The X-Com Map Gadget Thingy

[The Veteran]

Firstly hello! Not sure if anyone here remembers me after anther years absence but it's still polite to start with a greeting

 

I'm back this time for some technical advice but mostly it's going to be down to individual perception as there really aren't any right answers at this point. I'm hoping that after a few good responses we can come to such answers together

 

I'm going to cut the rest of the spiel and just slap in a picture here. This will be followed by lots of questions and I'd like everyone who reads this to try and answer as many of them as possible!!!

 

https://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs734.ash1/162891_10150122152861763_626026762_7624671_7460976_n.jpg

 

Ok lets start with the green ones as they're probably easier without too much straining of eyes! Note that I'm omitting my personal thoughts for now to leave a blank space for any respondees!

 

1. Clearly a light of some kind but what could it be for?

2. What is this? What material is it and what is it's purpose? Is it hard, soft, flat, rounded? Describe what you see when you look at this thing!

3. What the heck is this thing for? Descriptions and explanations please!

4. Now we know the number here displays the floor we're on but what's the funny looking assembly to the right of it? Doesn't look as smooth or protected as the rest of the gadget and what's the little red light for?

5. What on earth is this wierd blue thing? It's out of keeping with the rest of the gadget so what is it for?

6. And what is that thing?! It's white with red in the middle... What in the world looks like that? What does it do and what is it for!

7. Same as no.2 What is it, how do you percieve it's 3-dimensional properties to be in a real-world application. What is it's purpose and what is the material. Most importantly what are the little dimples/holes? See below for more queries on this one!

 

And now onto the pinkies, these have me very confused but you can only really see why by making this picture bigger. Print screen into MSPaint should do the trick or you can just take my word for it! So follows the conundrum...

 

The blue thing referenced in no.7 (henceforth known as 'the blue thing') has a very odd characteristic in this device. It is NOT symmetrical as we can see the two ends are slightly differently shaped. It's also very clear that part A passes underneath/behind/inside part B on the left side. Yet on the right-side part C is slightly larger than part B which would suggest it is located either in front of or outside of it.

 

Does anyone else see this part in the way I described or can you guys see it in a way I can't? The difficulty with the theory that this right-hand part is outside or in front of the blue thing is with the uniform flatness of the gadget. There are no noticeable points at which this item is NOT flat. The only exception in my opinion is the dark grey panel n the right-hand side which is in my opinion clearly pronounced from the lighter grey frame.

 

On re-examination the part labelled as A also seems to sit proud of the left side of the frame but that just gives us more issues by making the blue thing infront of the bottom of the frame when we can clearly see that the skull motif is in-front of the blue thing. The blue thing cannot be behind the skull AND in front of part A if part A is also in front of the frame edge with the skull on. Unless the skull is also pronounced from the frame...

 

Regardless of the left end of the blue thing we have more problems on the right. If part C is in front of the blue thing then it must also be in front of the rest of the frame so how is it that it does not pronounce further outward than the darker grey panel? This may seem like a lot of nonsense talk for no reason but it is important so if you humour me I'll shortly explain why (though the mentally gifted among you can probably already deduce my reasons)

 

2 further points which I didn't place numbers for spring to mind, then I'm off to eat some late-night KFC

 

1. The screw on the right side of the panel has two lines next to it but the line of it's head is not matched up with either. The placement of said lines would suggest to me that it is some form of on/off or 1/0 switch but how can it be if the screw is not aligned? What do you guys think it is?

 

2. There are panel lines all over the gadget but one may or may not exist along the bottom edge of the frame due to partial obscurity caused by shadows. To the right of the skull emblem a line is clearly visible along the length of the bottom frame but on the left it is not so clearly visible. What is this line? Is it there or not? Or is it just on one side??

 

Thanks for taking part in this random questionnaire! I'll be back periodically to gather information from the people (if people provide me with it!) And let me say again it's good to be back, I just wonder how long it'll be this time before my life drags me away again! I'll have a hunt through the forums over the next few days and see what I've missed. Can someone direct me to the lovenest?!

[FullAuto]

1) A power-on light? Data transfer light? Dunno. Bad to have it turned on in tactical situations, I know that much.

 

2) Hard, ribbed plastic? Slightly raised, prevents the top of the screen getting dragged/smacking against the floor if dropped.

 

3) USB port? For charging the battery, ULing/DLing data via USB stick.

 

4) That whole area is the grip for one-handed usage, I always thought that red thing was a button. Rescan/options if its a touchscreen?

 

5) Base of the grip, uniquely textured so you can find it without looking at it. Not sure about the colour.

 

6) On button?

 

7) Same as 2, hard plastic, different texture so you can tell what is the top and what is the bottom of the screen without spending any time turning it round and arguing over it.

 

8) You're mental.

 

9) The lines might indeed indicate perfect screw position, but perfect screw position might be a bugger to get open without serious effort. Better to put it in 70-80% of the way, so its secure, but not piss-takingly hard to get open.

 

10) Panel line is clearly visible.

