New UI

[wodin]

 I hate it. It takes up more screen space. Seems more cluttered. Really don't like the transparency in the message box, checking the stats for each unit at the end of a battle is a pain as thats transparent aswell.

 I preferred the unit selection that was on the right hand side in the old UI rather than taking way to much space bottom center and again to me makes the screen way to cluttered..

The mini map is now way to large. Make it smaller or scalable at least.

I'm one of those who never really had a problem with the UI from APK42 onwards. Infact I thought APOS was an improvement all around.

Now I hate it. To the point it puts me off the game. On a 19inch monitor it just isn't good at all.

The whole UI should have different sizes to choose from (small,medium and large) as it just to big and in the way. Or at least give us an option to keep the old UI. There was nothing wrong with it and now to me it's a cluttered mess.

One other thing i noticed white lines around Infantry and also it seemed they no longer wanted to go close combat and just ignored each other. Pre patch to day they where kicking and rifle whipping each  other all over the place.

[Capt Sam]

Seems to me like a giant step sideways.

Before a tactical game begins, how do I know what time it is?  Whether or not it is dark outside is kind of important to where I position units.  I know the operational map shows time before a battle, but I sometimes need to be reminded when in deployment.  Of course, it is always daylight in the deployment phase, so I am left wondering what the time is.  Once a tactical game begins, then I certainly know what time it is by the HUGE, INTRUSIVE clock timer in the middle of the top of the screen.  The old way was better with a small clock.

What are all those buttons on top of the message box?  They don't even have tool-tips.  I didn't have a problem with the old message box, except it didn't have a time stamp.  Now I have a time stamp and a whole lot more clutter.

I do like the way the unit icons don't have a big box around them to save space, but the location (center of the bottom of the UI) is not good.  They were fine in the top right.

I do like how when I click on the some of the buttons then other modifier button pop up, like on the defend, or move button.  Good job on that.

Perhaps I need more time with the new UI.  I didn't like the old UI at first, but I came to like it with experience.  Without a doubt, however, this UI will be just as strange to a new player as was the old UI.

[wodin]

To be honest I think newbies will be even more confused.

Please Graviteam if you read this either give us the option to go back to the old Ui or make it smaller. I also agree about the time...dear go it's huge.

[magjendad]

Could you just delete the patch from the updater list?

[Flashburn]

Yes.........or install old one.  But you loose all the new neat things.  Personally i am suprised about complaints to the thing.  Maybe I am less picky.  The being able to resize UI, ok I see that.  I mean ya its all valid points.  IF it is that painful couldnt you just use alt backspace and use short cut commands instead?

But I would give it a chance.     I really like the find low/high ground command in set up.  Arty commands seem to be a big improvement.

If only everyone would give a complaint with a possible solution.

Best possible solution in my mind...........require 2 monitors and place the ui on second with mini map...   .  Be great if you have 2 monitors...   
Selectable UI style?  Classic, new, and the best solution 2 monitors................  ok maybe not the last one.   
OOOOOh roll outs that wrap them selves back up after 5 seconds.

[Capt Sam]

Can anyone do multiple waypoints now?  I can't seem to make it work.  Although holding down Control when issuing move orders causes a "+" sign to the cursor, I cannot make more than a single waypoint.

Also removed was the select platoon and squad hotkeys.  Before the patch, I think the default was ALT+number and SHIFT+number.  This has been removed, it seems.  Also, in the hotkeys list is a select next platoon and previous platoon hotkeys.  When I try to set them and use them I get a game crash.

I dislike the UI so much I'm considering totally turning the UI off and playing with nothing but hotkeys.  Of course, I still have the CONTROL+number selections, but I want to use that for the platoon leaders and then use the squad selection hotkeys.  This has been removed, unfortunately.  

Also, when testing the minimize UI functions, I pressed ALT+F4 and the game stopped.  No error message, just a complete shut down, game disappeared.

