in the hopes of enriching the scope of the player experience.

One of the major problems identified with these vehicles(which had been previously identified by rMod users) is that they often retain their radar - a feature that is IMO wholly inappropriate for a DayZ-sourced persistent environment.

I decided to look for a solution to remove radar, a solution that could be implemented via the server.pbo or mission.pbo file(as I use managed hosting thanks to Dayz.st). I came across two major methods, both with their respective advantages and disadvantages.

-----------

The first was to create a box over the radar screen itself using RscTitles. This is well beyond my meager understanding of scriping, so I planned to revisit it if the second method did not work out.

-----------

The second method was to set ShowHUD=0 in description.ext. I knew this would create some unintended side effects, but figured it was worth a spin(thank god for having a test server). The result was interesting, and raised interesting thoughts beyond radar removal.

First, the vehicle damage icons went away. I actually found this to be preferable - as a driver of a vehicle, you don't know if your fuel tank is 23% damaged or whatnot, you have to actually get out of the vehicle and inspect it via the action menu. I liked this quite a bit.

Second, the speed and altitude indicators went away. I liked this far, far less, but it did make helicopter flight in periods of heavy fog that much more difficult. Still, this did not seem to be a worthwhile compromise in order to be able to use Knighthawks and a handful of the Mi-8 family of helicopters.

Third was that ammunition count was no longer displayed. I really, really liked not being able to tell exactly how many shots were left in a magazine or how many magazines were remaining by looking at some text in the corner of my screen. One of the skills of firearm use is being able to count your shots and knowing when a mag change is going to be required. Having to count your shots and hit G to determine how many magazines are remaining was extremely interesting to me.

Fourth, and perhaps most troubling was that your selected weapon was no longer displayed. This was the nail in the coffin for just hiding the hud. While I have no issue with not being able to see exactly what model of weapon you're carrying(pretty sure everyone can tell just by looking at the model), you also have no idea if you have a grenade equipped or other thrown object. Not being able to tell if that mouse click is going to send a 5.56mm, 40mm grenade, hand grenade, or empty bottle of jack daniels downrange was simply not workable for me.

----------

An RscTitles solution to the radar issue would certainly solve all the issues observed with simply hiding the HUD, but I think there is some potential to create a more difficult/authentic/realistic experience using the hide-HUD method - if there is a way to show some of the information in a different way.

I came across this very interesting debug monitor replacement by UrbanSkaters:
http://www.opendayz.net/index.php?threads/dayz-duel-admin-debug-monitor.8402/
This made me wonder if there would be a way to create a panel similar to this, but displaying info such as speed, altitude, and selected weapon. My current thinking is that users that have no interest in radar removal can still benefit from this method of HUD removal if they are seeking a more challenging type of gameplay.

Since this is even farther beyond RscTitles, I humbly come to the community asking for discussion, feedback, and advice for how to move forward from here.

Thanks!
-Wingnut
 
this is a brilliant idea. hardcore mode for dayz. im currently bogged down with projects. when i get some free time i will definitely be working on this(if someone does not beat me to it)
 
Thanks BluePhoenix!

I was thinking that this may even have potential with the hardcore Arma2 guys. I've been playing since OFP, and it certainly sounds interesting to me...

One question that was brought up to me was "will there be any way to find out exactly how many cartridges you have left in a magazine? You should be able to count a magazine out manually." The only concept we came up with that might work is an additional action menu option named "count out magazine" or similar. Player goes into a work animation, and after, it displays how many cartridges are left in the currently loaded magazine. Not perfect, no idea how to implement it, and maybe not even required, but there it is.
 
Hate to bump my own thread, but I'm not sure if this got piled on, or if the majority of viewers just think that it's not a good idea. The players I've talked to have been divided. Some loved the idea of not knowing how much ammo was in a mag, some said things like "i really like knowing exactly how much ammo i have in a mag".
 
I kinda like the idea - I'd implement it because my playerbase likes the idea of things being harder to do.... I'm constantly trying to find new ways to torture them or give them some challenge to accomplish.
 
Having just realised that the MH60S functions perfectly with Taviana.com I would also like to find a way to remove the radar. From what I can tell I need to grab the cfgVehicles.hpp from my dayz_code.pbo (inside the @Taviana mod/folder). Then edit it (at around line 201) like so;

Code: 
class UH1H_base;
class UH1H_DZ: UH1H_base
{
scope = 2;
side = 2;
crew = "";
typicalCargo[] = {};
hiddenSelections[] = {};
class TransportMagazines{};
class TransportWeapons{};
commanderCanSee = 2+16+32;
gunnerCanSee = 2+16+32;
driverCanSee = 2+16+32;
};
 
class MH60S;
class MH60S_DZ: MH60S
{
scope = 2;
side = 2;
crew = "";
typicalCargo[] = {};
hiddenSelections[] = {};
class TransportMagazines{};
class TransportWeapons{};
commanderCanSee = 2+16+32;
gunnerCanSee = 2+16+32;
driverCanSee = 2+16+32;
};

I then just need to place the cfgVehicles.hpp inside my dayz_mission.pbo, within the fixes folder (or similar) and reference it in my init.sqf file. I don't really know the correct way to do this though. Something like;

Code: 
_cfgVehicles = [] execVM "fixes\cfgVehicles.hpp";

That should then mean I can add 'MH60S_DZ' as a new row in the Vehicle table of my database and create spawn points as I would for any other vehicle.

Of course, I have tried this and it has not worked. I suspect my reference to the cfgVehicles.hpp file from the init.sqf file is incorrect. I have tried using the MH60S which still has radar, the MH60S_DZ which does not appear in game, and I have even tried editing the cfgVehicles.hpp file further to see if I could give the Mi17 turrets 3 clips of ammunition, and to test that it wasn't just an issue with the MH60S.

Here is the original;

Code: 
class Mi17_DZ: Mi17_base
{
displayName = "Mi17_DZ";
scope = 2;
side = 2;
crew = "";
maxSpeed = 180;// max speed on level road, km/h
typicalCargo[] = {};
hiddenSelectionsTextures[] = {"\ca\air_E\Data\mi17_body_IND_CO.paa", "\ca\air_E\Data\mi17_det_IND_CO.paa", "\ca\air\data\clear_empty.paa", "\ca\air\data\mi8_decals_ca.paa"};
class Turrets : Turrets {
class FrontTurret : MainTurret {
weapons[] = {PKT_2};
magazines[] = {"100Rnd_762x54_PK"};
};
class BackTurret : BackTurret {
weapons[] = {PKT_2};
magazines[] = {"100Rnd_762x54_PK"};
};
};

and my edit

Code: 
class Mi17_DZ: Mi17_base
{
displayName = "Mi17_DZ";
scope = 2;
side = 2;
crew = "";
maxSpeed = 180;// max speed on level road, km/h
typicalCargo[] = {};
hiddenSelectionsTextures[] = {"\ca\air_E\Data\mi17_body_IND_CO.paa", "\ca\air_E\Data\mi17_det_IND_CO.paa", "\ca\air\data\clear_empty.paa", "\ca\air\data\mi8_decals_ca.paa"};
class Turrets : Turrets {
class FrontTurret : MainTurret {
weapons[] = {PKT_2};
magazines[] = {"100Rnd_762x54_PK","100Rnd_762x54_PK","100Rnd_762x54_PK"};
};
class BackTurret : BackTurret {
weapons[] = {PKT_2};
magazines[] = {"100Rnd_762x54_PK","100Rnd_762x54_PK","100Rnd_762x54_PK"};
};
};
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top