Visual Clarity when zooming out

from AshesoftheSingularity Forums

Firstly, I must say I am absolutely loving Ashes of the Singularity so far, great stuff! 

One issue that I certainly think needs improving is the visual clarity, especially at medium to high zoom levels. It can be difficult and time consuming to distinguish what specific units are on the field. This is particularly vital in Ashes of the Singularity, due to the hard counter system when trying to read and counter your opponents composition. I would suggest implementing some kind of unit icon overlay system that makes each unit instantly recognisable, even when zoomed out. From the below screenshot, which is only a moderate level of zoom, it's impossible to recognise which units are what, with or without the health bars. You can recognise the difference between Frigrates, Cruisers and destroyers, but not differentiate inside the classes such as Archers and Brutes, or Zeus and Nemesis. 

 

Compare it to Supreme Commander for an example of excellent visual clarity. Even whilst fully zoomed out, every unit and structure can be easily identified by a combination of the shape and the symbol inside of it. 

Giving Ashes some form of unit and building indication would be a massive quality of life improvement. 

Thanks! 

37,746 views 6 replies
Reply #1 from AshesoftheSingularity Forums Top

The devs are currently massively against unit icons from what I gather, which I can see the pros and cons for. They want to have the player view a massive battle from a high up vantage and see the individual mass of armies colliding instead of watching dots flicker out of existence. However I will admit it it horrendous trying to even differentiate between your own units let alone make an accurate assessment of an enemies composition. Personally I think the minimap should show where higher concentrations of units are located and where the dreadnoughts are sitting. Maybe with the meta unit mechanic in play we could have icons symbolising the meta units, i.e. Seige dreadnoughts have a seige icons etc. That way we could distinguish between where our defensive and offensive forces are sitting and adjust accordingly. This idea might require a few more dreadnoughts with unique traits and a few more types of base defenses but I'd love to hear thoughts? 

Also there must be an easier way to place down metal extractors it's a tiresome chore placing them all down, might want to consider the way PA handles lots of them, could make things easier for the player?

Reply #2 from AshesoftheSingularity Forums Top

What we seem to be getting from players is that as you zoom out, a colorization should be applied to the units.  We don't really need "icons" per se, but some way to make sure your units pop more when you zoom out.

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Reply #3 from AshesoftheSingularity Forums Top

Maybe having the possibility of holding space bar while zoomed all the way out will highlight units by the player color, the outlines of the units will be lit by the color of the player.

It's the ONLY explanation if you do not want icons in the game. Even though this still does not fix the issue of recognizing units when fully zoomed out which needs to be addressed I think. Especially once larger maps come into play and the player should be able to grasp the situation at a glance and not having to zoom closer down to distinguish units. 

Reply #4 from AshesoftheSingularity Forums Top

Thanks for the response guys!

I certainly understand some players might have an aesthetic reason for not wanting to have an overlay or unit icon. As someone else has mentioned, perhaps offering the best of both worlds, a toggle button or setting in the options menu to change between overlays/icons to distinguish units, and none to provide the epic visuals. That way everybody wins, giving the players the tools and customisation to play the game as they see fit is always good. Giving a different colourisation for each unit type could work as well, I look forward to seeing whatever solution you come up with!

I would also suggest the same with the minimap, displaying units on the minimap to allow for better map awareness and coordination. That could be customisable too.