Author Topic: Weapon Loadout Icons  (Read 2723 times)

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Offline herkie423

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I noticed that most mods don't use weapon loadout icons in loadout screen like in retail FS2. Model icons are really tiny to look at. So why don't modders make weapon loadout icons anymore?

 

Offline Strygon

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  • So long, and thanks for all the fish!
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Effort . That's it really.

That's serious by the way, the general outlook is that since the icons are being autogenerated, why bother making the icons too when the dev already went through all the effort of making the model in the first place?
Makes missions sometimes.
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[23:22] strypolygon: andrew
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[23:22] strypolygon: never try speaking german again
[23:23] Andrewofdoom: No.

[18:50] 島風改八百三: the duck has multipli
[18:50] 島風改八百三: many duck
[18:50] 島風改八百三: left side
[18:50] 島風改八百三: even side
[18:50] 島風改八百三: handle it

[21:34] MP-Ryan: Why on earth would you Google this
[21:34] The_E: why would you not

[06:46] Strigon: how big is a mini-campaign again?
[06:46] Asteroth: smaller than a campaign
[06:47 ]Strigon: thanks

[05:56] Strigon: If I had to take a shot for each time I randomly decided to change the UI sounds, I'd have died of alcohol poisoning by now

[17:36] qazwsxal: time to have some fun
[17:41] z64555: VC++5 is not my idea of fun

[EatThePath] do your missiles do anything absurd?
[Strigon] describe absurd
[Strigon] the entire mod is absurd

 

Offline 0rph3u5

  • 211
  • Oceans rise. Empires fall.
The weapon icons and rotating model are very low utility - even if you have external weapon models, how much time do you actually have to visually identify a weapon loadout during gameplay?
"As you sought to steal a kingdom for yourself, so must you do again, a thousand times over. For a theft, a true theft, must be practiced to be earned." - The terms of Nyrissa's curse, Pathfinder: Kingmaker

==================

"I am Curiosity, and I've always wondered what would become of you, here at the end of the world." - The Guide/The Curious Other, Othercide

"When you work with water, you have to know and respect it. When you labour to subdue it, you have to understand that one day it may rise up and turn all your labours into nothing. For what is water, which seeks to make all things level, which has no taste or colour of its own, but a liquid form of Nothing?" - Graham Swift, Waterland

"...because they are not Dragons."

 

Offline mjn.mixael

  • Cutscene Master
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The weapon icons and rotating model are very low utility - even if you have external weapon models, how much time do you actually have to visually identify a weapon loadout during gameplay?

Uh plenty? Mission doesn't start until you hit go.
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Offline 0rph3u5

  • 211
  • Oceans rise. Empires fall.
The weapon icons and rotating model are very low utility - even if you have external weapon models, how much time do you actually have to visually identify a weapon loadout during gameplay?

Uh plenty? Mission doesn't start until you hit go.

I was talking about ships that are not part of player loadout, e.g. enemy fighters. Hence the addition of " during gameplay"
"As you sought to steal a kingdom for yourself, so must you do again, a thousand times over. For a theft, a true theft, must be practiced to be earned." - The terms of Nyrissa's curse, Pathfinder: Kingmaker

==================

"I am Curiosity, and I've always wondered what would become of you, here at the end of the world." - The Guide/The Curious Other, Othercide

"When you work with water, you have to know and respect it. When you labour to subdue it, you have to understand that one day it may rise up and turn all your labours into nothing. For what is water, which seeks to make all things level, which has no taste or colour of its own, but a liquid form of Nothing?" - Graham Swift, Waterland

"...because they are not Dragons."

 

Offline Strygon

  • 28
  • So long, and thanks for all the fish!
    • Steam
Also some people absolutely still do make loadout icons. Best example I can think of is WoD, which color codes its icons to immediately tell the player if a weapon is Kinetic, Energy or Neutron, and its secondary properties that could make or break a mission. Although in that case it's actually just the weapon's name with a colored background, rather than an icon of the weapon itself.

For me personally, I'm no graphical designer outside of HUDs, but I can model somewhat competently, so I choose to model the weapon and let the engine handle icon-ization.
Makes missions sometimes.
Finished Projects: Operation: Cloak and Dagger

Current Projects: Scrolls Part 2 (FREDding), Dimensional Eclipse (Art),
The First Contact War, GTDr Amazon HTL

[23:22] strypolygon: andrew
[23:22] strypolygon: i have one favor to ask of you
[23:22] strypolygon: never try speaking german again
[23:23] Andrewofdoom: No.

[18:50] 島風改八百三: the duck has multipli
[18:50] 島風改八百三: many duck
[18:50] 島風改八百三: left side
[18:50] 島風改八百三: even side
[18:50] 島風改八百三: handle it

[21:34] MP-Ryan: Why on earth would you Google this
[21:34] The_E: why would you not

[06:46] Strigon: how big is a mini-campaign again?
[06:46] Asteroth: smaller than a campaign
[06:47 ]Strigon: thanks

[05:56] Strigon: If I had to take a shot for each time I randomly decided to change the UI sounds, I'd have died of alcohol poisoning by now

[17:36] qazwsxal: time to have some fun
[17:41] z64555: VC++5 is not my idea of fun

[EatThePath] do your missiles do anything absurd?
[Strigon] describe absurd
[Strigon] the entire mod is absurd

 

Offline DefCynodont119

  • 210
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    • Steam
The weapon icons and rotating model are very low utility - even if you have external weapon models, how much time do you actually have to visually identify a weapon loadout during gameplay?

