[Darkblade]

I was just wondering...

Is it possible to add more than three ships to the escort list by changing the source code? I think it would be a nice addition to the game, at least in some escort missions where you have to escort more than three ships.

[Stunaep]

This would also require interface changes, since the current HUD is built to only have 3 escorts.

[IceFire]

I think thats an acceptable limitation.  You always have to deal with some kind of limitation...you can use that limited nature to ensure that you don't overwhealm the player with information.  Its actually a good thing I think.

[EdrickV]

I think it would be nice to be able to add more then 3 ships to the escort list in game, even if only 3 are shown on the display. (And FS2 does seem to support having more then 3 ships in the escort list, see the FRED2 docs talking about the escort ship priority.) Why would this be useful? 1. If and when an escort ship leaves the list should change to show the three ships left with the highest priority. And I think it will update the escort list without any code changes. (I'm not sure what priority ships added in game by the player have.) 2. Useful to search through a large number of ships to find the one you want without having to interupt your game to bring up the hotkey assignment screen to give it a hotkey.

[IceFire]

FreeSpace 2 already does that...

On numerous occasions in missions I have assigned 7 ships.

For instance in a large convoy situation I would have set the priorities in FRED2:

GTVA Freighter A (primary objective) - Priority 2
GTVA Freighter B (primary objective) - Priority 2
GTVA Transport A (secondary objective) - Priority 1
GTVA Transport B (secondary objective) - Priority 1
GTVA Transport C - Priority 0
GTVA Transport D - Priority 0
GTVA Transport E - Priority 0

So, the first three to be shown would be Freighter A, B, and Transport A.  If one of the Freighters was destroyed than Transport B is now on the list.  And it works its way down the list as ships are destroyed or depart.

Its already in the game, its fully functional, and it works like a charm.

[EdrickV]

You can do that in FRED2 when making a mission, but you can't add more then 3 ships to the list when playing a mission. (In otherwords in game.) That's what I would like changed.

[IceFire]

Why?

No self respecting mission designer would make a mission where a player would have to take that involvement....maybe I'm missing something here....

[Bri_Dog]

It would be nice to keep tabs on more friendly or enemy ships though.

Bump it up to 5




please

[EdrickV]

Originally posted by IceFire
Why?

No self respecting mission designer would make a mission where a player would have to take that involvement....maybe I'm missing something here....

There have been missions, including regular FS2 campaign missions, where I have used the escort list to keep track of the location of ships/stations/objects that the mission designer didn't put in there. (Normally ships that aren't mission critical, but which I personally want to keep an eye on for one reason or another.) I also use it a lot in test missions, which I often re-use to test many different things without actually re-writing the mission.

[vadar_1]

3 is perfectly acceptable, or else it gets crowded and confusing. Read the FRED documentation and learn how to use priorities and hotkeys. Why dont we just add the player's target's opinion on green tea in the targeting box. Because apperently adding useless crap to the hud is a good thing.

[Fury]

Originally posted by IceFire
I think thats an acceptable limitation.  You always have to deal with some kind of limitation...you can use that limited nature to ensure that you don't overwhealm the player with information.  Its actually a good thing I think.

Originally posted by vadar_1
3 is perfectly acceptable, or else it gets crowded and confusing. Read the FRED documentation and learn how to use priorities and hotkeys. Why dont we just add the player's target's opinion on green tea in the targeting box. Because apperently adding useless crap to the hud is a good thing.

You have made your point. Not everyone may think it as confusing or overwhelming. Some may even prefer, say 5 ships in contact list rather than default 3.

But because it seems that it cannot be changed in the fly, it's perhaps better to forget it.

What I was about to suggest is that perhaps it could be a setting in options. Then everyone would be happy and use whatever contact list size they want.

In fact, I have always wondered why FS engine is so nitpick on resolutions. FS2 requires new art for 1024x768 resolutions where I-War2 for example can use whatever from 640x480 to 1280x1024 or even larger.

[EdrickV]

FYI, what I'd like changed isn't the HUD or the number of ships you can see in the escort list display. It's to replace the "Escort list is full with 3 ships." thing you get when you try to add a ship to the escort list which already has 3+ ships in it.  (The real list has room for 20 ships, only 3 of which get shown.) I would like to be able to add ships to the real escort list, even if they won't be shown immediately. And I don't like the hotkeys because half of them seem to be preset most of the time and it's easier to hit e then it is to try and remember which function key has the group of ships that I want, in the middle of battle. My joystick is bigger then my keyboard and designed for 2 hands, so the fewer buttons I need to do something the better. E + Alt+E = 2 buttons as opposed to F5, F6, F7, F8, F9, F10, F11, F12 which would take 8, plus buttons to add ships to their lists. Besides, with the escort list you can see the status of 3 ships at a time which the hotkeys don't do. (And there's no way I could bind both sets unless I didn't bind any other controls. My joystick doesn't happen to have 18 extra buttons.)