Troop Containers

[grifftron]

Not sure if this is somewhere on MC already and i just couldn't find it,

But with all my games going on (not many) I have already got confused on my troop container colors in diff games as they change from game to game... I have also attacked a neutral on a game thinking it was my opponent.

So what i would like to suggest is maybe a list that could be put somewhere (possibly in our settings) that saves the color that the user would be that would show up at the start of every game. But it could be changed in individual games by the user if they wanted to like how it is already an option now to do so... BUT just at the start up of games it would be saved and automatically start out as that color container every game.

Example:
Neutral: White
User: Black
Player 1: Cyan
Player 2 : Lime
Player 3 : Brown
Player 4 : Green
Player 5: Red
and so on all the way to the max amount of players.

I know its a kinda lazy thing to suggest but I always get confused on these colors as their are so many to pick from (which is a good thing) but i would like something simple for myself and others that enjoy the simple things.

 

[Badorties]

we are working on this for sure. We plan to have a standard order of colors through 12.

 

[RjBeals]

As bado said, lots of discussion going on about this. Your suggestion is right on target - Griff you're alright!

 

[grifftron]

Awesome guys. I just have a very short memory sometimes, especially with things like this. Would be a great addition, looking forward to it.

Until then I will keep attacking neutrals with pride! :aetsch:

-griff

 

[Spazm]

Also, can they please be primary type colors, or similar to the Classic map troop container changes, with the black borders? Currently on massive games there are so many pale / pastel colors that it drives my colorblind self crazy.

 

[Shepherd]

Also, can they please be primary type colors, or similar to the Classic map troop container changes, with the black borders? Currently on massive games there are so many pale / pastel colors that it drives my colorblind self crazy.

As a colorblind maker of maps I'm right there with you. We've been doing a lot of experimenting with troop containers that you won't see at other sites - shapes, stripes, fades, RJ's team combinations, etc. Work in progress!

 

[RjBeals]

yeah - the massive containers do have a lot of soft colors. It's just tough to make like 30 colors that are all contrasting to each other. But I can always edit those. Ain't nothing but a thing

 

[Spazm]

So far the progress I've seen has been great. Different container shapes, such as in Cold War and South America, in addition to the stripes, "flags," and all the other unique color combinations make a huge difference. Keep up the great work gentlemen.

 

[zspBANNED]

I agree with Spazm, it's looking pretty sweet. One thing though, in 1v1 games (at least on USA), I am usually black, my opponent is Cali Yellow and the Neutral is Yellow. Too close in color! Like griff said, make those pesky neutrals white by default!

 

[WidowMakers]

I was thinking about the troop containers yesterday.

We have spend, are scending and will spend a ton of time working a solution to this user interface problem and design.
What if there was a way that we could simplify the process?
What if we let the user pick what color they want from a pallette and not a preset number of containers?

Several of these points below address issues posted in the thread above.

Here is my proposal for map troop containers.
1) The map maker creates a single .png file for each troop container shape set (2 and 3 digit). (There can be more than 1 shaped container per map but all of them would start out white with alpha)
2) A user selects the color of the interior, text and exterior stroke.
3) The system automatically re-colors the original .png file
4) All these can be save per a users profile.
5) No longer have any issues with deciding what color to use and where. Let the users decide
6) Each map starts out with the 12 colors we have already determined (plus the neutral and target) but they are based off the single original file and can be adjusted the individual users.

Benefits
-This would greatly decrease the amount of time a map maker needs to spend on working out container color combos.
-It would eliminate any issues of color-blind containers in that it would let each user create their own
-It could potentially reduce game engine stress since there would be a single troop container file used and just re-colored.

 

[Badorties]

WM: that would also eliminate all patterns and gradients. Unless the system is able to create that.

 

[WidowMakers]

Agreed. But if we have a color picker, a gradient would not be hard to do either.
This idea makes life easier in some respects but more challanging in others.

Just and idea to consider. Not sure how it would affect the code and back end of the game engine.

 

[RjBeals]

Regarding a standard approach to troop containers - what we've come up with is 12 standard container colors, displayed in order. So player one will always be "RED", and player two will always be "BLUE" and son on.The map artist can change the colors slightly to fit the theme of the maps, but they must still be identifiable as those specific colors (ie. Yellow can be a mustard shade, instead of a sunshine shade).

