[Rejected]Cull turning lemmings around in teleporters? [EXP-PLAYER] [DISCUSSION]

[Proxima]

I think "IN" and "OUT" markers is the best solution. There are no teleporters in the real world, so it's hard to make something recognisable as a teleporter -- and the difficulty is drastically increased when there are so many graphics sets. We should either throw out all the existing teleporter sprites and come up with a uniform appearance, or use markers so that teleporters and receivers are always identifiable, and distinguishable from each other. And I think a lot of people would be very unhappy with the first option

The trouble with mirroring the sprites to distinguish a turning teleporter is that the player doesn't know which one is mirrored and which is normal; it has to be learned separately for every single type of teleporter. (And several of them are symmetrical....)

[Simon]

I think "IN" and "OUT" markers is the best solution.

Better than any other graphical guideline that doesn't resort to blatant text?
Better than whatever is language-independent?
Better than icons that aren't mere arrows?
Better than idling animations?

If text, the antithesis of pattern recognition, were really the best option in such a visual game, that would be a huge red flag that the entire teleporter feature sucks. I hope the feature has merit.

come up with a uniform appearance
or use markers so that teleporters and receivers are always identifiable, and distinguishable
a lot of people would be very unhappy with [uniform appearance]

If "uniform appearance" means that there is only one gadget, and tilesets can't design their own: Agree that people would rage.

If "uniform appearance" means that there is a commonly-agreed-upon graphical feature (not icon) that all teleporters share (all exits have steps and torches, all teleporters have...?), and, likewise, that there is a second, different, commonly-agreed-upon graphical feature that all receivers share, then people wouldn't rage, instead we would have a great solution.

If "markers" mean slapped-on text, it's ugly. If "markers" means these commonly-agreed-upon graphical features, again you have a great idea.

The trouble with mirroring the sprites to distinguish a turning teleporter is that the player doesn't know which one is mirrored and which is normal; it has to be learned separately for every single type of teleporter. (And several of them are symmetrical....)

Agree, the turning remains hard to explain. Might fall back to icons tacked on top of the gadget, either by engine or by a second graphic?



-- Simon

[Simon]

Clarification because a core point by Proxima, rightfully, is that teleporters/receivers don't occur in real life, therefore don't have distinguishers:

Invent a completely arbitrary distinguisher. Maybe all teleporters have antennas with electricity buzzing from them, and all receivers have sattellite dishes. It needn't make sense in real life, but it should be memorable once you've used any teleporter once in NL.

Then make guidelines that suggest to tileset designers these arbitrary, but culturally fixed, distinguishers.

-- Simon

[Dullstar]

I like this icon for turning teleporters. I'd suggest having it appear on mouse-over of a turning receiver. I'd also suggest the IN/OUT text appearing on teleporters/receivers on mouse-over, along with a line connecting the two. This behavior should definitely occur in clear physics, but I'd suggest using it outside of clear physics as well, since there's no visual indication of connected teleporters/receivers anyway. This would create odd behavior if teleporters and receivers were overlain to replicate a two-way teleporter, which would probably be most easily fixed by implementing a proper object for the job.

Flipping the words IN/OUT should be avoided if possible.

[IchoTolot]

Mouseover appreance is a very good idea Dullstar!

A simple mouseover can then tell entrance and exit as well as turning and non-turning apart.

[Nepster]

Given that the sprites with "IN" and "OUT" have been made, I have made the following decisions:
1) Lemming-turning teleporters will be kept. I still disapprove of them, but if they make others happy...
2) However, I will programmatically enforce (both in the game and in the editor) that (paired) teleporters and receivers are both flipped, when they turn lemmings. If either of them read a level where this is not the case, the orientation of the teleporter is kept and the receiver is flipped, so that the game physics are preserved.

I haven't yet made any decision regarding adding mouse-over hints, resp. in what form to add them.