Clearer capture indicator

[Jazzza]

When the point is captured it's fine - the little icon is a full colour of the team who owns it. When the point is being captured or is being contested is really confusing.

The white lines in the icon makes it very hard to see if the point is actually going up or down unless you look hard at it. It adds contrast to an already hard to see icon when on a dark background. Maybe you could add a solid white circle to the background of the icon to help visibility.

Maybe the icon can blink or pulse when it's being contested. That will make it very clear. Blinking usually indicates something is paused, however contesting a point in this game does not pause it (for some reason).

The number in the circle is confusing. Is that the number of total ships in the capture point? Is that the friendly ships? Enemy ships? Maybe a little ship indicator on either side of the capture icon could indicate the number of ships capturing. 3 ships on the left (blue) means 3 blue ships. 1 on the right (red) means 1 red.

I know I'll probably get a lot of negative feedback (as I do with nearly all of my suggestions) but you guys are all used to the UI. I am mostly and I understand how it works most of the time, but if I can't work it out sometimes (and I play a lot of games) then what hope does the rest of the world have?

A good UI doesn't need explanation or people asking questions. It should be clear and obvious.

TL, DR: capture icon is hard to read.

[Thomas]

That little number inside the circle is the current number of ships on the point that are in the process of controlling it. (If the circle is just a sliver blue all the way up to full blue, it'll show the number of blue ships. If the circle is slightly red all the way up to full red, it'll show the number of red ships)

While capturing the point from the enemy team, this number must be 0 for the point to start converting, at which point you'll slowly see the enemy team color leaving the circle. It's not that easy to see, and can make it difficult to know if you're on the point or not (since it won't show a number until your team starts to control it).


At least that's how I think it works. It may have been tweaked in the recent update. I do agree that some more clarity would be useful, especially when recapturing a point (stealing it from the other team).

[Rainer Zu Fall]

I'd also like to see some indication if your control of this point is increasing, decreasing or stationary. Maybe a plus, minus and nothing besides to the number?

At least that's how I think it works. It may have been tweaked in the recent update. I do agree that some more clarity would be useful, especially when recapturing a point (stealing it from the other team).

Indeed.

A good UI doesn't need explanation or people asking questions. It should be clear and obvious.

You've got a good point there. Problem is that most games also do have a complicated or unusual UI, but it is introduced to the player in the beginning. That might be solved by further looking into tutorials, I guess.

[ramjamslam]

I agree.  Especially for blocking and uncapping points where there is no visual indication that you are on the point (other than the small change in colour of the capture icon).

[Captain Smollett]

I agree.  Especially for blocking and uncapping points where there is no visual indication that you are on the point (other than the small change in colour of the capture icon).

True, I usually have to check the text box in the top left to confirm I'm blocking or that it's being blocked.

[The Djinn]

Did a quick Photoshop mockup (please excuse the sloppy lines of colored points and the .jpeg artefacting...I did this *really* quickly). Tried to make it obvious when the point was actively being captured/decaptured (it only rotates when its current state is actively being changed in this version), as well as letting you know immediately when it is blocked. This has the added advantage of letting you know the MOMENT you begin to decap an enemy point: it'll being spinning, even if you don't see the first tick or two go down.

Not quite sure how best to indicate what the numbers stand for, but I think that the numbers belonging to whatever team is currently causing action to happen is fairly clear.

Thoughts?

Click Image to Expand

[Rainer Zu Fall]

I quite like that! Buuuuut it also could show how many ships are blocking. Apart from that - quite a nice and simple idea.

[ramjamslam]

So for uncapping you changed the number to the number of ships uncapping from number of ships who own the point (i.e. zero) which I think is good but I think it should also be flashing or something to make it more obvious.

it also could show how many ships are blocking.

I don't really mind.  Maybe it should never show the amount of ships on the point.  That would make it a pleasant surprise when you get to the point .

[The Djinn]

So for uncapping you changed the number to the number of ships uncapping from number of ships who own the point (i.e. zero) which I think is good but I think it should also be flashing or something to make it more obvious.

The icon spins, actually. Sort of like how a controlled point spins currently (in my concept a controlled point does NOT spin). Flashing would be too distracting, I feel, but the subtle rotation should be enough to make it apparent to anyone even half paying attention.

I don't really mind.  Maybe it should never show the amount of ships on the point.  That would make it a pleasant surprise when you get to the point .

I actually considered that. Do points capture/decap faster with multiple ships? If so then I feel the number of ships acting upon the point is important to know. If that's NOT the case (and I've never really been sure) than I'd like to see the numbers gone.

