Weapon HUD info

[baranowb]

Google did not bring any result on queries I made so...
This bothered me for quite a while. Why X3s do not have any weapon info on HUD?
For instance, when I install missile ( or bay gun ) I can see speed, dmg and range. Now the trick is that with bay weapons, in most cases, during combat, you don't have time to change them. In case of missile... you can cycle through all available. After some time I can more or less tell which missile is proper for combat situation, but its still a memory feat. Dont get me wrong, its a good thing to make grey matter work. However the question at hand is - why there is no weapon info in HUD?

[Sam L.R. Griffiths]

The simple answer can be summed up - TMI. At some point there would be information overload.

[baranowb]

Well, yeah, that could be it, however this could be configurable just like "show target in SHIFT+(1|2)" or could be a timed popup info.

WRT TMI: this is actually useful info.

[DrBullwinkle]

If you play a modified game, then Missile Data Display does what you ask.

[ajax34i]

Also, we play a fittings game.

The time to think about HEPT vs. EBC vs. PRG is in the station, before you go out and start shooting. Similar with missiles. We put ONLY the guns, shields, and missiles that are perfect for the job into the ship, and then we use the ship for that job. No wasting available cargo space.

In other words, my M3 only has Mosquitoes (for defense) and a few Thunderbolts (for attack). A missile data pop-up in the middle of combat would be annoying. I already know what the Thunderbolts do.

[baranowb]

Also, we play a fittings game.

Yeah, awesome, but newbies or "weekend warriors", which dont/didnt spend weeks playing this, dont see this as "fitting game". To play a fitting game one needs CRs and some time to memorise missile datasheet. At early stages of game you scavenge for rockets, not buy tons.
Also, not every single person wants to memorize this thing, this is still a game, not war simulation with grades.
(Still, fitting game can be quite entertaining )

In other words, my M3 only has Mosquitoes (for defense) and a few Thunderbolts (for attack). A missile data pop-up in the middle of combat would be annoying. I already know what the Thunderbolts do.

Well, excuse me, I dont. Also, if this kind of feature would be annoying, dont turn it on - just like auto display target in one of monitors - which I think is available in vanilla.

DrBullwinkle thanks, hoped there is something a bit more compact, but this does the trick.

[Angelrose1]

An image appears about what weapon you see on the right corner of the hud.
But you can see the descriptions about weapons on the merchant's bench.

If you don't see any image when you see a weapon, you can't take it.

If you play in a harder difficulty, you may not see some thinks like symbols, glows.


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automatic knife

[ancienthighway]

I remember seeing a mod that allows you to switch weapons at the click of a button. Weapon groups are user defined so any combination of weapons possible could be set up for the main guns and turrets I believe.

As far as information on the HUD, space is available depending on the screen resolution. I don't think damage and range would be too much info for mounted guns. In fact with the information displayed right next to the gun and missile settings, all that would be needed is something like H:999, S:999, R:99.99. Ask in the S&M forum to see if it's doable.

Gun selection really isn't an issue I think. IREs on M5s. M4s not used. M3s get PACs unless they are for OOS combat, then HEPTs. Turrets get IRE or PACs set to missile defense. M6s get HEPTs or CIGs with IRE/PAC in turrets. M7s and bigger get the most effective weapon (damage) they can mount with turrets packing FAA, CFA, IREs or PACs for the most part.

I can see exceptions for whether you are going to capture ships, but for general use the above works for me.

[Hemmingfish]

You shouldn't be having to swap weapons on the fly like missiles. In X2 there were buttons to automatically switch weapons like missiles, but it was very annoying so for the X3 games Egosoft decided to give ships several times more weapon hardpoints (8 instead of 2 for example) and implemented the weapon grouping system.

Thus your switch comes from enabling and disabling specific slots rather than trying to fiddle with putting one of four guns in each hardpoint separately during combat. Because of this, there's no real use for having weapon stats visible when trying to physically swap lasers out (unlike missiles, which still use the old system)

[Timsup2nothin]

If you limit the missiles being carried to the ones that are actually useful there will be a very limited number to recognize. As someone else said, mosquito is defense, something else (depending on ship) is offense, and there shouldn't be much of anything else to cycle through. At the very most two offense missiles, one for capitals and one for smaller ships.

[ancienthighway]

Also depending on your ship, an anti-drone/M5 missile such as the hurricane or wasp.

[Triaxx2]

My personal preferences for missiles are as follows:

Mosquito: I rarely fire these myself, but Mosquito Missile Defense is invaluable.

Dragonfly: Strange but true, these are self-tracking, no matter what the info says. 5k damage, in a single punch. If you have the Wasp shotgun down, the Dragonfly will help you against M5's surprisingly. Fire just as they pass, and you'll probably hit them.

Wasp: 8k damage, either in 1k increments, or in one big slug if you're inside the range where they break up into a swarm.

Poltergeist: Terran version of the Wasp. Does 12k damage, and will acquire a new target if the old one is destroyed.

Tempest: This one isn't fired by most fighters, but it's surprisingly powerful from the few that it does. (I believe it's only the Medusa Prototype. Mostly it's a corvette missile.)

Tornado: A dumbfire swarm missile. Stupid as it sounds, 400k damage is nothing to sneeze at. Useful mostly for hitting capital ships or stations.

Firestorm Torpedo: 1m damage. Huge range. I use these for busting Kha'ak clusters. Some people complain about this. I ignore them.

Hammerhead: 1.2m damage, shorter range. Unbuyable.

Remote Guided Warhead: 100k damage, good range. Unbuyable.

[DrBullwinkle]

Tempest: This one isn't fired by most fighters, but it's surprisingly powerful from the few that it does. (I believe it's only the Medusa Prototype. Mostly it's a corvette missile.)

You are thinking of the Typhoon for that description. Best all-around missile in the game.

Tempest and Thunderbolt are medium guided missiles fired by most M3's. Tempest costs more and is Friend-or-Foe. Thunderbolt is slightly stronger and a heat-seeker (means that it tries to hit the target's engines).

I prefer the Thunderbolts, because they attack what I am aiming at. You never know what a Tempest will chase. Some players prefer not needing missile lock to fire Tempests. Both are good missiles.

[Triaxx2]

Yeah, I always get those two confused.

I'm also partial to the Banshee, but those are also unbuyable.