Oolite Bulletins

To distinguish between the dots on the radar would it be possible to replace them with singlecolor icons/sprites?
Players can then select which shiprole(s) they would like to be shown as icon or as dot.

I know it's not exactly what you asked for, but would this be a reasonable compromise, given that it's already in the code (dormant though)?

Not as nice as jolly roger icons but it does have the intended information!

I could imagine that both solutions won't be too helpful if more than a handful of ships are around...



Even without labels and in less tense situations, part of the dots can be obstructed by others. Perhaps it should be limited to the leaders (ignoring the escorts).

Fritz wrote:

I could imagine that both solutions won't be too helpful if more than a handful of ships are around...

... which is why we don't have that activated by default. It can get messy quite quickly.

return to default when more than x amount of ships_with_role are in view

I like the ID labels but I suspect WAY too distracting in combat or when there's a lot on the screen. Maybe have it switchable? Or go back to the simple defaults when there's a red alert?

Having said that, one thing that would be good is for the current selected target to be marked in some way.

Simply having different colours for offenders and non-offenders would be almost as helpful as icons and wouldn't mess up the display (we have 16 million colours, but the display currently only uses five or six colours and some flashing combinations.) Displaying the ship type as in the screenshot could be toggled by a key, so the player can decide himself when it is getting too confusing. You can have a red alert with only one attacker, and you can fly totally peaceful with two or three freighter convoys on the scanner.

A text icon combination
Rescaled icons
A current selected target icon with targetrole icon



for me this is on the borderline of cluther

- you can select one type of role to be replaced by an icon ( same key cycles through the different roles )
- station and alike object to be shown as text ( on/off )
- an icon for current selected target ( on/off )

A quick point: the "role" of various NPC's is generally a hidden parameter and isn't really exposed in a visual way. Rather, the player is left to work out what that NPC ship is by observation and deduction. This is an important aspect of the gameplay, that element of the unknown. What kind of ship has just come into range? You don't know if it's a pirate by looking at a yellow dot on the scanner. Without extra equipment you don't even know if they're offenders. If your scanner is showing a yellow dot all you can really determine is (a) there is a ship out there, (b) it's piloted, and (c) it's not a police ship, station, beacon or a Thargoid. And even if the ship has a bounty it doesn't necessarily follow that they must be a pirate.

Even when the dot turns red, it doesn't have to mean the ship is a pirate. They might be a hunter or an assassin. I don't think the icons you've put on the display add any additional information that the current color system doesn't already provide.

I'm not saying the feature request is unnecessary. There might be a good use for the icons. But I don't see at the moment how the "pirate" or "police" icons add value to the display. A blue dot already indicates a police ship. I don't need a big icon to tell me that. A yellow dot is an NPC ship. If it's not a red dot I don't have to worry about it. If it becomes a red dot I don't care if it's a pirate, assassin, hunter, trader or a trumble. Now it's an enemy ship I need to fight or flee from. That's all I need to know.

A quick point: the "role" of various NPC's is generally a hidden parameter and isn't really exposed in a visual way. Rather, the player is left to work out what that NPC ship is by observation and deduction. This is an important aspect of the gameplay, that element of the unknown. What kind of ship has just come into range? You don't know if it's a pirate by looking at a yellow dot on the scanner. Without extra equipment you don't even know if they're offenders. If your scanner is showing a yellow dot all you can really determine is (a) there is a ship out there, (b) it's piloted, and (c) it's not a police ship, station, beacon or a Thargoid. And even if the ship has a bounty it doesn't necessarily follow that they must be a pirate.

Good point, obvious it shouldnot show too much information it couldnot know.

Even when the dot turns red, it doesn't have to mean the ship is a pirate. They might be a hunter or an assassin. I don't think the icons you've put on the display add any additional information that the current color system doesn't already provide.
But I don't see at the moment how the "pirate" or "police" icons add value to the display. A blue dot already indicates a police ship.

The police/pirate are example icons, a known hunter should get a hunter icon, an assassin an assassin icon and so on.
The icons should be larger than the current dots to catch the eye of a player.

cbr wrote:

return to default when more than x amount of ships_with_role are in view

Good idea.

Simply having different colours for offenders and non-offenders would be almost as helpful as icons and wouldn't mess up the display (we have 16 million colours, but the display currently only uses five or six colours and some flashing combinations.) Displaying the ship type as in the screenshot could be toggled by a key, so the player can decide himself when it is getting too confusing. You can have a red alert with only one attacker, and you can fly totally peaceful with two or three freighter convoys on the scanner.

There's an OXP which changes the lollipop colors for offenders

Zireael wrote:

Simply having different colours for offenders and non-offenders would be almost as helpful as icons and wouldn't mess up the display (we have 16 million colours, but the display currently only uses five or six colours and some flashing combinations.) Displaying the ship type as in the screenshot could be toggled by a key, so the player can decide himself when it is getting too confusing. You can have a red alert with only one attacker, and you can fly totally peaceful with two or three freighter convoys on the scanner.

There's an OXP which changes the lollipop colors for offenders

Police IFF Scanner Upgrade by Capt. Murphy. I added it to the OXZ downloader long ago, without any update or change to the original.

Hmm a big stonking Jolly Rodger is inaccurate and a bit messy.

The flag was probably intended as communication of the pirates' identity, which may have given target ships an opportunity to change their mind and surrender without a fight. For example in June 1720 when Bartholomew Roberts sailed into the harbour at Trepassey, Newfoundland with black flags flying, the crews of all 22 vessels in the harbour abandoned them in panic.[41] If a ship then decided to resist, the Jolly Roger was taken down and a red flag was flown, indicating that the pirates intended to take the ship by force and without mercy. Richard Hawkins reports that "When they fight under Jolly Roger, they give quarter, which they do not when they fight under the red or bloody flag."

Flying the "Red flag" is probably more accurate given the voracity of the average oolite pirate.

The problem we have here is one of horses for courses. When you need information on what's going on your scope is zoomed out and your seeing EVERYTHING. When your zoomed in targets can pop out of the scope fairly easily. The only way I can see this working is by having a switchable Navigation hud that has an entire screen scope. So not for fighting but just getting your bearings and realigning.

Using that in conjunction with a slightly more specific (but still fairly generic) icon set (more geometric than wordy) and you could possibly have something useful.

It is important to remember that oolite add ons are much like a C.D.T. technology project. First and foremost you have to ask yourself "What problem am I trying to solve and has the problem already been solved by another add on?"

I do like the idea of a switchable mega nav scope however. I may take a look into that when I have a funny 5 minutes.