Indicating hexes that heal / illuminate / etc?

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Pentarctagon
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Re: Indicating hexes that heal / illuminate / etc?

Post by Pentarctagon »

I would say to post screenshots of what each of the icons individually look like ingame for a hex, plus one of what it looks like when a hex has all of them. Worst case if nobody replies, you can just open a PR as-is and hopefully prompt some more feedback that way.
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Spixi
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Re: Indicating hexes that heal / illuminate / etc?

Post by Spixi »

Pentarctagon wrote: November 2nd, 2019, 6:05 pm I would say to post screenshots of what each of the icons individually look like ingame for a hex, plus one of what it looks like when a hex has all of them. Worst case if nobody replies, you can just open a PR as-is and hopefully prompt some more feedback that way.
In this case, I need graphics first. Seriously implementing stuff like income+heals+illuminated.png sounds a little overdesigned. So maybe we should agree first before I implement such a solution. I liked the overlays in different corners (the icons can be shifted one or two pixels to the center, maybe), but I don’t know if that solution’s user experience looks like.
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Re: Indicating hexes that heal / illuminate / etc?

Post by Pentarctagon »

The individual icons could just be these, I think.

As far as my two cents about how to display them - would it be possible to display them immediately above or below the gold hexagon, so they wouldn't need to be all crammed into the same hex with the unit? Or potentially they could be added to the sidebar on the right, in the same line that currently displays the hex coordinates and the terrain type icons?
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Re: Indicating hexes that heal / illuminate / etc?

Post by Spixi »

Pentarctagon wrote: November 2nd, 2019, 6:28 pm The individual icons could just be these, I think.

As far as my two cents about how to display them - would it be possible to display them immediately above or below the gold hexagon, so they wouldn't need to be all crammed into the same hex with the unit? Or potentially they could be added to the sidebar on the right, in the same line that currently displays the hex coordinates and the terrain type icons?
Placing them on the sidebar would require more development effort and afaik some information like illuminates and village is already displayed there. Placing them outside of the gold hexagon is possible, but looks very confusing, especially we already have the hides and the capture village icon inside the hexagon.
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Re: Indicating hexes that heal / illuminate / etc?

Post by Mawmoocn »

How about using aura like effect for illuminate?

Disclaimer: These are image examples.
Some examples using illuminate aura
Some examples using illuminate aura
  1. A is what it normally looks on a unit, but customized to follow cursor.
  2. B is an example for no hover with direction where illuminate aura is located.
  3. B1 and B2 locates the origin of illuminate while mouse is on the specific spot.
  4. B3 has a faint aura effect to show illuminate.
  5. B4 is nearly the same as A but without aura inside the selected tile.
  6. B5 contains the effect of B3 and with the additional mini illuminate aura on percentage.
  7. B6 has similarities to B5 but without the effect of B3.
  8. C is the combination of B4 and B6
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Vyncyn
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Re: Indicating hexes that heal / illuminate / etc?

Post by Vyncyn »

How would B1 and B2 look like with multiple illuminate effects overlapping? So far I'm liking them the most.

B4 looks like the illuminate is everywhere but on the tile.
B5,6 and C look messy with the whole circle inside of the selected tile.
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Re: Indicating hexes that heal / illuminate / etc?

Post by doofus-01 »

Mawmoocn wrote: November 3rd, 2019, 1:56 am How about using aura like effect for illuminate?
My two thoughts on it:
1. It's good for it to be noticeable, but not if it gets too loud and busy. I think most of those go a bit too far.
2. The value of the illumination can be different (maybe even negative?). If there will be some big image like the aura, it would be nice to have it modifiable, maybe tying the alpha or lightness to the illuminate number.
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Re: Indicating hexes that heal / illuminate / etc?

Post by lhybrideur »

I agree with Vyncyn.
doofus-01 wrote:2. The value of the illumination can be different (maybe even negative?). If there will be some big image like the aura, it would be nice to have it modifiable, maybe tying the alpha or lightness to the illuminate number.
We already have darkens, fire and lighthouse aura on top of illuminate aura, so we can probably use them the same way.
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Re: Indicating hexes that heal / illuminate / etc?

Post by Mawmoocn »

I'm sorry if I didn't made a quick response as I think recognition of the origin of illuminate would fail, if illuminate doesn't depend on the center or is affected solely by time of day and if they can procure their own illuminates (like lava terrains for example).

I'm not certain if it'll be essential so I decided to skip (for now).
Vyncyn wrote: November 3rd, 2019, 9:03 am How would B1 and B2 look like with multiple illuminate effects overlapping? So far I'm liking them the most.
If not modified it will be cluttered
If not modified it will be cluttered
some examples for 3 or more sides.png (33.65 KiB) Viewed 4865 times
I don't think it'll look good once it reaches 3 aura effects but 2 can be workable.
What it may look if there are 2 illuminates effects
What it may look if there are 2 illuminates effects
illuminate 2 sides.png (270.36 KiB) Viewed 4871 times

