Controversial Change Reaction Thread #5: The Hit Icons

[Cirrial]

Hi all.

So recently a coder introduced a change that has been quite divisive and I've seen a number of people who have Strong Opinions on, and I'm making an executive decision to intervene before we get some festering discontent that boils over into something unpleasant.

Said recent change is the introduction of little icons that pop up when you hit things with a thing. Some people really don't like this, for varying reasons. This thread is here to serve as a means of collecting feedback from users of all ages experience and rank.

Above all, I request that you keep feedback civil. If you think this is the worst change ever and decide to personally attack any of the coders, or anyone else here expressing an opinion, the hammer of justice will come down swift and brutal. You have been warned.

sincerly urs,
cirr

[warcrimes]

This change has been a hige QoL improvement for me because of a lot of reasons, and I super mega encourage changes that increase accessibility.
I have a generally hard time focusing on both the game and the chat at once to be able to figure out what exactly is going on, and the little icons make it worlds easier to remain aware of shit without needing to roll back and re-read a sea of red text to know who hit who with what.
ALSO : makes the game a lot more immersive for people who can't necessarilly play with sound on ( I need to be muted like 80% of the time )

[Flourish]

I'm personally not a fan of this.

One, for aesthetic reasons: they simply aren't pretty and don't really fit in with the environment. It's like they're from some other game. I see this as something similar to the visible emote suggestion from a while ago. Both are tacky, and while may streamline gameplay (not having to look at the chat window as often), also make things more difficult to digest visually.

Another, for game reasons: some items have a significant delay, and it feels like this feature may be contributing to more lag. Of course, if this gets worked out, that won't be an issue anymore.

While we may want to put less focus on the chat portion of the game window (what's the correct term for this again? chat box?), I think that it should still stay important. I feel like the hit icons interfere more with my experience rather than help (of course others will feel otherwise).

One thing that was suggested by looselystyled was the idea of some sort of personal toggle. I still wouldn't be a fan of this, but I understand that that wouldn't be very justified. So I'm wondering how possible this would be? And how it would affect the server?

[Kodos]

I really don't like this one. I agree it's rather tacky looking, and on top of that, I can't help but feel it makes some information that should be hidden/stealthy too obvious. When someone eats something, now, you can see precisely what they are eating. I just injected myself with microbombs in a round, and the icon clearly showed I was doing it. A lot of actions that used to be rather or completely stealthy now seem to be much more overt. More than just looking unpleasant, I feel like this change fundamentally alters a lot of the balance.

[Flourish]

I can't help but feel it makes some information that should be hidden/stealthy too obvious. When someone eats something, now, you can see precisely what they are eating. I just injected myself with microbombs in a round, and the icon clearly showed I was doing it. A lot of actions that used to be rather or completely stealthy now seem to be much more overt. More than just looking unpleasant, I feel like this change fundamentally alters a lot of the balance.

Oh, I didn't think of that at all! That's a great point, and what I imagine would happen would just be blacklisting (again, correct term?) certain items from producing a hit icon.

And when you mentioned seeing what someone was eating, that brings up another question for me. Would things like this really be necessary/beneficial?

[warcrimes]

Concerns 

Oh, I didn't think of that at all! That's a great point, and what I imagine would happen would just be blacklisting (again, correct term?) certain items from producing a hit icon.

Oh definitely, a lot of things don't belong telegraphed like this, but i feel like it's important for combat, and especially things like grabs. 
not the worst for food & drink- but obviously traitor stuff shouldn't be there.

[Huff H Law]

Okay so while I think I like the idea and I think it has value to it to make the game better, I do kind of agree that as it is currently it is kind of kitsch and out of what SS13 should "feel" like.

I guess it could be solved by having a minimalistic arrow-like thing showing which way you got attacked from? I dunno, I do feel like the animation that is used makes it feel out of place, though.

[babayetu83]

i haven't noticed this unless it was added within the past hour. humbly requesting that you include visual aides to your post since i have no idea what this is

[ZeWaka]

Oh, I didn't think of that at all! That's a great point, and what I imagine would happen would just be blacklisting (again, correct term?) certain items from producing a hit icon. =

There's kinda an implemented feature for chat messages not being shown for stuff like that, it could be extended over to this.

