Armor Interface Upgrade Options

[Xav]

I open the following for discussion and brainstorming.

1. Targetted ships show each armor segments' damage percentage or as a specific color, etc...

2. Player ship armor follows the same patterns as described in #1.

3. Both targetted and player ships armor segments flash when below 25% (or 10%, etc...).

4.

As for enemies and autons showing damage, it might be possible with overlays to display which armor seg is the most damaged and have a visual indicator show that, but that's a topic for another thread

5.

I would also add to that list that there should be some way to find the target ship's armor type and it's resistances. I'm not sure where on the screen that info could be displayed, and the overlay may be the only option, in which case, dynamic text on screen may be needed....

(this might be too many topics for one thread already, so I'll stop there)

Please, discuss

[Arisaya]

oh the HUD, it's not too difficult to make the armor segments change color. As to making them flash, I'm not sure that's supported by the game's UI yet.

[Prophet]

1. Targetted ships show each armor segments' damage percentage or as a specific color, etc...

With an overlay, this can be done, It may not be pretty though. An overlay (or more precisely, an overlay for each armor seg!) could show a graphic to represent the amount of damage to that segment. Currently, placing text on the screen dynamically is not supported. The graphic could be anything from a simple colour coded square to a semi transparent "damaged" look, with scuffed and shredded metal. The fact that overlays can be attached to armor segs are a big bonus.

3. Both targetted and player ships armor segments flash when below 25% (or 10%, etc...).

This could also be covered by the aforementioned overlay, perhaps with an effect like a fireball, or sparks or whatnot. Overlay events should be able to support this, but it would have to be tested.



I would also add to that list that there should be some way to find the target ship's armor type and it's resistances. I'm not sure where on the screen that info could be displayed, and the overlay may be the only option, in which case, dynamic text on screen may be needed....

[Xav]

5.



Call it a "ping" (term used by submariners for the purpose target tracking) catridge/cannon - uses a device slot. Upon targeting a ship...a button in pressed, "p" (p is actually pause I know). The targeted ships' armor data would available as an option within the "ship screen" (press "s"). Only one "ping" is stored at one time - only the most recent "ping" will show. There could also be the most recent armor percentage (per the last ping) shown in this screen.

[Prophet]

Using a dockscreen is a whole different ballgame! You could have an image of the target, each individual armor seg with it's picture, resistances, name, price, weight, damage as a percent or actual hp.
The issue is that time continues when you're in a dockscreen and may prove disastrous if used during battle. Also, there would be no onscreen indication which would be the most useful tool to know where to shoot the target without constantly rechecking the dockscreen.

Sorry it's a little late but...
Welcome Xav to the Transcendence community!

[Xav]

Thanks for the welcome

I imagine a dockscreen would be used more as reconaissance rather than during combat. More for planning your next attack rather than while already running away. For instance: countering armor with specific weapon setups, choosing which angle to approach the foe to expose its weaker armor segments, etc...

[Curudan]

One major issue with displaying armor segment health on the HUD is that most of the larger ships have an extremely high amount of armor segments. The Phobos has 20, for example.

I do agree however that damage to capital ships should be a little bit more user friendly.

[Arisaya]

I think the highest so far is 36? (the CSC & ICS I believe)

[Ttech]

Automatic ship armor display would be very nice so any ship could show up on your display without needing a custom image for armor.

[Arisaya]

Automatic ship armor display would be very nice so any ship could show up on your display without needing a custom image for armor.

Quoted.
For.
Truth.

[SiaFu]

Perhaps an overlay could be made for the window of the Targeting ROM.

Here's a quick mock-up sample with meager 12 pips for a Ronin with frontal armor almost busted and port side damaged:


24 pips (36 are tricky due to pixelation) ranging in color from red to green around the circular target picture could show directional damage as the targeted ship is oriented to the "north". The player wouldn't know how many actual armor segments there are (until some damage is dealt) as the display would color individual pips according to ship-specific armor coverage values.

[Arisaya]

Ronin have only 4 armor segs, like the playerships

[SiaFu]

Ronin have only 4 armor segs, like the playerships

Precisely.

If we take the 12 pip version pictured here (i just whipped it up fast), the origin point North as 0° and pip 1 covering 0-30°:
front armor covers -45° to 45° and is represented by pips 11-12 and 1-2 (as the subdivisions don't align properly).
For a 24 pip display we'd have pips covering 15° each and front armor would be represented by pips 22-24 and 1-3.

This way the same universal HUD is used for various ship armor configurations and which pips represent which section is taken from start= and span= values in the ship ArmorSection definition.

Ideally there would be 72 pips for 5° increments, but I don't thik it's doable at the current resolution so some compromise is necessary for different segment configurations.

[Arisaya]

For the ronin, you would need to rotate it so you would have 3 per side

[Song]

Well, it's a great concept, and could be an interesting thing (would go well with he User Interface mod on Xelerus). Certainly, would be a godsend against some of the more annoying ships.

If only we could make a smart-missile that could detect what the most damaged segment was, and aim for it.....however I doubt that that's possible without hacking the main engine. Might be, but I'm certainly not gonna try it.