134 replies to this topic

[9erRed]

Greetings all,

From what I understand about the HUD, it's a 'Flash' based element.

- items required to be displayed are coded to send updates to this element.
- If the displayed item is required to be in a specific colour it may be within the Flash code 'or' from the update info code.

So, this information could be spread all around the game data as to what colour to 'present' an object in the Flash HUD.
- Or simply listed in the Flash code for each element displayed, and 'Client' only dependent.

The suggestion for an 'override' code within the clients 'config.' may not work for Flash based objects as a whole.
- Those that have specific knowledge in Flash code an its workings can 'chime in anytime'.

We know the HUD can be altered, as a whole, from the different elements of the 'Clan' display. But can specific components be changed without altering the entire display?
- Can just the weapons 'ready' objects around the reticle be changed?
- Can the lower right weapons display be changed to a new colour?
- Can we get the 'Pod' box doors open/closed LED to be changed to a 'symbol'? Possibly a box with a slash for closed?

All questions the Engineers will need to check the code for and advise Russ or Tina just what can or can not be altered.

9erRed

[oldhasu]

Im sorry to be slightly out of topic, but If you will assign some resources to implement this mode this might mean you will have to rework game menu to add a checkbox atleast. What I want to ask if the guys who will be doing this could spend some additional time and implement:
1)Edit sensitivity slidebar in options so it could show current sensitivity in digits;
2)Add Field of View slidebar (showing current fov in digits also!);
3)r_DepthOfField, r_HDRGrainAmount, gp_option_ShowCockpitGlass checkboxes in graphics options menu.

This will improve new players experience a bit.

[Shinikake]

Why don't we stay on topic for once?

Here is a free piece of software that simulates colour blindness which might prove quite helpful in designing new schemes:

http://www.colororacle.org/

Some supporting documents:
http://www.colororac...ionImpaired.pdf
http://www.colororac...esign_hires.pdf

These might help as well:
http://web.archive.o...bs/colormatrix/
http://www.vischeck.com/
http://www.color-blindness.com/

And of course google has some options too:
http://www.google.co...ndness&aq=f&oq=

You guys also might want to consider the usage of symbols to convey information better as well.

Edited by Shinikake, 20 April 2015 - 05:03 AM.

[Insects]

9erRed, on 19 April 2015 - 03:51 PM, said:

The suggestion for an 'override' code within the clients 'config.' may not work for Flash based objects as a whole.
- Those that have specific knowledge in Flash code an its workings can 'chime in anytime'.
9erRed

Its easy, doll colors are defined in MechHud.gfx/DamageIndicator
They are coded in but no drama to reference them to user editable config files.

Its against rules to post the code etc, but seriously PGI team

[GenJack]

Tina Benoit, on 17 April 2015 - 10:48 AM, said:

Maybe this would help!
As there are several different kinds of color blindness.
Such as on this chart below, Protan, Deutan and Tritan

I'm red green deficient, been tested for it, and Deutan looks most correct to me

[Barantor]

My biggest complaint with my colorblindness and this game is nightvision and the colors it puts across around nighttime light sources. It makes River City Night an unplayable map for me.

[jay35]

Here's a suggestion I left in the reddit thread about this issue:



What about a Color Blind mode utilizing more than one color on certain critical HUD items by bounding one color with another color that contrasts well for color blind folks? For example, doing this in the crosshair and the targeting box visual.

Like in PowerPoint, using different colors for the Fill and the Outline on a shape, we can create a contrast of two colors that are not an issue for colorblind folks to tell apart, such that they will always be able to see one of the two colors regardless of the background color.

If the background is a color that seems to be the same visually as one of the crosshair colors, the other color should still be distinguishable, so they'd always be able to see some portion of the crosshair and instantly infer the rest since it doesn't move in relation to the portion that they can see.

Edited by jay35, 20 April 2015 - 11:35 AM.

[Agatheis]

Hi all,

Here is a link to a useful article and video in boardgame design to help those with colour blindness.

http://danielsolisbl...ing-visual.html

Designing a game to help colourblind people isn't about colours. It's about patterns.

For example:

• Make the boxes around friendly targets different in shape to enemy targets.
  
• Make bars on the HUD/GUI different patterns (checks, strips, dotted) for different functions

A.

[happy mech]

some really good points here, just different hue will not work, utilize saturation, patterns, contrast, it will help everyone

it would be great to develop a new UI with changeable colours and some form of contrast (two colours beside each other), possibly making the font bigger or bold

also custom crosshair would be nice, for example

Spoiler

[InspectorG]

Why not a black and white mode? Change friendly doritos to filled-circles.

Would this help color-blind people AND people with less than optimal PCs?

[MoonUnitBeta]

BladeSplint, on 17 April 2015 - 11:14 AM, said:

Glad to see you guys are on top of this and doing your research. I have trouble with the missile door lights on some maps and I don't even think I'm colorblind.

I'm not colour blind at all and I can't even tell what colour it is when my mech is moving.
I proposed this change, but it promptly got put down by Russ in a twitch chat I don't know why - by design there are no downfalls. I don't think he understands that, yet.

