Add the option to highlight enemy silhouettes.

[Teoarrk]

My wife recently started playing and has trouble identifying the enemies against the terrain. Would it be possible to add an option to highlight enemy silhouettes so that players that are starting out can get used to what enemies look like and how to spot them?

 

[SDGDen]

argonak does this. and its pretty starchartviable to boot. sadly its mr7

[theraot]

Use scanners to spot the enemies

[Teoarrk]

2 minutes ago, SupremeDutchGamer said:

argonak does this. and its pretty starchartviable to boot. sadly its mr7

Argonak is a pretty useless for someone that is just starting out. By that point, they've either left or gotten used to what to look for. There needs to be something for people at the get go. I can easily differentiate between different grineer and fauna but until you know what to mouse over it's hard to know whats a grineer and whats a box, for example, given how blocky they are.

[Teoarrk]

Just now, theraot said:

Use scanners to spot the enemies

You don't get a scanner till after Saya's Vigil and switching between a scanner and a weapon is not ideal. Why should a player starting out have to learn how to play in a way that is not representative of typical gameplay?

[theraot]

Give her some enemy radar mods, it will not highlight enemies, but will give some clue on where they are.

I was convinced you could buy scanners from the start, just going to the market. But, whatever. What is typical gameplay anyway? I often use a equiped scanner and quick melee... people play differently. You gotta do what you gotta do.

[Teoarrk]

2 minutes ago, theraot said:

Give her some enemy radar mods, it will not highlight enemies, but will give some clue on where they are.

I was convinced you could buy scanners from the start, just going to the market. But, whatever. What is typical gameplay anyway? I often use a equiped scanner and quick melee... people play differently. You gotta do what you gotta do.

I'm playing on PC. Her main is mac so we had the choice of either sharing my pc and getting my account banned or playing on ps4, so thats where she's playing. I taught her how to use mods and put on enemy radar. I understand that my statement probably came off as a little aggressive and for that I apologise. I'm teaching her to use guns, because she wants to use more than just her Skana and is finding it difficult to spot enemies at range on earth and on mars, considering the grineer are partially camouflaged. It's not an eyesight issue, because when I guide her to what is a grineer and what is not she has not trouble spotting it, but the fact that it's not immediately obvious is the issue here. People play different, I get you there, but when I said typical gameplay I meant that sort of run and gun fun under the sun kind of gameplay that is glamorised by community contributors on Youtube.

 

[theraot]

I think the only alternative left is to get a Banshee. The second ability will highligh enemies. Banshee is from the dojo, so that depends on she being on a clan that has done the research.

There is other stuff, but is away in mastery rank (the mentioned argonak) or quest lines...
 

Spoiler

Naramon, Void Hunter

I wonder to what extend video options would help. In particular increasing contrast. Have you tried that?

[Ottofyre]

51 minutes ago, Teoarrk said:

My wife recently started playing and has trouble identifying the enemies against the terrain. Would it be possible to add an option to highlight enemy silhouettes so that players that are starting out can get used to what enemies look like and how to spot them?

 

I can relate. It's one of the reasons I like Ash, Banshee and Equinox - they all have abilities that make enemies easier to see. And lately I honestly use Rhino Stomp more to help me figure out where the enemies are shooting at me from on the PoE than for actual CC. Though I've also found that bullet jumping straight up and looking down at them helps me see them better as well - but that's not always a convenient option.

There are a few other things that can help but none are really an option for new players - best bet right now would be to buy some Codex Scanners off the market and hotkey the gear-slot they're in to take a quick look. Other than that just time and experience.

I would imagine that since enemy highlighting is a special ability they've recently added to a weapon they probably would not consider making it a general UI option. I could be wrong about that, but hopefully they'll at least introduce more weapons or abilities that highlight enemies.

 

13 minutes ago, Teoarrk said:

I'm playing on PC. Her main is mac so we had the choice of either sharing my pc and getting my account banned or playing on ps4, so thats where she's playing.

 

As far as I know you would only be in danger of getting your account banned if you traded platinum between accounts. My husband and I have been playing since 2013 and have never had an issue. Admittedly we only occasionally use each other's systems, but I can't imagine that DE expects everyone who plays in an entire household to have their own computer. It would be pretty obnoxious to punish families for not having a lot of disposable income.

[Teoarrk]

2 minutes ago, theraot said:

I think the only alternative left is to get a Banshee. The second ability will highligh enemies. Banshee is from the dojo, so that depends on she being on a clan that has done the research.

There is other stuff, but is away in mastery rank (the mentioned argonak) or quest lines...
 

  Hide contents

Naramon, Void Hunter

I wonder to what extend video options would help. In particular increasing contrast. Have you tried that?

We tried that. We lowered contrast as much as is possible, but the enemy contrast seems to be tied to the same filter as the environment. 

[theraot]

Lower contrast? No, increase contrast. Edit: not so much, full contrast can be worse.

Lower contrast means less constrast, that is, less difference between colors.

And, yeah, it applies the contrast to the enemies too.

