Blinking HP bars

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Elvish_Pillager
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Post by Elvish_Pillager »

I've played some more and found a distinct problem with the white flashing. If it doesn't happen at exactly the same moment as the being-hit-sound plays and the floating damage appears, it is HORRIBLE with the rest of the animation. It often works right though.
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quartex
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Post by quartex »

I agree that removing HP and XP bars during combat is an example of graphics taking precident over gameplay. Sure we want to make the game look pretty, but we're hiding important information from the player. I think this change should be carefully re-considered before we implement it in such an important release as 1.2.
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zookeeper
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Post by zookeeper »

If it really splits opinions much, then it should be made an option. Options are good in cases like this.
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Thrawn
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Post by Thrawn »

zookeeper wrote:If it really splits opinions much, then it should be made an option. Options are good in cases like this.
OAGICLT? thats too unwieldy...

I think it staying would be best (meaning add the option)
...please remember that "IT'S" ALWAYS MEANS "IT IS" and "ITS" IS WHAT YOU USE TO INDICATE POSSESSION BY "IT".--scott

this goes for they're/their/there as well
bioman
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Post by bioman »

I agree that it would be nice to have the option to have the bar on or off.

What about the bar only appearing when the unit is hit. This could help give an impact of the blow as at the time of impact the bar could flash up (in time with the white flash - otherwise it would look funny). Then the bar could (fairly quickly) fade back into being hidden.

So ok, this isn't exactly simple but I can imagine it giving a 'thud' effect when the unit takes damage.
Dragon Master
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Post by Dragon Master »

If it really gets bad, why not remove the bars all together and have them only show when you roll your mouse over or select the unit?
Ailurus
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Post by Ailurus »

Personally, I don't see the disappearing bars as a problem. I can't even register it with accelerated speed on, and with speed off the floating numbers provide a good indication as to damage given/received I think.
quartex
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Post by quartex »

Dragon Master wrote:If it really gets bad, why not remove the bars all together and have them only show when you roll your mouse over or select the unit?
Having the HP and XP bars remain hidden except when you mouseover the unit sounds like a horrible idea. The whole point of the bars is that they let the player see the HP and XP for all the units on the screen without having to mouse over each one to check. Hiding them would eliminate the whole point of their existence.

I would rather have a good user interface that gives me the information I need than a pretty game.
Thumper
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Post by Thumper »

Having the status information leap to the side during fights (so that it's both displayed prominently and kept out of the way of the animations) sounds like it could work. This is, of course, the least easy course to take. Making this a user-configurable option is a horrible idea.

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