Since you’re doing UI work, when you have multiple types of ships selected the number indicator that’s superimposed on ship icons in the lower left is basically unreadable. Can we get that number changed to a larger font and some color that stands out better on the white wireframe icons?
it will take time, but sounds fine …
I want to know how to make a UI which can fit different resolusion and have a proper size.
This is a UI I made years ago, it only fits 4:3 resolusion, and I’m hoping that I could improve it in HW:RM
http://imgsrc.baidu.com/forum/w%3D580/sign=f5b25eaaf81986184147ef8c7aef2e69/503d269759ee3d6d13525c0043166d224e4ade61.jpg?v=tbs
Anchors, element hierarchy and alignments are your friends. Or your enemy.
That image is pretty easy to replicate in the engine, but your bottom image (with the hand) will only scale so much before stretching or looking funny.
Because that would be infinitely better than a wall of icons when you are either bandbox selecting or using the launch manager.
The problem with ship icons is that they lack recognisability. Many of them aren’t sufficiently distinctive from each other and there are several examples where it is confusing to place with their 3D likeness as they are represented with silhouettes from one angle and sometimes an obscure one at that (top vs side).
At a glance, the text list was far more conveyable and it was almost equally as useful for both veterans and newbies alike. Your mind can easily single out ships by the first letter(s) of the name or by the length of it.
I would also argue that the readability of text allows it to take up less total space since you wouldn’t have to scale it so large relative to the hud compared to icons.
Just to clarify, this is what it looked like in HW classic:
Given that same situation you described where a player has upwards of 40 different types of ships selected (which I would argue is far from the norm even in singleplayer unless you’re allergic to hotkey groups), a player reading "gravwell generator" in a listing is far more distinguishable than asking that same person to identify that ship’s vague picture amidst a sea of icons. With the number of subtle and eccentric ships out there e.g. resource controllers, cloak generators etc. there are plenty of instances where text is far more descriptive to identify a ship (and clue you in as to its purpose) than its corresponding icon.
The current system requires you to become familiar with the icons through repetition. Even after you have a firm grasp of the general silhouettes of every ship, it’s still outclassed by a textual list.
Ship icons for bandbox selections and the launch manager were a mistake to begin with back when HW2 first came out.There never really was a problem with using text to convey fleet composition, why change it? It may be boring but it works. The only thing HW2 did right in this regard was to introduce the healthbars - this functionality could be added to textual lists similar to HW or Cata’s build progress bars (sans a little opacity).
The idea is not to replace the ship icons with icons of text - keep the format of the text list similar to how it was in HW and Cata - here’s a quick mockup of what it would look like:
Here’s a comparison:
The text is more or less the same size as the numbers in the ship icons.
Of course there would be a lot of nitty gritty details to work out - colour, transparency, line spacing, positioning of the list, health bar placement in relation to each listing etc. but the core functionality is there.
As for the launch manager, it could consist of two separate lists: one for ships under repair and the other for ships at full health.
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I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately and I’m starting to think a hybrid system, with a small icon plus the text organized in the HW1 list style, might be best for the shape and resolution of modern screens.
Two things from the old days that we still can’t have as far as I can image: Having a count of ships when you only have one type of ship selected, and having an list update as you bandbox things, even if you’re bandboxing enemies for an attack. That’d be really handy for quickly IDing an incoming force.
The only thing I don’t like about listing them like this is there is no health display. Having that green bar to reference a ships health is damn handy.
I already covered this point in my post. It wouldn’t be difficult to merge that functionality with textual lists.
Have you seen Cataclysm’s HUD build queues? That should give you a bit of an idea.
EDIT: Something like this only better looking:
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It seems something wrong with the picture. It should be this one:
Is there a list somewhere listing what resolutions are currently supported?
Do you mean outside of those listed within the video section of the options menu ? (truly not meant as a snarky comment on my part)
or are you talking about an unlisted list of some kind ?
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LOL! I forgot to check there…
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Just a reminder (in my defense it’s not totally OT, it’s sort UI related), in that next patch won’t you forget to fix this?
Is anyone going to have an issue with vertical icons in the build menu?
Because it totally allows me to add a drag handle so you can do this:
And this:
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Are you kidding? Being able to resize the build menu on-the-fly is grand! Go for it.
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Could you make the enabled/disabled tech stand out more from each other? The button for the scout is not all that different than for the interceptor. Maybe give the scout button a lighter background color.
Better?
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Not really.
Do you mean like making the whole rectangle of the ship button (from the picture to the name/cost area) a different color?
Hmm wouldn’t that change the whole aesthetic though? I would agree with having modders be able to do it or showing them how but that is a rather big change aesthetically.
I meant a different shade of the blue/black that’s already being used. It doesn’t have to be a whole lot brigther. Just noticeably so.