GlassHUD alpha release

[Bunnywabbit]

First of all, thank you for the warm reception!

QUOTE (Clay_Pigeon @ Feb 7 2011, 09:52 PM) I've noticed it, but simply changing the brightness isn't enough to immediately indicate to me if I've been eyed. Especially if I just want a quick reference to see if I need to hide like a little girl or not. It's clever idea in general, but you need something stronger than just a toggle in brightness. There are lots of things you can do (ie: changing the color of the entire gauge, or putting a thin red circle around the periphery of the entire gauge when eyed). A better/easier solution, however, it to just change the icon so its color isn't determined by the team. It's cool thematically, but completely unusable.

QUOTE (spideycw @ Feb 7 2011, 10:29 PM) I do echo the other concerns about being able to tell when you are eyed or not.

I'm going to try and think of something that doesn't break the theme and emphasizes the eyed-state more.

I am a bit surprised though, that you guys think a +/-30px icon popping up is so much stronger a cue than a image over 20 times its size, and another one over 10 times bigger, going from almost transparent to bright white. I'm having trouble believing that the HUD is, as you say, unusable for lack of such a small icon when there is such a huge area on your screen lighting up.

Frankly, I added the eye icon for the sake of being complete. I would have left it out entirely if I didn't think it would help the transition.

I do take your concerns seriously, and i will alter the artwork if after getting used to it, you still feel that you need a stronger eye icon or something popping up on detection. However, while it's true that something appearing is generally a stronger visual stimulus than something changing into something else, it is also true that changing habits is harder than learning something new, if you catch my drift. That's why i'm going to let a few beta iterations pass before i'm going to change anything, so everyone has some time to get used to things and i can get a 'clear reading' on this one.

for now just do with the eye icon what you do with your aiming reticule: try to ignore it and focus on the gauges .

QUOTE (Clay_Pigeon @ Feb 7 2011, 11:46 PM) BTW, What's up with gauge labeling? I see labels in the artwork files, but they don't show on screen. Were they just there for testing?

No, this is a typical case of bad version control on my part. I committed a version without the code for the labels. Will be fixed in the next beta version. D'oh!

QUOTE (DusanC @ Feb 8 2011, 09:13 AM) 1 - Can the indication of being hit only flash in the direction we're being hit from?

2- Is there space for value in % of hull, shield etc, by hull label?

3- KB beneath target name in small view?

1 - no can do. Would have been cool, but all I get from the engine is 'flash' which is a variable that turns from 0 to 1 to 0 twice when hit.
2 - i guess. why do you feel that that is clearer than a visual representation?
3 - small view needs a thorough re-think. Stay tuned!

thanks for testing and posting commentary, everyone

[Bunnywabbit]

QUOTE (girlyboy @ Feb 5 2011, 06:29 PM) I installed the alpha (and this is also the first time I'm trying CortUI ).

Only a couple minor things I've noticed (I don't know if these are known issues or not): One, when you are docked at base, and are viewing the sector in F3 and target something, the ETA shown in the target window on the upper right makes not very much sense. O_o The ETA is obviously meaningless, and will just show some garbled numbers. If possible, maybe just disable the ETA in this view?

yeah, that needs fixing

QUOTE Edit again: The target window when you're docked and in F3 will also show a range, and the way this works also doesn't entirely make sense. If you view this right after a game launches, without actually launching from base first, it seems the range shown will be the target's distance from the centre of the sector (which will usually be the same as distance from your starting garr, of course, but, say, on Brawl, where the garrison is not in the middle of the map at the start, the distance will clearly be from the very middle of the sector). I guess that's something connected with how Allegiance works, and there's no way to "fix" it. Once you've launched and re-docked, it seems the range will be shown from whatever station you're docked at, which makes sense (though isn't necessarily more useful than distance from centre of sector, I guess ). If you transfer using the F8 menu, however, this won't change: Range will still be shown from the last station you *docked at*, even if that's not actually the station you're "in" right now. Launching and re-docking at the station you've transferred to will change this.

