Proposed solution for QMB map selection menu mess

[[CPT]milopugdog]

Hey all,

I tasked myself today to create this post for a solution I'd like to see for a problem nobody's talking about. And that is... the absolute massive eyesore the map selection menu has become in the QMB mode. Currently, we have every single map with every season presented to us, which for me it always takes a minute to find what I actually want.

 

(Current map selection menu)

 

Now, back in the day this wasn't a huge issue. We had Stalingrad winter, Lapino winter, VLuki winter, Novosokolniki winter, and Moscow winter. But, with the addition of new maps, and multiple seasons for almost every map, I think it's time for a revision.

 

Firstly, I would like to propose the direct change to this menu. All of these maps could be condensed down to their years, with the span of years shown if a map goes into the next (1942-43, etc.), but remove individual seasons being shown. In addition to this, I suggest the removal of the transparent effect on the main map screen if possible. I'm not sure if this transparency is present for everyone, but for me it drags my eye away from the map menu.

 

(Proposed appearance of new menu. Note: I don't know what font the devs use)

 

Now that the map selection menu is cleaner to look at, we have to put something in the place of the missing maps. For me, this was a 'Season' button next to 'Ground Targets' at the bottom of the screen. Similar to the 'Weather and Time' and 'Ground Targets' buttons, this would bring up a menu with tick boxes to select which season the player wants to play on. The only issue I have with this system is that it might not be immediately obvious to players if a map has seasonal variants from the main map menu, but hopefully the big 'Season' button will draw their attention.

 

Here are some mock ups I made for current maps:

(FC's Arras 1918 showing a menu with only one season available)

 

(BoS's Stalingrad map with seasons menu open, summer option selected)

 

(BoBP's Rheinland map with season menu open, winter option selected)

 

I think that these changes would be a nice addition to the game, and in the future will avoid a scroll option being added assuming that the Western Front map will get its seasonal variants, and that the Leningrad/Karelia map will be added to the game.

 

These are just rough drafts for my idea, so I would love any feedback anyone has it!