Distinct Icon and Meter-bar Colors
Re: Distinct Icon and Meter-bar Colors
I prefer the aesthetic of the old icons. I think the 3D aspect contributed to a futuristic - and realistic - feel. The new icons are IMO overly simplistic and reinforce the fact that the player is playing a game. I find that more symbolic icons tend to be less immersive.
Warning: Antarans in dimensional portal are closer than they appear.
Re: Distinct Icon and Meter-bar Colors
I just had a brainwave - make the construction icon just a hammer.
As for the icons themselves - I prefer the old icons.
As for the icons themselves - I prefer the old icons.
- eleazar
- Design & Graphics Lead Emeritus
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Re: Distinct Icon and Meter-bar Colors
It is expected that not everyone will like the same style, especially when changes are made to something familiar. Most of the major changes i introduced were met with howls of protest by a minority. Much more rarely did that dislike actually persist.
But this isn't my favorite style vs your favorite style. Personally I find a painterly look easier to pull off.
This is my best effort as a graphic artist to imitate the visual traits than make for the clearest, user-friendliest interface for a 4X game -- something i've paid close attention to for a decade or so. The rows of icons and numbers are tiring for the eye to scan, not once, but when you've done it a few thousand times already, and your attention is really on this invasion your are fighting off-- you want to pull the information out of the GUI without even being aware of it. Boldly clear and distinct icons serve that job best, especially when color-coded.
This is not a game about gears and test-tubes- certainly an actual cogwheel isn't the best embodiment of the future. The icons are symbols for concepts, and go match with other icons (such as arrows) that have a much more tenuous connection to physical realities. Trying to make them realistic at the expense of clarity, is a mis-guided pursuit of the 3D "wow" factor, might have still worked 5 years ago, but the gaming (or movie going) public is now long used to.
Realism has a place, such as in combat, and the close-ups that the design and probably diplomacy screens will afford.
But this isn't my favorite style vs your favorite style. Personally I find a painterly look easier to pull off.
This is my best effort as a graphic artist to imitate the visual traits than make for the clearest, user-friendliest interface for a 4X game -- something i've paid close attention to for a decade or so. The rows of icons and numbers are tiring for the eye to scan, not once, but when you've done it a few thousand times already, and your attention is really on this invasion your are fighting off-- you want to pull the information out of the GUI without even being aware of it. Boldly clear and distinct icons serve that job best, especially when color-coded.
This is not a game about gears and test-tubes- certainly an actual cogwheel isn't the best embodiment of the future. The icons are symbols for concepts, and go match with other icons (such as arrows) that have a much more tenuous connection to physical realities. Trying to make them realistic at the expense of clarity, is a mis-guided pursuit of the 3D "wow" factor, might have still worked 5 years ago, but the gaming (or movie going) public is now long used to.
Realism has a place, such as in combat, and the close-ups that the design and probably diplomacy screens will afford.