Reconsider the stealth icon: ugly, buggy, and metagamey

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Tantive
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Re: Reconsider the stealth icon: ugly, buggy, and metagamey

Unread post by Tantive »

selhan wrote: Sun Apr 16, 2023 3:31 am That appraise is so meta! Get rid of that too! Why people cant simply go with what their pc sees is beyond me! :lol:
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Re: Reconsider the stealth icon: ugly, buggy, and metagamey

Unread post by Aspect of Sorrow »

Semi transparent player SEF is more than enough, it's the same visual delivery of invisible characters spotted by True Sight.
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RoseFrost
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Re: Reconsider the stealth icon: ugly, buggy, and metagamey

Unread post by RoseFrost »

Aspect of Sorrow wrote: Sun Apr 16, 2023 8:40 am Semi transparent player SEF is more than enough, it's the same visual delivery of invisible characters spotted by True Sight.
This would be much better than an icon.
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Re: Reconsider the stealth icon: ugly, buggy, and metagamey

Unread post by DaloLorn »

Aspect of Sorrow wrote: Sun Apr 16, 2023 8:40 am Semi transparent player SEF is more than enough, it's the same visual delivery of invisible characters spotted by True Sight.
There's enough difference (both mechanical and in-world) between stealth and invisibility that I'd prefer not recycling the same effect for both.
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Re: Reconsider the stealth icon: ugly, buggy, and metagamey

Unread post by Aspect of Sorrow »

DaloLorn wrote: Sun Apr 16, 2023 9:34 am
Aspect of Sorrow wrote: Sun Apr 16, 2023 8:40 am Semi transparent player SEF is more than enough, it's the same visual delivery of invisible characters spotted by True Sight.
There's enough difference (both mechanical and in-world) between stealth and invisibility that I'd prefer not recycling the same effect for both.
The magically inclined one can receive another visual SEF.
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RoseFrost
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Re: Reconsider the stealth icon: ugly, buggy, and metagamey

Unread post by RoseFrost »

Getting rid of the ghostly white effect while stealthing is a big improvement, so thank you. I noticed that it has instead been replaced by a semi transparent effect. IMO this is enough to convey stealth without also needing the icon.

But, if we absolutely must retain the icon, could it perhaps be modified slighty? Here is the problem:
Image
Left: One stealthed character (detected), one unstealthed character; Right: Same scene with Low-Light Vision enabled.

It just strikes me as a little silly that a stealthed character should ever be more visible, even if detected. The icon could be improved by making it a simple black silhouette. Take the parts that are currently grey/white and make those black, then delete the rest of the icon. The result would be the silhouette of eyes and a cowl, in black, so that the icon doesn't act like a light bulb in dark areas/times of day.

Crude mock-up:
Image
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Re: Reconsider the stealth icon: ugly, buggy, and metagamey

Unread post by Rhifox »

Some kind of icon does need to stay, as skin SFX or transparency by themselves don't always update properly and can be overwritten or confused with other buffs.

An all black icon seems like something worth trying. Or possibly a ground-based ring icon like the one that appears while grappling, if people would prefer that over an over-the-head icon.
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selhan
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Re: Reconsider the stealth icon: ugly, buggy, and metagamey

Unread post by selhan »

The one on the right looks less ..idk spooky gobliny? haha I think that would seem better. Looks cooler thats for sure.
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Re: Reconsider the stealth icon: ugly, buggy, and metagamey

Unread post by Rinzler »

RoseFrost wrote: Sun Jun 04, 2023 4:29 pm Image

Image

UTINI!!
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Re: Reconsider the stealth icon: ugly, buggy, and metagamey

Unread post by JustAnotherGuy »

My only issue with the fully black one is how hard it will be to see. Not all monitors are the same, even with the option to correct colors/brightness. I can hit my "highlight everything" button, and see if there's people around that my toon would notice. But if the icon isn't easily visible, then we're back to square one where there's no icon or differentiation.

I don't personally care what the icon looks like, or how it's designed, as long as visibility is kept.
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Re: Reconsider the stealth icon: ugly, buggy, and metagamey

Unread post by Louvaine »

JustAnotherGuy wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 2:42 pm My only issue with the fully black one is how hard it will be to see. Not all monitors are the same, even with the option to correct colors/brightness. I can hit my "highlight everything" button, and see if there's people around that my toon would notice. But if the icon isn't easily visible, then we're back to square one where there's no icon or differentiation.

I don't personally care what the icon looks like, or how it's designed, as long as visibility is kept.
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Re: Reconsider the stealth icon: ugly, buggy, and metagamey

Unread post by DaloLorn »

Yeah, I'm with JAG and Louvaine on this one. The whole point of the icon is to draw attention to the fact that your character, not you as a player, noticed something suspicious, so visibility is a good thing.
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Re: Reconsider the stealth icon: ugly, buggy, and metagamey

Unread post by Fire Wolf »

Seeing the screenshots a few posts earlier, I'm personally in favor of changing the icon in some way. It should definitely be visible if you're actually capable of seeing the stealthed character, but it should not act as a beacon to reveal a character in total darkness to another character without the ability to see anything but the pitch dark. That's likely to cause some issues with metagaming at some point. But definitely keep the icon in a better form if possible.
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Re: Reconsider the stealth icon: ugly, buggy, and metagamey

Unread post by BloodRiot »

I started with the fully black exactly as described above. and exactly as Jag said you couldn't see it.
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Re: Reconsider the stealth icon: ugly, buggy, and metagamey

Unread post by Kitunenotsume »

RoseFrost wrote: Sun Jun 04, 2023 4:29 pm It just strikes me as a little silly that a stealthed character should ever be more visible, even if detected. The icon could be improved by making it a simple black silhouette. Take the parts that are currently grey/white and make those black, then delete the rest of the icon. The result would be the silhouette of eyes and a cowl, in black, so that the icon doesn't act like a light bulb in dark areas/times of day.
Would it be possible to get a comparison shot with Highlight Mode active?
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