[PLAYER][DISCUSSION] Shadow colors

[namida]

Now that V1.47n has been out for a bit (and even longer for those who used it when it was in the experimental stage), I'd like to start this discussion - how do people feel about the colors of the shadows? (the guidelines that appear for constructive / destructive skills and gliders)

Nepster mentioned prior to V1.47n's release that he wasn't too fond of the color, and that it should be more subtle. I disagreed, on the grounds that if you've got a shadow up it's because you want the information it gives, so it should be as visible as possible; if one wanted to hide the shadows, it's as simple as moving your mouse off the lemming. In the end, we agreed to leave things as is for V1.47n, then ask how the userbase feels about it (once a stable release had been made, and thus usage was more widespread than during the experimental phase) and possibly change in later versions.

So yeah - any comments on them? Should they be more subtle? Are there cases where they aren't visible enough? Etc.

[IchoTolot]

I rather have them even more visible than having them less visible. If I use these blueprints I want to clearly see them to aim properly.

The color iself could be changed up I wouldn't mind that, but it should be min just as visible as before.

[Minim]

I may just be talking about ground-removing skills, but I'm not keen on the fact that they happen to be several different colors depending on the terrain (see image below); I'd rather have them as one easily recognisable color. Grey isn't recognisable enough, especially on black-and-white landscapes such as metal and sky.

[namida]

Fair enough. The current setup, the color is determined by a formula, based off the color of the terrain pixel behind them (the reason being that this gives the maximum chance of being visible no matter what color the underlying terrain is).

Do you have any suggestions for an alternative? One option might be to have the shadow a single color, but change which color this is based on time (so it might start red, but then slowly shift towards blue, then towards green, then back to red) - thus meaning that, worst case scenario, you might have to wait a few seconds until it's a color that stands out better against the terrain.

[Simon]

Attachment. With black and white, this is even more intrusive, but it's visible on all terrain.

I don't know how glaring I'd like the markings. My instinct is that visibility is good. Maybe I believe so only because the feature is still new.

Most important are the walkable slope, and where the worker will cancel.

-- Simon