Excavation Is Great, But There's Too Much Visual Noise.

[Kinperor]

Hey there,

 

What I mean is that when you have 3 excavators active at the same time, you have all three excavator's information at once, with the health/shield, energy quantity, name and time before completion. 

 

And on top of that, you can get Lotus who speaks over it, as well as the reward you just got. 

 

It's frankly too much clutter for me to really enjoy the mission. I was playing on earth in a duo, and we scrambled to figure out which extractors was which, which one needed energy the most. Giving a cell to one extractors is already annoying enough when they're really close to each other, but the struggle to actually figure out which one is which makes it even worse. 

 

Personally to reduce the clutter, I would reduce the information given on the left side of the screen to only the health/shield bar, as well as an energy gauge underneath, all in one line of "text" with the letter of the concerned extractor.

 

Something should be done about it, it's really hard to actually play the mode when I'm fighting the UI like that. 

[AZAG0TH]

I was saying something similar when I was playing through the event this weekend.

Waaaaay too much text going on on the left side of the screen.

[matrixEXO]

While the current UI includes the letters of the extractors, it doesn't really capture the ideal design to actually mitigate the situation.

 

Unlike yours, my suggestion is to actually have most of them on the extractors themselves, being visual in-game rather than through UI only. The display should indicate the extractor letter in it's iconic hexagon shaped design, energy remaining right in the middle of the health and shield indicators which are being displayed in two circles, one smaller and inside the other (this is given that health doesn't increase with enemy level). The UI should only indicate the extractor letter and time remaining.

 

As for why I want this design over others, it's because of the fact that the extractors won't really overlap each other so it won't be hard to see it as well as the fact that it makes a really cool visual effect.

 

 

Off-topic: Why does the extractor EXPLODE when it completes a drill? I find it funny. Instead, we should have a stockpile of drills to carry and locations being marked so we have to lay it down ourselves to start drilling as well as repacking the drill for transport to another location.

Edited September 2, 2014 by matrixEXO

[Methanoid]

most detailed information and sounds based on your proximity to the extractors, distant ones becoming less detailed with less/no audio cues?

[Kinperor]

While the current UI includes the letters of the extractors, it doesn't really capture the ideal design to actually mitigate the situation.

 

Unlike yours, my suggestion is to actually have most of them on the extractors themselves, being visual in-game rather than through UI only. The display should indicate the extractor letter in it's iconic hexagon shaped design, energy remaining right in the middle of the health and shield indicators which are being displayed in two circles, one smaller and inside the other (this is given that health doesn't increase with enemy level). The UI should only indicate the extractor letter and time remaining.

 

As for why I want this design over others, it's because of the fact that the extractors won't really overlap each other so it won't be hard to see it as well as the fact that it makes a really cool visual effect.

 

 

Off-topic: Why does the extractor EXPLODE when it completes a drill? I find it funny. Instead, we should have a stockpile of drills to carry and locations being marked so we have to lay it down ourselves to start drilling as well as repacking the drill for transport to another location.

 

How will I know the state of an extractor if I do not have direct sight of it? 

 

I've had at least one occasion where I lost track of the extractor because of the terrain, if not more. I'd rather be aware of the state of the extractors as much as possible. 

 

Michael Bay designed the drills, hence the explosive final.

 

most detailed information and sounds based on your proximity to the extractors, distant ones becoming less detailed with less/no audio cues?

 

It would be problematic for the tiles with two or three drills in very close proximity.