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Console Icon Art Revamp!

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  • capnshadow27capnshadow27 Member Posts: 1,731 Arc User
    edited August 2013
    ok, but really was it necessary to change icons that at a glance you could tell what it was, at a glance each icon used to have an actual uniqueness about them. Now all the tacticals look alike minus some color differences.

    The new icons are nice and pretty yes, but now you have to scroll over half the TRIBBLE in your inventory and bank to know what it is. Which is dumb in my opinion.
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  • purplegamerpurplegamer Member Posts: 1,015 Arc User
    edited August 2013
    ok, but really was it necessary to change icons that at a glance you could tell what it was, at a glance each icon used to have an actual uniqueness about them. Now all the tacticals look alike minus some color differences.

    The new icons are nice and pretty yes, but now you have to scroll over half the TRIBBLE in your inventory and bank to know what it is. Which is dumb in my opinion.

    And just like the old icons, you'll come to have them memorized.
  • coldicephoenixcoldicephoenix Member Posts: 344 Arc User
    edited August 2013
    And just like the old icons, you'll come to have them memorized.
    Thing is the tac icons look too similar and you may easily miss the little difference between types unless you look carefully. While the icons themselves are nice, the older tac icons were very distinct in appearance for each energy type.

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  • aelfwin1aelfwin1 Member Posts: 2,896 Arc User
    edited August 2013
    farmallm wrote: »
    The old ones just didn't look right for what they represent. Since they fixed it with the new ones. I really like them, and they look better.

    Could you perhaps point me to the difference between the Alloy icons ?

    Or perhaps the "Star Trek-ness" of the last 3 Misc. consoles from the link above ?

    Or ... how about then inability to tell of an Energy Type Damage console is green or blue , due to the beam that comes out of then new icon's corner and splashing on the corner that is supposed to tell you the green/blue/purple quality of the console .

    Or perhaps you'd like to enlighten us with the vast differences between the Torpedo Type Damage consoles .

    Yeah ... .:cool:
  • starkaosstarkaos Member Posts: 11,556 Arc User
    edited August 2013
    Some dev mentioned that certain features of the game is done during the dev's free time. A bunch of this stuff is rejected for whatever reason, but sometimes it gets far more attention because it is too cool. Even if this is not the case for the icons, then I can't see it taking more than a Friday Afternoon to do. The resources and time to create a bunch of new icons is minimal compared to almost every other dev task in the game. The only thing that I can see taking less time and resources is fixing typos.
  • starkaosstarkaos Member Posts: 11,556 Arc User
    edited August 2013
    Thing is the tac icons look too similar and you may easily miss the little difference between types unless you look carefully. While the icons themselves are nice, the older tac icons were very distinct in appearance for each energy type.

    At least the energy weapon Consoles' colors are based on the color of the energy weapon. Much easier to tell that the orange energy weapon console is phaser and the green energy weapon console is disruptor.
  • neoakiraiineoakiraii Member Posts: 7,468 Arc User
    edited August 2013
    aelfwin1 wrote: »
    Could you perhaps point me to the difference between the Alloy icons ?

    Or perhaps the "Star Trek-ness" of the last 3 Misc. consoles from the link above ?

    got the last two http://images.wikia.com/memoryalpha/en/images/c/c4/RCS_thruster.jpg
    GwaoHAD.png
  • azurianstarazurianstar Member Posts: 6,985 Arc User
    edited August 2013
    And just like the old icons, you'll come to have them memorized.

    Hard to memorize when Icons all look the same and the only difference is too small to see. And the colors blend into one another that the only way to tell what's what is the tool tip. :rolleyes:
  • shaitan100shaitan100 Member Posts: 131 Arc User
    edited August 2013
    the new icons suck.

    defend them all you want, but they still suck.
  • orangeitisorangeitis Member Posts: 5,222 Arc User
    edited August 2013
    cpc2011a wrote: »
    I really hope you're being sarcastic. The new icons were the biggest waste of time/resources that I can remember in recent months. Not to mention the fact that you have to relearn every icon, and all the tac icons look alike except for a barely visible center section. I don't mind the other console icons since I rarely ever change them, but my tac consoles get swapped out per situation and what used to take seconds is now a major bi***.

    They could have fixed the costume tailor, the ship tailor, the boff disappearance bug, the [insert bug here]...instead they did this TRIBBLE.
    People have different opinions. Stop being a richard cranium.
  • starkaosstarkaos Member Posts: 11,556 Arc User
    edited August 2013
    shaitan100 wrote: »
    the new icons suck.

    defend them all you want, but they still suck.