[NKF]

1. Probably the charger light. There's already an "ON" LED by the level display.

 

2. A synthetic rubbery anti-skid material seems reasonable.

 

3. Heat sink. No one said gadgets back in 1999 were efficient.

 

4. Another sci-fi-looking blinky light or button. It might even be the actual on/off button.

 

5. Trigger button? Like you hold the scanner in the corner and press OK with the thumb and pull the trigger with your index finger. The problem is that there's an identical projection on the other side of the OK button in gray. Perhaps it's just a duct, but in metallic blue to break the monotony.

 

6. Decoration, hand padding or yet another button.

 

7. Rough hand grip so the scanner doesn't slip when held. Or, looking at my Laptop, speaker holes to make the 'bloop's and other interesting noises that we can only imagine in our heads.

 

The two projections on either side of no.7 are I believe additional paneling that clip on both of the underside of the screen, with the gray control panel on the side overlapping the left one. Basically no.7 is underneath everything.

 

I don't think the screw's a screw - just fancy paneling lines. If it is a selector of some sort, it doesn't necessarily have to line up with the lines as it could be an analogue control.

 

As for the lines near the skull, it's more s an illusion caused by the lighting, but the lines project all the way along.

 

- NKF

[The Veteran]

Thanks guys loving it so far! And see FA, NKF doesn't think I'm mad lol Well he didn't say it anyway...

 

Now I've set out thinking that only the OK and up/down level parts of this display were buttons but it's an interesting thought that the little red circle by no.4 could also be a little button rather than a light. Certainly as a light or a button I still don't know what it would be for!

 

The suggestions that 5 and 6 could also be buttons is interesting too as they both completely evade me as to their purpose.

 

My initial thoughts on all the blue parts (including the 2 vertical stripes not highlighted) is that they're some sort of rubberised grip as suggested. Sort of like the stuff you get round the top part of some pens? But the bottom part confuses me as I think it looks curved along it's length and the little dimples/holes get me too. I've thought it could be a channel for wiring or as NKF said maybe a speaker. But then I thought no.3 could maybe be a little speaker too, I like the idea of a USB type port for data exchange and charging though.

 

The ribbed part of the image that runs vertically from the blue piece no.5 is definitely running wires in my opinion as it even looks like the stuff you use to run wiring! (the stuff you find most commonly in engine bays) I would have said then based on that, the blue thing (don't know why it's blue) is just a sort of ring port into which the wiring enters the main gubbins of the gadget. The similar part on the bottom left of that same button I'd say is the same and that part C is similar to the ducting just mentioned.

 

I'd suggest that this particular item is broken and that part C is meant as a sheath for part B which is therefore supposed to be inside part C. But then based on the dodgy shading in this image I'd also deduce that part A is behind or inside part B which is somewhat impossible as we can clearly see part A is already infront of the rest of the case. This remains my biggest dilemma

 

Thanks for the great thoughts though, we're getting where I want to go nicely and in a few days you should know where that is!

[Knan]

Thanks for the great thoughts though, we're getting where I want to go nicely and in a few days you should know where that is!

You're building one, I suppose?

[The Veteran]

You're building one, I suppose?

 

Somewhat

[FullAuto]

See, bonkers.

[The Veteran]

Hey you do what you want with your spare time and I'll do what I want with mine lol

[FullAuto]

Buttons could be backup for touch screen controls.

[The Veteran]

True, it would be pretty useless without backups in the middle of a firefight... But then it is made by a branch of what was once the UN Thinking about it though it must be touch sensitive in order to scroll the map so if that software fails I don't see any backup for that :o

 

Also just realised there's no zoom function on this thing which would surely be rather handy to have... Wonder if the white thingy could be used in such a way? Either a rotating dial (like volume on CDDs) of a sort of to me-to you flappy thing like on tiptronic gearboxes. Push it back to zoom in pull it forward to zoom out... Still unsure about the little red button/light though. Maybe it could be a simple error light or diagnostic bulb? It can light up when something goes wrong but as mentioned it's bad to have lights on in nighttime combat (although the ON light is clearly permanent!) Maybe it relates to the grilled piece in the top-right if this is a USB port or similar. Charging light or a diagnostic like in my car. It can flash error codes in a sort of morse code style...

[FullAuto]

The OK button could be an analogue nub, offering directional control and a button function, like the stick on a gamepad.

[The Veteran]

I know people always say this after someone else fields a valid idea but here goes... I'd thought about that actually Seems a bit odd to have OK stamped on it if it serves any other purpose than the typical 'execute' of the big red buttons in all sci-fi media. I'd have this button down as rescan as someone mentioned earlier or something else similar. But if that's the case and it only serves one purpose I suddenly find myself without a power switch :s Maybe the little red circle but it seems unlikely as that would be easy to accidentally hit in a combat situation whilst crouching/crawling/running etc

[Evil Beejeebers]

I am surprised no one has commented how much the radar looks like the tablet PC's of today. that Is really cool bet the tablets in Xcom don't run windows though.

[The Veteran]

haha, mine will Been neglecting this a bit lately as I want to finish off some other things first but as soon as I'm done reorganising the house (just built a shed so time for a re-jig!) I'll be back on the lappy! Screen will probably still come last though, we'll see...