[Project] NS2 InfoCenter

Imbalanxd

<div class="IPBDescription">Unified interactive source of information</div>I began this project simply as a tech tree diagram after somebody requested an infograph of the marine tech layout. However I decided that, with every acquirable piece of equipment displayed right in front of you, it would be a good place to provide in depth information relating to each item.

The ultimate goal is to have an interactive tech tree for both aliens and marines, where each node in the tree can be selected, and information relating to that item provided. The type of information would range from the basic "does this" which can be seen in game on structure labels, to more complex strategy related information, like quick drop Onos eggs and power node structure blocking.

So far only the marine tech tree is complete. I intend for the item labels which appear during mouseover to be clickable, which will bring up the more in depth information relating to that node. I'm undecided right now whether I will continue with the marine section to completion, or just add the text labels and then begin work on the alien section.

This is the current version, completely populated, and the actual InfoCenter can be found <a href="http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6250985/techtree/index.html" target="_blank">here</a>

<img src="https://dl.dropbox.com/u/6250985/techtree/preview.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />

So far I'm aware that certain items can be difficult to see when inactive. This is mainly due to the background and the transparency of the nodes. I'm looking for a nice marine oriented background to use, preferably one with the centre primarily dark/black. I'm trying different node images at the moment which stick out better with a more pronounced border, which can be seen in the mac upgrade nodes and the phase tech node.

I'm unsure of how to approach the cost and activation of the IP and Extractor nodes. On the one hand, the player does start with one of each and so technically they are free. On the other hand, this is less of a "what happens in practice" diagram, and more of a theoretical cost and tech path diagram. Currently as nodes are selected, their resource cost is added to the top left display. In the future, I will allow a number of active Extractors value to be set, and the total time it will take to collect the spent resources value will be displayed.

Please post any usability issues or bugs that you come across.

barnej

I absolutely love the idea! And I think it should be great if implemented in-game.

Only issue I have with current version (except visibility of inactive items) is the "loading" time of the tips - it should be cut in half imo.

cheers,
barnej

CarNagE1

You have posted it sometime ago on stream and im using it all the time to show new commanders how things work. Great stuff! It should be added to the game...

Imbalanxd

**UPDATE
Added text to popup labels. Working on adding slider mouseover to make the label popup easier to trigger when you want to see it.
Labels don't seem to appear in IE, neither does the resource display. I don't think compatibility with IE is a high priority at the moment though I'm afraid.

Soul_Rider

Looking Good. I think the big problem with your cost design is that there is no real limit to the number of extractors that can be bought. This is very hard to convey in your system. Ultimately, I think if you are trying to show res costs for paths, you also need to show income levels etc, and this makes it overly complicated. As an information/tech tree diagram, it works great, but I think the cost counter is kindof worthless without taking into consideration starting res and income/timing information.

583res is useless information without knowing how long it will take to get that far :P

I love the concept, but you are moving from information diagram into the world of ns2 simulator, and that could get very messy :)

Imbalanxd

<!--quoteo(post=2016008:date=Nov 9 2012, 01:02 AM:name=Soul_Rider)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Soul_Rider @ Nov 9 2012, 01:02 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2016008"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Looking Good. I think the big problem with your cost design is that there is no real limit to the number of extractors that can be bought. This is very hard to convey in your system. Ultimately, I think if you are trying to show res costs for paths, you also need to show income levels etc, and this makes it overly complicated. As an information/tech tree diagram, it works great, but I think the cost counter is kindof worthless without taking into consideration starting res and income/timing information.

583res is useless information without knowing how long it will take to get that far :P

I love the concept, but you are moving from information diagram into the world of ns2 simulator, and that could get very messy :)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Hmmm yes. I think being able to accurately convey res cost would be highly beneficial though, as well as res income. I am planning to add an extractor counter which, combined with the res cost, should display how many seconds it would take to collect enough resources to pay for the tech. I'm unsure of how to do this without obscuring the actual cost of things though. I'll look into nice ways of doing it, and am open to suggestions.

Madd0g

Lol awsome stuff,should be in the game.

SlayerX

I'd go for providing the text label for each item and switch to alien tree. Great learning tool for new players.

Think we could use the project in our polish community? I could do the translating, could use files though. Would you mind?

Imbalanxd

Sorry for delayed response, I don't use this account often...

I'll post a link to the source when I get home. Careful though, I never intended for anyone else to see it, and its a horrid mess. I may work on it a little further and include some of the features I had thought about.

Cannon_FodderAUS

@Imbalanxd
Can I use some of the graphics and idea for a Tech tree I am making for the NS2 wiki?
Thanks

SamusDroid

Out of date btw

Cannon_FodderAUS

I know, but I like the idea, and I can't always find nice graphics for the various structure. It is actually alot of work to get a tech tree that looks logical and have icons that match with a specific color scheme for various strucutres / equipment etc... Thanks for looking at it though SamusDroid.