Personally I dislike the way the current health bar looks, so I wanted to go and find some quick examples on google as to what would look better: https://www.google.com/search?q=RTS+hp+ ... s&tbm=isch, and the 4th result for me was http://media.moddb.com/images/articles/ ... health.png :/.
Still, I think they can look better, I know you display cooldowns and such, but is "health" really necessary?
smoth's junk.
Moderators: MR.D, Moderators
Re: smoth's junk.
Not my widget, someone else wrote it.gajop wrote:Personally I dislike the way the current health bar looks, so I wanted to go and find some quick examples on google as to what would look better: https://www.google.com/search?q=RTS+hp+ ... s&tbm=isch, and the 4th result for me was:/.
Still, I think they can look better, I know you display cooldowns and such, but is "health" really necessary?
Not that I am interested in prioritizing it but "Personally I dislike the way the current health bar looks" and "Still, I think they can look better." Neither of which are actually useful information/feedback. i am fine with "health" written on them. you didn't leave any relevant suggestion as to improvements so I guess it was just the standard spring feedback: hey this is ugly, go fix!
It is the design equivalent of "your code is sloppy go fix it."
Re: smoth's junk.
Sorry, I thought it was obvious but reading it again it doesn't seem so.
As far as graphics go it just seems ugly to me:
There's a gradient for both the filled hp (dark blue to light blue) as well as the missing hp (grey to black).
If you look at this picture: http://i.imgur.com/j9wHU.jpg, you'll notice that they're using a border to surround the health bar (you don't have to make it nearly as shiny as they have though), and there's no gradient I think (ignore the border gradient, that thing may be animated, not sure).
Also I like how people are splitting a hp bar into rectangles by putting vertical lines, and the more the vertical lines there are, the more maximum absolute hp a unit has (a lot of vertical lines = tanky unit, few = paper unit).
Lastly, healthbar is used here to display team information (team color). Personally I'd rather use it to display remaining hp amount, i.e. green at full hp, yellow at half and red at low hp.
Here's what I think one of your first steps should be (just a couple of fast changes and as far as I'm willing to go right now):
That picture removes the "health" and places the percentage inside (although the letters should be made a lot more clearer to read, probably brighter or using an outline). Color is used here to indicate the amount of remaining hp instead of the team. Next on what should be done: color darkened a bit, borders created, hp split into rectangles with vertical lines.
The major thing I dislike is this "health" label written in the health bar, it seems unnecessary and you could put the percentage or absolute values there instead.gajop wrote: but is "health" really necessary?
As far as graphics go it just seems ugly to me:
There's a gradient for both the filled hp (dark blue to light blue) as well as the missing hp (grey to black).
If you look at this picture: http://i.imgur.com/j9wHU.jpg, you'll notice that they're using a border to surround the health bar (you don't have to make it nearly as shiny as they have though), and there's no gradient I think (ignore the border gradient, that thing may be animated, not sure).
Also I like how people are splitting a hp bar into rectangles by putting vertical lines, and the more the vertical lines there are, the more maximum absolute hp a unit has (a lot of vertical lines = tanky unit, few = paper unit).
Lastly, healthbar is used here to display team information (team color). Personally I'd rather use it to display remaining hp amount, i.e. green at full hp, yellow at half and red at low hp.
Here's what I think one of your first steps should be (just a couple of fast changes and as far as I'm willing to go right now):
That picture removes the "health" and places the percentage inside (although the letters should be made a lot more clearer to read, probably brighter or using an outline). Color is used here to indicate the amount of remaining hp instead of the team. Next on what should be done: color darkened a bit, borders created, hp split into rectangles with vertical lines.
Re: smoth's junk.
You could use dota 2 style borders to indicate team affiliation.gajop wrote:If you look at this picture: http://i.imgur.com/j9wHU.jpg, you'll notice that they're using a border to surround the health bar (you don't have to make it nearly as shiny as they have though), and there's no gradient I think (ignore the border gradient, that thing may be animated, not sure).
[...]
Lastly, healthbar is used here to display team information (team color). Personally I'd rather use it to display remaining hp amount, i.e. green at full hp, yellow at half and red at low hp.
Re: smoth's junk.
SinbadEV: I agree that borders can be used for that, but isn't Dota2 also using the health bar itself to display team affiliation (green is for allies and red is for enemies)?
