Greetings Fab-4 and fellow pilots,

I have a couple of ideas that might be interesting, or not.. if I repeat someone else's idea please overlook it with kindness :D
---------------------------
a) Hud:

On the hud there is a money meter (above the ship damage indicator) I think it would be cool if u could toggle the type of information that u display there. Some information types I would like to see are:

- Experience - Combat/LightWeapon/HeavyWeapon/Trade
- Factions - Various types
- Player kills - Nation/Guild/Group
- Bot kills - Nation/Type
- Kill/Death ratios

If this information could be toggled/rotated on a key or maybe with small scroll arrows on either side of the display it would work well. Maybe also setup a menu list (in options/in station) of what types of info u would like to be on the toggle/rotation. Maybe have 2 cycling display (one above and below ship damage indicator) so u can review 2 types of info at a glance

Also similar type of information displays on your opponent that u currently have targeted would be very handy.

I know this is displayed with the K button but that requires stopping of combat rather than a quick glance
-----------------------------------
b) Station menus:

I think that the station menus would be much more useful with a sort button(s), this way u can display things to buy/sell/equip in a handy format. Some sorting options I would like to see are:

Sort by:
- item type
- item value
- item name
- item level
- assending/decending orders for all listed above

This would be helpful for organizing large quanities of materials stored in bases. often I stockpile ships equipment and when I decide I want to find/sell something I find I spend several minutes scrolling the list

I also noticed lack of mouse scrolling in lists. Maybe this could be included and activated when cursor is over the scrollbar
------------------------------------------------
c) Targeting:

I would like to see more targeting options (maybe take some pointers from XvT's layout). Some targeting options I would like are:
- Mission objectives nearest/last
- Objects (roids/gate/bases/etc) nearest/last
- Group members nearest/last
- Cargo/loot nearest/last
- Players nearest/last

I know that some of these are covered already but it would be handy to have them on separate cycle keysets.
-------------------------------------------------------
d) Chat interface:

I still have never seen a 'good' chat interface in a gaming environment so my ideas of what is good and not good are very tainted. There is one thing that annoys me about this one is the fact u need to '/join' a channel to talk in it. I often like to message a channel that I am monitoring but not active in, for this to happen I need to '/join ##', then message it, then rejoin the previous channel.

I would like to see some sort of "/msg "100" "message"" style command to send singular channel messages to different channel while keeping active channel the same.

Yes I know that I could create an alias that would do this, but I thought I would suggest it anyways
--------------------------------------------------------
e) Alias:

This is a very good idea to leave in the game but I would like to see a menu driven format for them though. U might elimiate syntax/user errors this way. Maybe even give abilities (even limit ones) to daisychain them into series of commands

Take something like:
alias screen "screenshot1"
alias screenshot1 "hudtoggle; hidelog; alias screen screenshot2"
alias screenshot2 "dump; alias screen screenshot3"
alias screenshot3 "hudtoggle; hidelog; alias screen screenshot1"

and make it:
-Menu (make new command)

- select key to use (F12)

-- select method (toggle)

--- select toggle depth (3 steps)

---- first toggle step
----- select first command (hud off)
----- select second command (chat off)

---- second toggle step
----- select command dump

---- third toggle step
----- select first command (hud on)
----- select second command (chat on)

-Save (and/or test)

I think it might save alot of "how do I.." questions from your hardcore users and guides

On the note of Toggles. One that bothers me alot is the /+Turbo and /+Turbo 0, if it could be coded so Gate/Dock action resets it to off it would help alot, yes I know it can be done with a series of alias/bind combo's but it was that paricular alias/bind that drove me to this idea to start with.

----------------------------------------------------------
Oh, one more thing... how about a 'preview button' for Forum Posts
:)

I think that about covers it for my suggestions to date... most of the other ones u have addressed or repaired already. Did I mention I think this game has great potential? Well I guess I have now... Hats off to u and your hard work.

Pen ( Viper / Dai Dai Hai )

I like these ideas, particularly the one about toggling through the character information on the HUD.

I also agree with you on the chat interface--I have never encountered one I could embrace either, no matter what the game. If the developers can somehow create one that is intuitive to use and easy to read, I'll buy them a pizza.

We used to have a multi-log system in the past that I thought was much better than the current interface.
The old system had pre-set channels rather than the nearly infinite number we have now, but with just 6 channels we were able to pick between them with just 6 bindable keys.
The system wasn't exactly intuitive, but it was very functional. The current one is neither. We need some way to fuse the old easily toggleable sytem we had before and still keep the infinite amount of channels.
The problems I see are:
1.) There are too many chat keys. (t, T, g, G). It gets complicated.
2.) The channel chat is cumbersome. It's hard to switch between channels.
3.) It needs a better font.
4.) More COLORS!! Like what we had before. Colors make it look more lively. The muted teal color is just too plain.
5.) The Mission chat floods to much and there is no way to scroll back.
6.) The PM system is too inconvenient. Tab completion kills your turbo, and trying to type the name manually is annoying when you're dealing with people who have spaces in their names or complicated spellings.

It'll take some more thought to fix it. But I'm pretty sure it's going to need an overhaul.

I have another suggestion:

make the systems on the galaxy map expand to sectors when u double click on them directly from the graphic.

One of your fansites has a similar idea as it's homepage graphic (Vendetta Cartography) have a look at it if u are not sure what I mean

Magus:
The default bindings (at least as of 1.0.8 when I installed) for PgUp and PgDown scroll through your current log, Chat or Mission.

But I agree, nothing sucks more than mopping up a sector when you smack any of the multiple chat keys RIGHT NEXT to the movement keys and find yourself a drifting bullseye.

...Of course, I imagine it's pretty funny to see:

<Houn> aaaaaaaaaaaaaaasssssssssssssssssssssssseeeeeeeeee
<Houn> Aw, SON OF A....