From the latest Planetside update notes:
"Combat Engineer Window: We added a Combat Engineer window for viewing deployables. You can toggle the C.E. window by pressing Alt-E by default (remappable in the global keymap list of the Options page). This window shows how many mines, boomers, motion sensors, and spitfire turrets the player has deployed, along with the deploy limits."
Theres also some nonsense about 'Rabbit Ball' tweaks too, their latest atempt to make War interesting. I've always thought that the basic game, you know, the attacking and defending of fortified bases in a combined arms setting, was heap plenty interesting, but clearly that's the Wrong Answer, so they've added some kind of last-man standing Capture the Flag event now. I've yet to try it myself, but then I've only ever done one LLU run ever, and found that made me self-conscious enough thank you. (Lattice Logic Unit - a Flag required to be run from base to base in order to capture certain bases.)
It's the above new feature I'm ecstatic about though. It sounds like a simple enough thing, but you have no idea how much better it will make my life. Combat Engineering is a 5 Cert Point investment, and revolves around the 'ACE' (Adaptive Construction Engine), which is a one-shot nanotechnological doohickey which can be 'fired' in one of four modes; proximity land-mine, automated sentry turret, motion detector and remote-trigger explosive. All very good, and very versatile, but in order to keep a little bit of balance, any Combat Engineer can only place a certain number of each; 20 mines, 20 motion detectors, 10 turrets and 20 explosives. Add mine number 21, and mine number 1 dissappears. If this were not the case, the worlds of Auraxis would quickly become unusable, and the focus of a number of specialised charities with metal-detectors and trowels. And the server would keel over.
You get a message telling you that this has mine limit has been reached, but no messages telling you if the existing mines have been destroyed in combat, and so are generally left guessing how many you have out at any given time, and to be at maximum effectiveness in Combat Engineering, you want the maxiumum quotas in play as often as possible. This new HUD window will change that...huzzah!
Planetside continues to amaze me. Not so much the game itself, but how much the development staff still continue to come up with, despite all the low numbers, bad reputation, bad design descisions by previous incumbents and the somewhat offputting newbie experience. Clearly a game that is by no means out for the count just yet...