If looking at other sectors in F3 while docked, incidentally, the range shown will be from the "equivalent point" in this sector. I mean, if you're docked at, say, a base that is on the "lower right" of the map in Pohoja, and then look at Bragi in F3 and select something as a target there, the range shown will be from a point at the "lower right" of Bragi -- the same point that you're docked at in Pohoja.[/quote]
I'm going to look into this. Thanks for reporting.

QUOTE Anyway, I know it's an alpha, so maybe none of this really matters. [/quote]
Of course it does! Are you nuts?!

QUOTE Generally the ETA readout is really neat. Edit: It's a bit disorienting that it's based just on your speed and distance from target, so even if you're headed directly away from a target, for example, the ETA will still be there, and will actually be going *down* if you're accelerating very quickly. But I suppose that's the only way for it to make any sense at all.[/quote]

that's sadly right. It will take some more fiddling to find a compromise between what is technically feasible and what is intuitively useful.

QUOTE One other minor problem: For long target names target types, sometimes the "type" in the target window will overlap with the ETA/Speed numbers. For example, if you've targeted a "Enh Sm Constructor", the target's name type will take up two lines of text on the upper-right, and the second line will take up the same space as the ETA/Speed readout, making both hard to read.[/quote]
Well spotted. will fix.

Excellent, keep the criticism coming (and thanks for the kudos),

[Clay_Pigeon]

I spent 5 minutes doing this to the eye icon


and was already pleased with the results.

[Bunnywabbit]

and I am as headstrong as I am handsome

[dusanc]

QUOTE (Bunnywabbit @ Feb 8 2011, 12:03 PM) ...
I am a bit surprised though, that you guys think a +/-30px icon popping up is so much stronger a cue than a image over 20 times its size, and another one over 10 times bigger, going from almost transparent to bright white. I'm having trouble believing that the HUD is, as you say, unusable for lack of such a small icon when there is such a huge area on your screen lighting up.

Frankly, I added the eye icon for the sake of being complete. I would have left it out entirely if I didn't think it would help the transition.

Well people grasp high contrast marks (like eye symbol) more easily than gradient marks (like fading etc.) but I think with little work, that fading can be made OK.
QUOTE ...
2 - i guess. why do you feel that that is clearer than a visual representation?[/quote]

Dunno, I think that visual representation is always better than nubers.
But I fealt like numbers had a place there

Oh and btw. would it be better with 2 instead 3 round stripes.
2 on right hull and armor, 2 on left energy and ammo? Less things blocking center view.
And 2 high thin stripes to be throttle and fuel? Fuel to light up a little when boosting?

Thanks for great job Bunny

[Makida]

Actually, yesterday was the first time I had a chance to try GlassHUD in a couple "real" (fairly big) games, and now I'm actually sort of okay with the whole eyed/uneyed thing... kinda. I dunno. I like the effect of the HUD lighting up, and I don't want an eye icon that totally breaks the theme of the rest of the HUD. Something a bit more obvious would still definitely improve it, and I don't think it's *just* a case of people not being used to it, but I see where you're coming from, Bunny.

I think one reason I didn't notice the HUD brightening before is that one frequent time when you're eyed is upon going through an aleph into an enemy sector (esp. in a small game with bad probing ). The "break" of going through an aleph makes the change in the HUD's brightness a bit easy to miss, especially if you don't know to look for it... Well, that and also I'm crazy.

Maybe instead of making the eye icon the "team" colour, it could be made the transparent/white colour of the HUD's gauges? Only in this case, instead of brightening, it could go from simply not being there, to being bright white or some such... Not sure if that would be better, but maybe that'd be more noticeable than it is now, while still fitting in?.. Unless it would just blend in too much with the gauges themselves...

