Development > Artwork

Display of Radar Fog-of-War

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eleazar:
I saw on IRC that KrackenO was working on improving the radar display.

But rather than placing an overlay where the radar reaches, it could be more clearly displayed by letting the radar visually punch holes in the fog of war.  The places where you can see are now crisp and clearer than the rest of the world, rather than dulled by a green haze.
The radar circles are still included, but at a lesser opacity, due to their decreased importance, though they still have some usefulness in seeing which base causes what.

Recipe:
fog of war color: Medium Grey
fog of war opacity: ~45%
intermediate opacity:  ~33%
radar circle opacity: ~33%

Of course, in actual use, somewhat different numbers may prove better, but i messed around with different settings, and these should provide a good start.

[attachment deleted by admin]

Winter:
Personally I'm not a fan of your way of doing it, it just seems like you're overthinking it, making it less straightforward. Why de-fog the geoscape when Kracken's simple green overlay does the job more intuitively whilst also looking better?

I will agree that a lesser opacity setting on Kracken's filter would be nice, as well as retaining the green radar circles to more clearly define the borders.

Regards,
Winter

eleazar:

--- Quote from: Winter on March 15, 2008, 09:42:48 pm ---Personally I'm not a fan of your way of doing it, it just seems like you're overthinking it, making it less straightforward. Why de-fog the geoscape when Kracken's simple green overlay does the job more intuitively whilst also looking better?

--- End quote ---

I don't agree that the green-overlay radar is so obviously superior.  Not that i'm criticizing Kracken's work.  I'm glad he's working on it... But as a graphic designer, it's something i can profitably contribute ideas to.

With my version, you'll eventually have a globe that's nearly all clear and crisp.
With the green version, you'll eventually have a globe that's nearly all greenish--- that's  the wrong progression.

... assuming that the new radar display is going to be on all the time... which i think is worthwhile

Kracken's method is more obvious to think of, but not more obvious to use... especially when you start adding the national and IVX overlays.  A green overlay will muddy the colors, and make it harder to distinguish national colors...  A neutral grey will dull the colors, but it won't shift them to something else.

Every game i can think of indicates vision by dulling or darkening the area you can't see, rather than putting a color overlay on the area you can see in.  And with good reason:  It's the more intuitive method.

Winter:
Hmm. Okay, I can see your point, but I'm still not sure I'm entirely happy. The grey of the areas without coverage just seems . . . not quite right. Maybe making it a little bit darker would help, make it more intuitive. Right now the areas with the most radar visibility are darker than the areas with less visibility, which speaking as a gamer throws me for a bit of a loop.

Regards,
Winter

BTAxis:
I'm not sure about the always on thing... It's probably going to be annoying, especially with incomplete coverage (and coverage is not supposed to ever be complete, at least not with the inner "detection" range), so I'd argue for a toggled overlay.

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