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borsook79 -> RE: Matrix Games World in Flames: 7 Moments of Wow! (9/20/2013 11:09:14 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets
quote:
ORIGINAL: Borsook
quote:
ORIGINAL: composer99
Borsook:
While MWiF does use NATO symbols for the land units, the naval and air units are represented either by the actual ship (named naval units), generic ship icons (generic naval units) or an aircraft typical of the unit (air units).
You can see some of that in this thread.
Yes, I noticed that, but that makes the matter worse for me, a mix of Nato and icons is somehow strange to comprehend for me personally. I have nothing against Nato as an option but just can't stomach a situation in which it is the only option. It's probably due to the fact that when I was playing wargames growing up those in my country did not use Nato symbols and they seem alien to me.
The problem with using icons for the land units is that there are too many unit types. It was possible with the air units because there are only 7. For the naval units, where there are 15 unit types, a couple of letter abbreviations and differences in the combat factors enabled differentiating them all.
But given the 38 land unit types, each of which has special characteristics/capabilities in the game, it wasn't feasible to devise a unique icon for each without going to something comparable to the NATO symbols. And additional information has to be shown on the counter: army/corps versus division, reserve units, minor country designation (250+ means that using color alone wouldn't get the job done), and elite versus non-elite.
The game also has 8 levels of zoom, so whatever system was used had to be capable of displaying the type of unit at least for zoom levels 3-8. That's a lot of subtleties to incorporate into an icon. Sorry, but it was beyond my ability.
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// ****************************************************************************
// Land units: 0 - 38; utCityBasedVolunteer is not used & available.
// ****************************************************************************
TUnitType = (utInfantry, utCavalry, utParatroop, utAirLanding, utAirCav,
utMarine, utMountain, utSki, utEngineer, utMotorizedEngineer,
utMarineEngineer, utInfantryHQ, utArmorHQ, utPartisanHQ,
utMilitia, utPartisan, utWarlord, utCityBasedVolunteer,
utTerritorial, utGarrison, utMotorized, utMechanized, utArmor,
utArmoredMarine, utArmoredParatroop, utArtillery,
utMotorizedArtillery, utRocket, utRailwayGun, utSelfPropelled,
utTankDestroyer, utAntiTank, utMotorizedAntiTank, utLightAntiAir,
utMotorizedLightAntiAir, utHeavyAntiAir, utMotorizedHeavyAntiAir,
utSupply, utLeader,
// ****************************************************************************
// Naval units: 39 - 53.
// ****************************************************************************
utCarrier, utLightCarrier, utBattleship, utCruiser,
utLightCruiser, utAuxiliaryCruiser, utASWEscort, utASWCarrier,
utAmphibious, utNavalTransport, utNavalSupply, utLiner, utConvoy,
utSubmarine, utFrogmen,
// ****************************************************************************
// Air units: 54 - 60.
// ****************************************************************************
utFighter, utCarrierAir, utNavalAir, utLandAir, utAirTransport,
utVWeapon, utABomb,
// ****************************************************************************
// Special units: 61 - 71. utOilRepair is a damaged synthetic oil plant.
// ****************************************************************************
utSynthOil, utPilot, utFactory, utFort, utAvailable1,
utAvailable2, utOffensive, utOilRepair, utOilPoints,
utBuildPoints, utNone);
I understand you had to weigh the benefits and costs of that... still, producing such icons doesn't have to costly, as an example I could use Advanced Tactics Gold, which uses very simplistic and at the same time clear to read icons.
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