    That is merely your opinion. Saying something sucks is no way to convince anyone that you are correct. Saying something sucks because of this, this, and that will convince some people if they make sense. For example, these icons are better than the previous ones because they look like actual pieces of Star Trek equipment, easier to determine what a console is based on the icon, easier to memorize what each icon represents, and their graphics are updated.
  • starblade7starblade7 Member Posts: 169 Arc User
    edited August 2013
    starkaos wrote: »
    At least the energy weapon Consoles' colors are based on the color of the energy weapon. Much easier to tell that the orange energy weapon console is phaser and the green energy weapon console is disruptor.

    Even if you can't make out the details at a glance, you would think that the colour tells you what energy type it boosts... but no, you can't tell at a glance thanks to the rarity overlay partially obscuring the base colour.

    There is nothing wrong with change, or evolution, or advancement. Conceptually, the icons follow an internal logic, which makes sense. However, the execution requires significant improvement. I am surprised these changes were not hosted on the Tribble server so that feedback could be given first.

    - Coloured backgrounds detract from the ability to identify at-a-glance by colour.
    - Rarity colour overlays further obscure the colour, which was not an issue previously because the consoles could be identified by their unique shape.
    - While the new consoles are more detailed and technically of higher quality than their previous counterparts, the detail present in the original-resolution icons is lost when shrunk to the size icons are seen in-game. This is a serious problem particularly for Tactical damage-type consoles which rely on identification through spotting fine details as opposed to the overall shape.

    TL;DR: The new consoles are too busy. The old consoles worked well due to their simplicity. I would prefer not to develop eye strain by squinting at my screen to identify console icons, or the laborious task of reading tooltips sequentially. This can be solved by magnifying the size of the icons on-screen, by simplifying and enlarging the base designs, or by reverting to the old icons.


    Addendum: I'm not trying to bash up the developer who did this. Nothing wrong with the idea of updating the console icons. It's just that I can't help but feel the implementation could be improved with community feedback.
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  • oldravenman3025oldravenman3025 Member Posts: 1,892 Arc User
    edited August 2013
    Not really a big fan of the new icons. The art itself is nice. But the best bet would have been a simple update of the previous icons. As it stands, there is too much similarity between different icons to tell the difference at a glance.
  • oldravenman3025oldravenman3025 Member Posts: 1,892 Arc User
    edited August 2013
    A simple update to the art of the old icons would have been enough. Something along the lines of what was done with the biofunction monitor. It's similar enough to the old icon that I knew right off what it was without the tool tip.


    I fully support keeping things fresh. But the current situation with these new icons is unacceptable, in my opinion. There should have been more visual variety, as with the old system.
  • eazzieeazzie Member Posts: 4,222 Arc User
    edited August 2013
    OHHHH Somethings changed in the game. Quick everyone jump on the bandwagon and hate them.

    So what they have changed, they don't change the way the game is played JUST THE WAY IT LOOKS.

    Players jumped on the same hate bandwagon when the new UI came into effect with the launch of LoR, and where are they now. You have a better chance if spotting where's Wally.

    I get it, it is human nature to dislike something that is new, but after time all the I don't likes vanish.

    I can guarantee the next time they are changed, there will players saying they don't like them and ask for the new ones we have now back again.
  • jetwtfjetwtf Member Posts: 1,207
    edited August 2013
    Change for the sake of change is a sure sign of incompetent management.

    And yet "Change for the sake of change" is a constant in every industry be it dishwashing detergent to car tires. It is what keeps things fresh and new, being fresh and new brings more customers and more old customers who left back.

    Also wait until you get married and the wife wants to paint something just to have a change. That attitude will just get you in the doghouse lol. But is an example that people want things to change and grow rather than be stagnant. the same thing forever just makes it dull and boring, change for the sake of change, changes all that.
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  • eazzieeazzie Member Posts: 4,222 Arc User
    edited August 2013
    jetwtf wrote: »
    And yet "Change for the sake of change" is a constant in every industry be it dishwashing detergent to car tires. It is what keeps things fresh and new, being fresh and new brings more customers and more old customers who left back.

    Also wait until you get married and the wife wants to paint something just to have a change. That attitude will just get you in the doghouse lol. But is an example that people want things to change and grow rather than be stagnant. the same thing forever just makes it dull and boring, change for the sake of change, changes all that.

    Hear Hear. One thing some players also forget, is that the forum is only a miniscule representation of the overall number of actual players. Not every single STO player uses the forum, so at a guess those who are not liking the new icons is what 1% (if that) of actual overall amount of players.

    The only way PWE/Cryptic can get a true reflection of how the new icons have been received, is to send every active player an email to cast a vote, but there is now guarentee everyone will respond. Plus doing this would cost money, so they may have to pull resources from else where to cover the cost, resources from departments that fix bugs and glitches, and then certain bugs and glitches will end up taking longer to fix, then the "this is still broken" threads start and everyone is just going round in circles.
  • aelfwin1aelfwin1 Member Posts: 2,896 Arc User
    edited August 2013
    neoakiraii wrote: »


    You get points for trying ... ;)
  • dalolorndalolorn Member Posts: 3,655 Arc User
    edited August 2013
    shevet wrote: »
    Having given it a couple of days, now... the new icons are starting to grow on me.

