Info > Feedback and Suggestions
Clearer capture indicator
The Djinn:
--- Quote from: Thomas on December 18, 2013, 05:02:36 pm ---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.
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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:
--- Quote from: ramjamslam on December 18, 2013, 05:25:37 pm ---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.
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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:
--- Quote from: Jazzza on December 18, 2013, 07:55:22 pm ---I'd prefer a slight fade/pulse effect to show that it's being contested or captured. Spinning is a bit too distracting.
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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.
--- Quote ---Edit: Ohhhh the segments on either side show the number of ships capturing?
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Nope. The icon state shows the number of ships capturing. The segments show the number of ships of each team currently on the point.
--- Quote ---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.
--- End quote ---
The more recent version has no numbers: Skulls represent enemy control, Stars represent allied control, and a Hand represents a contested state.
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