[DISC][PLAYER] Visual designs of new objects

[namida]

So yeah, it's probably time to start thinking about the visual side of things.

Normally, I'd come up with something, use it in one of my new styles, and see where things go from there. But, I don't have anything ready to release any time soon. I could add them to some existing styles, I guess... either way though, some discussion needs to be had about what these will look like.

Portals - the idea of swirling vortices seems popular. This could be in some kind of frame similar to teleporter designs, but with a constant vortex animation in the "doorway"; or could simply be a portal sitting out in the open.

Assigners, Deassigners - first I'll note, Assigners are capable of (and should be) using the same functionality as pickup skills do, in order to show the skill they assign. The rest of the design needs to be clearly different, though. Clear physics mode can reveal the skill in the case that a graphic doesn't, but this is a failsafe, not the intended way of telling the player the skill they give. Following on from this, I feel the standard for deassigners should be similar to the same style's assigner (same shape, possibly different colors or minor details), perhaps with a red X where the skill icon would go on an assigner?

Neutralizers, Deneutralizers - I don't really have any good starting points on these ones, aside from that again they should look similar to each other, and we should probably settle on some universal indication of which is which (similar to the "In" and "Out" on teleporters and receivers).

[namida]

I made this for a Portal object for namida_lab: https://youtu.be/3jPgCHdZZoE

[WillLem]

Here are my portal objects in case they're of any use:


EDIT: Thinking about it, the swirl should probably turn in the opposite direction for "IN" and "OUT"... that could be arranged

For assigners/de-assigners, maybe the custom pickup from willlem_lemminas might help? I feel like these should look somewhat like pickups, maybe the de-assigner could have an exclamation mark or a strikethrough / across the frame:



For neutralizers/de-neutralisers, I'd suggest a simple doorway with a sign showing a neutral lemming and another showing a regular lemming, kind of like this:

[namida]

I think it's important that the assigners are very clearly differentiated from pickup skills. It's good to make note of other existing custom pickup skill designs, though, to avoid similarity to them. Maybe some kind of "energy field" appearance, with a skill icon above it?

[Strato Incendus]

Actually, to me personally, the doorway with a Walker on it would intuitively seem more suited for the Deassigner.
As in “going through this doorway will return the lemming to being a regular Walker”.
And conversely, for an assigner, we could use a doorway with the skill icon in question.

The other option, I agree with namida, looks too much like a pickup skill to me. Especially since pickup skills are not instant (and haven’t been since that gimmick got removed ), whereas assigners and deassigners will be.

Perhaps the neutralisers and deneutralisers could then simply be the blue and grey doorways, without any skill icons above them?
The similarity to the assigners and deassigners is there, as all four are objects that instantly alter the state of a lemming.
Except that those doorways with a skill icon above them would refer to skill (de-)assignment, whereas the colour of the door frame would refer to regular lemming vs. neutral.

[WillLem]

The other option, I agree with namida, looks too much like a pickup skill to me

Yes, let's not use my custom pickup - especially since it already is used as a pickup!

Actually, to me personally, the doorway with a Walker on it would intuitively seem more suited for the Deassigner.
As in “going through this doorway will return the lemming to being a regular Walker”.
And conversely, for an assigner, we could use a doorway with the skill icon in question.

Looking back at this after some time, I think the neutralizer is actually quite clear; the point of showing the lem icon is that the colour of the lem's tunic is that of a neutral, so this should indicate that the lem will become neutral. An otherwise unmarked grey/blue doorway, meanwhile, could be literally anything in the scope of NL objects: an exit, a teleporter, a trap, a splitter, etc...

Meanwhile, I agree that the design could also be re-purposed for an assigner: the icon suggests that the lem state will change, whilst the doorway is enough to differentiate it from a pickup. Add a red cross for de-assigners.

Will the proposed de-neutralizer then look like a Walker assigner? Possibly. So, here is another option: animate the object, showing an icon of a neutral lem changing into a regular lem, and vice versa. The colour of the doorway then adds further clarity.

The attached zip contains new versions of all proposed new objects (except the portal), plus a test level to showcase them. Note that if these are accepted as the defaults, I'll also provide hi-res versions so that the animated lem icon isn't upscaled.

[IchoTolot]

Those look good!

Although blue seems to not touch the ground properly.

There can be an argument that the red cross could be misinterpreted.

[WillLem]

Although blue seems to not touch the ground properly.

That's an editing mistake, it's fixed in the demo level.

There can be an argument that the red cross could be misinterpreted.

The problem here is that de-assigners can de-assign multiple permanent skills, so it's not a simple case of displaying a skill icon, like it is with the assigner.

I suppose one way to do it could be to place an athlete-recoloured lem in the square, then a red cross over the top of that. It could look like "no athletes" though, rather than a de-assigner.

It's a tricky one. All ideas are welcome, I'm happy to redesign it if anyone has any suggestions. We do need to make a decision at some point though, or NL 12.13 may never materialise! The graphics and sound are pretty much the only thing holding these features back at this point.

[Simon]

attached zip contains new versions of all proposed new objects (except the portal),

First hunch from screenshot only: Wow, distracting.

