Utilization of the Elipse portion of Unit Graphics

[Qes]

I was reading through the forums randomly, because I find you all terribly interesting people, and I came across this:
http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/viewtopic. ... &start=105

Now the thread is old, and I'm not quite sure what's been decided, but I'm wondering if the TC ellipse might not be useful for conveying statistical information to the player.

We've currently got a health and xp bar (which are occasionally difficult to see, especially xp), and a movement node, heroic identifiers, and leadership identifiers. If this is not a complete list, someone please correct me.

I'm wondering if the shaded portion within the TC ellipses that surrounds the shadow of the unit graphics might not be useful in some way, through colorization or intensification of opacity to passively reflect a statistic of the unit.

Possibilities could be:

XP - Move the xp identification to the ellipse in entirety, and when it's "most close to leveling" it'd be most opaque. In this, a tiered system might work using Team Color. A highly transparent TC for more than 24xp left; slightly but noticiablly more opaque for 24xp or less, very opaque at 16 or less, and completely opaque at 8 or less.

Defenses - The opacity could be a 'at a glance' understanding of how defensible a unit is in the terrain they currently reside in. (Currently you have to highlight the unit and look at the top of the screen, if I'm not mistaken - or look the unit up in the help index.) Using a gradient of opacity (or color) could grant an 'over-all' understanding of one's own, and the enemies' defensive positions.
{I think that the opacity levels would need to be for extremes in quick reference. For example 20-30% defenses might be completely clear, and only a "ring" exists around the unit, where as 70-80% would be wholly opaque. 40% 50% and 60% could each have their own level of 'middling' opacity, but since the 40-60% range is roughly in the same range, it's less important to know 'at a glance' as opposed to the extremes. Clearly a player would still be able to check the specifics as they can now.}

Resistances - I'm not sure how this might exactly work, but people often clamor for easily referenced manners to check resistances for enemies and friendly targets. I had to read these forums to learn about the "HP tool tip" trick that's much more efficient than looking up the information in an index. I'm not sure how realistic it might be, but possibly each 'section' of the ellipse could be in regards to a certain kind of resistance, and the opacity in that sextant represented the level of vulnerability or resistance. Another option would be to ignore the magical damage types (arcane, fire, cold) and have a general opacity that'd be the sum total of the physical resistances of the unit. In this, the ellipse would only indicate "overall" resilience, but it'd still be useful.


These are just some ideas. I know the principles of KISS are to be maintained, and complicating the interface is a No-No. But as I see it, the ellipses are already there, and already have a translucency that surrounds the unit-shadow that extends out to the ellipses' rings. This space is unused aesthetically (save the translucency itself), and so might be useful to convey important tactical information - at least in a simplistic sense.


Just a thought,
-Qes

[torangan]

You know, there's an option to turn them off which some people use...

[Qes]

You know, there's an option to turn them off which some people use...

That reality escaped me, thanks for pointing it out. I guess one could remove that, or, make whatever information IS implemented (if any) also be relatively a matter of choice. For example the idea of defensive strengths - not necessary, but perhaps a nice 'at glance' perk.

-Qes