Campaign summary/Journal

[rakoon79]

I'm not entirely sure if I can join the discussion, but just a minor (at least, hoping that it is minor) request regarding the awesome mod that I just can't wait for.

 

While the artworks/flashes are looking seriously spectacular, when you release the final version, could you possibly cook up another version that has 100% cyan color instead of all the rainbows and unicorns you are throwing out there? (hint hint : Trying to be sarcastic without offending anyone)

 

P.S. Hope I didn't cross any line there. If I did in any way, I apologize.

 

EDIT : Okay, maybe not "100% cyan" but, less colorful like the Vanilla XCOM EW looks like

Edited July 27, 2015 by rakoon79

[Zyxpsilon]

Oh -- but we *DO* have every intentions to produce each GFX assets necessary with the authentic Firaxis Cyan coloring schema & the optional "more colorful version".

Don't worry! :)

[Zyxpsilon]

TrackTwo, quick observation about the ReportMission data being recorded.

 

The "m_v2Coords" call seems to only have two decimals for values of the X-Y ( and .00 for Z ) referencing to the Geoscape string_coordinates, right?

 

If so, shouldn't we at least get -3- such digits for minimal precision (360x180 degrees is a fairly wide range to deal with, considering how tightly dispatched most sites will get after awhile -- yep, UK & Japan i'm looking at you! ;) ) when we'll start dropping (uh-- after some tricky conversions) our mini-Tags on the various (( and recalibrated at that! )) Situation-Room HoloMaps?

[tracktwo]

Unfortunately it looks like the answer is no: according to the unreal wiki, the float-to-string conversion in Unreal uses a hardcoded precision that is set per game. Looks like Firaxis set this to 2 for XCom so that's the number of digits we get after the decimal. Now, I could jump through some tricky hoops to try to squeeze more precision out (e.g. by not just using the float-to-string conversion but pull individual pieces out of the float and handle them each separately) but I think that's more work than it's worth.

 

I think the maps are going to be crowded, regardless. Only UFO missions happen at arbitrary locations, the rest are all city based and there are only so many cities per country - precision of the vectors doesn't matter here as they're all exactly the same for the same city. There will be a fair amount of overlap there. How best to represent this in the summary view when multiple missions are competing to display in the same place is something I'm not yet sure about. One idea would be to scatter the icons nearby the actual point. Another would be to use a sort of meta-icon to indicate multiple missions are present at the same point.

[SpazmoJones]

Unfortunately it looks like the answer is no: according to the unreal wiki, the float-to-string conversion in Unreal uses a hardcoded precision that is set per game. Looks like Firaxis set this to 2 for XCom so that's the number of digits we get after the decimal. Now, I could jump through some tricky hoops to try to squeeze more precision out (e.g. by not just using the float-to-string conversion but pull individual pieces out of the float and handle them each separately) but I think that's more work than it's worth.

 

 

If you're able to intercept the write you could just multiply the float by 1000 and write it as an int to get an effective 3 decimal place accuracy. Or by 10000 for 4 decimals, etc.

[Zyxpsilon]

Shoootttsss! Two friggin' Lowly decimals it is then. :sad:

 

Meta-Icon?

How about something as simple as this...

http://s23.postimg.org/upldtxs0b/Operations_Tagger_Wide_Dot_315.png (( This is an extracted component of the SkyRanger arrival animation! ))

We'd just line up whatever else points towards the "area" with single Tags as usual but in a small row. These could be made shorter, mirrored or flipped as need be. It might need to be in a shade of Light-Grey for context & easier detection. Trick will be to define the conditional loop(s) that triggers its activation... that's where your coding skills should be sollicited the most -- i gather. :)

 

Although, speaking of "selected" and activated Mission spots... i'd have to recommend an additional layer (via SWF morphing) that would stay underneath (any of) the Tags once we hover the mouse over them. It auto-disappears when we leave that section of the map. Say, similar to that sample below with a Terror-Mission currently in focus...

-------------

---http://s4.postimg.org/ne9cgowrt/Map_Tag_Selector_K_48_w_REDMission.png ---

-------------

 

I have also started the Cyan set for those with various "Shapes" and nifty Geometric differences (( example; UFO Crash has an Arrow pointing down & Land is Up, Exalt's hexagon, etc )). Still at 32x32 while the "Black-Flasher" background will be 48x48. :geek:

 

I've also determined that the most optimal (or efficient code-wise) way to show the Squads on the Mission-Report popup has to be pulled directly from the "After-Action" Debrief screen. I had initially mimicked a Barracks list structure, but it seems too low-res than the other. See below for an early test-phase rendering of what i presently hold...

 

 

 

http://s21.postimg.org/6skqyh2mf/Operation_First_Sword_Sample_TEST3.png

 

Don't forget we *CAN* show up their Weapons.. maybe more!

 

Of course the Barracks version (we won't need the Stats) could be enlarged a little... then, this panel would require a scroll-bar too. There has to be enough leeway for 6 to 7 to 8 to 10 (rare base assaults) slots... that's for sure.

 

 

 

Lotsa evidence to chew on. :wink:

Edited July 28, 2015 by Zyxpsilon

[Zyxpsilon]

Spazmo... yep -- and since the reference grid has a basic "1024x512" proportion (as per the source images, that is)... a sampling of 100x100 (two decimals) only supply us with a BIG 10x10 (/2) pixels area to deploy **A** single event. Kinda limiting when we consider how much more dots will be on these maps after 8-12+ months in any given games.

