View Issue Details

IDProjectCategoryLast Update
0022482AI War 2GUIJan 9, 2020 3:47 pm
ReporterFluffiest Assigned ToChris_McElligottPark  
Status resolvedResolutionfixed 
Product Version1.025 Hotfix 
Fixed in Version1.3 The Grand New AI 
Summary0022482: "low detail" tooltips have too much detail
DescriptionAttached are a couple of the tooltips in the "less detail" (concise) view. They're still too wordy. Reducing the amount of information in the tooltip would serve two purposes: Firstly, it would reduce the amount of screen real-estate it takes up, and therefore save me from using the "hide all tooltips" hotkey constantly. Secondly, it would reduce information overload, and make it easier to find the really important stuff at a glance.

The concussion guard post is a bit too much information. In order:
* I don't need every tooltip to tell me the AI type. I know that already, I selected it at the start of the game. Just tell me that it's an AI unit, the colour will let me know which AI it is if I have multiple. The only things that need to display the AI type are AI command stations.
* I'm hesitant about displaying the armor thickness, energy use, albedo, engine power and mass. On the one hand, a lot of the time, I won't need it. On the other hand, when I do need it is during a fight, when there's a lot to focus on and I would generally prefer to stick to the concise tooltips.
* If you balk at hiding them, maybe compromise by displaying only the stats that are unusually high or low - the things that scream "find a unit that's specialized in killing me!". If something has entirely average albedo, I just don't care.
* Regardless, displaying the "speed" and "engine" line for a stationary unit is a waste of space and words.
* Most of the time, I'd rather know the overall DPS than seeing the damage, number of shots, and rate of fire separately.
* I don't need the weapon range to be on the concise tooltip. If I want to see the range I hold Z and the game draws a circle for me.
* The attack bonus line could be shortened to "Attack bonus 6x vs. armor 50mm or less". On units that have multiple bonuses, this could save a lot of space. The V-wing's "engine slower" tooltip is much more condensed and feels nicer.
* The description field basically tells me exactly the same thing that the weapon information tells me. I'm not sure if it should be completely removed, because it does make the whole thing seem a bit less dry, but the pedant in me insists that it's wasted space - tooltips are meant to be extremely concise, and this isn't. Maybe that's the fault of this particular tooltip, though, because others (such as the V-wing below) are more informative.
* I don't need to see the exact contents of a reinforcement point all the time, as long as I can see the ship count and strength. If the total strength worries me, there's a hotkey to see the details. It's potentially a *huge* amount of text that, a lot of the time, I'm not going to care about because I already hilariously outgun anything the guard post could be hiding.

The command station has even more info, most of which is extraneous.
* I really do not need to see the entire command station descriptive text every time. Shorten it to one line. You can display the full version when I'm trying to decide which one to build or when I hold Ctrl. There are a lot of other units like this, where the descriptive text really needs to be broken up into a concise version and a verbose version.
* I only need to see the Global Command Augmenter percentage when I'm trying to decide which station to build.
* I really don't need to see the tech upgrade path all the time. That's the kind of thing that can be relegated to the verbose tooltip.
* I don't need to see the entire fleet list just from mousing over the command station. Just tell me it's part of a fleet. If I need to review the contents of a fleet, I can press ctrl or look at the "fleets" panel.

The V-wing is a bit better, but not perfect.
* Again, the "upgraded by" section is handy when I'm reviewing my fleets at my leisure. In a battle - when I would generally prefer the concise tooltip - it's useless.
* In particular, putting "NOT upgraded by Fleet EXP" on everything is redundant. Things that are upgraded by fleet XP are rare. Just put the info on the few that are.
* It says "STACK OF 3" right at the top. It doesn't need to say it again at the bottom.
* It especially does not need to explain what a stack is on every single tooltip. I am only going to have to read that information once, ever, in order to understand it.

Conversely, I *do* always need to see at a glance:
* The name of the target
* The mark number
* The owner
* Stack size
* The current HP and shields (although I think this could take up less space)
* The speed if it's a mobile unit
* Special abilities like cloaking
* The energy use, and the energy and metal production, but only for my own units
* ONLY when I'm going to build something, I need to know the metal cost
* I need an idea of how much damage it does. In the concise tooltip, this should be the approximate dps. In the verbose tooltip, it should list the number of shots, the damage per shot, and the rate of fire.
* Whether its attacks have a special property like decloaking, paralysis, knockback or tractor.
* Whether it gets a bonus against something. I probably don't need to know *how* big a bonus, but I do need to know if the bonus is there.
* Whether it's going to spring a nasty surprise on me when I destroy it.
* The reminder of what buttons to press to get more information.
TagsNo tags attached.

