Mythos_Ruler Posted October 19, 2012 Report Share Posted October 19, 2012 I was just playing around and made a hero aura selection ring that just uses the basic selection texture feature. No fancy coding on my part. It would visually indicate the radius of the hero's aura.Unselected:Selected:But there is a problem with this approach:The selection ring code uses quads to generate the decal for the texture and clips the terrain often, even with smaller selection textures and radii. It's just more noticeable with larger footprints like this one here (and ships, check out how weird those look along a shoreline), So, we'd need a different approach or increase the fidelity of the selection rings. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fabio Posted October 19, 2012 Report Share Posted October 19, 2012 That problem also happens on current selection rings. See #1368 (#1517 also related). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorfinn the Shallow Minded Posted October 19, 2012 Report Share Posted October 19, 2012 I like the hero aura appearance, but would it not be better to just not bother since their bonuses will be granted to units in formation? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LmScar13 Posted October 19, 2012 Report Share Posted October 19, 2012 How about just showing an AOM-like visual representation of the aura around the hero and all the units affected by the aura? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pedro Falcão Posted October 20, 2012 Report Share Posted October 20, 2012 AoM's aura is not passive, though, it would everwhelm us after a while Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oshron Posted October 20, 2012 Report Share Posted October 20, 2012 How about just showing an AOM-like visual representation of the aura around the hero and all the units affected by the aura?that's what i'd personally suggest; perhaps there could also be different auras depending on the culture or background of that hero, just to make it more uniqueAoM's aura is not passive, though, it would everwhelm us after a whilei think maybe he meant that the auras would visually be represented by a "heroic glow" around hero units Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FeXoR Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 (edited) that's what i'd personally suggest; perhaps there could also be different auras depending on the culture or background of that hero, just to make it more uniquei think maybe he meant that the auras would visually be represented by a "heroic glow" around hero unitsIMO all heroes should have a "heroic glow" to better be noticed on the battlefield. The aura could than be displayed by granting a weaker (less glow radius?) version of that glow to all effected units. The color of the glow could be different depending on the hero. Since one player can usually only have heroes from one civ it could be of the players color and only differ in how light/dark it is. If units are effected by more than one aura that might not be clear from which hero they get a bonus due to an aura though. So perhaps it might be better to use colors only depending on the hero despite the player's color. Guess that has to be tested.Another way would be to add something to the selection "rings" e.g. to fill them with a color depending on the aura they are effected from and give the glow only to heroes. That selection ring inner color should then be visual all the times even if not selected and so should be quite transparent to not fill the view with distracting rough shapes.I'm not sure about this but perhaps the glow could only be shown to the player the hero is owned by. That way it would be harder for an enemy to detect the hero. Edited October 24, 2012 by FeXoR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shield Bearer Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 This is how AOE3 shows units affect by a hero's aura:http://www.eludamos.org/index.php/eludamos/article/viewFile/32/61/114 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pedro Falcão Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 This is how AOE3 shows units affect by a hero's aura:http://www.eludamos....wFile/32/61/114I'd definitely like something more clean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FeXoR Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 (edited) The visual effect don't have to/should not be the only indicator which units are effected by which auras. All buffs should be clearly shown if a single unit is selected. That could for example be placed in the attack and armor tooltip/mouseover. Actually the attack/armor gain by technologies is not shown as well. I think it should be clearly visual what the base attack/armor of a unit is and what the bonus is and where it comes from. It does not have to be shown in the "main" unit widget but it should be somewhere! Edited October 24, 2012 by FeXoR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oshron Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 The visual effect don't have to/should not be the only indicator which units are effected by which auras. All buffs should be clearly shown if a single unit is selected. That could for example be placed in the attack and armor tooltip/mouseover. Actually the attack/armor gain by technologies is not shown as well. I think it should be clearly visual what the base attack/armor of a unit is and what the bonus is and where it comes from. It does not have to be shown in the "main" unit widget but it should be somewhere!bonuses given by auras (eg, temporary ones) could be shown with golden numbers, like in AOM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mythos_Ruler Posted October 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 I really don't like the idea of a "heroic glow" in a game such as this. Made sense in AOM, but not in a game that doesn't have magic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FeXoR Posted October 25, 2012 Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 (edited) I really don't like the idea of a "heroic glow" in a game such as this. Made sense in AOM, but not in a game that doesn't have magic.I get your point. I was mainly trying to gather possibilities. What do you propose instead?At least some visual indicator on buffed units would be good I think.Another way would be to add some kind of "flag" or icons to the troops over their heads. But I think that will look messy. Edited October 25, 2012 by FeXoR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenknight32 Posted October 25, 2012 Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 (edited) Could you add some kind of emblem to their uniform? Maybe give them colored arm bands, or crests on their helmets. Don't know if that would be practical, but it would be realistic and avoid the implied magic of a glow. Edited October 26, 2012 by greenknight32 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorfinn the Shallow Minded Posted October 25, 2012 Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 Perhaps since the hero effects those in formation with him, a cool looking banner could be displayed much like in the total war series. Just make it less as large. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FeXoR Posted October 25, 2012 Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 Are you going to add buffs of a heroes aura dependent of the control group, the units that got the same order at the same time, formations, dependent on range or if the hero is visual to them???I'm quite confused now...For me an "aura" is an effect dependent on range to the aura bearer... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oshron Posted October 25, 2012 Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 OH! IDEA!maybe the heroes could have some kind of standard with them as well, specifically to indicate them as heroes (alot of the heroes in Empire Earth carried flags in appropriate time periods), and regular units get some kind of indicator around their feet to show that theyre in the area of effect of the hero's aura (perhaps a generic ancient symbol; perhaps teh sun wheel used in the game's logo? or it could be different for each broad civ (for example, the Hellenic civs would all use the same symbol while the Carthaginians have a unique one) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur_D Posted October 28, 2012 Report Share Posted October 28, 2012 Sun as seen in the game's logo would be cool. It would be easy to recognize the hero for whichever civ you chose to play as if that was consistently used for every hero. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mythos_Ruler Posted October 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2012 I was thinking we should do something like this in the upper left of the screen:Each hero would get a "quick select" icon in the upper left once they are trained. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pedro Falcão Posted October 29, 2012 Report Share Posted October 29, 2012 Excellent idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
memmaker650 Posted October 29, 2012 Report Share Posted October 29, 2012 I was thinking we should do something like this in the upper left of the screen:Each hero would get a "quick select" icon in the upper left once they are trained.All the screen looks amazing. The "pop up" screen to upgrade your village to a next era it's great al looks nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feneur Posted October 29, 2012 Report Share Posted October 29, 2012 The "pop up" screen to upgrade your village to a next era it's great al looks nice.Unless we add some other choice to make it will not be included as the sub-civilizations now have been made into full civilizations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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