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apathos wrote:QUOTE (apathos @ Oct 9 2006, 11:58 PM) <insert great idea with great illustration>

I'd like to second this one. I fly at 1680x1050 and drawings on the minimap would be painful. Until a dynamic GUI which scales with resolution is built into Alleg, we'll have problems with readability.

apathos' idea on the other hand, is workable.

Vote++ /smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />

While all of these ideas are great...

Making the game more complex is only going to confuse about 46% of the pilots we have here.

As far as I can tell, the only way to get better games that I can see is going to DUMB THE GAME DOWN for the people who cannot seem to learn after repeated attempts at teaching them.

/laugh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":lol:" border="0" alt="laugh.gif" />

Ozricosis wrote:QUOTE (Ozricosis @ Oct 10 2006, 09:58 AM) DUMB THE GAME DOWN

`yn

QUOTE I like Chrono's idea (can't believe I just wrote that)[/quote]

Slowly, my insidious plan to enslave the minds of the internet is coming to fruition.

QUOTE Making the game more complex is only going to confuse about 46% of the pilots we have here.
As far as I can tell, the only way to get better games that I can see is going to DUMB THE GAME DOWN for the people who cannot seem to learn after repeated attempts at teaching them.[/quote]Of course, that would make Allegiance START SUCKING to put it in your words. I think I speak for many of us here when I say the in-numerable tactical and strategic outcomes is what really keeps us coming back. That is to say, no single game is exactly the same. Removing options would dumb down the game, thus making incompetence less frustrating but it would also lessen gameplay value, in my opinion.

QUOTE `yn[/quote]

Mad just put it more eloquently.

I like the idea of the map, it works great in Guild Wars. Sure, you get the occaisonal penis on the map, but its worth it. The ability to draw on the map makes things FAR easier. Think about on maps like EW or Anniv... you could show people what sector you mean /wink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=";)" border="0" alt="wink.gif" />

TB

you could also draw where the sectors should be, for people who dont know the map /smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />

Even having a tool like in starcraft where you can point something out on the minimap (a flashing box they use) would be helpfull.

Apathos' idea is indeed interesting, but we're talking about a fairly complex new interface that might be useful in squad games but that I see quickly being abandoned in pickup play because it is too complex and not useful enough. I also wanted something that only comms use. Apathos' idea requires all players to actively use the interface. This is getting pretty complex, and as Ozzy says, we don't need to make Alleg any more complex.

With the map drawing, we're really looking for something simple and versatile. You can write a word, draw a scheme, w/e you can think of can be translated because it gives a fairly direct interface between your hand and the image.

As for readability, I'm on 1600x1200 and I can see my drawing fairly well. The NO! doesn't contrast too good, but that's a colour issue. The red and green arrows are pretty clear... The resolution is something to be considered, but nothing major imo.

[quote=""Ozzy""]As far as I can tell, the only way to get better games that I can see is going to DUMB THE GAME DOWN for the people who cannot seem to learn after repeated attempts at teaching them.[/quote] Make something that even idiots can use and only idiots will want to use it. I know you don't really mean what you say anyway. /smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />

what happens if something is drawn on early in the game, and new alephs appear, changing the scale of the map, the drawings will go out of sync.

definatly a good idea once that problem has been fixed/sidestepped/ignored.

while writeing this i thought of a fix.....

resizing the drawings would cause problems, so here is another solution, which i don't think i can describe in words, so heres a very quick paint image image...


as you can see, before the new aleph is discovered, the overlay is pixelated because each pixel is mapped to a corresponding pixel on the completed map, so as the map grows, no problems are caused. of course, on very big maps it will be very pixelated to begin with, which could be a problem.

if problems with the com wrecking the map are common, then you could make the image be below the map, only covering the black areas.

all ideas ignore coding dificaulties, may be impossible to do.
ignore stupid ideas as neccessary.

if we draw vectrors or similar method to words drawing, the line wont get pixilated as it gets re-sized

though i would be inclined to have this on a new pane in the top left corner that takes up a little less than 1/4 of the screen.

i would not like to use the mini map.

impediance of navigation
easier to see on a bigger version of the map anyway

are my reasons