Relationships

related to 0022483 resolvedRocketAssistedPuffin Tooltips should display average DPS. 

Activities

Fluffiest

Jan 2, 2020 3:24 pm

reporter  

Guard Post - Copy.jpg (340,527 bytes)
V-wing - Copy.jpg (395,443 bytes)

BadgerBadger

Jan 2, 2020 3:42 pm

manager   ~0055279

I definitely agree that we need to make the default tooltips more concise

RocketAssistedPuffin

Jan 6, 2020 4:59 pm

reporter   ~0055366

Last edited: Jan 6, 2020 5:50 pm

Some of this I've managed to do.

Seems the other devs/volunteers have ideas in mind for some of this.

RocketAssistedPuffin

Jan 6, 2020 9:57 pm

reporter   ~0055384

How is it now? Chris did a bunch more here. (Need to be in beta branch currently).

Fluffiest

Jan 7, 2020 4:25 am

reporter   ~0055390

I'm not in the beta; I'll hopefully be able to get on it and test tonight though.

Vortex

Jan 7, 2020 7:44 am

reporter   ~0055395

here are two quick things i think could be fixed.
1. Seems to be some random ordering of the "upgrading by techs" in ars (probably all listings). Sometimes its hull and sometimes weapon.
2. I think that showing which ship lines is included in a new transport flagship should be visible at all times.. now I need to hold ctrl to see what I get.
missing ship lines in brief.png (133,507 bytes)   
missing ship lines in brief.png (133,507 bytes)   

Vortex

Jan 7, 2020 8:06 am

reporter   ~0055396

Oh, i now see that ship lines isn't showing for my own ships either so it might be by design?
back to medium for me :-)

CyberKun

Jan 7, 2020 8:55 am

reporter   ~0055397

Yeah, the flagships need to show what ships they have. Strength is way to vague of an info to know the overall health of your flagships.

Chris_McElligottPark

Jan 8, 2020 12:15 am

administrator   ~0055417

New version has that fix. Cheers!

Fluffiest

Jan 8, 2020 7:45 pm

reporter   ~0055451

This looks loads better; I'll keep playing and let you know if anything is extraneous or missing. Thanks.

Chris_McElligottPark

Jan 9, 2020 3:47 pm

administrator   ~0055476

Awesome! Just let us know if you see more things, probably in a new ticket. Cheers!

Issue History

Date Modified Username Field Change
Jan 2, 2020 3:24 pm Fluffiest New Issue
Jan 2, 2020 3:24 pm Fluffiest File Added: Command Station - Copy.jpg
Jan 2, 2020 3:24 pm Fluffiest File Added: Guard Post - Copy.jpg
Jan 2, 2020 3:24 pm Fluffiest File Added: V-wing - Copy.jpg
Jan 2, 2020 3:41 pm BadgerBadger Assigned To => Chris_McElligottPark
Jan 2, 2020 3:41 pm BadgerBadger Status new => assigned
Jan 2, 2020 3:42 pm BadgerBadger Note Added: 0055279
Jan 2, 2020 3:55 pm BadgerBadger Relationship added related to 0022483
Jan 6, 2020 4:59 pm RocketAssistedPuffin Note Added: 0055366
Jan 6, 2020 5:50 pm RocketAssistedPuffin Note Edited: 0055366
Jan 6, 2020 9:57 pm RocketAssistedPuffin Status assigned => requires feedback
Jan 6, 2020 9:57 pm RocketAssistedPuffin Note Added: 0055384
Jan 7, 2020 4:25 am Fluffiest Note Added: 0055390
Jan 7, 2020 7:44 am Vortex File Added: missing ship lines in brief.png
Jan 7, 2020 7:44 am Vortex File Added: random order of upgrade.png
Jan 7, 2020 7:44 am Vortex Note Added: 0055395
Jan 7, 2020 8:06 am Vortex Note Added: 0055396
Jan 7, 2020 8:55 am CyberKun Note Added: 0055397
Jan 8, 2020 12:15 am Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0055417
Jan 8, 2020 7:45 pm Fluffiest Note Added: 0055451
Jan 9, 2020 3:47 pm Chris_McElligottPark Status requires feedback => resolved
Jan 9, 2020 3:47 pm Chris_McElligottPark Resolution open => fixed
Jan 9, 2020 3:47 pm Chris_McElligottPark Fixed in Version => 1.3 The Grand New AI
Jan 9, 2020 3:47 pm Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0055476