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I'll join the 'i didn't loose any drones club', but...
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dexington
Caldari Provisions
Caldari State
#1 - 2012-12-08 11:01:59 UTC
...we really need a better drone interface.

I know some people are having problems with loosing drones, because of the new AI, and i can see why it can be a problem. More then once i had my T2 hobgolins in structure before they entered the drone bay, had i not been using a ship with bonus to drone health i'm not sure they would have made it.

You can't count on being able to constantly watch drone health, while also watch enemy rats, your tank, your cap, where you are flying switching targets and locking new targets. Most of the time i would just watch the overview, and recall all drones when i lost aggression on some rats.

I'm sure someone is going to say he is doing all of the above with one hand tied behind his back, but i really don't believe most players can. Besides the current drone interface is garbage, you need to right click the drone taking damage and from the context menu select the right option to return that drone to the drone bay, picking the wrong option and you may not be able to deploy it again, because it dead or in you cargo hold.

If the drone menu was a small action bar similar to the module action bar, with same functionality for groups etc, that had 5 buttons one for each drone, and you would right click each button and assign it a drone or just load drone groups on to the action bar. If a drone was in the drone bay it would launch the drones, when pushed, and if the drone was active it would return the drone bay, the buttons would have a red aura that would make it easy to see which drones was taking damage.

I know this idea is not perfect, and don't take into account that some ship can use more then 5 drones, but we need something that makes it easier to control drones one an individual level.

I'm a relatively respectable citizen. Multiple felon perhaps, but certainly not dangerous.
Caldari Citizen20121206
Great Eastern
#2 - 2012-12-08 11:41:15 UTC
try yourself out in the i didnt lost a logi in ded plex club, its a VIP club with limited attendants.
Mr Chili Palmer
State War Academy
Caldari State
#3 - 2012-12-08 12:53:59 UTC
i would just like to be able to launch and recall my drones from the same interface that my launchers are on. kind of like a drone launcher, ,load it up with 1-5 drones and launch the buggers Big smile

"If at first you don't succeed, remove all evidence you ever tried"

"If your boss is getting you down, look at him through the prongs of a fork and imagine him in jail"
Caellach Marellus
Stormcrows
#4 - 2012-12-08 13:09:11 UTC
The fact there isn't a keybind option to deploy specific drone groups is ridiculous. I have nagged for years about this.

When your gut instincts tell you something is wrong, trust them. When your heart tells you something is right, ignore it, check with your brain first. Accept nothing, challenge everything.
Funky Lazers
Funk Freakers
#5 - 2012-12-08 14:45:51 UTC
Caellach Marellus wrote:
The fact there isn't a keybind option to deploy specific drone groups is ridiculous. I have nagged for years about this.


Ya! I was always wondering why there is no keybind for that.

All I wish is they make a patch "aka Expansion" dedicated to bug fixes.
I do think fixing enormous amounts of their bugs will make this game much better.

Whatever.
Chitah
New European Regiment
#6 - 2012-12-08 15:19:15 UTC
Funky Lazers wrote:
Caellach Marellus wrote:
The fact there isn't a keybind option to deploy specific drone groups is ridiculous. I have nagged for years about this.


Ya! I was always wondering why there is no keybind for that.

All I wish is they make a patch "aka Expansion" dedicated to bug fixes.
I do think fixing enormous amounts of their bugs will make this game much better.


Both of you are whinning due to ignorance.... :S

Hit Escape > Shortcuts > Drones
My shortcuts are:
All drones: engage ALT-E
All drones: return and orbit: SHIFT-ALT-R
All drones: return to drone bay: ALT-R

And this option is available at least for 3 years (i had a 2 year gap).

Cheers
dexington
Caldari Provisions
Caldari State
#7 - 2012-12-08 15:28:28 UTC
Chitah wrote:
Both of you are whinning due to ignorance.... :S


Engage and launch drones is not the same command, you still need to manually launch the drones before you can use the engage hotkey.

