However, since its introduction this has only ever actually worked with ranged volleys, so melee builds haven’t been able to take advantage of it for this purpose.Īttached weapons and utilities also display their range circle over the map if hovered over with the mouse, or in the latter case many utilities also animate their AOE during their toggle animation, meaning these other features can be used to at least indirectly measure distances, although this is fiddly at best. Showing the the volley window rangefinder distance readout (top right, “R=”). Previous versions of Cogmind have already contained some ways to use the UI to confirm distances in certain cases, like the Volley window active in targeting mode that constantly updates its range readout to indicate the distance between Cogmind and the cursor location on the map.
Computers are good at calculation, after all. Given the discrete grid, this info is generally not that hard for experienced players to visually estimate, although in cases where knowing precise distances is important for optimal decision-making and one miscalculation could mean the difference between a tactic’s success or failure, it’s much more efficient and reassuring if the game can just calculate and display the desired details. Roguelikes traditionally take place on a grid, and it’s not uncommon to need to know the distance to a location for the purposes of movement, magic, guns, abilities, etc. In particular a collection of map overlay ideas has been building up in my notes over the years, so recently my tendency to work on related features in batches kicked in and several new options were born: a map ruler for measuring distances, a more powerful volley data visualizer, and robot FOV overlays… Ruler Overlay I enjoy UI/UX work and recognize its importance, so naturally every release of Cogmind comes with its fair share of QoL features, and the huge upcoming release (Beta 11) is no different.
Windows ruler overlay plus#
If you find that players are spending extra time doing a certain task that could be facilitated by improvements to the UI, then hopefully those improvements are feasible and there’s time/resources to add them! Honestly doing everything possible is unlikely-in a sufficiently complex game the list of possibilities seems almost endless, plus of course it has to be balanced against investing in other features. Many high-priority player needs should be apparent in the earliest stages of development, and help shape the entire foundation for an interface’s design, but still other needs with lower priority may only gradually become more obvious over time. As the player’s gateway to accessing the experience they’re after when they want to play a game, building a fluid and comprehensive interface is essential.
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