Insurgency Sandstorm HUD & UI

Hello again, don't know how to kick this off, so let's just get into it. So Insurgency Sandstorm has come out of e3 with a bit of traction, most feedback from reddit and YouTube influencers is looking positive. What I want to do however is to have a closer look(quite literally) at the various HUD elements shown in the e3 build.

Apologies for the potato quality, had to screen capture on my phone

Map

Alex Blonski had mentioned this map was called mountain, if you look closely you can see the various cap points.

Coop Classes

Here we see the various classes in the Coop game mode. The main difference in this version of Coop is the number of players, it appears we will be able to play this game mode with up to 12 players which I guess is a good thing. We also get to see the class icons for each category.

Here we see the same icons in game, it looks like they may be a permanent identification feature, at the very least in this game mode.

PlayingTFO

I.S has shown a much more transparent capture system in the Coop that has several states that extend game play.

I’m not very clear on the order but from the game play, it appeared as though the enemy can block and deny capture to a point of defeating the security forces.

Of course once the point is capped, security forces re-spawn which makes defending the cap easier. I suspect the difference between blocking and stalemate is the number of enemy on point, blocking enemies maybe more, than in a stalemate. A stalemate is when both sides have equal forces on the objective, it can be a good indicator of how many enemies need to be cleared, for example a stalemate with 3 friendlies on the objective indicates 3 enemies on the objective.

Guns & Load Out

This aspect of game play has seen a major overhaul. The load out system has maintained the weight point system but has seen some improvements such as weapon comparison.

Here we see one selected weapon (Mk18 Mod 1), and one highlighted through mouse hover (AK-74), to show the differences in weapon attributes.

Below we also see the point system in use.

Below we see available points icon when player is near a supply drop.

Below is what I believe to be either the commander or observer load out, notice the binoculars, they are probably for reconnaissance and artillery support commands.

Speaking of which, we had previously been told that commander and observer classes would have airstrike request capabilities when the make contact. In the game play there was such a HUD element that showed this.

It appears the proximity bar shows how close you need to be in order to call for airstrike support.

When either observer or commander are killed, the icon goes red.

The number 4 next to Explosive Artillery could mean the number of strikes available, we were told in a previous live stream that there is a range of airstrikes from helicopter gun ships, to jet bomber runs and chemical munitions.

Hopefully all options will be available and usable at the discretion of the player, some objectives may need to be “fumigated” before capture.

Fire support: Includes jet air strikes, explosive artillery, chemical mortars, suicide drones, helicopter with rockets, mini guns and auto cannons.

Player Weapon Mechanics

This aspect of the HUD shows new fire mode icons that really make it much easier to use, an excellent addition.

Single Fire,Semi Auto, Full Auto Respectively

Single Fire, Full Auto...Incoming Regret

Press F

These are all the other icons that show various available actions.

Press Space

Self Explanatory

I will probably rebind this to a mouse button

Damage Radar

This last one almost went unnoticed, see the red mark, that's not blood on the wall.

Honestly I do not know how I feel about this, on the one hand it provides critical feedback as to where you are taking damage from, on the other it gives you too much information.

I feel that getting killed 5 times without any clue as to where the enemy’s located is part of the insurgency experience. Yes, it is frustrating, but when you get that camping POS…

Anyway I'll give it a chance.