B1 and B2 would look likeE3.
E6 was modified to improve text readability.
E5 is the result if we include full illuminate aura to compare text visibility.
E I tried to make them coexist as E3 might be crowded.
E1 barely uses everything on illuminate aura besides the edges.
E2 is the same with E but without surrounding illuminate effect outside.
Lastly, E4 is the result of E1 having illuminate outside.
Vyncyn wrote: November 3rd, 2019, 9:03 am B4 looks like the illuminate is everywhere but on the tile.
B5,6 and C look messy with the whole circle inside of the selected tile.
I was hoping to get more ideas because B6 can probably allow you to see illuminate effect for one tile if other surrounding tiles have limited coverage.




doofus-01 wrote: November 3rd, 2019, 10:24 pm 1. It's good for it to be noticeable, but not if it gets too loud and busy. I think most of those go a bit too far.
I've made some alternatives to help solve it. (though it may face that problem if the icons use are large)
Possible alternative
Possible alternative
smalllindicators for illuminate.png (199.14 KiB) Viewed 4871 times
Well those are placeholders for potential icons that can be used but most icons placed there, are only to be used if it determines the origin of illuminate.
doofus-01 wrote: November 3rd, 2019, 10:24 pm 2. The value of the illumination can be different (maybe even negative?). If there will be some big image like the aura, it would be nice to have it modifiable, maybe tying the alpha or lightness to the illuminate number.
Is that changing colors? (I'm not familiar with changing values and assumed that it changes colors)
I think changing colors would be useful if they serve different functions. I'm hoping to make it a bit easier comprehend that it's illuminate on one glance.
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Re: Indicating hexes that heal / illuminate / etc?

Post by Vyncyn »

I think illuminate effect is best indicated with a halo. Either an aura for circular effects or the "beam of light" from the map editor for sinlge tiles or larger terrains. It doesn't necessarily need an icon in the tile and the exact influence on night/day can be seen in the sidebar. Unfortunately "beam of light" can't be drawn over every terrain, but that could be done by adding the effect in the .cgf file. We'd only need some single-tile effect for negative illumination.

I'd rather have an icon for castle or keeps. Unlike village overlays, castle and keep overlays aren't visible on the map at all and only mentioned in the sidebar.
overlays.jpg
Mawmoocn wrote: November 6th, 2019, 9:27 amI don't think it'll look good once it reaches 3 aura effects but 2 can be workable.
Yeah, it really looks too noisy with more than 2 effects.
I'm not a big fan of E1,2 or 4 since they break the circle of the aura. I think E5 would be good, but it might look messy too with 3 or more illuminates. B3 from your previous post would be the most clean looking.
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Re: Indicating hexes that heal / illuminate / etc?

Post by Mawmoocn »

Vyncyn wrote: November 6th, 2019, 10:36 amI'm not a big fan of E1,2 or 4 since they break the circle of the aura. I think E5 would be good, but it might look messy too with 3 or more illuminates. B3 from your previous post would be the most clean looking.
These are other possible alternative, making illuminate smaller, using icons , drawing outside, color change of the gold selector to white if there's illuminate aura, and probably disregarding directions altogether and make B1 indicate start of day cycle and B2 end of day cycle with B3 start of dawn/night.

Icon for recruiting tile (keep) would be good for hidden keeps.

It's great if we can identify all these info with a hotkey or something?
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lhybrideur
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Re: Indicating hexes that heal / illuminate / etc?

Post by lhybrideur »

What happen currently if you hover over a tile adjacent to a Mage of Light ? Something like E3, E5 and E6 or nothing at all ?
Anyway I like E5 better. I don't even think it will be too crowded for 3 sources with E5.
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Re: Indicating hexes that heal / illuminate / etc?

Post by Spixi »

Usually, you don’t have a foreign light source. This is only the case for the illuminates ability (Mage of Light), which already has an aura effect. If a tile has illumination (e. g. a light beam in a cave), only that tile is illuminated itself and not the surrounding ones. Thus, I don’t know, if Mawmoocn’s suggestion would even apply.
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Re: Indicating hexes that heal / illuminate / etc?

Post by Mawmoocn »

lhybrideur wrote: November 6th, 2019, 12:51 pm What happen currently if you hover over a tile adjacent to a Mage of Light ?
That’s something like B1 and B2 unless there’s another illuminates ability like E3, E5 and E6, but like Spixi said, it won’t apply to terrains that create their own light source (this also applies to Mage of Light, if they're at the center/origin of the light source).

In that case, either B4 and B6 could be a substitute or it could be similar to this:
Alternative to 1 tile only illuminate
Alternative to 1 tile only illuminate
gold glowing selector.png (21.86 KiB) Viewed 4776 times
lhybrideur wrote: November 6th, 2019, 12:51 pm Anyway I like E5 better. I don't even think it will be too crowded for 3 sources with E5.
For 3 light sources, it can look crowded if the direction overlaps, but it should be adjusted if required. I think 4 and more light sources, could be difficult to manage :lol:.
some example for 3 light sources.png
some example for 3 light sources.png (61.54 KiB) Viewed 4776 times
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Re: Indicating hexes that heal / illuminate / etc?

Post by lhybrideur »

I like the Alternative to 1 tile only illuminate very much
I don't think the first two examples you gave for three light sources in your last post is that crowded. Plus it should not happen that often I think.
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