Okay tell me this isn't the best idea ever...

I was sitting here wishing for more overview tabs, way more.

Of course I realized that you can only have so many, before you'd have to start scrolling the tabs back and forth, or dragging your overview across half the screen. Which EVE can technically be played with, but would make it very hard to spin the camera and fly manually or look at the battlefield.

This is also a problem with the different overview columns... in order to see things like velocity, radial, transversal, [anyone even care about?] angular... you have to drag the overview quite wide. For me, on a 1080p screen, it's too far and interfering with my internet spaceship visuals and even the ability to see the grid well. People on a non-widescreen, smaller screen, or lower resolution, I'd hate to be you.

So I've posted in the past, and am a big proponent of huge, radical, total rebuilds and changes to EVE, like building a new game engine from scratch. Pretty much nobody wants this, or even if they want it... even the people who would like to see this for EVE, say it literally CAN'T or just will never be done by CCP. Okay fine, I'll still play it with the gameplay we have now, but give me much more control over my interface.

One of my biggest complaints with EVE is the spreadsheets. The overview, local, d-scan, fleet chat, fleet broadcasts, fleet list (sometimes), intel channels... on and on. The result is, you have to do a lot of clicking on tiny little tabs and buttons, to switch between all your different information panels (spreadsheets).

This is getting TL;DR... so here's what I'm suggesting:

Give me total control over the UI.



- First, allow me to create an (effectively) infinite amount of Overview presets. 99? 999? I'd be happy with 99, hell even 10 or 20, but this would all be client side, correct? So it should be possible, and have no effect on the servers or anyone else's client, right?

- Allow me to save any UI 'state' into a preset. Which windows are open, which tabs are at 'front', how big each window is, what COLUMNS it displays...

- Allow me to map any of the presets to a hotkey/combo.

BAM! I can be a space pilot GOD!!!!!!

Cntrl+1 = PVP targets (all shiptypes, no blues shown, no celestials/cans/beacons/anything else)
Cntrl+2 = Gates only
Cntrl+3 = Stations and Gates only
Cntrl+4 = Stations and Gates and all Ships (even blues)
Cntrl+5 = Beacons and ships
Cntrl+6 = Beacons only
Cntrl+S = Overview "THIS" size
Cntrl+C = Overview "THAT size (column width too)
Cntrl+V = "This" overview with Local+Dscan (in certain saved positions/sizes/etc)
Cntrl+B = "That" overview with Fleet broadcasts, Local here, fleet chat there, X sizes, etc

Unlimited hotkeys for unlimited UI "states". Any window, configuration of windows, size, shape, what they're showing... can be "snapshotted" and saved, able to be recalled with a hotkey.

Make it a quick easy process... once the arranging/setting is done... *snap* hotkey-x snapshots the current UI state, box opens to save a name for it, like OV presets.

Then to map hit a keystroke that brings up a list of your mappable presets, you select which one, then you do the hotkey/keystroke you want to map it to, and done.

Anyone have those "MMO" mice or keyboards, with all the macro keys/buttons? I'd buy one in an instant for this. Thumb keypad for overview presets, keyboard macro buttons for UI window "states" and arrangements.

GLO-RI-OUS.

Any reasons why not? This idea is PURE GOLD.

CCP I like my paychecks how I like my JG Wentworth, one lump sum. You're welcome.