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IDProjectCategoryLast Update
0022025AI War 2SuggestionOct 4, 2021 12:28 pm
Reporterkmunoz Assigned ToChris_McElligottPark  
Severityminor 
Status resolvedResolutionfixed 
Product Version1.003 Sortable Objectives 
Summary0022025: Color code notification boxes according to existing Strength information
DescriptionAn idea that came to me during the Steam stream, fleshed out a little more here.

Currently, the notification boxes will give you *some* information about relative strength (with all of the caveats about how sometimes that information is misleading if one of the fleets is particularly good against the other’s units). Specifically, whichever fleet has more Strength gets listed on top, and the one with less Strength gets listed on the bottom. This is a useful quick indicator of relative danger. It’s not precise, it’s not intended to be precise, but it is valuable nevertheless. It’s a quick assessment that leads the player to investigate further if it seems warranted.

However, it’s not easily scannable.

I would suggest having some subtle color coding on or around the notification boxes themselves, to be more easily/quickly scannable by the player. So, for example, if the enemy Strength is perhaps 2x the player Strength or more, the box could have a red border. If the player Strength is 2x, a green border. (Or perhaps a different pairing of colors, as red/green color-blindness is the most common type.) Maybe yellow for an even match. Perhaps a different color, or an intensity level, when the relative Strengths are below the 2x threshold, but above even match. Maybe when it gets above say 3x it starts a subtle strobe effect on the box. (Again, spitballing examples here.)

The main benefit would be that you could simply glance up at the notifications and know some information about the state of play for those systems without having to read the numbers or analyze which Strength is on top. (This is very important against the Nanocaust, which is blue, vs. the player, which is also blue, but slightly different blue, but not enough that it’s easy to tell which blue is which.)

The main drawback of course is that the information may be deceptive, and a box marked red might actually not be a problem, and a box marked green might be the source of your downfall in five minutes. The counterpoint to this is that the information currently displayed is *already* possibly deceptive, and a good/experienced player will discern this. (And new players will figure this out.) Adding a visual “filter” to the boxes doesn’t increase or decrease the level of deceptiveness in any way.
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Chris_McElligottPark

Oct 4, 2021 12:28 pm

administrator   ~0062904

We have something very much like this, now. Thanks!

Issue History

Date Modified Username Field Change
Oct 31, 2019 4:03 pm kmunoz New Issue
Oct 4, 2021 12:28 pm Chris_McElligottPark Assigned To => Chris_McElligottPark
Oct 4, 2021 12:28 pm Chris_McElligottPark Status new => resolved
Oct 4, 2021 12:28 pm Chris_McElligottPark Resolution open => fixed
Oct 4, 2021 12:28 pm Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0062904