WC3 and SC2 (which I haven't played, but is more modern) use the bar colors for HP% display.
They both look good enough I think, so it's all about project specifics (multiple team RTS and 2team MOBA) and taste.
WC3 and SC2 (which I haven't played, but is more modern) use the bar colors for HP% display.
They both look good enough I think, so it's all about project specifics (multiple team RTS and 2team MOBA) and taste.
Re: smoth's junk.
Yes, DOTA2 is green for allies and red for enemies... I was referring exclusively to the aesthetic. (I think the borders in DOTA2 are used to identify heroes)gajop wrote:SinbadEV: I agree that borders can be used for that, but isn't Dota2 also using the health bar itself to display team affiliation (green is for allies and red is for enemies)?
WC3 and SC2 (which I haven't played, but is more modern) use the bar colors for HP% display.
They both look good enough I think, so it's all about project specifics (multiple team RTS and 2team MOBA) and taste.
Re: smoth's junk.
Anyway. Here is my response:
health is on there because some weapon require a significant reload time, like artillery units. I plan on a series of stacked up bars for things like this but I have not gotten to the point where I can do all that. possibly ugly with a unit having >2 bars over their head? yes, but that is how it'll be.
Why not borders? because they healthbars scale as you zoom. In starcraft, your have healthbars with borders because you play at the same zoom level at all times. I had tangled with the idea of doing a bordered health bar a few years back for unit stats displays. It isn't that dota 2 style is some new suggestion, I wrote it off YEARS ago. I want to say about 4 years ago.
I have 2ish notebooks filled with this sort of design stuff.
I may use that one day when I do a more MOBA sort of side thing within my module set which is looking like it might be a series of sets now if the whole addons manager is as awesome as it think it will be... JK, JK, JK, JK, JK, JK, ROARING CHEERS ARE HEARD
With respect to this design, I felt that much information combined WITH a down scaling that would result in blurred/compressed bars would be very ugly. Especially at the play distance I preferred. for something like starcraft, megaman etc, those sort of health bars would have been top priority but as they are smaller at a distance.. as in THIS far out:
(looks around for the people on the forum to cry about the optionally visible windows which are there for development/pretty reason and can be completely hidden)
I cannot see doing a fancy border as it will visually get in the way and confuse things at a distance. Color is a funny thing and the reason I don't like color is that red/green the most common form of colorblind is what you are suggesting. I thought about doing like a sectioning, where I break it down to sections of 10 at upclose and 4 at a high distance but then realized it was stupid to have the health click off in increments and further realized that having the bars at a distance would also be ugly at a far zoom
health is on there because some weapon require a significant reload time, like artillery units. I plan on a series of stacked up bars for things like this but I have not gotten to the point where I can do all that. possibly ugly with a unit having >2 bars over their head? yes, but that is how it'll be.
Why not borders? because they healthbars scale as you zoom. In starcraft, your have healthbars with borders because you play at the same zoom level at all times. I had tangled with the idea of doing a bordered health bar a few years back for unit stats displays. It isn't that dota 2 style is some new suggestion, I wrote it off YEARS ago. I want to say about 4 years ago.
I have 2ish notebooks filled with this sort of design stuff.
I may use that one day when I do a more MOBA sort of side thing within my module set which is looking like it might be a series of sets now if the whole addons manager is as awesome as it think it will be... JK, JK, JK, JK, JK, JK, ROARING CHEERS ARE HEARD
With respect to this design, I felt that much information combined WITH a down scaling that would result in blurred/compressed bars would be very ugly. Especially at the play distance I preferred. for something like starcraft, megaman etc, those sort of health bars would have been top priority but as they are smaller at a distance.. as in THIS far out:
(looks around for the people on the forum to cry about the optionally visible windows which are there for development/pretty reason and can be completely hidden)
I cannot see doing a fancy border as it will visually get in the way and confuse things at a distance. Color is a funny thing and the reason I don't like color is that red/green the most common form of colorblind is what you are suggesting. I thought about doing like a sectioning, where I break it down to sections of 10 at upclose and 4 at a high distance but then realized it was stupid to have the health click off in increments and further realized that having the bars at a distance would also be ugly at a far zoom
Re: smoth's junk.
