WIP - Colored Map Markers - Next Set

[xeightballx]

I've picked out two sets of markers for the next release.

 

I would like to do both, but don't have the time at the moment.

For now, pick the one you like the most, and it will be added to the main files for download on my mod's page.

 

The one that doesn't get picked will go up against another one in the next few days.

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Choices

 

Option 1 - By XunAmarox:

http://i.imgur.com/OSMT2.jpg

 

 

 

Option 2 - By Gobywan:

http://i.imgur.com/76tWg.png

 

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I'll only allow the polling for the next 4 days, so get your vote in. After the 4 days are up, I won't count anymore votes.

 

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[Trucidation]

Hrm, still a seeming overabundance of colour...

 

It's kinda misleading; Gobywan's looks messier but that's just because he used the original layout instead of the grouped one. Would it be possible to rearrange it so his also uses XunAmarox's layout? It'd be a fairer comparison that way.

 

If nothing can be done about it I'd say my vote goes to XunAmarox's set, since the colours appear more uniform - even if I feel his set is too heavy on dark shades.

[koyabr]

Agree. Gobywan's set appeals to me for its color, but the layout is a mess comparing with XunAmarox's.

 

I weigh more on uniformity since it provides hints when viewing the world-map, so vote goes for XunAmarox.

[Extragorey]

For all those wanting a similar shared layout between the two colour sets for comparing them, I made a quick mock-up of Gobywan's colours in XunAmarox's format:

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/6899/76twg.png

 

My preference is still XunAmarox's, because it has better colour coordination. Also, the Blue Palace = red? Might as well have it blue if it's a different colour to all the other castles.

[XunAmarox]

I updated my colors after Mardoxx explained what all the stuff I didn't know was, though I dunno if it would apply for this poll:

 

http://i.minus.com/iVlnGgPwv9dfs.jpg

 

The only things I'm iffy about are Raven Rock and Telvanni Tower... As far as I can gather, Raven Rock is supposed to be a town in Solstheim, and if it has its own unique icon then it's probably a major city there... but also, it's possible it could be abandoned by now and just a palace or landmark... so that would need to change accordingly. And Telvanni Tower... I'm not sure if that's going to be an entire town or just a palace sort of place... that'd have to change accordingly as well. I dunno.

 

Anyways, about the color set... I started out with the idea that not everything needed unique colors because it becomes overwhelming and confusing and similar places should share colors to reduce clutter and make things easier to find on the map. So to do that I went through and reorganized the whole thing to make sure it all made sense. I tried to use mostly desaturated warm colors to that end. As for the coloring itself... I went with a yellow/orange (same spectrum) combination for the Major Cities & Palaces because I wanted them to be visible but not obnoxiously colorful, but still look related (e.g. same spectrum). They could have been about any color, but I thought a warm color would go best with the rest of the colors I chose which were also in the warm color spectrum.

 

I went with a very desaturated light brown color to indicate settlements because they're things that shouldn't really stand out that much and aren't a threat, so they should have a very mild color. For dungeons (e.g. very dangerous places) I gave them red as per the natural color response stimuli of red meaning danger so it indicates that the places is probably going to be hostile and dangerous, but I kept it very light and desaturated since these places are numerous as to not overwhelm the map with colors and become overly obnoxious... For the other world locations I went with a darker brown since they're more important than settlements though generally not as hostile as the more dangerous locations. The dark brown is a bit more vibrant, but brown tends to not be a color people associate with colorful and vibrant, so I figured it wouldn't draw too much attention other than making them noticeable.

 

As for the couple of special things, I wanted them to be very identifiable. Daedric Shrines are very rare in the world and attributed to Daedric Princes, so I wanted that to really stand out on its own. Dragon Lairs, a very dangerous and very unique set of places on the map and there aren't that many of them. With the Doomstones, I wanted these to have their own color and stand out more than other things because being able to find and change one's sign is pretty important. Giant Camps I made a lighter slightly more saturated red than the dungeons because they aren't really dungeons, but they're still extremely dangerous places. As for Stormcloak/Imperial camps, I wanted to give them their side's respective colors: red and blue.

