Ability to review or modify weapon allocation

[pbrowne]

After allocating weapons to targets, is it possible to review or modify the weapons allocations after closing the weapons allocation dialog?

So for example, a long target list and complex allocation of weapons. Closing the dialog and going back via Shift F1, results in the previous allocations being missing from the GUI dialog. So I don't know if these allocations have been lost. It APPEARS that doing Shift F1 clears the previous allocations.

[FMBluecher]

Check which panes you have selected on the right side of the screen. You should be able to select Allocated To anyone and Allocated By anyone, and between the two of those you should be able to find all of the allocated munitions and either cancel them, reprogram weapon flight paths, etc. (Provided, of course, that the weapons haven't already been fired, but it doesn't sound like that's what happened.)

[KnightHawk75]

I do this constantly shift-f1 (like 95% of the time), and short of an occasional glitch with an off by 1 issue (displaying 5 available when there really are only 4 after some de-allocate\re-allocate\de-allocate\re-allocate), I can always see the existing allocations and change what has not yet been launched, including pathing for way-point munitions. Also that glitch is just temp display issue it's not like i get a free weapon, and it may even be fixed now cause I've not seen it very recently.

You do need to make sure you have the correct unit and the correct target\view selected to see them on the right side of the dialog though.

There was a bug though that was recently fixed that may be related though that I reported awhile back that had existed since CMO release, with re-allocate\de allocate\reallocate then screwing up the gui) the workaround was to let time move forward 1/2-1 second and then re-open the dialog, so if not on a recent beta, try that.


edit: Never mind I see your tech support thread that covered all this.

[pbrowne]

OK thanks, got that sorted now.

However, when using Shift F1, this only brings up the selected unit/s on the map in the Attacking Units pane for that target. This restricts the pane 'Weapons allocated by selected attacker' to only units in the Attacking Units pane. I know I can add other friendly unit/s to the Attacking Units pane from the tactical map to the weapon allocation dialog by clicking on the unit/s (multiple using Shift) on the map.

It would be a lot better IMO, if ALL units that have a weapon allocation to the selected target automatically show in the Attacking Units pane, not just the initially selected unit/s, or manually added units. This would make more sense from a planning perspective as it would provide a fuller picture of the operation and potentially prevent unnecessary allocation of resources. It would also save having to zoom out (given the target is a long way from the attacking units) to find the other unit (knowing it has weapon allocations to that target) and add it to the Attacking Units pane manually. Though this would still be necessary to add a unit that doesn't have weapon allocations to the target with the current functionality.

So can I suggest:

1. Show all attacking units that have weapon allocations to the selected target through Shift F1, in the Attacking Units pane in the Weapon Allocation dialog.

2. Provide a drop-down list of all units (could be filtered via checkbox etc) to facilitate adding unit/s not already listed to the Attacking Units pane.

This way, IMO, it would be much quicker and easier to see all units and weapons that have been allocated to targets.

It also would be nice to generally access the Weapons Allocation dialog, without selecting any units or targets, in order to provide a full picture of resource allocations, though I suspect this is one of the aims of a future AMP.

[KnightHawk75]

pbrowne,
I feel your pain,esp on the zoomout (or in) to grab another unit etc.

With regard to #1. A checkbox somewhere to 'display all allocating units targeting selected target(s)', might be better, when 'checked' it would update the firing unit list based on the target list. Perhaps a player preferences setting that set the default state of said checkbox might be something to pair with the addition, this way those that want that to be the default state can have such, those that just need it on occasion can manually select it when needed.

Or

You could accomplish almost the same thing with less upfront overhead a little less obviously by going another route. If\when you change the view (bottom right & top right) to view all allocations to selected target|attackers, add a right-click option (or button) on a selected allocation and have an option to 'add to list', or 'add all units to list', if you have selected the target unit instead of specific allocation. This way the right-click option could just check the unit id's on that allocation\target against the present list and if missing add it to the collection. It could work both ways, for both targets and allocation list. I mention this because 85%+ of the time in my experience this is how I come across or notice a unit that I either forgot to pre-select, or otherwise now want to add to either list.

