Suggestion: Target previous target

Surly_Badger

Surly_Badger
This would be a fairly small thing to implement, but it would be very useful in lots of ways.

Whenever someone locks a target, remember the previous target they had locked (or nothing, if there wasn't one) Then give us a key that lets us go back to the target we remembered.

Use:
  • I could target a friendly ship, then a hostile ship and if I ever want to vector on the friendly ship, I just hit "target previous target" fly that way, then toggle back to the hostile ship with "target previous target"
  • If tanking a hostile ship in an environment where there are multiple hostiles, I could target a hostile and fire off a missile or to two keep them busy and return to my main target with "target previous target"
  • If mining I could target the main chunk of rock I am working on, then target a piece I've knocked off, scoop it and "target previous target" to get a clean lock on my asteroid
  • I could explore a new system by targetting the main star where I jumped in, then target local objects and always be able to quickly locate the star by hitting "target previous target"
  • If I were wandering around in a system where there is a neutron star or black hole, I would target it, then be able to quickly make sure I was avoiding it using "target previous target" to toggle back and forth
  • If I am doing exploration of a system, my nav-map has already targeted my next jump, so I could target the star, scan it, then "target previous target" to resume my jump-point

A target "stack" would be better but would take more implementation. Target previous target would require a single pointer to the object (ptr != NULL) By "target stack" I mean being able to push targets in sequence and then service them in reverse-order, or "pop" them off and untarget them entirely. That would be very useful for fire-control in furballs, mining, and exploration.

A slightly simpler substitute would be to have a 'locked target' and a 'current target' with a way of switching between them and locking a target that was different from just "whatever I am looking at."
 
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Gramps

Gramps
It's already a part of your key bindings in the options menu isn't it? Not playing at the moment so I can't have a look
 

Gorf

Gorf
Not really - the OP wants the equivalent of the "back" button on your TV remote. If you press "channel up" on your TV you select the next numerical channel. If you press "channel down" you return to your original selection, but only because it is numerically the next one down from your current selection.
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If you're on BBC1 and you hit the 4 digit, you go to channel 4. If you press the equivalent of "previous" you go to ITV. If you press "back" you go to BBC1.
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There are ways of selecting a new target in E:D without hitting "next" - targetting the nearest hostile or the ship on the centreline are the two that spring to mind. You might want to return to your original target rather than the next lowest in the cycle.
 
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