    And, actually, the consistent "families" of items with consistent shapes and appropriate colour schemes... is a genuine improvement. Once you've got some familiarity with the groupings, you can say to yourself, for instance, "Hmm, that thingy there has the same sort of outline as a phaser relay, but it's got a purple glow instead of an orange one... so, it must be a booster for polaron!" Which was not something you could do so easily, back when they were both Some Random Gizmo.

    So, on balance, I give this change a thumbs up overall.

    Well, I've already stated that I like the icons, but the part most of your post is talking about is actually the only part I don't like that I can't attribute to facts such as "oh no, my knowledge is invalidated!".

    They're too generic. To borrow from your example, I've learnt exactly what every tactical console does (except for chroniton and tricobalt consoles, I had a bit of trouble catching those two) and had a fairly good idea as to which hull plating did what, or which alloy was which.

    Now? Not a chance. It's either detailed examination or tooltips, neither of which match the speed at which I could differentiate them before. Sure, the colors in the tactical consoles are helping out, but that's not true for everybody.

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  • eazzieeazzie Member Posts: 4,222 Arc User
    edited August 2013
    Have you not heard of opinion polls? A sample of the population if sufficiently large will determine the confidence level of the result to within a reasonable margin of error.

    Here is some useful information regarding sample sizes.

    http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas/Soc_participants.shtml

    Yes I have heard of opinion polls that was precisely the point I was making. Statistics can also be altered for good or bad. How many times do world governments alter statiscal figures in order to make their current administration look better than it truthfully is. In order to get a true reflectionan an actual fact poll would need to be carried out. Just one question. Do you like the new console icons yes or no.
  • shevetshevet Member Posts: 1,667 Arc User
    edited August 2013
    The only reason the old icons were "identifiable at a glance" was familiarity... to the uninitiated, each one is a meaningless snippet of a non-existent machine. And, given that they were highly detailed images in a square smaller than a postage stamp, they were never kind to anyone with any degree of visual impairment.

    The new ones have, at least, the virtue of greater consistency. And familiarity with them will come, in time. So, while I won't say I "love" the new icons, I don't mind them, and I think on balance they're an improvement.
    8b6YIel.png?1
  • virusdancervirusdancer Member Posts: 18,687 Arc User
    edited August 2013
    New icons would have been fine, could have been fine...if the art style were not so absurdly different than everything else in the game. They stand out like a cartoon sore thumb compared to the other icons. Even if every other icon were changed to match them, they would still stand out like a sore thumb compared to all the rest of the art in the game.

    How different they are is so ridiculous - I'm left to wonder if they're meant to serve as a distraction from something else going on or about to go on...because they're just that out of place.
  • eazzieeazzie Member Posts: 4,222 Arc User
    edited August 2013
    shevet wrote: »
    The only reason the old icons were "identifiable at a glance" was familiarity... to the uninitiated, each one is a meaningless snippet of a non-existent machine. And, given that they were highly detailed images in a square smaller than a postage stamp, they were never kind to anyone with any degree of visual impairment.

    The new ones have, at least, the virtue of greater consistency. And familiarity with them will come, in time. So, while I won't say I "love" the new icons, I don't mind them, and I think on balance they're an improvement.

    Yes they are an improvement. All it boils down to is there has been a change and people in the most part dislike adapting to change.
  • masterkeychnk5masterkeychnk5 Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited August 2013
    this game is in need of some serious bug fixes and performance improvements, and yet you guys keep on spending yorur resources on making icons look TRIBBLE.

    GG cryptic.
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  • warwolf108warwolf108 Member Posts: 21 Arc User
    edited August 2013
    I've already stated my dislikeness towards the new icons, but seeing how many people doesn't like them either, i'll say it again.

    Maybe you should make the new artwork optional. I know it's not the same thing as the UI , but if so many people don't like it... Making it optional would satisfy those who like it AND those who don't.

    PD: I also agree the Cryptic team should fix operational bugs before implementing aesthetic changes.
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  • boltax2012boltax2012 Member Posts: 32 Arc User
    edited August 2013
    I think we all know by now that the work put into these icons has no reflection on the work put into bug fixing.....now thats out of the way!

    I've looked at the icons blown up and yes....they do look cool, but when they are viewed in a high resolution.....the details just dissappear.

    If i am required to lower my resolution...hence decreasing my video performance to properly see them..........then this is a step back....not forwards.
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