I came across some lego made mecha units. I imagined they would come alive ingame and when they blow up... their individual pieces fly off 
image gallery
Just daydreaming...
About the healthbars... they already look neat as they are. Because usually there are hundreds of units on the map at a time. Minimalistic is key here, unlike Dota where there are just a few main characters. The only thing i could see be done is to round of the corners of the bar just a tiny bit.
image gallery
Just daydreaming...
About the healthbars... they already look neat as they are. Because usually there are hundreds of units on the map at a time. Minimalistic is key here, unlike Dota where there are just a few main characters. The only thing i could see be done is to round of the corners of the bar just a tiny bit.
Re: smoth's junk.
knorke did it already, so not that far-fetched.
Re: smoth's junk.
I wish spring had a way for parts to just fall off. that would be awesome.Floris wrote:I came across some lego made mecha units. I imagined they would come alive ingame and when they blow up... their individual pieces fly off
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Funkencool
- Posts: 542
- Joined: 02 Dec 2011, 22:31
Re: smoth's junk.
http://springrts.com/phpbb/viewtopic.ph ... start=7962
http://kencumpian.deviantart.com/art/JI ... -212883705
Thought this might compliment the knorke vid
Not quite pieces falling off, but still neat. To bad he never released anything, he had some good stuff.
On a another note, I can't remember the name of the game. But when you say "parts to just fall off"; it reminds me of a mech game in which you collected parts from battles that you could later use. Almost like a resource for building new mechs (if I remember right). Metal fatigue maybe...?
NM, just did a google search and it sounds like a number of mech RTS have that mechanic.
http://kencumpian.deviantart.com/art/JI ... -212883705
Thought this might compliment the knorke vid
Not quite pieces falling off, but still neat. To bad he never released anything, he had some good stuff.
On a another note, I can't remember the name of the game. But when you say "parts to just fall off"; it reminds me of a mech game in which you collected parts from battles that you could later use. Almost like a resource for building new mechs (if I remember right). Metal fatigue maybe...?
NM, just did a google search and it sounds like a number of mech RTS have that mechanic.
Re: smoth's junk.
metal fatigue.
the Ken thing was tight I am sad he didn't reveal his techniques for animation conversion to spring. Same for Zpock. Either way..
the Ken thing was tight I am sad he didn't reveal his techniques for animation conversion to spring. Same for Zpock. Either way..
Re: smoth's junk.
Ken did everything by hand, line by line. He was an old OTA pro.smoth wrote:metal fatigue.
the Ken thing was tight I am sad he didn't reveal his techniques for animation conversion to spring. Same for Zpock. Either way..
Re: smoth's junk.
we should have cloned and slaved
Re: smoth's junk.
Ok, I have the variables named something a little easier to follow and I feel I am fairly confident that I can get this thing as far as switching material based on user selection down pat after I do my next bit.... jeeze, so many bad variable names, stuff ate like 1+ hour to clean up.
however, I now know where I can get into my hands into this variable to set the values i need to set. So for now I am going to bed! No pictures, just posting a minor update.
Key points: what I called specular isn't really, it was just a sheen of sorts that is based on some cube map texture not a proper gl light. Whaever, it doesn't matter, thing looks good. I am probably going to get started on textures again soon. i look forward to it greatly.
however, I now know where I can get into my hands into this variable to set the values i need to set. So for now I am going to bed! No pictures, just posting a minor update.
Key points: what I called specular isn't really, it was just a sheen of sorts that is based on some cube map texture not a proper gl light. Whaever, it doesn't matter, thing looks good. I am probably going to get started on textures again soon. i look forward to it greatly.
Re: smoth's junk.
WEEEEEEEEEEEE still not done and I am not staying up all night again.
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FireStorm_
- Posts: 666
- Joined: 19 Aug 2009, 16:09
Re: smoth's junk.
Yay! Eye candy.
I suppose it must be like a steak: Already looking mighty tasty when it's not yet (well-)done.
I suppose it must be like a steak: Already looking mighty tasty when it's not yet (well-)done.
Re: smoth's junk.
Have you thought of putting dynamic lighting/fx from those robots?
Re: smoth's junk.
right now, my only thought is getting the full scheming working(right now if a unit scheme has texturing, they always do.)