Okay so while I think I like the idea and I think it has value to it to make the game better, I do kind of agree that as it is currently it is kind of kitsch and out of what SS13 should "feel" like.

I guess it could be solved by having a minimalistic arrow-like thing showing which way you got attacked from? I dunno, I do feel like the animation that is used makes it feel out of place, though.

That would be cool maybe, just do an 8 directional 'hit' blood screen thing, like in a lot of fps/rpg games nowadays.

i haven't noticed this unless it was added within the past hour. humbly requesting that you include visual aides to your post since i have no idea what this is

https://a.uguu.se/Nt5pjwI4Jmzr_2017-11-11_16-56-11.mp4

[Frank_Stein]

This change has been a hige QoL improvement for me because of a lot of reasons, and I super mega encourage changes that increase accessibility.
I have a generally hard time focusing on both the game and the chat at once to be able to figure out what exactly is going on, and the little icons make it worlds easier to remain aware of shit without needing to roll back and re-read a sea of red text to know who hit who with what.
ALSO : makes the game a lot more immersive for people who can't necessarilly play with sound on ( I need to be muted like 80% of the time )

I like it for much of the same reasons here.

Definitely think some stuff shouldn't show up, like anything used on yourself.

I feel like intents could somehow play a role in stuff like that. Like if there was a "Stealth" intent that let you do actions sneakier?

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I really don't like this one. I agree it's rather tacky looking, and on top of that, I can't help but feel it makes some information that should be hidden/stealthy too obvious. When someone eats something, now, you can see precisely what they are eating. I just injected myself with microbombs in a round, and the icon clearly showed I was doing it. A lot of actions that used to be rather or completely stealthy now seem to be much more overt. More than just looking unpleasant, I feel like this change fundamentally alters a lot of the balance.

My opinion on this is anything that you'd plainly see (as in, anything that is described to an observer in the text) is something that should get an icon. If you don't wanna get caught doing something, don't do it where people see you?

---

One, for aesthetic reasons: they simply aren't pretty and don't really fit in with the environment. It's like they're from some other game. I see this as something similar to the visible emote suggestion from a while ago. Both are tacky, and while may streamline gameplay (not having to look at the chat window as often), also make things more difficult to digest visually.

I get why people don't like the look of it, but to me that's just a matter of opinion, while the benefit of being easier for people to understand what's going on in the game outweighs it


Once more, I wanna emphasize: I like it, but think it needs a little work in that some stuff shouldn't be shown, either for stealth reasons or the information isn't important. And some kind of way to hide actions would be nice

[Master Of Unlocking]

Gameplay has been sped up so much over the years stuff like this really helps keep a clear flow of information as to whats going on. Having to read chat (and sort through all the various emotes / atmosphere lines) to find out who is punching / beating / etc has become a chore and borderline impossible sometimes.

It's a great change that could probably only use some tweakings for the stealth stuff.

[Vitatroll]

+3 for clarity, -1 for awkwardness; a net gain for me. I'm guessing setting it on a toggle would be a massive PITA?

It'll need a couple of weeks to stew and refine before I really have a real opinion. I say that about most things, but this is one of those things that really needs extensive playbreakingtesting.

[Superlagg]

One time I joined Citadel, rolled a foxlady, and smashed lightbulbs until I died. Each whack of the extinguisher threw out a tiny picture of the thing my fursona was swinging around. Wasn't a fan, but I'm glad we share something in common with Citadel now.

[Lady Birb]

One time I joined Citadel, rolled a foxlady, and smashed lightbulbs until I died. Each whack of the extinguisher threw out a tiny picture of the thing my fursona was swinging around. Wasn't a fan, but I'm glad we share something in common with Citadel now.

Pretty sure most tgcode server have it.

[Technature]

One time I joined Citadel, rolled a foxlady, and smashed lightbulbs until I died. Each whack of the extinguisher threw out a tiny picture of the thing my fursona was swinging around. Wasn't a fan, but I'm glad we share something in common with Citadel now.

Pretty sure most tgcode server have it.

It's on col. marines, so I can confirm it's not a citadel thing.