Uh plenty? Mission doesn't start until you hit go.

I was talking about ships that are not part of player loadout, e.g. enemy fighters. Hence the addition of " during gameplay"

This topic is about the briefing/ship/weapon select screen.
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Offline 0rph3u5

  • 211
  • Oceans rise. Empires fall.
The weapon icons and rotating model are very low utility - even if you have external weapon models, how much time do you actually have to visually identify a weapon loadout during gameplay?

Uh plenty? Mission doesn't start until you hit go.

I was talking about ships that are not part of player loadout, e.g. enemy fighters. Hence the addition of " during gameplay"

This topic is about the briefing/ship/weapon select screen.

My point being that those graphics on that screen are not applicable elsewhere in the game, therefor being low utility, therefor not really worth the effort.

Things would be different if, for example, the animation didn't show a spinning gun model but the weapon in action.

As for the icon, I don't see any utility to it over text spelling out the weapon's name as it appears in the HUD.
"As you sought to steal a kingdom for yourself, so must you do again, a thousand times over. For a theft, a true theft, must be practiced to be earned." - The terms of Nyrissa's curse, Pathfinder: Kingmaker

==================

"I am Curiosity, and I've always wondered what would become of you, here at the end of the world." - The Guide/The Curious Other, Othercide

"When you work with water, you have to know and respect it. When you labour to subdue it, you have to understand that one day it may rise up and turn all your labours into nothing. For what is water, which seeks to make all things level, which has no taste or colour of its own, but a liquid form of Nothing?" - Graham Swift, Waterland

"...because they are not Dragons."

 

Offline Novachen

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Model icons are really tiny to look at.

This should be actually adjustable with the Tables. You can change the size of the Icon so that it fill up the whole box.

However afaik it is this way for retail weapons for better size comparisons, so that you know, especially for missiles, how big they are.
« Last Edit: October 17, 2022, 04:51:39 am by Novachen »
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Offline Shivan Hunter

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This should be actually adjustable with the Tables. You can change the size of the Icon so that it fill up the whole box.

However afaik it is this way for retail weapons for better size comparisons, so that you know, especially for missiles, how big they are.

Technically - in case Herkie wants to make some edits - you have to fudge detail0's bounding box and/or the model radius in the .pof (I learned that when I fixed them just recently). The original .ani icons were never like that, so I assume it's just been a "fix this later" thing since the beginning.

 

Offline herkie423

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  • Plunge into the chaos!
Actually, the weapon loadout icon is very easy to make if you knowledgeable in Photoshoppe. And I don't mean the rotating image, that is extensive work to build an anim for that. That's why we use models and it's  good. I mean the icons on the left panel.

It took me only 9 minutes to make one. 5 minutes for the design idea on how it looks (it doesn't take much because the PCX image is very very small), 3 minutes to edit, then 1 minute or less to build the anim file.

 

Offline Strygon

  • 28
  • So long, and thanks for all the fish!
    • Steam
I mean I stand by that it's just unnecessary extra work when there's perfectly fine and functional models to use for the icons. Of course, other people are more than fine to do it but that's just how I feel about it.

Also I don't have Photoshop and GIMP sucks so hard to use I actually think I'm developing an aneurysm each time I need to launch it.
Makes missions sometimes.
Finished Projects: Operation: Cloak and Dagger

Current Projects: Scrolls Part 2 (FREDding), Dimensional Eclipse (Art),
The First Contact War, GTDr Amazon HTL

[23:22] strypolygon: andrew
[23:22] strypolygon: i have one favor to ask of you
[23:22] strypolygon: never try speaking german again
[23:23] Andrewofdoom: No.

[18:50] 島風改八百三: the duck has multipli
[18:50] 島風改八百三: many duck
[18:50] 島風改八百三: left side
[18:50] 島風改八百三: even side
[18:50] 島風改八百三: handle it

[21:34] MP-Ryan: Why on earth would you Google this
[21:34] The_E: why would you not

[06:46] Strigon: how big is a mini-campaign again?
[06:46] Asteroth: smaller than a campaign
[06:47 ]Strigon: thanks

[05:56] Strigon: If I had to take a shot for each time I randomly decided to change the UI sounds, I'd have died of alcohol poisoning by now

[17:36] qazwsxal: time to have some fun
[17:41] z64555: VC++5 is not my idea of fun

[EatThePath] do your missiles do anything absurd?
[Strigon] describe absurd
[Strigon] the entire mod is absurd

 

Offline herkie423

  • 29
  • Plunge into the chaos!
Yeah, I am kind of a "detail freak." As you can see in AFR, I even completely changed the Game User Interface and every button icons. I love doing the small details, it's fun for me.