Idea of what I mean which takes up less real estate,uses existing dialogs and doesn't add clutter by default that I may not actually want most of the time:





Now on #2. As handy as that might be when needed, it's also two new buttons (one each for targets\attackers), and then a new selection dialog presumably shared by both buttons. The number of times I've needed to add a attacking-unit or target unit to the list that doesn't already have an allocation against it in some way is minimal overall to the number of times I wanted to add one that already has an allocation against or by it (solved by #1 or the right click idea). Now maybe that's because of the way I know the dialog works and have inherently been mentally trained to pre-select all potentially attacking units or targets before invoking the shift-f1, and will over-select and then remove as needed. In addition when I think about the times I switch out to the map to grab a target or attacker for whom isn't already listed that I want to now add, often I don't know\remember the name of the unit or group, instead I usually just know where they are roughly to go select, so I don't know that having selection list is helpful when that is the case, particularly on so on the target side where a lot of the time there are a ton of duplicated names.

My thinking is perhaps the juice may not be worth the squeeze with #2, particularly if something like #1 & or right-click was implemented, which addresses the more common cases. My perception about most-common cases though might be way off though, and I'm not saying it's a bad idea, more so if I had only had xx hours to do enhancement in this area, I'd argue investing on the #1'ish side over #2'ish.

It also would be nice to generally access the Weapons Allocation dialog, without selecting any units or targets, in order to provide a full picture of resource allocations, though I suspect this is one of the aims of a future AMP.

You mean like a OOB sort of view for allocations where all units on a side with active allocations are populated? Interesting idea. Sort of related I wrote a lua SA script that outputs a report for that for a side (or just what you multi-select) once. Obviously it didn't allow me to change anything but it had some value for reviewing the state of things when doing a massive amount of allocations on tons of aircraft over a ton of targets and wanting to double check my own work. Later adopted it for someone wanting a fuel status report tool.

[pbrowne]

Yes, I agree that 2) could be achieved through some implementation of 1). How that is done, needs to be worked out.

I think it is very important to keep usability in mind. Particularly for new players.

I feel there is a view in the wider gaming community that CMO has a clique following which partly stems from the 'unique' interface mechanics (inherited from Harpoon) which has not totally kept up with 'modern' game/simulator design. I do understand the difficulty in designing a product that appears as complex as CMO (particularly in the simulation mechanics of weapon systems), especially given perhaps a lack of development resources. There is a danger I think in just becoming accustomed to how things work, and working around things. It is a balance, which I see constructively applied in this community.

Back to the future. Re the 'OOB', or scenario-wide weapons allocation, yes, that is something I think that is really missing. The ability to step back and view the complete picture and allocation of resources, a tactical or strategic overview, depending on the scale of the scenario, in a graphical and intuitive way. Remembering that the less a program is intuitive, the more it has to be explained to users - and users generally don't like having to read lengthy manuals (I do, but haven't yet finished...). On that note, I think hidden commands (e.g right clicks) should be avoided where possible [:)].

I think I prefer your first option, which is having a checkbox to display all units that have a weapon allocation to the selected target. It seems cleaner.

[thewood1]

"cliche market"...not sure what you mean here.

[pbrowne]

ORIGINAL: thewood1

"cliche market"...not sure what you mean here.

Apologies, I used the wrong word and phrasing. I meant clique, and have changed my post.

[Sardaukar]

"Clique" sounds sinister...I prefer "CMO Illuminati"! [:D]

[pbrowne]

ORIGINAL: Sardaukar

"Clique" sounds sinister...I prefer "CMO Illuminati"! [:D]

OK, but what do you think about the proposed enhancements in this thread (trying to keep this on track...)?

Peter