 

Now, the player markers... Those are things the player is going to be seeing all the time and they tend to be vitally important. That's why I chose to go with green for the markers indicating places the player needs to go, since I made sure not to use the green spectrum anywhere else on the map so they would be noticeable. I left the generic markers a desaturated green, but made the player's custom marker a very bright green to be still in the same spectrum of normal markers, but to really pop out. I made the locked door thing an orange-ish color to indicate you can't go that way or it needs a key or whatever so it would be obvious but not stand out too much. And the player marker itself... I was actually really iffy on that. At first I had it a really bright red to make it stand out, but after I went with red for dungeons and Imperial camps I decided it might get too washed out and be hard to find... so I gave it a unique color. I went with the blue spectrum since very few things used that, but went much brighter so it'd be immediately noticeable and really pop out.

 

Anywho, that's my basic reasoning behind my coloring.

[Extragorey]

I updated my colors after Mardoxx explained what all the stuff I didn't know was, though I dunno if it would apply for this poll

 

That's some pretty in-depth reasoning. ;)

I just had a small suggestion - keep the player's marker white? It would be the only white icon, and I don't know about others but I never really look at the player marker anyway - so making it catch my attention might get annoying.

Another thing was that you could do something special with the player's custom waypoint marker. It's just bright green at the moment, which is good and stands out and all, but I think it could be better. :) Since there will only ever be one of these markers at a time (and usually not even that, since a lot of people don't set their marker), I reckon you should make it totally unique - like, rainbow-coloured or something. That would be awesome. :D

Edited November 12, 2012 by Teh Masterer

[Gobywan]

For all those wanting a similar shared layout between the two colour sets for comparing them, I made a quick mock-up of Gobywan's colours in XunAmarox's format:

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/6899/76twg.png

 

My preference is still XunAmarox's, because it has better colour coordination. Also, the Blue Palace = red? Might as well have it blue if it's a different colour to all the other castles.

 

Making the Blue Palace red definitely felt a bit silly, but it's the largest Imperial-aligned castle in the game, and I wanted to match the colour scheme of the faction like I did with the camps. I actually re-did my scheme using the new template, and I made a few tweaks to the colours - putting similar locations together let me see that using slightly different hues for almost-the-same-but-not-quite locations was a lot more visually confusing than I thought it would be, and there was some stuff I wasn't happy with on a second look. Here's my updated version:

 

http://i.imgur.com/JE979.jpg

 

I used saturation (and brightness, but to a lesser extent) to indicate relative importance - player and quest markers are the brightest, then castles, then cities, and so forth. Things are coloured mostly based on the major colours you find in and around them - water-related stuff is light blue, dwellings are brown, farms are... wheat-esque, and so on. Other stuff is coloured by faction/race - Imperials red, Stormcloaks blue, Dwemer bronze-ish, Daedra pinkish-purple, Orcs dark green. Purple things are either magic or ebony (apparently Raven Rock is built on an ebony mine.)

Edited November 13, 2012 by Gobywan

[Trucidation]

Dammit, now they're both awesome. ¿por qué no los dos?

 

Still prefer Xun's though - I really just want only a few colours.

Edited November 13, 2012 by Trucidation

[palasx]

hrm, both are nice i guess, but too saturated. casting my vote for the DWP420 remake! i dont think he's into modding anymore, and wont be updating his anytime soon :(

[Reducer]

My vote is for XunAmarox.

 

I've read your color choice explanation, but this is the key:

 

Anyways, about the color set... I started out with the idea that not everything needed unique colors because it becomes overwhelming and confusing and similar places should share colors to reduce clutter and make things easier to find on the map.

 

Stick to this initial concept. Please, consider the following changes. It will look even better:

 

1. "Major Cities" and "Palaces": same color, period (I prefer the "Major Cities" one). Also whatever icon is using the "Palace" color under "I have no idea".

2. "Giant Camp" simply like rest of "Dungeons".

3. Under "Player": For the "Arrow + Door", keep arrow color, simply remove color for the door (it could be any type of destination, so no specific color). For the "Lock" icon: use pure yellow with same brightness as for the "You are here" (cyan) icon. It will look kickass over the dark background of the detailed map.

 

That's it. Good luck.