The current system lists all troop containers in alphabetical order by container name. So we are going to prefix the first 12 with a number. There was about 2 pages of discussion around these colors, and the order they are in - so just no it's not a random listing:

12 STANDARD TROOP CONTAINER COLORS
01 Red
02 Blue
03 Yellow
04 Green
05 Magenta
06 Cyan
07 Black
08 White
09 Orange
10 Brown
11 Grey
12 Purple
13 Neutral
14 Target/Enemy

Shepherd has done this already with South America and Cold War Europe but he numbered his before we agreed on a stardard listing.

So check out Classic Evolved next time you join. You're troop container should reflect the player number you are. I've started a standard 12 player game if anyone want's to join:

http://www.majorcommand.com/Games/Game.php?gameid=4746

Any & all feedback welcome.



(EDIT)
Updated USA and Classic Massive as well.

 

[zspBANNED]

Will we still be able to change it? I always pick black for myself...

Pretty nice stuff though, guys.

 

[RjBeals]

Will we still be able to change it? I always pick black for myself...

Pretty nice stuff though, guys.

By all means - change it to whatever you like. It's just a way to start the games with a little consistency. Thanks ZSP

 

[WidowMakers]

You're troop container should reflect the player number you are. I've started a standard 12 player game if anyone want's to join:

http://www.majorcommand.com/Games/Game.php?gameid=4746

Looks great Rj. I did join and as the second player I am blue and you are red.

 

[RjBeals]

from the game above, here are the colors that "I" see. You all may see different colors:

edit: This doesn't follow the logic that I thought would happen. Guess we'll need to do some more testing.

 

[Badorties]

this is what i see

 

[Shepherd]

Europe and South America troop containers have been updated as per the new list.

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the way it has been working around here is that if you are opening up your first ever 4 player game (for example) on Map X, you will see the standard colors. But once you've played a 4p on Map X before and you changed yourself to be White, and Player 1 to be Black, you and Player 1 will pop up in future games on Map X as White and Black. However, if you start an 8 player game on the same map things will get a bit scrambled, since White and Black are used for Players 7 and 8... so you may have to go in and change them again.

I would guess that this accounts for the difference between what you two see when you open the same game - at one point Rj probably set himself to be red on that map, so the system had to swap something else in for Player 1.

In discussing the merits of having a uniform color system across all maps, the hope was to eventually allow players to predetermine which colors they wanted to see when they first opened a game. I always like playing as White, so I'd like to open as White in all games and not have to change it (especially in those two minute speed games!).

 

[Evan]

Europe and South America troop containers have been updated as per the new list.

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the way it has been working around here is that if you are opening up your first ever 4 player game (for example) on Map X, you will see the standard colors. But once you've played a 4p on Map X before and you changed yourself to be White, and Player 1 to be Black, you and Player 1 will pop up in future games on Map X as White and Black. However, if you start an 8 player game on the same map things will get a bit scrambled, since White and Black are used for Players 7 and 8... so you may have to go in and change them again.

I would guess that this accounts for the difference between what you two see when you open the same game - at one point Rj probably set himself to be red on that map, so the system had to swap something else in for Player 1.

In discussing the merits of having a uniform color system across all maps, the hope was to eventually allow players to predetermine which colors they wanted to see when they first opened a game. I always like playing as White, so I'd like to open as White in all games and not have to change it (especially in those two minute speed games!).

I also see that as the purpose. Eventually I'd like you to go into settings and choose your favorite color for you, your team, and your enemies. And then have those defaults on any map (even though the 88's might actually be different, the same general colors would be in the same places)

Of course eventually we'll get away from the workaround of having to put numbers in from of the circles and provide a smarter way to tell the system which color is which.

As far as how it is right now, I don't remember implementing the "memory" feature where it'll use your same color on the next game of same settings. I will need to check.

RJ: I think the reason you see it that way is maybe because initial colors are based on join "slot". But after the game starts, all the players are shuffled for the sake of random turn order. Turn order does not (intentionally) equal your turn order. But I am not sure on this one either. I will need to dbl check