Thanks to 16 Country levels routines... this feeling of overcrowded HUD elements will become much less of a burden when people start scanning for facts -- repetitively.

Edited July 28, 2015 by Zyxpsilon

[tracktwo]

@SpazmoJones Yeah that's what I was thinking. I typoed "float" instead of "vector" twice there :). I can control the write and split the vector into two separate floats and print them independently, scaled as necessary.

 

But again, I'm not sure that's even going to be needed yet. With a country that's only 1 degree wide we still have 100 units of resolution (assuming the game even uses that much precision in computing the location vectors, there is no guarantee that's the case in which case it doesn't matter how many digits we fool the game into printing, they just don't contain useful information). Going from Zyxpsilon's estimate of a 10x10 area that's still far smaller than the 32x32 or 64x64 icons that have been discussed. At any rate, this is well beyond my horizon of things to prioritize right now :) I'm happy to be proven wrong and need to increase the resolution of the location if that turns out to be the case, but we'll get there when we get there.

 

In other news, I have a transport button bar that works, in that it displays. So tonight I've been trying for the first time to get information back from flash into unrealscript (the other direction I've already figured out and works fine). I haven't had much success yet with this, unfortunately, but I'm still poking at it. I'll get something figured out eventually I'm sure :)

[Zyxpsilon]

Next concept "MockUp"...

 

Mission Report Popup; This is very nearly done for the generic framework and how & where the various components would be assembled.

 

 

 

http://s7.postimg.org/grfu8f2e3/Mission_Report_Mockup1_Sample.png

 

It's an exact replication of the Briefing-SWF shape #19 (1245x659) with a few custom elements re-organized to serve our design needs. Don't forget such GFX can be re-sized & moved around at runtime... but i can't recommend going much lower than this minimal resolution -- otherwise the Squad slots would be somehow hard to readout. They *COULD* be made taller and even use double the current space, btw... but that would mean more scrolling. Toss a coin in this case. I prefer swift and rapid consultation of mostly everything at once if possible.

 

1) As mentionned earlier the City & Country must be on individual lines while the mission types stay up (such fonts might have to be smaller too). The Icon goes on top-right of the image box (which is exactly half-size of the default area from sprite #41). Underneath the date & time... i had this weird idea that we could find a way to code a function that "displays or draws" a fac-simile (top-view) of the tactical map itself with grey-scale "wire-meshing" cues of the buildings, UFOs, objects... *AND* some inserts that indicate where the LZ were with an arrow pointing the deployment orientations. Just a visual (but as symbolic simplicity) summary of what the battlefield actually was in general terms. We could even use straight-up pictures of such maps (as shown on the Wiki by Hobbes renderings) again in grey to focus on the LZ (cyan or red) inserts. Anyway... some thoughts.

 

2) The Artifacts Recovered: header should be sligthly smaller (if anything to match with the boxes extent below it). I'd also like to recommend adding categories such as these; New-Research, Resources-Gathered, Aliens-Killed, Aliens-Captured. Since we can scroll that panel anyway.

 

3) The SQUAD panel is fairly direct (( Okay -- it's almost empty... she's the weird Lone-Wolf kind! )), AFAIC...

 

3a) Follows the Barracks-List (( Decision taken after a LOT of brain storming shuffles :wink:! )) flash structure (50% scaling is all that's required to fit such panel space). Again with a few corrections to the default-SWF elements. Promos box (Rank and/or Psi) can show KIA as well. Only the Class icons are necessary. The primary weapons INV can fit in these 128x64 zones (Uh--After the 50% correction from a basic 968x88, that is) at the end.

 

3b) Durand had two Kills (Stacks from left-to-right.. not sure if we should add the "KILLS:" string, btw) & one Capture (re-uses the Officer Medals space and right-to-left principle). Got promoted twice.

 

3c) There's ample room for 6..7..8--to-9 slots as currently calibrated (484x44). Then, the only time a side-scroll is activated happens only when Base-Assault reports need to stack the maximum of 10. I dunno if it's possible to include Temple-Ship 12's results in the mod though. Might be a nice touch... if usable at all.

 

4) Mission Completed -- or!!

 

 

 

Thoughts?

Edited July 31, 2015 by Zyxpsilon

[tracktwo]

Sorry to have been away from this for a while, but I am planning to get back to this in the next couple of days and see how much further I can get along the timeline view. I do appreciate all the mock up work you've been doing for the summary mode, though, even if I haven't had time to really give it a good look and think about it yet. I suspect I'll need to start with something a little less ambitious and add on from there, though :)

 

Assuming I can quickly figure out the remaining issues with input, which I am pretty sure I'll be able to get something working soon-ish, a rudimentary timeline will be not far off. Then I can start looking at making the summary and graph views a reality. I am actually thinking of going to the graph view after the timeline and then going back to the summary view last, as it's definitely the most ambitious. Doing the graph view first is useful because it requires a lot of the same data analysis as the summary view will, but without all the complex UI work - it's just gathering that data and plotting it on a graph. That same data gathering can hopefully be re-used for the summary view, just displayed in a more elaborate way.