Ok. Played the game on Xbox Series X again last night with 2 friends and we are all in agreement - going into the inventory to assign an item to the D-pad before you can use it is just clunky and archaic, especially when in the heat of battle.
I mean seriously, even in calm moments, just to drop a field radio (which should only take a second and is not something you would have assigned to the D-pad on a permanent basis) you have to go into inventory, assign it to the D-pad which removes whatever you had there before, equip it, drop it, then go back into inventory to put the previous item back to where it was on the D-pad. That’s just terrible.
I understand that this is a PC game first and a console game as an afterthought, and I also understand some of you play the game barely utilizing the variety of inventory items available from scavenging, but for those console gamers who would like quick access to the full array if items available to them on the run, here’s a suggestion:
If the devs don’t want to add a quick access weapon/inventory wheel like most games, may I suggest a 2nd layer to the D-pad that you can reach by double tapping. One tap for the inner ring, 2 taps for the outer ring. Boom. 8 D-pad slots instead of 4. That would ease the pain for console gamers a bit.
Please consider it, devs. For the console players who love and support this game while spreading the word to others.
I’m playing on PC and while it might seem that it’s easier here, let me assure you: it’s not. I think, the main problem with this clunky UI is that there is no option to drop a field radio or whatever without placing it in a backpack.
For example: when you have several boomboxes with you and you want to drop one to attract nearby machines, it should be possible to go into the inventory, select the boomboxes and press the “drop 1 on the ground” button. In this case the item is placed barely onto the ground and doing it’s think.
Due to this non-existent feature I adapted my playstyle to not use flares or anything similar. On the tertiary slots I have: smaller medkit; larger medkit; binoculars; empty slot, used for anything but nothing in particular.
It can be a tough balance between convenience and “reality”. I’d love to be able to just pop a medkit and continue on, but having to run and hide behind cover, select my meds, use them, go back to my weapon, and re-engage takes time and favors the “realism” aspect of the game I suppose.
That being said, I definitely would like to be able to simply drop or “use” items on the fly without all of the futzing around.
Why we need 7x emotes + photo mode on a wheel, yet only have 4x consumables is beyond me.
IMHO it would be far better swapped; 3x emotes and photo mode on the d-pad and 8x consumables on the wheel. That way I’d be more inclined to use some of the additional items in combat.
On controller aspect, perhaps, but not on KB/mouse aspect.
Here’s why:
With KB/mouse;
I currently have hotbar binded to: 4, Q, and V. It takes 1 key press to bring the binded item out, while the same time, i can prone/ crouch/ walk/ run and pan camera around. No movement or awareness restrictions.
The emote wheel is binded to: G. And to use that, i have to hold down G and then select the appropriate slot with my mouse cursor. When the emote wheel is present, i can not move nor pan camera around. All movement is disabled and awareness is restricted.
Due to this, i don’t agree with the swapping idea. It makes the current fast and restriction free usage of hotbar items into slow and restricted. Essentially removing any benefit of “quick access” items, when it’s put inside the sub-menu.
I have no opinion for PC, because I play on console. But, being on console, I agree that it would be beneficial to incorporate this system into the console version of the game, it’s kind of clunky when switching throwables and things of the like when you have to go into inventory, and mess around with all the junk in there.