[Thomas]

Personally I'd like to see the number of ships both teams have on the point. For me it helps me know if I'm actually on the point, and not just drifting a few meters away while I try to recap it. Usually you can tell when the point stops capping, but this can take a few seconds, as the movement is hard to see a lot of the time. It also helps know how many ships you have to remove from the point before it starts capping. If it showed both team numbers, it could help the defenders know how many ships are currently on the point and need to be removed.


Not having ship counts might make it a little more difficult for new players, and they'd have to rely on the text box to know they're on the point, while the ship counter is slightly more obvious.

[The Djinn]

Personally I'd like to see the number of ships both teams have on the point. For me it helps me know if I'm actually on the point, and not just drifting a few meters away while I try to recap it. Usually you can tell when the point stops capping, but this can take a few seconds, as the movement is hard to see a lot of the time. It also helps know how many ships you have to remove from the point before it starts capping. If it showed both team numbers, it could help the defenders know how many ships are currently on the point and need to be removed.

The issue is the UI clarity: we don't actually have a lot of space to work with, and I'm hesitant to suggest making the indicator bigger or making the numbers significantly less readable.

I tried, and couldn't find what I considered an elegant way to show total ship number for both teams without resorting to colored icons...which, in turn, would reduce the ability to tell when a point is actively being captured. Then we have to account for 2v2, 3v3, and 4v4 capture point matches, so that means we're probably limited to numerical representations, as icons would look odd if we have to intentionally design for shifting numbers.

Short of a complete redesign of the graphic, that is. I'll experiment a bit with that idea as well.

[ramjamslam]

Your mockup shows the match scoreboard, but maybe there should be a helm specific HUD somewhere else on the screen (e.g. one of the bottom corners) to show if your ship is on a point or not.  I believe the main problem with the scoreboard is its hard to relate your ships actions with changes to the scoreboard.

[The Djinn]

Your mockup shows the match scoreboard, but maybe there should be a helm specific HUD somewhere else on the screen (e.g. one of the bottom corners) to show if your ship is on a point or not.  I believe the main problem with the scoreboard is its hard to relate your ships actions with changes to the scoreboard.

Not a bad idea. Might be a future mock-up.

Here's a second attempt at this one: I've redesigned the icons to immediately let you know if an ally or enemy holds the point (in case you forget your color for whatever reason), and to give immediate identification of changes in point state (with color and icon changes for capturing, decapping, blocking, and a successful capture). Graphics are obviously a rough draft: some of the lines are too thin to be immediately visible, and the entire thing might be overly complicated. I did try to get EVERYTHING people seemed to want in as simple a way as possible.

Again, thoughts are appreciated.


Click Image to Expand

[Jazzza]

The outer segments of the icon aren't helping with clarity. Especially on a dark background.

I'd prefer a slight fade/pulse effect to show that it's being contested or captured. Spinning is a bit too distracting.

I do like your idea with splitting the icon in half to show each team's contesting level. But I thought capturing is linear: it goes enemy, neutral, friendly. So it's not necessary to split it up.
Edit: Ohhhh the segments on either side show the number of ships capturing?

The number in the circle is still very unclear what it means. Someone should be able to start playing this game without having to ask or experiment as to what that number (or icon) means in the capture point icon.

Why don't we have the number of ships on each team who are in the cap point right below the icon?

[The Djinn]

I'd prefer a slight fade/pulse effect to show that it's being contested or captured. Spinning is a bit too distracting.

Pulsing is MUCH more visually distracting than a faint spin from a graphics perspective. A spin is constant, and your eye adapts to the motion. A pulse gets your attention each time it pulses, and is much harder to accustom yourself to. Thus, pulses should be very carefully used in UI: too subtle and you'll barely notice, but to obvious and they draw away ALL the attention.

I'd really recommend avoiding this for point capture indication, which isn't something you have to be constantly aware of. It should just be easy to check.

That being said, the newer icon set in my latest posts has no spinning involved. It has an outer circle that fills with a percentage to show point capture, and that's it.

Edit: Ohhhh the segments on either side show the number of ships capturing?

Nope. The icon state shows the number of ships capturing. The segments show the number of ships of each team currently on the point.

The number in the circle is still very unclear what it means. Someone should be able to start playing this game without having to ask or experiment as to what that number (or icon) means in the capture point icon.

The more recent version has no numbers: Skulls represent enemy control, Stars represent allied control, and a Hand represents a contested state.