 

[Flashburn]

Hmmmm alt f4 is bad usually in windows.  Many games disable that.  Interesting oooops find. 

[wodin]

Could you just delete the patch from the updater list?

yeah and then loose all the other stuff which I want.

Hot keys are no good for me with my memory!
Two things will make it alot better. Option to not have transparency. Not sure why it is transparent anyway. If it was to give us some view back then it really makes no sense as upper right is usually sky anyway.

Give us two size options.

P.S Anyone know what there icons along the top right are? One is a pen I think, another a bin and I see also a organisation chart or something. None seem to work.

[Capt Sam]

Could you just delete the patch from the updater list?

Hot keys are no good for me with my memory!

Hotkeys are the best bet.

My future plans to enjoy APOS:

I hate looking at the flags and icons and crappy UI that destroys the immersion.  So, only with the game paused do I plan to have any UI or game guides on.

I'm going to bust out my old Saitek X52 and program the hell out of it with every type of useful hotkey I can think of, including a macro that totally turns the UI off, lets the game roll for a period, let's say 2 minutes, and then re-pauses the game.

Of course, while the game is rolling, I can issue real-time orders to any units within view, but I'm pretty much in the dark, immersed in the sights and sounds from a very small point of view,near ground level, looking around with a joystick and issue voice-commands, since I've got some slick voice command scripting software.

During the pause, I'll turn the UI back on, review all messages, get an idea for what is going on by roaming around the battlefield like it is a massive miniature battle diorama (maybe with some brooding music in the background), issue new orders, and find a nice observation spot close to the ground, and start all over again: the UI goes dark and I observe from a specific point of view for a short period.

Since I now have time stamped messages (thank you) giving me a review of what just happened, this is the next-best thing to WEGO I can think of.

In other words, the information in the UI is great, but the UI sucks.  I'm going to have to use the hotkeys to create my own UI, and the default UI isn't going to stop me from enjoying the game.

[wodin]

I will still play it. Just hope they see sense. I expect that haven't tried it out on a 19inch Monitor. If they had done they'd certainly made everything smaller.

[Capt Sam]

Please can someone else test some issue I'm having with the current UI:

Press Alt+F3 to minimize the lower-left UI panel.

Once minimized, do any of the hotkeys for that panel now work?  For example, the "Q" hotkey for unit view or the "Tab" key for the binocular view?

They don't work in my version if that panel is minimized!

Also, someone please test using multiple waypoints.  I want to make sure that I'm not the only player with these issues.  These are most certainly bugs unless I'm the only one.

Also, notice the hotkey list for minimizing panels, two separate panels share the ALT+F5 key, as the list skips the ALT+F4, since the Windows hotkey (close current window) was not disabled.

Wow! It seems this patch needs a patch.

Edit**I figured out multiple waypoints:  It is still done with the shift key (although I no longer get a + sign) and I have to right click and drag for each waypoint, because simple right clicking brings up the orders menu.

Also, I've had over 3 critical 001 errors since the patch.  I used to get errors only when saving and exiting.  I'm about to remove this patch and put APOS on the shelf for awhile . . .

[Flashburn]

Well I have been looking at the new interface more critically after tracking this post. 

#1 In future I think graviteam may need a larger base of people to beta test patches.  Not just long time players, but newer folks as well. 
#2 screen space.... ya I can totally see how this lay out would eat screen space on low and mid sized monitors. 


A few ideas to make the best of it.  Set up interface/button with custom selected colors other than default grey. 

Minimize left hand panel......honestly don't need it up most of the time (you can defualt it off I beleave).  Might be better if mini map was on right side where the future network settings panel is........in fact that should probably just be hidden now.
 
Might be worth a shot to mess with dont enlarge interface size setting.  I know I messed with it an the damned thing was huge.   Worth playing with it and see if it helps anything.

Well I love all the in game changes.......but now since I read this post I can't stop looking at the ui.   


