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Visual effect while cloaked

An area for discussing new ideas and additions to Oolite.

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Diziet Sma
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Re: Visual effect while cloaked

Post by Diziet Sma »

Commander McLane wrote:
Bothkill wrote:
Pity it's not in the standard Oolite, cause I'm aiming for Elite status with no OXP!
It is in standard Oolite, and has been there for a looooong time, possibly since 1.65. I have my cloaking device since about 2007, and have always had the blue/white status light when cloaked, and my hud.plist doesn't even contain the cloak_indicator_on_status_light key, which makes me assume that this is Oolite's default anyway.
Ahem.. Bothkill wasn't talking about a piddly little status light.. he was talking about this, as per Elite on the Spectrum:
Mauiby de Fug wrote:
I used to use a HUD which I think did exactly that - it put a blue overlay over the screen, getting slightly foggier on the outside.
Most games have some sort of paddling-pool-and-water-wings beginning to ease you in: Oolite takes the rather more Darwinian approach of heaving you straight into the ocean, often with a brick or two in your pockets for luck. ~ Disembodied
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Re: Visual effect while cloaked

Post by Bothkill »

Thank you Diziet Sma for bringing the topic back on-topic!

So, doesn't anyone else think it's nice to have the blue overlay while cloaked in the standard Oolite?
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Re: Visual effect while cloaked

Post by Cody »

Nope!
I would advise stilts for the quagmires, and camels for the snowy hills
And any survivors, their debts I will certainly pay. There's always a way!
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Re: Visual effect while cloaked

Post by Smivs »

Not for me either - the little light is fine.
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Re: Visual effect while cloaked

Post by Commander McLane »

Me neither.

I'm generally opposed to having too much going on my screen—other than the action in front of my ship. I don't like to be distracted from said action. :)
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Re: Visual effect while cloaked

Post by Disembodied »

Bothkill wrote:
So, doesn't anyone else think it's nice to have the blue overlay while cloaked in the standard Oolite?
I like the effect ... it lends things a kind of sub-marine feel. I only use the cloak on very rare occasions, so I think it's good to make it a special event.
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Re: Visual effect while cloaked

Post by Diziet Sma »

Mauiby de Fug wrote:
You can see pics of it from http://www.flickr.com/photos/34159828@N06/, and download it from http://www.box.net/shared/zq6hgs9ocl.
I quite like the effect too.. even though I've never used the cloak.. I wonder how easy it would be to adapt to other HUDs?
Most games have some sort of paddling-pool-and-water-wings beginning to ease you in: Oolite takes the rather more Darwinian approach of heaving you straight into the ocean, often with a brick or two in your pockets for luck. ~ Disembodied
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Re: Visual effect while cloaked

Post by Fatleaf »

I have added a short activation sound effect and a deactivation sound effect. You can grab it here if you want to check it out.
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Re: Visual effect while cloaked

Post by Duggan »

It seems to me, from what I have read so far, that an indicator in the HUD is the most desirable option, an icon of some description that shows the pilot beyond any doubt that the cloak is either on or off. The green status light getting a slightly bluishy green tinge is barely registering on my old eyes and the yellow remains pretty much yellow on my HUD (CRR HUD). In all honesty I never truly know whether the cloak is activated or not until I encounter a foe that appears to remain oblivious to my approach.

One way around (If it is doable I guess) is the emphasizing of the existing set up , that is to say..Make the green Light Blue with a cloaking device activated and the Yellow Light White with the cloaking device activated or add a symbol to the HUD that leaves the pilot in doubt that the cloak is active or inactive..

Discretion being the better part of valour, I would humbly suggest that for a lot of us , we come from the ELITE game on either ZX Spectrum, BBC or the other one...So you see, It would not be hedging my bets to suggest that a goodly few of us come from a demographic that may now be approaching middle age along with all the visual deterioration that those years have accrued.
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Re: Visual effect while cloaked

Post by Cody »

Duggan wrote:
The green status light getting a slightly bluishy green tinge is barely registering on my old eyes and the yellow remains pretty much yellow on my HUD (CRR HUD).
My very old eyes have no trouble at all seeing the differently-coloured status light when cloaked - is it your hud/monitor/machine perhaps?
I would advise stilts for the quagmires, and camels for the snowy hills
And any survivors, their debts I will certainly pay. There's always a way!
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Re: Visual effect while cloaked

Post by Duggan »

is it your hud/monitor/machine perhaps?
It could indeed , quiet possibly be :)
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