[Interface] Show Unit Vision

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Chekhovs_Cannon
Posts: 6
Joined: May 19th, 2020, 10:22 pm

[Interface] Show Unit Vision

Post by Chekhovs_Cannon »

Wesnoth is a complex turn-based strategy game. This complexity leads to single games that can last hours (or tens of hours) with a lot of back and forth. Overly long games can make the game harder to get into for new players. One of the complexities of the game is hidden information, in this case, Fog of War where you can only see as far as your units can move +1 hex and the same is true of your opponents. This is a core feature of Wesnoth and one of the things I love.

Currently, if you hover over an opponent's unit, you can see the available hexes that unit can move to. This is, of course, limited by the zone of control of your own units. However, a unit's vision is not (as far as I know) limited by zone of control and is instead as far as the unit could theoretically move + 1 if there were no zone of control restrictions. This combination makes it quite tedious to try to make sure certain units are hidden from your opponent as it relies on a lot of counting hexes.

My idea is to add a third visual when hovering over a unit that shows the hexes visible to that unit. Currently, Wesnoth has unshaded hexes for movement and shaded for inaccessible hexes. I would add a light blue shading for the hexes that are visible but inaccessible to a unit. This way a user can, at a glance, see the vision of their opponent and make decisions accordingly without having to spend minutes counting hexes.
Morath
Posts: 34
Joined: August 24th, 2009, 12:38 am

Re: [Interface] Show Unit Vision

Post by Morath »

I think this is a great idea.

I would have the hexes invisible to a unit indicated as occluded versions of the hexes visible to that unit, just as hexes that cannot be moved to by a unit are occluded versions of hexes that can be moved to by a unit.

Another possibility is applying the same principle to the vision of all units on a side: the vision of your own units is not broken down by which unit sees which hex so similarly the visual indicator of your enemy's vision could also not be broken down by which unit sees which hex.
Chekhovs_Cannon
Posts: 6
Joined: May 19th, 2020, 10:22 pm

Re: [Interface] Show Unit Vision

Post by Chekhovs_Cannon »

It's definitely something I think would be a really nice option to have. To me, it feels like just collecting information the player already has access to and making it more clear. I don't have any experience with Wesnoth coding and little free time at the moment, but if no one picks this up by summer, maybe I'll have the time to try and run with it.
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