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For DEV's/GM : In a world without shield arcs...

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
Things sure do look AWESOME.. .. Please check out this quick video, and note how much better the game looks without combat shield arcs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvkHc_REZjs

a few points about this

- shield arcs look silly
- you are already presenting us this information in the lower HUD for ourselves, and the conning window for our targetted enemy
- on that note, they should give us the option to turn these off
- the comment a dev made about 'needing to develop new technology for this' is bogus, since somebody obviously cracked out a MOD of some sort in a matter of days, without reverse engineering any code.

I did not create this video, I'm merely reposting something that was buried in a thread as I felt it deserved a 'shot' at the front page.. Yes I know how they did it, no I will not tell you how, here or in a PM -- unless you work for cryptic and ask me in a PM (sorry, but to do so I risk violating the TOS/EULA and getting banned)

If this thread is somehow against the TOS/EULA, please feel free to lock it/delete it, and I'll gladly accept a warning.. However there's no intent to encourage haxx here, just to showcase how much cleaner the game looks without these goofy arcs .. I mean.. You remove them from your OWN marketing videos!! That should tell you something!

Hope to see 'option to turn off shield arcs' in a patch notes post in the near future :) (one can dream)
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Many people agree with you on this I'm sure, based on the amount of threads there were on the subject. But more importantly, the combat view is supposed to be 'real life', unlike the sector space view, which is meant to be a tactical screen on your ship, so within STO's own concept of reality, quite apart from them being redundant, those shield rings should not be around your ship anyway.

    Al
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I dissagree, it is a tactical view so you can plan your attack. How would you know what shield arc to work on if you had no indication what shileld was low.

    Personal prefrences that 'nerf' game mechanics are really kinda selfish.....imo...
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I dissagree, it is a tactical view so you can plan your attack. How would you know what shield arc to work on if you had no indication what shileld was low.

    Personal prefrences that 'nerf' game mechanics are really kinda selfish.....imo...

    The information is already presented to you along the bottom of the UI pane.. or perhaps you missed the big ship diagram with shield arcs around it :) similar information is given about the enemy ship you have targetted in the conning window (The red information box at the top of the screen you see when you have an enemy ship targetted)

    You will also note I am not asking Cryptic to remove the feature, I am asking them to give us a UI option to turn it of, IF WE WANT TO. .. It's a very simply fix.. likely not much work to integrate it into the ui options.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    The information is already presented to you along the bottom of the UI pane.. or perhaps you missed the big ship diagram with shield arcs around it :)

    You will also note I am not asking Cryptic to remove the feature, I am asking them to give us a UI option to turn it of, IF WE WANT TO.

    I understand why some people want it in, but I don't and many agree with me .. as the above poster said, it directly contradicts the statements of what the various views represent.. combat / system is not a tactical view..

    oh, nm, carry on.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    /signed

    The option to turn these off would be awesome.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I prefer it with the arcs around my ship. the less time I spend looking down the better.
    In Jui-jit-su you look an opponent in the center of their chest, not their face that way you can see any movement.. That's where I prefer my eyes to spend the most amount of time. on the center of the screen on my ship.

    An on/off button would be nice for those who do not share my preferences.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I myself won't use such and option, but I definitely support including such an option in the UI.

    Viewing the video I kept trying to figure out an option on how this was done and I think this could not have been done without using a hidden or undocumented command and/or changing internal-engine-variables or client-files.

    Either of these constitutes reverse engineering since the user is not supposed to "explore" client-software to modify the game experience in any way that is not authorized by the game developer. The /powerhue incident displays for example where Cryptic draws their borders about unsupported customizations!
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Worth noting too, is the fact that you can have audio cues tell you about yours and the enemy target's shields if you want, which I have turned on, as I like the notion of my crew reporting that my rear shield is failing or whatever. I just wish there were more audio cues like that, such as your weapons guy confirming 'quantum torpedo away' and things like that. It would add to the fun and keep your head up on the action.

    Al
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I agree with this post. The shield arcs around my ship have bugged me since day one. I like taking screen shots and I can't get a decent combat shot because of them. As was said before, all the information is already available to me, so if I could, I would turn them off.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I don't have a big problem with it. But it would look better without the shields on screen. I would have no problem with an on off for the UI.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    LordOfPit wrote: »
    I myself won't use such and option, but I definitely support including such an option in the UI.

    Viewing the video I kept trying to figure out an option on how this was done and I think this could not have been done without using a hidden or undocumented command and/or changing internal-engine-variables or client-files.

    Either of these constitutes reverse engineering since the user is not supposed to "explore" client-software to modify the game experience in any way that is not authorized by the game developer. The /powerhue incident displays for example where Cryptic draws their borders about unsupported customizations!

    Me discussing how it was done is against the EULA, so I won't :) All I know is that the third party claim was that code was not specifically decompiled to accomplish this. That's all I know.. I'm not a programmer so beyond that I don't really care to be honest I'm only interested in the end result, and seeing Cryptic implement it :)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Me discussing how it was done is against the EULA, so I won't...
    I'm not trying to get you to break the EULA by discussing it, I am however saying that the person who did this broke the EULA as far as I understand.

    About whether or not Cryptic decides to expose this functionality, that's naturally up to them, but I as a programmer, can definitely say that things that seem easy and simple to the uninitiated, may actually be more trouble than they're worth investing in.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I agree wholeheartetly that there MUST be an option to turn them off. I'm sure there are people that like them but I absolutely hate them. I have shield information right at the top AND at the bottom of my screen PLUS the computer tells me whenever I or my opponent loses shields.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I fully endorse the idea of an OPTION to turn the shield arcs off.

    And I would use it, too.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    /signed

    The option to turn these off would be awesome.

    Signed, i HATE this. I have a gaming PC so things can look more realistic, not so my shiny ship should suddenly gain this weird blue ring around it during combat that shows me WHAT I CAN ALREADY SEE from the UI.
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