I think this is pretty simple yet powerful improvement to the game interface. The fights are often fast-paced and machines move quickly. There is rarely the time to go through inventory.
EDIT: When there is a “simple first aid kit” in hand, pressing up or down arrow doesn’t do anything.
Having the option to cycle through different items in hand using “Switch ammo” and “Fire Modes” button
Healing items in their own group
Throwables in their own group
Deployables in their own group
This way many of these items would be used more. Currently our player group just recycles most of them.
Also my group of friends rarely use emotes so it would be nice to hide emotes behind some toggle button to let us put useful stuff in that menu also.
So you want to do away with the ability to switch ammo and switch fire modes, on the weapons that have those options and replace them with switchable first aid kits, throwables and deployables? You would still need a way to “USE” those things. Would you do away with the use scope key too and replace it with use?
If you play with the same friends all the time, why doesn’t each player use one slot for a deployable and one for throwables? Then play as a team that depends on each other. Stop carrying, crafting, and looting different health kits so you only use one slot for health. One friend can be a medic and carry health packs for the team. One player is a commando that uses a lot of different throwables, one a sniper and so on.
“do away with the ability to switch ammo and switch fire modes”
Not at all. Of course how weapons work would not be affected. Its just that when there is a “simple first aid kit” in hand, pressing up or down arrow doesn’t do anything. It’s really a big missed opportunity to improve the interface.
Using would remain as it is, with R2 (we play on console).
We don’t play together all the time. Some of us play a lot solo, others not so much. I really don’t see how restricting one’s carrying, crafting, and looting behaviour would be better. Adding functions to unused buttons (when first aid kits, flares or field radios are in hand) is simple and only positive.
To apply the ammo-function of weapons to throwables and health items I just think it would be good to have a placeholder Item for each which works like a weapon.
Select a slot for it and then you’re able to switch through simple, medium, advanced, experimental first aid kits or through the throwables.
This is about just what I meant. (Edited “in hand” in starter to further minimize misunderstanding.)
Though I doubt an actual placeholder item is necessary. Just select a slot for “advanced first aid kits” and whenever it is selected, it will be the default. One can then cycle through the other ones.
Similarly with throwables. Any throwable item could be put on a slot and then cycle to the other ones.
And debloyables too. Put companion in the slot as default and then cycle through all the boxes, field radio, gas containers and whatnot.
I really crave for this improvement since much of the stuff is just too clumsy to be used on console at least.
I think pc users that use controllers also have the “clumsy” feel too when using the different slots.
I like the idea of assigning items like all throwables to a slot and then the ability to scroll through them. For KB/mouse users it can be the scroll wheel, but it may need to be pressing up down keys then fire key to use.
For me, the only deployable I use is the field radio and my runner holds remote turrets for a finale when destroying a reaper. Throwables are the grenades, but it would be handy to carry and use the small throwable EMPs.
My runner does not get a slot, to use I just go into inventory, select it and hit “F” key to deploy.
If weapons then would also be a single slot, scrollable, more weapons could be used/carried and it gets to complex to be fun. Not to mention adding new keys and features tend to “break” the game taking away from the fun of just playing.
Yes. A no go for weapons. But doesn’t make sense, too.
The topic is about to use the button to switch ammo also for other similar items.
From the technical point of view, it is needed for the easiest way to make it real.
The function we’re talking about is about ammo.
You have a weapon and some different ammo types that are bound to it and can be used with it.
If you want to use this function for first aid kits, too, the different first aid kits have to work like ammo does. In this case you need some kind of weapon to use the ammo. This role could be used by a placeholder item (which cannot deplete). It could show a first aid cross and would enable us to select the slot freely and to switch its ammo (the different first aid kits).
Another placeholder could be a “throwing hand” icon for throwables and a toolkit icon for placeables like gas canisters, mines, car battery EMPs, large EMPs, boom boxes…
For items like the turrets, the tactical shield and maybe some others there should be another category or none at all.
There shouldn’t be too many items in each category.
Edit:
It should still be a requirement that the items (i.e. advanced first aid kits) can be used alone or directly from inventory, if they are currently able to be used from inventory.
Additionally I would suggest to bind the placeholder items to a skill or a challenge or similar that you don’t have access to it from beginning.
Imagine how you would finally unlock it … How lucky and glad you would be.
Edit2:
For all of these placeholders an animation is needed that is shown if the “ammo” is empty. In all cases simply empty hands could be seen.
As Mad points out, and I agree, it would probably be best if fewer items were in each category.
Swapping through the medkits and throwables as you describe should be fine. Swapping through field radio, ammo can, and field medic pack, should also be fine. The other deployables would have to be filtered through, some. Lures like raidos and comms arrays for one category, trap objects like mines, car battey EMPs, large EMP cells, and the different gas cans as another category—or two separate categories, since there are so many different pressurized gas cylinders and fuel cells.
There comes a “break even” point, or point of diminishing returns, where having to scroll through things using ammo/fire mode buttons would take just as long or longer than going into the inventory and dealing with things the current way. For this feature to be worth it, they’d have to stay short of that point.