You show a fully animated walking lemming, walking sideways even, of the same size as the real lemmings. Sideways-moving lemmings catch the eye. They're the main focus when we solve levels. The animation jumps to eye more than the color. You show a walker (main impression) which happens to change color (only as an after-impression). Don't show important things only with color.

Still, the fundamental idea is clear and hard to misinterpret. Thus, try:

• Reduce width of animation by 2-4 pixels (1-2 on left and 1-2 on right). Aim: Less side-ways walker motion, less distraction.
  
• Give the resulting lemming more time in the center. Aim: Clearly see the color of what will come out.
  

-- Simon

[WillLem]

First hunch from screenshot only: Wow, distracting.

You show a fully animated walking lemming, walking sideways even, of the same size as the real lemmings ... The animation jumps to eye more than the color.
...

• Reduce width of animation by 2-4 pixels (1-2 on left and 1-2 on right). Aim: Less side-ways walker motion, less distraction.
  
• Give the resulting lemming more time in the center. Aim: Clearly see the color of what will come out.
  

Good ideas, I'll upload new versions tomorrow. I'll also try a version with Proxima's suggestion of a static icon (as mentioned on Discord).

Don't show important things only with color.

Agreed, hence why I think the sprite is also needed. Animating it also differentiates it further from the skill assigner.

[namida]

Rather than the quick change, what if the color change slowly moves down (or up) the lemming's body?

[WillLem]

Rather than the quick change, what if the color change slowly moves down (or up) the lemming's body?

Nice idea. Do these objects support such animations for the actual (de)neutralizing action itself, or can they only be instant?

[WillLem]

OK, new version of the (de)neutralizer with a longer animation as suggested:



I tried shrinking the lem sprite, but tbh because it's low-res it barely looks like a lemming even if only shrunk by 1px each side. In hi-res, the low-res sprite can be used so it will be half the size.

I've also attached a version featuring Proxima's suggestion of a static icon with an arrow. Perhaps this version could work better for low-res:



Meanwhile, all 4 have been tidied up at the bottom to prevent the "missing pixel" appearance as spotted by Icho. The level has been updated as well so the objects fit properly.

[Simon]

I tried shrinking the lem sprite, but tbh because it's low-res it barely looks like a lemming

I didn't mean for you to narrow the lemming.

I meant for you to narrow the animation, which happens to contain a lemming. The animation is rectangular. While the lemming is standing still, the animation has entirely-black columns at its very left and at its very right. I meant for you to cut 1-2 of these columns on the left and 1-2 of these columns on the right.

The point of that is to reduce the time during which we see a walker walking forward at normal speed. The walking walker is the distraction. With the narrower rectangle, the walking walker will reach the center sooner after his appearance, and he will disappear faster in the end.

OK, new version of the (de)neutralizer with a longer animation as suggested:

The big idea is that the content changes color while it's in the gadget, and yes, the animation shows that clearer now.

I'd even recommend to let the resulting lemming stay even longer before he leaves. Reason: That way, you will, in total, show more grey lemming (than blue lemming) on the make-grey gadget, and more blue lemming on the make-blue gadget.

Proxima's suggestion of a static icon with an arrow

Yes, also interesting. Does NL tileset design have a rule to animate everything that is not terrain? Hard to say what nondistracting animation to add here, then.

The biggest issue here is the horizontal arrow. With the walkers in the icon, the arrow hints at walk direction. NL has those flipping gates that also contain horizontal arrows, and there, the arrows indeed mean walk direction.

Separate small concern: The arrow also blends into the gadget's bar. Consider raising/lowering it by 1 pixel.

NL has too many gadgets anyway. It's beyond me why, for its final release, it gets even more of them (requiring us to design even more carefully against confusion) instead of fixing the newbie UX. That is for what it wants to be known, for eternity? Well, let's still do the best we can for the neutralizer.

-- Simon

[WillLem]

I didn't mean for you to narrow the lemming. I meant for you to narrow the animation
...
I'd even recommend to let the resulting lemming stay even longer before he leaves

Done and done. See attached revision.

(Re: static icon version) Does NL tileset design have a rule to animate everything that is not terrain? Hard to say what nondistracting animation to add here, then
...
With the walkers in the icon, the arrow hints at walk direction
...
The arrow also blends into the gadget's bar. Consider raising/lowering it by 1 pixel.

Addressed all concerns in a revised version. This is now a 10-frame animation; I raised the arrow as suggested and animate a grey-to-blue (or vice versa) wipe across the arrow. Hopefully, this makes it clearer that it's a lem state change and not a directional arrow.

NL has too many gadgets anyway. It's beyond me why, for its final release, it gets even more of them (requiring us to design even more carefully against confusion) instead of fixing the newbie UX

I agree here. SLX isn't getting the skill assigner/de-assigner, and I'd prefer to only include the de-neutralizer of the other two (although, the code is so similar and simple that I'll probably end up adding both).

I'm also considering reducing the number of gadgets in SLX. Once the portal is included, we no longer really need the teleporter, and there are some others which very rarely get used and just clutter up the code.

Regarding UI improvements for NL - I probably will release a CE fork of the final version, with the understanding that it will only feature UI upgrades, and not change physics/gameplay in any way unless it's to fix a bug.