I'm a relatively respectable citizen. Multiple felon perhaps, but certainly not dangerous.
Chitah
New European Regiment
#8 - 2012-12-08 15:32:04 UTC
dexington wrote:
Chitah wrote:
Both of you are whinning due to ignorance.... :S


Engage and launch drones is not the same command, you still need to manually launch the drones before you can use the engage hotkey.


Yes, and thats is the only command ppl whine about that is missing.
Problem is you usually have 2 groups. Unless 1 default group is set, the command wouldn't work.

But that is too difficult to do, right CCP? :S
Caellach Marellus
Stormcrows
#9 - 2012-12-08 15:57:26 UTC
Chitah wrote:
Funky Lazers wrote:
Caellach Marellus wrote:
The fact there isn't a keybind option to deploy specific drone groups is ridiculous. I have nagged for years about this.


Ya! I was always wondering why there is no keybind for that.

All I wish is they make a patch "aka Expansion" dedicated to bug fixes.
I do think fixing enormous amounts of their bugs will make this game much better.


Both of you are whinning due to ignorance.... :S

Hit Escape > Shortcuts > Drones
My shortcuts are:
All drones: engage ALT-E
All drones: return and orbit: SHIFT-ALT-R
All drones: return to drone bay: ALT-R

And this option is available at least for 3 years (i had a 2 year gap).

Cheers


The ignorance would be on your behalf.

Engage is not launch. Launch is the deployment of a group from your Drone Bay into space.


Also the Engage button needs to work for mining drones/salvage drones.

When your gut instincts tell you something is wrong, trust them. When your heart tells you something is right, ignore it, check with your brain first. Accept nothing, challenge everything.
dexington
Caldari Provisions
Caldari State
#10 - 2012-12-08 16:10:21 UTC
Caellach Marellus wrote:
Also the Engage button needs to work for mining drones/salvage drones.


I read a dev post saying they are working on an engage option for salvage drones, and it was not in the game currently because salvage drones need to work both with and without a target, which made it different from normal drones.

I'm a relatively respectable citizen. Multiple felon perhaps, but certainly not dangerous.
Caellach Marellus
Stormcrows
#11 - 2012-12-08 16:17:44 UTC
dexington wrote:
Caellach Marellus wrote:
Also the Engage button needs to work for mining drones/salvage drones.


I read a dev post saying they are working on an engage option for salvage drones, and it was not in the game currently because salvage drones need to work both with and without a target, which made it different from normal drones.


I'd like to see them on an automatic "Go forth and munch" setting.

The fact mining drones can't be sent to engage an asteroid though is mind boggling.

When your gut instincts tell you something is wrong, trust them. When your heart tells you something is right, ignore it, check with your brain first. Accept nothing, challenge everything.
Melina Lin
Universal Frog
#12 - 2012-12-08 17:39:53 UTC
Chitah wrote:

My shortcuts are:
All drones: engage ALT-E
All drones: return and orbit: SHIFT-ALT-R
All drones: return to drone bay: ALT-R


Confirming that recalling your entire DPS is a smart thing to do. Roll
Chitah
New European Regiment
#13 - 2012-12-08 19:22:00 UTC
Melina Lin wrote:
Chitah wrote:

My shortcuts are:
All drones: engage ALT-E
All drones: return and orbit: SHIFT-ALT-R
All drones: return to drone bay: ALT-R


Confirming that recalling your entire DPS is a smart thing to do. Roll


You know the meaning of survive to fight again? guess, you don't...Roll

to posts above, i didn't read properly and i didn't saw you said 'launch' or 'deploy'. ...apologies sent ;)
Maximillian Bonaparte
Interstellar Booty Hunters
Abyssal Booty Hunters
#14 - 2012-12-08 21:30:40 UTC
Yah know before one of the problems was that the entire pocket could aggro a single drone...not so much anymore. Several drones seem get seperately aggroed. I mean there are minor adjustments we have to make but anyone who is skilled with drones isn't really complaining.

Sentry drones are good.