More thoughts on it.  The left handed panel where the mini map is.  You pretty much always want the mini  map up but the lower left panel you use but really not that often.  Inverse there locations.  More useful screen space. 

In future perhaps at least a couple default ui.  One aimed at 3 by 4 ratio monitors (does anyone still use that ratio of monitor?) One aimed at wide screen monitors.  All with 2 to 3 sized button defaults.  I certainly would not complain about small buttons

[andrey12345]

To be honest I think newbies will be even more confused.

Please Graviteam if you read this either give us the option to go back to the old Ui or make it smaller. I also agree about the time...dear go it's huge.

Yes, we read all posts

Old UI its not a suitable solution at all (or any switches/options). Especially since the new interface takes up less space than the old one, about 30%, with an increase of almost 1.5 times the number of options.

Positive reviews about the new interface is much more than an old, and a little less negative. This means that we are on the right way.

As for size, we have access to 19-inch monitors with a 5:4 aspect ratio for them interface is develop. And check under the wide-screen resolution, on the same size monitor. At higher resolutions the interface is scaled proportionally, according to one of the axes.

If the suddenly we will have monitors with biggest diagonal, let's see what can be done to decrease UI size. But for now will remain so.

P.S. Please put screenshots of the interface on your PC, is better cause it looks like you have so we can see if there are any glitches.

[Capt Sam]

To be honest I think newbies will be even more confused.

Please Graviteam if you read this either give us the option to go back to the old Ui or make it smaller. I also agree about the time...dear go it's huge.

Yes, we read all posts

Old UI its not a suitable solution at all (or any switches/options). Especially since the new interface takes up less space than the old one, about 30%, with an increase of almost 1.5 times the number of options.

Positive reviews about the new interface is much more than an old, and a little less negative. This means that we are on the right way.

Here is an example of why the new clock is very bad:

We now have time stamps.  Great!  However, when I pause the game I notice a squad leader died at 11:55.  I wonder what time it is now?  I don't know because instead of the current time, I see the word "PAUSE" where my clock should be.  This totally defeats the use of the clock and time stamp for reviewing actions and events while paused, not to mention how intrusive the clock is in the first place!

Just put a small clock somewhere on the screen (like it used to be), and the problem is solved.
 

[andrey12345]

Here is an example of why the new clock is very bad:

We now have time stamps.  Great!  However, when I pause the game I notice a squad leader died at 11:55.  I wonder what time it is now?  I don't know because instead of the current time, I see the word "PAUSE" where my clock should be.  This totally defeats the use of the clock and time stamp for reviewing actions and events while paused, not to mention how intrusive the clock is in the first place!

It is assumed that a player can memorize the current time up to a minute.
At least from the Russian-speaking community in which the patch was released for a long time nobody complained about it 

Just put a small clock somewhere on the screen (like it used to be), and the problem is solved.
 

Where is somewhere?   

[hamrock]

Well I'm going to thank them all for keeping up progress in this game.  Communication is first rate with fans and they do listen to issues.  Only one gripe,. deploying artillery has become anoying, but hay good luck to them.. I'v also downloaded the uniform mod which is first class.

[Capt Sam]

here's a good start:

[Capt Sam]

I hate the new clock, but if it must stay, please change the color when paused.

[andrey12345]

here's a good start:

1) "Much better" - It seems to be true, but not really, it requires a unique interface element, breaks the symmetry, all the while closing the screen near in the center. Penetration diagrams in the wide screen will close this clock. These reasons led to the clocks removal from this place where you have painted them, though for a time in the test, they were there

2) "How long ago? Don't know". Maybe it is easier to write the relative time?

3) "...Change the color". Yes it's good for hardcore users, but in reality,  even when "pause" is printed - not everyone understands what to do, but if you just paint the color will be even sadder   (Although I personally like this option ).

[Capt Sam]

I think all AP players are "hardcore" user.  Are there any casual players?

Here is another option, but it tends to make an already intrusive clock more intrusive: