Might develop a patch for the Barb compass range Options

[ScrapyardBob]

This goes back to my work from Oct 2004 on the compass range issue in the initial release of CoD:UO:

http://www.iwnation.com/Forums/index.php?showtopic=10222

The default value for CoD:UO still seems to be 1024 units for the compass range. You can check this in-game by opening the console and typing ([TAB] means to hit the tab key):

/cg_hud[TAB]

You'll notice that cg_hudCompassMaxRange indicates the radius of your compass. It's read-only so you can only change it by applying server-side mods.

One of the fun things is that if the gametype or map that you're playing does not specifically set the compass_range variable in its GSC files, it will inherit it from the previously played map. This is why some of us noticed that sometimes Ponyri had a good compass while other times the compass was messed up. (It all depended on what map we played previously.)

More in a bit...

[ScrapyardBob]

We were talking about compass ranges in Ventrillo last night. To give you a better idea of what the various ranges are like:

1024 units - allows you to see the surrounding 3 houses in a typical town. It's a good range setting for smaller and slower moving games like SD/RE where stealth is key and there's a lot of door-to-door fighting. IIRC, you can toss a grenade about 1000 units.

2048 units - The Arnhem and Berlin maps use 2816 for compass range. Probably a better setting for larger infantry-focused maps. It allows you to see 4-5 houses away, but still provides a clear picture of who is directly near you. On the Barbarossa map, the 45mm gun behind R3 is about 2000 units away from R3.

3172 units - The main village in Smolensk is ~6000 units wide/long. A compass range of 3172 would allow you to be in the middle of the village and know where your allies are in all of the surrounding houses. To give you another idea, the Stone Bridge is 3000 units away from the pak gun by German #2 on the Smolensk map. This compass range seems to work well for objective based maps like Conquest where you only have to be within an area rather then at a specific point. Another measure is that the distance between the spawn house near German #2 and German #2 on Barbarossa is 2500 units.

4096 units - This is about 1/3 the width of Barbarossa. It's also about the limit of accurate gunfire and rapid assistance. It takes close to 20 seconds to sprint/run 4000 units (rough estimate). With a 4096 compass, you can stand between R1 and R3 on the Barbarossa map and see if you have allied defenders at both locations (R1 is about 7000 units from R3). Another measure is that R2 is about 4000 units away from the forward middle 45mm gun bunker. The distance between G1 and R2 is about 6000 units (the river behind G1 is about 4000 units from R2).

6000 units - The distance between R2 and R3 on the Smolensk map is around 6500 units. The distance between R2 and R3 is more like 9000 units. The pillbox is about 7000 units away from R2. The distance between the pillbox and G2 or G3 is around 5500 units.

For the stock UO maps, here are the compass range values (all other maps use 1024 units):

mp_arnhem - 2816
mp_berlin - 2816
mp_foy - 6124
mp_italy - 13000
mp_kharkov - 6124
mp_kursk - 13000
mp_rhinevalley - 12500
mp_uo_harbor - 3200

Note that Ponyri still uses 1024 units. But if there's interest, I can give the server admins a PK3 that changes it to use 3172 units or 4096 units. However, depending on what order you rotate the maps, you may not be seeing an issue with Ponyri. (Since it will sometimes use the previous map's compass range.)

Basically, larger values give you a better idea of the overall strategic situation, while smaller values give you better local tactical information. With a large compass you can easily tell where your teammates are at a distance, smaller ranges make you more reliant on teammates to actively communicate their position and enemy activity. Larger values also allow the newer players to find locations quicker.

6000 units - The distance between R2 and R3 on the Smolensk map is around 6500 units. The distance between R2 and R3 is more like 9000 units.

This should say that the distance between R1 and R2 on the Smolensk map is ~6000 units. The R3 base is farther away from R2 (roughly 9000 units).