Author Topic: Display friendly ships option?  (Read 10619 times)

Offline obliviondoll

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Display friendly ships option?
« on: July 08, 2014, 05:11:46 pm »
Is there a reason why this doesn't exist? Or does it exist and I just haven't been able to find it?

When spotted, enemy ships get highlighted and you can easily keep track of them. Figuring out where a friendly ship went, on the other hand, is sometimes difficult even with them permanently visible on the map.

Would it be possible to have some kind of on-screen marker for teammate locations so they can be kept track of more easily? Maybe as an exclusive thing when you're on the helm? Or as an effect of some kind of piloting equipment?

Offline Hunter.

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Re: Display friendly ships option?
« Reply #1 on: July 08, 2014, 05:16:57 pm »
+1

Offline Crafeksterty

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Re: Display friendly ships option?
« Reply #2 on: July 08, 2014, 06:12:10 pm »
I would love it myself.

It is true that it is easier to keep a notice on the enemey than the teamate.
Right now you just have to deal with it and use the compass/map for the ally.

But it would be nice to see the teamate. It does not sound like a high priority thing, but a thing that should have been in a while.

Offline obliviondoll

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Re: Display friendly ships option?
« Reply #3 on: July 08, 2014, 06:20:46 pm »
I agree it isn't high priority.

It's a little thing that you can work around, but it just gets mildly annoying at times when a teammate runs into you, or you run into them, and you know it could have been avoided if there was only some way to mark friendlies and keep track like you can with the enemy.

If this was an effect of the Spyglass when you're at the helm and have it equipped, do you think more Captains would take the Spyglass?

Offline Spud Nick

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Re: Display friendly ships option?
« Reply #4 on: July 08, 2014, 10:56:47 pm »
I think a lot of pilots are trained to look at the map every few seconds now.

Offline GreyTea

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Re: Display friendly ships option?
« Reply #5 on: July 09, 2014, 03:27:35 am »
Friendly ships appear on the compass as a marker, and you should always be in communication of said ship, also they are permanently on the map, adding a perma spotted ui could mess with spotting itself from enemies because you would be always spotted by ally, also adds confusion to what spotted ship is friendly or not, Being spotted is a big indicator for enemy ships if friendlies were to there would have to be color change to both, I feel newer players would get confused also,

Offline obliviondoll

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Re: Display friendly ships option?
« Reply #6 on: July 09, 2014, 07:43:09 am »
I'm not suggesting the same indicator as you get when a ship is spotted, or for the other ship to be treated as if it's spotted. I agree that would be confusing and silly. What I'd like to see is a different kind of indicator that looks distinct from the spotting marker, but which fills the same purpose in telling you a ship's location more accurately than the map or compass can.

Offline Milevan Faent

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Re: Display friendly ships option?
« Reply #7 on: July 09, 2014, 08:19:35 am »
Friendly ships appear on the compass as a marker, and you should always be in communication of said ship, also they are permanently on the map, adding a perma spotted ui could mess with spotting itself from enemies because you would be always spotted by ally, also adds confusion to what spotted ship is friendly or not, Being spotted is a big indicator for enemy ships if friendlies were to there would have to be color change to both, I feel newer players would get confused also,

Despite knowing that friendly ships are shown in these locations, when the enemy has the same ship as my ally, there have been several times where I have confused an Ally with an unmarked enemy, and tried to ask my crew to attack them, only realizing later that they were in fact my ally. I don't really feel that the compass (that I almost always forget is even there) and map (that I can't see all the time anyway) do not make for sufficient indicators for my ally's location.

Offline AbbyTheRat

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Re: Display friendly ships option?
« Reply #8 on: July 09, 2014, 12:44:26 pm »
Knowing where your Allies are isn't a problem, the problem is knowing WHICH ally is where, specially in 3v3 or more. Having some sort of spotting abilities(either perma or temp) on ally ship would improve communications, speeding up coordination.

I would suggest marking Ally white, with the enemies marked as their team colour (in case we ever get a 2v2v2..)

Offline HamsterIV

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Re: Display friendly ships option?
« Reply #9 on: July 09, 2014, 12:58:37 pm »
I would like the ship name of the friendly ship to appear underneath it without the white box. White boxes are reserved for things that I need to put holes in. In a 3v3/4v4 I would like to know who is out of formation or calling for help. Also perhaps instead of the captain's name in captain chat it should show the ship name.

Offline sparklerfish

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Re: Display friendly ships option?
« Reply #10 on: July 20, 2014, 07:13:43 pm »
I'm in favor of this, especially since spotting doesn't always work very well.  There are times when ships are seemingly just NEAR a cloud, extremely visible, not shrouded at all, and I can't spot them, so I assume they're friendly (especially because the lighting often makes it impossible to tell the difference between red and blue flags).  I mean, I guess there's the map, but when things are hectic it would be cool to just be able to directly look at the ship and know it's friendly rather than spamclicking with spyglass equipped until the spot finally works (or doesn't).

Also, I have an impaired ability to mentally spatially rotate things, so I can have a hard time using the map to tell if I'm pointed at a friendly or an enemy.  Even harder if there are two ships in close proximity.
« Last Edit: July 20, 2014, 07:38:44 pm by sparklerfish »

Offline SaintR.L.

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Re: Display friendly ships option?
« Reply #11 on: July 20, 2014, 07:36:06 pm »
A very nice idea. Too often I find my fellow captain shooting at me when they mistake my ship for the enemy. It would also be nice to be able to see your teammates outline through terrain just like you can see spots through terrain.

Offline Omniraptor

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Re: Display friendly ships option?
« Reply #12 on: July 20, 2014, 10:09:38 pm »
The solution is simply to make the flags more saturated, it's a simple palette fix, no need to implement new mechanics.

On the other hand, confusion and chaos are part of the fun :P

Offline Ruairi

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Re: Display friendly ships option?
« Reply #13 on: July 21, 2014, 02:27:32 am »
I'm all for confusion... :P hehe... So going against the flow of things, if something like this were to be implemented I'd still have white boxes/writing for everything spotted. You should know the name of your ally ship and it is also a quick 2 second confirmation.  :/

Offline pandatopia

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Re: Display friendly ships option?
« Reply #14 on: July 21, 2014, 12:45:31 pm »
Why not have green boxes for allies, and red markers for enemies?

I think those are pretty universal friendly/enemy colors, and no newbie is going to get that confused.

Esp with how ridiculous these new ship paints are - so many people paint blue team ships with a red balloon, and vice versa - and lets be honest the balloon is usually a lot more prominent than the pennants they fly.