Main Viewscreen - Heads Up Display
The Heads Up Display (HUD), which appears in the center of your viewscreen, is your main source of combat information. The crosshairs show where your weapons are targeted. If the crosshair changes color, your HUD is telling you that you're pointed at a legitimate target, and you'll hit it if the target is within range of your weapons. The callsign of the pilot in the targeted 'Mech will appear below the crosshairs and the range from your 'Mech to the target will appear above.
The appearance of the crosshairs will change depending on what is being targeted. If no target is present the crosshairs remain green. When the crosshairs are over a legitimate target, such as an enemy 'Mech, they will turn red and the targeting circle rotates in a clockwise motion. In the case of a friendly target, such as a teammate, the crosshairs will change to blue and will have an "X" through them.
When your crosshairs are over an enemy target and if your 'Mech has missiles, red bars will zoom in from the edge of the screen to the crosshairs and start to rotate counterclockwise. This is your missile lock which will lock on to the enemy 'Mech. The lock will only last as long as your crosshair is on the target. Firing your missiles without the lock will dead-fire or fire at the location your crosshairs are pointing.
To the right of the targeting crosshairs is your weapon range indicator. The three boxes indicate the three available fire groups and their effective range. Each box will turn green if the target is within range of one or more weapons assigned to that group. The boxes will remain yellow if no target is within range, if the weapons have not recharged or if all the weapons on that group are out of ammo.
When a target within radar range is selected it will be bracketed within a target box. Enemy targets will be bracketed with a red box. Friendly targets will have a blue box. Targets you are communicating with will be bracketed in yellow.
When a selected target is not in view a target direction arrow will appear on the edge of the screen pointing in the direction of the target. The target direction arrow will disappear once the target is within your field of view.
Every time you receive incoming fire, a red crescent called the hit indicator will appear within the crosshair's circle in the quadrant of the direction from where the fire is coming. If you want to face an attacker, turn you 'Mech until the red hit indicator swivels up to the top of the circle. This indicator will fade fast, so pay attention.