An audible sound would be nice... at least...

http://mwomercs.com/...door-indicator/


The bay doors are a big part of this mech... I don't know why you wouldn't put in something more obvious that can be easily seen in your peripherals, and not two teeny LED lights that you have to stare at and press the bay door button a bunch of times until you can notice the difference...

This is one feature that I’d rather not see any variance on. PGI puts their own spin on things, and that’s alright, I understand this, but doing so in this case would be detrimental to the design unless it's location, type face. and colour/intensity of the lights.

There is nothing about this design that can be interpreted or seen incorrectly.
There’s even white lettering above the lights to tell you what the OPEN is for.

And to remove confusion, the lights stay lit up as long as they're open. When closed or destroyed, they turn off.

Edited by MoonUnitBeta, 05 February 2016 - 12:31 AM.

[Redleg37]

Hi Tina,

I wanted to make sure you saw this. I'm the person who started this thread on Reddit.

http://www.reddit.co...cting_gameplay/

[Wolf Clearwater]

Supposedly the missile door lights change colors? Not for me. I have difficulty with all colors, I don't see any of them nearly as vibrantly as the average person. For example, many light colored cars are simply grey to me, but are light pink, light blue, or light green. In addition, I have difficulty with red/blue color differentiation. Purple and blue are distinguishable only under the right light and if they are next to each other.

In particular, the Clan HUD color is beautiful and easy for me to see on any background. The IS one is difficult and hard on the eyes. This means I prefer Clan mechs over IS ones because I can actually see the HUD much clearer.

What I would like PGI to do please:

Give the HUD several color options too choose from, both IS and Clan.

Maybe a hot pink, the existing two, a red, a yellow and a purple? This would allow players to select a HUD color that suits them.

[BladeXXL]

oldhasu, on 20 April 2015 - 03:13 AM, said:

3)r_DepthOfField, r_HDRGrainAmount, gp_option_ShowCockpitGlass checkboxes in graphics options menu.

r_DepthOfField, r_HDRGrainAmount can't be modified a.t.m - they are locked within sys_Spec-files :-)

[Nasdrovnia]

Well I'm so glad to see ppl are atleast trying to solve this problem ! I would love to have a cb mode since I'm loving this game ... only 1 problem ... I can not play this game when I'm by myself!!!!! I need a friend hooked up with me on TS to help me figure out who are allies and who are enemies (yea you guys can laugh in a way it's hilarious), but it's less funny if your teammate tells you, hey the mech right next to you is an enemy and if he didn't tell me i would be clueless !!! Pls solve this problem so i can be less of a burden to my awesome friends in game who are willing to put up with me and my problem:)

[jay35]

jay35, on 20 April 2015 - 11:34 AM, said:

Here's a suggestion I left in the reddit thread about this issue:



What about a Color Blind mode utilizing more than one color on certain critical HUD items by bounding one color with another color that contrasts well for color blind folks? For example, doing this in the crosshair and the targeting box visual.

Like in PowerPoint, using different colors for the Fill and the Outline on a shape, we can create a contrast of two colors that are not an issue for colorblind folks to tell apart, such that they will always be able to see one of the two colors regardless of the background color.

If the background is a color that seems to be the same visually as one of the crosshair colors, the other color should still be distinguishable, so they'd always be able to see some portion of the crosshair and instantly infer the rest since it doesn't move in relation to the portion that they can see.

Btw, a dual color crosshair would also solve for the issue where the yellow IS crosshair and HUD elements disappear when looking into the yellow parts of the sky on the newest CW map. This happens when fighting in the mountains, engaging someone at a higher elevation than you. It's a good example for non colorblind folks who want to get an idea of how disorienting it can be.

[Tina Benoit]

Thanks so much for all the feedback, really appreciate this as there's so much more to it than simply adding a filter.
I'm creating a list of your recommended changes to share with the team. With this we can decide what is possible and over what kind of time frame we might be able to implement some of these improvements. You may not see changes appear all at once, however there may be small implementations one at a time in the future.

[jay35]

BladeXXL, on 21 April 2015 - 01:40 AM, said:

r_DepthOfField, r_HDRGrainAmount can't be modified a.t.m - they are locked within sys_Spec-files :-)

Thankfully DoF does disable somehow, which is a good thing because DoF causes motion sickness and nausea in some people.

[jper4]

i'm on team 21 (barely) myself as far as the number in the circle goes. was determined to be red/brown/green color blind with a dash of blue/purple/pink (i forget the third color) thrown in.

on the chart
i fail at trytan on all of them- even the black at #1 looks blacker in trytan than the other three. #3 is the only other one that comes close. #5 actually looks white/light pink not yellow

#4 and #8 i see four different colors on. 1,2,5 and 6 the first three match up. i get a duetan match on #7 and on #3 protan and duetan match each other but not the original.

so in conclusion when i look at something i apparently throw a dart at a color dartboard to determine what i actually see.

which would make it kinda difficult to add a color blind mode since everyone's colorblindness is going to be off from everyone else's unless you just aim for the most common cases and we can pick the one that's best for us.

[BladeXXL]

jay35, on 22 April 2015 - 10:39 AM, said:

Thankfully DoF does disable somehow, which is a good thing because DoF causes motion sickness and nausea in some people.

If you set Post Processing to Low DoF will be as low as it seems to be disabled.
But you can't disable it within user.cfg