Interstellar Booty Hunters - Pirate Small Gang PvP Forever!
Okuu Reiuji
PEETOOSHKEE PRIMARY OK
#15 - 2012-12-08 22:50:49 UTC  |  Edited by: Okuu Reiuji
IMO drones should have some kind of advanced settings, such as "Return to Drone bay at shield/armor/structure X%", "Prefer %ship_size% targets", "Engage only in X range". It's kinda dumb such advanced tech can't be programmed to do something that simple.
Akuma Tsukai
State Protectorate
Caldari State
#16 - 2012-12-09 01:29:52 UTC
Okuu Reiuji wrote:
IMO drones should have some kind of advanced settings, such as "Return to Drone bay at shield/armor/structure X%", "Prefer %ship_size% targets", "Engage only in X range". It's kinda dumb such advanced tech can't be programmed to do something that simple.

Sorry to dissapoint you but that wont help. Ive been using a third party scripts for things like that for ages and even when i set it to "return back as soon as your shields are scratched" they are dead. But yeah, combination of new ****** AI for rats and an old ****** UI for drones makes just a perfect combo Twisted
P.S. Any EVE killers wannabees out in the market? I got a dreaded feeling i might need one in a couple of patches.
DSpite Culhach
#17 - 2012-12-09 02:20:07 UTC
Please explain to me why our drones AI hasnt ever been upgraded?

Surely when a drone is getting shot at our onboard computer should be able to put them on evade mode or recall them or, well, anything other then watch them die?

I can understand CCP wanting us to micromanage more and afk less, but I only have two hands, and I'm sure there tons of EVE players with even less then that.

I'd be happy with more UI feedback with whats happening, ie "drone getting targeted warning", better interface to launch a fresh one, repair the ones in the bay etc etc ...

If I have to micromanage at least give us better tools. I can live with that, it will be like paying Supreme Commander in space Lol

I apparently have no idea what I'm doing.
Josefine Etrange
Federal Navy Academy
Gallente Federation
#18 - 2012-12-09 03:40:33 UTC  |  Edited by: Josefine Etrange
dexington wrote:


You can't count on being able to constantly watch drone health, while also watch enemy rats, your tank, your cap, where you are flying switching targets and locking new targets. Most of the time i would just watch the overview, and recall all drones when i lost aggression on some rats.


Sounds less complex than our typical fantasy mmo-pve content.

Better interface for drones sounds good, more responsive it should be, and more feedback would be appreciated. Still any self respecting pve player should be using short cuts for drones anyway. everything else is the equivalent of keyboard turning. So in essence the drone interface is already adequate for most cases anyway.

Mr Chili Palmer wrote:
i would just like to be able to launch and recall my drones from the same interface that my launchers are on. kind of like a drone launcher, ,load it up with 1-5 drones and launch the buggers Big smile


There are short cuts for attack and retreat for drones. FFS. It is the same interface you should be using for your launchers and guns, your keyboard.


THIS >
Hit Escape > Shortcuts > Drones
My shortcuts are:
All drones: engage ALT-E
All drones: return and orbit: SHIFT-ALT-R
All drones: return to drone bay: ALT-R
Flurk Hellbron
Science and Trade Institute
Caldari State
#19 - 2012-12-09 03:41:45 UTC

I'll join the 'i didn't loose any drones club', but...

You don't like Tengu's?
dexington
Caldari Provisions
Caldari State
#20 - 2012-12-09 06:50:12 UTC
Josefine Etrange wrote:

There are short cuts for attack and retreat for drones. FFS. It is the same interface you should be using for your launchers and guns, your keyboard.


It only works for all drones, it would be nice to be able to easily recall the drone being attack, and deploy it again when aggro has shifted. And if you use the hotkey, you can't redeploy the drones using a hotkey. CCP has made hotkey for the most basic commands, which worked okay pre-retribution, but being forced to constantly use the context menu is just annoying.

I'm a relatively respectable citizen. Multiple felon perhaps, but certainly not dangerous.
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