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Author Topic: Loading screen tips and key game objective compass.  (Read 8620 times)
Neon_Knight
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« on: November 30, 2018, 07:22:11 AM »

Writing this here so I don't forget.

It's a known problem of OpenArena that many people don't know about 3/4 of the other gamemodes. As I keep saying time and time again, it's the game that should motivate people to play the other modes. Problem is, the basics may be lost.

How do we go around this? Some ideas popped up my mind.

First is the loading screen tips, akin to UT2004 and UT3. When a match is loading, you'll be greeted with the "LOADING..." scene and a random tip for that specific gamemode. I would go beyond this and directly add a brief description of the gamemode's goals. The first and last can be done instantly (thanks to UI3), as for the middle one, well, the keyword is RANDOM, and I haven't been able yet to create a cvar where to store a random number, and a RNG which could be called from the console. THAT would be a huge step forward to some of my ideas. But I think I can do it.

Another idea is a HUD addition, also inspired by the UT200X games. Middle-top of the screen there should be a compass pointing to the main game objectives.

* For CTF/Overload/eCTF, if in the red team, it would point to the blue flag/obelisk, and vice-versa.
* For 1FCTF it would point first to the white flag, and then see CTF.
** For Possession, it would just point to the white flag. It would also create more tension for the flag carrier.
* For Harvester, if the player has no skulls, it would point to the generator when a score skull has dropped, and once the player picks it up, to the enemy base.
* For Double Domination, it would point to both points and those points would be colored according to the team that took them.
* For Domination, it would point to the dom points and those points would be colored according to the team that took them.
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Gig
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« Reply #1 on: November 30, 2018, 10:34:10 AM »

About the first topic:
- Wondering if it's really necessary to use a cvar (visible to users) or you may just use internal variables (I don't know their correct name) or the returned parameter of a function, as maybe you don't need to "store" the random number for long. This is just a thought, I don't know enough about how the code internally works.
- On modern machines loading OA maps is quick. It's hard to read the "long map name" and the "short message of the day"... reading gamemode rules would probably really be comfortable on old hardware only...

About the second topic:
- Interesting... wondering how hard it would be to actually program it, and doing it in an elegant way. IIRC, in Possession the interface tells you the distance from the flag carrier, but a generic "find the flag" when nobody has it, because it would have required some "hacky" tricks. (See in some post from Sago in Possession thread... probably this one: http://openarena.ws/board/index.php?topic=3995.msg54110#msg54110).
« Last Edit: November 30, 2018, 10:49:26 AM by Gig » Logged

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Neon_Knight
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« Reply #2 on: November 30, 2018, 02:39:27 PM »

The random function would be for general use. I plan on using it for some SP modes I'm crafting for UI3, not just the loading screen. But first I need to build it.
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Neon_Knight
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« Reply #3 on: December 02, 2018, 01:49:51 PM »

I've just managed to add a random number generator into UI3. So the "loading screen tips" idea can be done. Yay!
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fromhell
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« Reply #4 on: December 09, 2018, 06:55:29 PM »

Is there something wrong with placing colored arrow decals in maps?  They'd probably need some shader remap trickery for dominations though
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Progress of OA3 currently occurs behind closed doors alone

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Neon_Knight
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« Reply #5 on: December 10, 2018, 04:54:30 AM »

It didn't happen to me to think about that relationship. At least with brush-based decals, the problem is more tris to render (although the difference is slight), and the current decals have a problem as well. Their looks aren't consistent between the editor and the game. I still have to find out why that happens.

Not to mention, map decals are map-specific. This function is for all maps, regardless if the have decals or not.
« Last Edit: December 10, 2018, 07:33:35 AM by Neon_Knight » Logged


"Detailed" is nice, but if it gets in the way of clarity, it ceases being a nice addition and becomes a problem. - TVT
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