[Topgun]

I have composed some radar images for freespace ships. this package is for TESTING and thus, is full of bugs. I only have the terran ships done so that's what is included in this package.
to use them you need this build and you MUST USE 3D RADAR otherwise it WON'T WORK due to a bug in that build. this is not a problem with the bitmaps themselves, but a bug in the build.
if you find any bugs or you if you think some of the icons are too big or too small, post your findings in this thread.
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=K4PGHS7M

[chief1983]

Everyone else has been saying that images look worse with 3d radar.  And why don't you just batch convert to DDS?

[Galemp]

These are designed explicitly for the 3D radar, so they ought to look good. Those traditionalists who like the 2D radar have my icons to use.

Say Topgun. Can you post a cropped screenshot showing us the radar in action?

[Topgun]

vasudan ships don't have icons yet.

[Topgun]

And why don't you just batch convert to DDS?

Image stretch bug. and I am lazy.

[chief1983]

Is it just me, or does losing the little lines that used to come off of the dots kind of defeat the purpose of 3d radar?

[Topgun]

not really, those lines don't grow or shrink or anything. they are static iirc.

[chief1983]

Yes but their purpose is to give you an idea of where in the space of the orb the dot really is, ie how far from the edge, and from what location on that edge.  It doesn't seem these ship icons can convey as much information in 3d mode.

[Topgun]

well, we will see. maybe if the images got larger and smaller the closer you are from the ships, it will make up for losing the lines.

[chief1983]

It could just be my general dislike of the 3d radar, the concept seems good, but I'm always able to locate ships faster using the 2d radar.  Plus, take for instance, the mission where you rescue your covert ops buddy.  You have to follow nav buoys.  With 2d radar, the one directly in front of you is in the center, and the one directly in back of you is at the far edge of the circle.  In 3d radar, the one in front is still in the center, but so is the dot representing your ship, and the one directly behind you.  They stack three deep, making hard to discern one from another.  I never understood how that is supposed to be better than the 2d radar.  You can look at the 2d one, and immediately identify the location in respect to your ship of any dot on there.  The thing you don't get is distance, but _that_ could be easily improved by scaling/dimming the icons/dots.

[Colonol Dekker]

I was raised on the confed radar from wing commander so i always use 2d. Elite style

[Droid803]

Isn't it slightly superfluous to have individual fighters have icons in the radar?
When there are a few on your tail, then won't the icons get mashed together?

IMO, I'd only use icons to identify things larger than a fighter or bomber, like capital ships.

[Galemp]

 

Everyone gets their very own pack of RADAR ICONS in convenient VP form!
It's set up to work with both FS2 and FSPort.

Requires A WANDERER BUILD.

[chief1983]

I would probably expect to see this in official builds shortly after 3.6.10 too.

[Galemp]

I get dirty looks every time I mention it in the SCP or FSU forums for 3.6.10, so here it is.

[Topgun]

still working on this you know, just not right now.

[Mobius]

The idea itself is very nice but I'm afraid icons would get confusing if their number is high. IMO making them smaller should work...

Also, how do you deal with ships whose class/shape is to remain unknown until sensor contact is established(because of anebula, sensor jamming or whatever reasons)?

[chief1983]

Is it still intended that Wanderer's will be used with 2d radar, and TopGuns will be used with the 3d radar then?  I have no problem with that, and encourage development of both, I just wonder if it could be set up so that both can be installed simultaneously and the only thing necessary to switch between them is the command line flag for 2d or 3d radar.  May need a tweak in the filenames of one or the other, and in Wanderer's code.

[Zacam]

I think the best results for a 3D radar is using it without the 2D backdrop behind it. RADAR.ani and 2_RADAR.ani control this, and making blank versions of these files presents a nice clean 3D Orb that is a little less confusing.

I thing a flag (with a mod or settings ini over ride) for Radar Icons would be good. And if you ave "Use 3D Radar" it will automatically select the 3D radar icons.

[Galemp]

The idea itself is very nice but I'm afraid icons would get confusing if their number is high. IMO making them smaller should work...

My icons are pretty small and even in crowded missions, it's not confusing in the least. It's actually much better than normal because I can pick out where the new wing of bombers is out of all the fighters in the area.

Also, how do you deal with ships whose class/shape is to remain unknown until sensor contact is established(because of anebula, sensor jamming or whatever reasons)?

In the attached build, fuzzy blips are just fuzzy blips and don't have icons unless they're targetable.

I think the best results for a 3D radar is using it without the 2D backdrop behind it. RADAR.ani and 2_RADAR.ani control this, and making blank versions of these files presents a nice clean 3D Orb that is a little less confusing.

That's easy enough to do in the HUD settings, just set the color for the radar to black.

I thing a flag (with a mod or settings ini over ride) for Radar Icons would be good. And if you have "Use 3D Radar" it will automatically select the 3D radar icons.

Command line flags are bad... someday someone will code an in-game SCP Options menu that's as easily accessible as the Ship Lab, to adjust lighting settings and other graphic and interface options. As for automatically using 2D or 3D icons based on the radar type chosen, that's a good idea.