Modify the alien commander hive upgrade icons
ChitownFreeze
Join Date: 2008-03-29 Member: 63994Members, Constellation
Join Date: 2008-03-29 Member: 63994Members, Constellation
<div class="IPBDescription">They're too hard to see!</div>When the alien commander first jumps into the hive, the most important early decision is what type of hive to make: crag, shift, or shade. There are two ways to choose this: 1) click on the hive and then choose the upgrade in the icon menu on the lower right part of the HUD, or 2) click on the little icons that hover above the hive. Option #1 was the only way I ever knew how to go about it, as it has been during the beta for the last 18 months now that I've been playing it. The beta became unplayable for me on my computer due to intense FPS and graphics "blue checkerboard" problems, so I've only recently returned to playing regularly now that those problems are fixed.
I've tried my hand at playing alien comm a number of times now, and I came across what I thought was a bug. In my mind, immediately after I jumped into the hive I thought I needed to click on the hive and then choose the upgrade in the HUD. So I did that, but then suddenly the upgrade choice was already made for me, as if I'd hit some keyboard shortcut or something without realizing. The upgrade seemed random, however... a few times it would be shift, and other times it would be crag or shade.
I couldn't figure out what was going on, so I started my own server, enabled cheats, and tried to recreate the bug. It was only then, in the clarity of a non-competitive environment, that I had enough time to poke around and really figure out carefully what happened. The problem is this: when I was clicking on the hive to select it, I was accidentally clicking on the little upgrade icons that hover above it without realizing. As a long time beta player, I never even knew that these icons were added at some point, I'm guessing recently. I didn't know they were there because they're hard to spot with all of the other glowing items on my screen.
I don't think I'm the only one who has accidentally clicked on a upgrade choice icon without realizing it. I think many newbie comms jumping into that position might accidentally make the same mistake, and they might not even realize what happened. So here is my suggestion. Make the hovering icons stand out more from the background of the hive itself. Right now the icons are shades of yellow, and are mostly transparent against the background of the hive. I honestly never even noticed them until just now. Perhaps put them in a triangle formation, make them a little larger, and with more color contrast. Perhaps a rounded square around the border or something could go a long ways towards making them easier to see.
That is all, game on!
I've tried my hand at playing alien comm a number of times now, and I came across what I thought was a bug. In my mind, immediately after I jumped into the hive I thought I needed to click on the hive and then choose the upgrade in the HUD. So I did that, but then suddenly the upgrade choice was already made for me, as if I'd hit some keyboard shortcut or something without realizing. The upgrade seemed random, however... a few times it would be shift, and other times it would be crag or shade.
I couldn't figure out what was going on, so I started my own server, enabled cheats, and tried to recreate the bug. It was only then, in the clarity of a non-competitive environment, that I had enough time to poke around and really figure out carefully what happened. The problem is this: when I was clicking on the hive to select it, I was accidentally clicking on the little upgrade icons that hover above it without realizing. As a long time beta player, I never even knew that these icons were added at some point, I'm guessing recently. I didn't know they were there because they're hard to spot with all of the other glowing items on my screen.
I don't think I'm the only one who has accidentally clicked on a upgrade choice icon without realizing it. I think many newbie comms jumping into that position might accidentally make the same mistake, and they might not even realize what happened. So here is my suggestion. Make the hovering icons stand out more from the background of the hive itself. Right now the icons are shades of yellow, and are mostly transparent against the background of the hive. I honestly never even noticed them until just now. Perhaps put them in a triangle formation, make them a little larger, and with more color contrast. Perhaps a rounded square around the border or something could go a long ways towards making them easier to see.
That is all, game on!
Comments
And it keeps happening to me. Please add an option to completely disable those shortcut (they are really more hurting than helping).
And if you have certains building in a specific location, you may not be able to click it, you'll need to make a selection box to choose it. Happened with an observer (too small to click, with th arms lab beside and his f* upgrades =WRAWRRWRAWRAWRA).
Honestly.......
Already in game.