RED FLASHING WARNING = Taking Damage... but...

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Wraithwynd
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Now that I have armor of 200 HP as soon as my shields are down the Flash of Red actually seems to be more of an annoyance than a 'help'. I have gotten to the habit of ignoring it since I have more HP than I did when I first started.

When I first started being hit after the shields used up was a good indicator that I am close to death, thus as soon as my screen flashed red I kicked it up and 'ran' away. Now that I have 200 HP to the armor I can stay and perhaps finish off the enemy before I die.

Since I'm in battle its difficult to keep track of where my ship is pointing (to fire on the enemy) and keep track of my wingmen (so I don't accidentally lead to their deaths) and keep track of my HP left. A Tiny message at the bottom of the screen is all but lost when your wingmen are telling you good shooting or 'Hey watch your fire' (In reality they need to watch where they are flying :P ).

It would be nice if the flash of red would indicate when you are near the end of your HP, say when you are down to your last 25% of HP - thus for 100 HP you have 25 HP left on your shields, at 200 HP you have 50 Left. This way the flash of red indicates that you are going to die real soon if you don't get your stern out of there.

Along the same note.

I notice there are Red and there are Green (shades of green I am told, I'm slightly color blind thus can't tell the difference in the greens) but there are no yellow.

Green - Allied
Red - Enemy
Yellow - Neutral such as dead stations which remain red even when dead silly.

Perhaps a yellow flash when your armor is half used up - this way you have a visual cue without having to glance down at the plating hud every few seconds, Red when you are down to a quarter.
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Xephyr
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But red is the universal way of saying "bad".

Or stop.
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digdug
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a color blind mode could be a good idea for future versions of the game. :)

Aren't neutral spaceobjects (like wrecks) grey ?
Also we already have yellow used in the radar (and the map?): projectiles.
Wraithwynd
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Xephyr wrote:But red is the universal way of saying "bad".

Or stop.
Yes, but is it really bad to take a bit of damage on your armor when you are close to finishing off a foe?

"Warning" "Yield" "Caution" are also yellow in the 'real world'.
digdug wrote:a color blind mode could be a good idea for future versions of the game. :)

Aren't neutral spaceobjects (like wrecks) grey ?
Also we already have yellow used in the radar (and the map?): projectiles.
Extended radar (the rom that puts the dots on the edge of the screen) comes in two colors - green and red. I am told that wrecks are a different shade of green compared to things like friendly vessels and cargo containers.

It is possible that the firing weapons in the HUD (the round 'radar' screen) is yellow, they look pretty much white to me. I do not see wrecks at all on the Hud unless there are a lot, then they look like dim stars. If there is just one on the HUD I am most likely to not see it. Thankfully the Spouse likes to sit on my shoulder and tell me what do to. Driving the car is even more fun :roll: :wink: .
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Just making sure, but you do tell your wingmen to break formation and attack right? Otherwise they hang around like garlic and live to get in the way of your fire.
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Atarlost
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I'd be for removing the flashing entirely, or only flashing the area outside the viewport.

Yellow or green flashing would obscure the game just as badly as red.
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Aury
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Atarlost wrote:I'd be for removing the flashing entirely, or only flashing the area outside the viewport.
Yeah, we've been pushing for this for quite some time
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SparcMan
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What about flashing the outer edge of the screen with maybe a bit of fade inward? That would look pretty slick without obscuring your vision.
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Atarlost
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I can't see why anyone wants it at all. It's incredibly obnoxious. Especially against large numbers of many fragmented weapons.
IceMephit
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Why not do it in a small circle around the ship or just the ship itself flashing red when taking damage? The whole screen is just annoying and under the correct conditions it can make a battle confusing.
I have not noticed a difference in green colors for active ships/stations and the green for inactive(destroyed) ships/stations. I always wondered why "dead" enemy stations remained red, while dead enemy ships (as well as friendlies) are green. Why not grey/white for "dead" things, regardless of their type and affiliations. Maybe even a pale blue.
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