Or maybe some combination? Like, an eye icon with components both in the team's colour, and in the glass-style white, combined to make a more noticeable icon together, without breaking the feel of the HUD too much?..

Or -- how about another brief animation (like the cloaking effect)? Like, instead of the HUD brightening instantly, maybe it could brighten in a very brief, but noticeable, animation -- even better if this can work like a, uh, gradient (or what do you call it), brightening parts of the hud at different rates, rather than all of it together. After all, the brain responds to movement well too, so perhaps the brightening effect "flowing" across the HUD could be a way to make it easier to notice without fundamentally altering it? I dunno if this is even possible to do, though.

But anyway, as said before, the HUD is very awesome on the whole. I'm quite happy to keep flying with it in its present state, though of course I'll be on the lookout for any updates. Thank you again for all your work in making it.

[Bunnywabbit]

QUOTE (DusanC @ Feb 8 2011, 12:47 PM) Oh and btw. would it be better with 2 instead 3 round stripes.
2 on right hull and armor, 2 on left energy and ammo? Less things blocking center view.
And 2 high thin stripes to be throttle and fuel? Fuel to light up a little when boosting?

I have intentionally attempted to write the code, and set up the artwork, in such a way that it is very easy to modify. GlassHUD is partly a template for further modifications. You are cordially invited to help yourself and make a new mod that fits your tastes more. Everyone is.

Grab it. mess with it. Change it. Release it. It's yours.

There are, however, things about this Hud that are so central to its concept, and have been from the beginning, that I, myself won't change them. The way the Shield and Hull gauges go all the way around the central view is one of those things.

QUOTE (girlyboy @ Feb 8 2011, 01:45 PM) Or maybe some combination? Like, an eye icon with components both in the team's colour, and in the glass-style white, combined to make a more noticeable icon together, without breaking the feel of the HUD too much?..

Good idea! I might do that.

QUOTE (girlyboy @ Feb 8 2011, 01:45 PM) Or -- how about another brief animation (like the cloaking effect)? Like, instead of the HUD brightening instantly, maybe it could brighten in a very brief, but noticeable, animation -- even better if this can work like a, uh, gradient (or what do you call it), brightening parts of the hud at different rates, rather than all of it together. After all, the brain responds to movement well too, so perhaps the brightening effect "flowing" across the HUD could be a way to make it easier to notice without fundamentally altering it? I dunno if this is even possible to do, though.

Ouch. Sore spot.

QUOTE But anyway, as said before, the HUD is very awesome on the whole. I'm quite happy to keep flying with it in its present state, though of course I'll be on the lookout for any updates. Thank you again for all your work in making it.[/quote]
My pleasure

[Makida]

QUOTE (Bunnywabbit @ Feb 8 2011, 07:58 AM) Ouch. Sore spot.

Oh. Right.

But, you did get the neat cloaking animation to work. Of course, that's a rather different effect...

[TurkeyXIII]

I could do without the eye icon completely. Perhaps the gauges could contrast a little more starkly - the bright is plenty bright as is, but the dim could be dimmer.

My biggest gripe is the target view is too far off-centre. I don't like having to take my eyes off the ball to see my target's KB, speed or distance.

And the text for my speed/sig is too small. And I can barely figure out how much hull I have. And the centre of the screen has too much crap in the way. And... you know what, maybe I should just use something else.

[Bunnywabbit]

QUOTE (TurkeyXIII @ Feb 8 2011, 02:23 PM) My biggest gripe is the target view is too far off-centre. I don't like having to take my eyes off the ball to see my target's KB, speed or distance.

Yeah, I agree. It's one of the LessHUD/Jelloshot ideas i was planning to steal, but it kind of got lost in other stuff.

Hence the need to re-think the small target.

QUOTE (TurkeyXIII @ Feb 8 2011, 02:23 PM) And... you know what, maybe I should just use something else.

Sounds like LessHUD would fit your style.