Better seeing upgrades on opponent com

[Aarhun]

Hi,

Would it be possible to have a UI mode that change/overlay opponent ACU icons with upgrades he currently have ?
From what I see from the casters when they see an incoming upgrade, they tends to zoom in, trying to figures from where the white light is coming and trying to deduce the upgrade.
When created, the ACU 3D models changes, but this is not something easy to learn. (4 models and all upgrades mix…)

When playing I find those ways of having the opponent upgrade information a little bit clunky.
Would it be theoretically possible to overlay a sign which would contains this information ? (like Eco manager do for mexes for example)
Does it sound like a cheat to you, meaning that a player should not know exactly which upgrade the opponent has ?
For me this game is about obtaining information and reacting from them, it should not be that abstruse.

Subsidiary question, is such a mod already exists ?

Thanks

[Aurion]

Personally I think a player should not be able to just have a list of the upgrades the opponent ACU has. You can guess what he is going for (you can easily determine left arm/right arm/back) or see the effect of the upgrade and that is all you should see in my opinion. Otherwise it would be too easy to react to an upgrade.

[odin002]

Tbh I feel like it would be making the game easier. So it's a no for me, it shouldn't be obvious with a message "hey, he's doing X upg". It's perfect the way it is right now.

[Aarhun]

Tbh I feel like it would be making the game easier. So it's a no for me, it shouldn't be obvious with a message "hey, he's doing X upg". It's perfect the way it is right now.

I have not spoken about a message in middle of the screen. Just that the icons of the opponent ACU changes. So you would have to see it with intel to see the upgrades as well. (if the ACU is hidden, of course you would not see which upgrades he has, like currently)
From what I see today, good old players can see the upgrade by zooming, because they are used to the 3D models. But for a game that is mostly played on strategic view, it feels odd to me to have to zoom and check a 3D model.
You can perfectly see with icons which units a player do and react to it without having to compare or recognize 3D models, that's a big advantages of FA strategic view. Why would it be different for ACU ?

To summarize, players have already the information, but it is semi-hidden. My suggestion is only to ease the reading, not to add some extra info.

[odin002]

My bad. It's just that with the many features that are coming/may come to make the game easier..(hi the new bomber function and the reclaim area function)

But I like the fact that you need to zoom on a commander to see if he's upgrading(and if it's the case, to know which slot it is (right/left/back)), I like the surprise of a com doing a upgrade without the ennemy noticing it. If it's visible on the map when you zoom out...It kinda kills the surprise and make scouting easier.

[Aarhun]

Ok, to be clearer :
When commander is doing upgrade you would not know except if he would be in you line of sight. In this case you would know with the white light and have to guess which upgrade is it.
All this, like today.

But if an enemy ACU come into line of sight with already finished upgrade, you would have an indication on his icons of which upgrade he has (or if we want to be less precise, just which slot he has upgraded, Right, Back or Left)
Then when the ACU will leave your vision, all will behave like today.
The indication on the icons would only be updated if ACU would come again in your vision.

[Vee]

It's easy to know which upgrade your opponent is doing: if the opponent name is "odin002", then he is upgrading gun. You don't even need to scout his com for knowing that

[BushMaster]

I do not like this idea. if destroys a few crucial factors i feel, such as the idea of limited intel, e.g. that even though the intel is there, you did not notice or see it, and hence didnt react to it. It also removes the fun of trying to figure out what upgrades that com attacking you has, and hence removes some of the fun of using upgrades yourself.

[ax0lotl]

In my opinion it would be nice if every upgrade would have a different model. Now you just see if left arm/right arm/back is upgraded, you cannot know by the model which upgrade it is.

Minor point: The Cybran. "Left arm upgrade" is displayed on the model at the right arm. And "right arm upgrade" in fact is a chest upgrade.

When created, the ACU 3D models changes, but this is not something easy to learn. (4 models and all upgrades mix…)

A few tips:
If an ACU does not have a lot of veterancy, check the ACU's hitpoints to see if he has T2/T3.
For early gun, in general you hear/see the increased fire rate. But not for UEF. In that case inspect if the ACU's gun has a larger barrel than normal.
For personal shield, zoom in to see the blue glow.
In replays, for RAS, look at what eco the ACU is generating.

[E8400-CV]

RAS is very easy to see, especially on Sera.