general interface ideas

[myrtar]

Idea terminal: new interface & chat
General Interface Improvements

http://www.planetside-idealab.com/idea_int...t.shtml#general

i have some thoughts on the health bars bit:

Updated - Players will now see health bars above terminals, generators, and spawn tubes only when they become damaged.

i'd make them only visible to engineers - part of the engineering hud upgrade



the hacking adjustments are fantastic, i'd love those. the best parts of these ideas are that they are/should be very easy to implement.

a disadvantage i could imagine for the colored beams would be that the enemy could tell what hack level you have too, and they could adjust their attack accordingly. *

alternatively, it would be just as useful to use the hack progress bar's (or current rek icon's) color to display the hack cert, but keep it hidden from the enemy. it would also be two fewer animated textures to push to clients, which soe has been big on lately.


*for example, if i saw some tr dunce hacking my tower cc with a yellow beam instead of red, instead of pulling out my pulsar or knife, i'd take the time to plant a boomer on his right, walk around to the left of him, knife him, v-v-w, then trigger the boomer as he recoils away from me.

[Hayoo]

Well I figured that tubes, terminals, and generators are at full health most of the time (because engies repair them), and therefore the health bars wouldn't be seen much anyway. But by having health bars show when damaged even a non-engie grunt could see at a glance that something needs fixing and call out for a comrade to repair it.


On the hacking beams, we could make the different colors only visible to friendlies. Don't know how feasible that is. And of course the hacking progress bar would only be visible to friendlies and the beam color would tell you how quick they are.

The problem with having the progress bar show hack color is that Red stands for enemy. It would have to be a different color then. Nice idea though, I'll fiddle with it.

[myrtar]

Originally posted by Hayoo@Sep 25 2004, 03:45 AM
...
a non-engie grunt could see at a glance that something needs fixing and call out for a comrade to repair it.
...
The problem with having the progress bar show hack color is that Red stands for enemy.

hm... you're right on the healthbars. i forget that other non-engy people might care about the status of stuff.


as for the hacking bit, i think it would be better to change the null-side color from black to a corresponding hack cert shade. i used purple because it looks crappy. looking again, it would need a greater difference in shade. i'm lazy.



advanced hack



hack



granny

[Hayoo]

Hmm. You're right about the enemy being able to see your hack skill, but I wonder if that would be much of a disadvantage. If it is, I'm thinking we can go with your idea of having the skill color in the progress bar...or see if the devs could make the hack beam's color only visible to friendlies.

[myrtar]

Originally posted by Hayoo@Oct 4 2004, 02:19 PM
Hmm. You're right about the enemy being able to see your hack skill, but I wonder if that would be much of a disadvantage. If it is, I'm thinking we can go with your idea of having the skill color in the progress bar...or see if the devs could make the hack beam's color only visible to friendlies.

yeah, i only point out the beam color thing because it's something i would pay attention to myself, and (whenever applicable) take direct advantage of. most specifically, a granny hacker can't hack a tower in the time it takes for me to respawn and kill them, but an advanced hacker can get the tower before i finish respawning.

i wouldn't want my enemy to know what level i was.

[Earlydawn]

So make a "Stealth Beam" a merit commendation for Advanced Hackers.

[Hayoo]

I still need to get around to illustrating this. Flash would be best, but static images are quicker.