The drawback of high contrast is that it will be harder to see in dark areas or during the night, so pair with high (max) brightnes.

Edited March 3, 2018 by theraot

[Teoarrk]

10 minutes ago, Ottofyre said:

As far as I know you would only be in danger of getting your account banned if you traded platinum between accounts. My husband and I have been playing since 2013 and have never had an issue. Admittedly we only occasionally use each other's systems, but I can't imagine that DE expects everyone who plays in an entire household to have their own computer. It would be pretty obnoxious to punish families for not having a lot of disposable income.

Is that the rule? Huh, well thats good to know.

[Teoarrk]

21 minutes ago, theraot said:

Lower contrast? No, increase contrast. Edit: not so much, full contrast can be worse.

Lower contrast means less constrast, that is, less difference between colors.

And, yeah, it applies the contrast to the enemies too.

The drawback of high contrast is that it will be harder to see in dark areas or during the night, so pair with high (max) brightnes.

We settled on a final configuration that she liked that allowed her to see without it being an issue. She has problems with the silhouette, which while being visible with a codex scanner equipped is not visible without. If you're already in combat and unable to have your undivided attention on an enemy that is in cover, or if the enemy moves before it becomes your priority into an equally obscure spot it can be a challenge to spot, thats the issue here. There are tools in place and I recognise that, Otto also mentioned warframe powers and the Argonak, but they are things you get after playing for a while. Codex scanners are nice and all but are clunky to use. If a codex scanner pulse could keep nearby enemies highlighted for about 20 seconds after use that would be great, but they don't. As you said, you toggle your scanner often during play. That tactic isn't really explained to a new player. They scan the glass during Saya's Vigil and sure they could incidentally scan an enemy by chance and get familiar with the idea of using the codex scanner to spot and scan enemies, but thats depending on incident rather than directly telling the player what they can do to make their experience easier. Mind you, the same can be said about mods and Endo. 

Edited March 3, 2018 by Teoarrk

[Ottofyre]

13 minutes ago, Teoarrk said:

Is that the rule? Huh, well thats good to know.

That's my understanding of it. Some people say that they "can't interact at all" - but if you're sharing a PC that's not even possible so no problem there. I have actually traded a few items with my husband - a few mods and some prime parts - but we never trade platinum and never buy anything with platinum to give to each other. We only trade thing's we've earned and have never run into any problems.

From what I've read DE's main concern in this is people abusing extra accounts to constantly get big platinum discounts and trading the platinum to their main or flooding the market with cheap platinum.

[theraot]

Oh, yeah, we need to keep pushing for introducing these things early in the game.

Without that, you would not know that you can scan enemies until The New Strange quest, and that - I believe that still - is optional. You will have most of the star chart open by then anyway.

There are explanations of the mechanics in the codex, however new players rarely look there.

We still rely on players telling players.

As per a longer highlight from scanners, I would love that!

[DSpite]

3 hours ago, Teoarrk said:

My wife recently started playing and has trouble identifying the enemies against the terrain. Would it be possible to add an option to highlight enemy silhouettes so that players that are starting out can get used to what enemies look like and how to spot them?

 

Glad to know I'm not alone with this. My vision is kinda bad, and I have issues ... and I play on a 40" TV, about a foot away from my face (because of that), to compensate for it.

[True_Naeblis]

Even without vision issues the Grineer armor is very well suited to its surroundings in most locations, especially Earth and PoE. I really don't understand how with all this great tech we don't have thermal or other vision toggles that allow us to visually pick out targets more easily, doesn't make much sense. Using scanners to see enemies at range and dye for fish--no polarized lenses, really?--is just kind of off considering all that we have at our disposal.

[Raspberry]

I almost want to see your wife's reaction if/when she experiences her first Eidolon hunt. CYAN ORBS, ORANGE BEAMS, GREEN RAIN EVERYWHERE

[(PSN)ChronosHavok]

+1 to this. I have a hard time seeing enemies sometimes at night too. It's easy enough in the tiles but Grineer blend very well into Cetus.

[SDGDen]

if i remember correctly there is also a kavat mod that highlights enemies....

 

dont think DE will implement something like this since it makes the gimmicks of a bunch of things in game already useless. 

[Kanan37]

Yes please, we are all subject to the futility of... time. Whereby, we slowly age and breakdown. Therefore, our ability to see things rapidly, clearly, and easily fades. So, we require assistance from the tennoverse developers. Even if it was a mod that consumes energy on a companion, warframe, or operator. It would be really amazing to highlight silhouettes of both PVE hostiles and friendlies. It would allow for an amazing tenno to warframe connection.

I for one would appreciate and benefit from such a tool. 

Kanan37

-an aging Tenno

Edited February 3, 2023 by Kanan37
concision and clarity

[ShogunGunshow]

RISE, NECRO, ARISE.

But yes it would still be a nice thing to have ... five years later. Especially when the game has a penchant for smearing vaseline on the screen during things like Navigator and making things even harder to see than they are already.