Planetside Idealab -> Global Map Improvements

Global Map Improvements

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Hayoo	Posted: Aug 8 2004, 05:05 AM
Idealab Administrator, Lord of the Pants Group: Admin Posts: 739 Member No.: 1 Joined: 13-July 04	Go here to read descriptions: http://psforums.station.sony.com/ps/board/...e.id=7221#M7221 (Highly recommended if you want to know what these graphics mean). -------------------- -------------------------------------------------- Hayoo is balanced and working as intended

tjmonk15	Posted: Aug 9 2004, 11:32 AM
Member Group: Members Posts: 33 Member No.: 2 Joined: 13-July 04	Very nice hayoo, how do manage not to be hired by SOE yet? you keep turnin them down dont you? --------------------

Hayoo

Posted: Aug 9 2004, 11:29 PM

Idealab Administrator, Lord of the Pants

Group: Admin
Posts: 739
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Joined: 13-July 04

QUOTE (tjmonk15 @ Aug 9 2004, 11:32 AM)

Very nice hayoo, how do manage not to be hired by SOE yet? you keep turnin them down dont you?

Thanks.

I'm still waiting on my request for details on their 401k plan before I accept any positions.

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Hayoo is balanced and working as intended

witt	Posted: Aug 17 2004, 02:52 AM
Poster Group: Members Posts: 15 Member No.: 12 Joined: 16-July 04	Im really starting to think you work for them now tht the new update is out.

Hayoo

Posted: Aug 17 2004, 05:08 AM

Idealab Administrator, Lord of the Pants

Group: Admin
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QUOTE (witt @ Aug 17 2004, 02:52 AM)

Im really starting to think you work for them now tht the new update is out.

lol. nah, I don't work for them. I just illustrated an idea that was probably already in the works or, at the least, numerous people had already thought of.

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Hayoo is balanced and working as intended

Hayoo	Posted: Aug 27 2004, 12:48 AM
Idealab Administrator, Lord of the Pants Group: Admin Posts: 739 Member No.: 1 Joined: 13-July 04	Revised Global/Stellar map: Figure 1: Added continent information to planets (hotspots, pop locks, etc), new planet targeting, etc. Figure 2: Changed arrangement to Obiwaan's proposed layout, grid changed to radial pattern, permanent link lines, etc. -------------------- -------------------------------------------------- Hayoo is balanced and working as intended

Hayoo	Posted: Aug 27 2004, 04:40 PM
Idealab Administrator, Lord of the Pants Group: Admin Posts: 739 Member No.: 1 Joined: 13-July 04	Just an FYI, some of the improvements included on these maps are inspired/suggested from Gondorian's Slight Change in Map thread and Hedron's Is it just me or has the new lattice/map drained the urgency from the global game? thread Ok, here is the revised map. Colored in grid areas per ZeusPrime's suggestion. Added in number of bases owned per BzA's suggestion . To keep this from cluttering the map more, I only show bases owned if that empire has a base on the continent (with the exception of the caverns). In this case the perspective is from NC. Added percentage of your empire's troops to each cont window again, perspective is from the Empire of the player viewing the map. Changed the planet selections back to boxes except for the primary planet, which has a circular reticle to set it apart. For the second map posted here I removed the Domination logo from each planet to see if it's necessary or not. I'm still fiddling with fredthedeadhead's suggestion to show friendly/enemy links for each cont window Figure 1: with domination logos Figure 2: without domination logos -------------------- -------------------------------------------------- Hayoo is balanced and working as intended

7ruth	Posted: Aug 28 2004, 08:27 PM
Regular Group: Members Posts: 96 Member No.: 10 Joined: 13-July 04	I think the Caverns should be in the middle... --------------------

Hayoo	Posted: Aug 29 2004, 08:13 PM
Idealab Administrator, Lord of the Pants Group: Admin Posts: 739 Member No.: 1 Joined: 13-July 04	I'll fiddle with that and see how it looks, but I won't get that till I get back home tonight. -------------------- -------------------------------------------------- Hayoo is balanced and working as intended

RyGy	Posted: Aug 29 2004, 09:57 PM
Member Group: Members Posts: 31 Member No.: 28 Joined: 8-August 04	I noticed a mistake in your maps. It shows hotspots in the caves. Those never appear there. --------------------

Hayoo

Posted: Aug 30 2004, 02:45 AM

Idealab Administrator, Lord of the Pants

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QUOTE (RyGy @ Aug 29 2004, 09:57 PM)

I noticed a mistake in your maps.
It shows hotspots in the caves.
Those never appear there.

Hotspots always appear when my outfit is down there.

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Hayoo is balanced and working as intended

Hayoo

Posted: Aug 31 2004, 07:14 PM

Idealab Administrator, Lord of the Pants

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Posts: 739
Member No.: 1
Joined: 13-July 04

Revision 4 to map (aka Complete Overhaul! TM)

QUOTE (Hayoo)

It's easy to see that simply sticking continents in space, as many have suggested, just wouldn't work. So I came up with another solution through myriad sketches and scribblings:

Remove the side cont windows, but keep one window that displays the selected planet (this helps avoid the future problem of not having enough side windows for additional planets).
Give the global map the ability to zoom in but lets you scroll across the starmap to view another planet at the same zoom level, or jump from one planet to another using an overview window.
When the starmap is zoomed in, place the image of the continent on each planet (making sure there's future room for at least 2 more large conts or island clusters per world). This allows the display of warplinks on each landmass.
Situate the planets close enough so you can see at a glance which planets connect to the one you're looking at.

The redesigned layout uses the current improvements I've illustrated in previous posts as the view for the stellar map. But now you can zoom in close to the planets to reveal continents on each globe. In the Zoomed View, clicking on a continent will reveal it's warpgate links to each planet it connects to (this is another reason to arrange the planets in a radial fashion, so that the links are closer together). You may double click on a planet or its continent at anytime in this view to bring up the continent or cluster map, which will have tabs for easy toggling between orbital, planetary, cluster, and continent views.

Layout elements:

Top windows: Your location; cavern windows
Side windows: Galaxy Overview (w/zoom slider), Selected region window (orbit, planet, continent), Region incentives, and Chat pane.
Center area: zoomable starmap

Since the latest UI is only halfway done, I'm only going to show thumbnails.

Standard View (planet links shown)
user posted image

Zoomed In (warpgate locations revealed)
user posted image

http://psforums.station.sony.com/ps/board/...essage.id=48850

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Hayoo is balanced and working as intended

Hayoo	Posted: Sep 1 2004, 04:12 AM
Idealab Administrator, Lord of the Pants Group: Admin Posts: 739 Member No.: 1 Joined: 13-July 04	Full size images of overhauled map finally up: Zoomed out view Zoomed in View (land warpgates) Zoomed in View (orbital singularities) Collapsed windows Continent map tabs -------------------- -------------------------------------------------- Hayoo is balanced and working as intended

bwzman	Posted: Sep 2 2004, 03:45 AM
Familiar Group: Members Posts: 215 Member No.: 6 Joined: 13-July 04	excellent ideas. -------------------- New Conglomerate Alliance- Unite and Conquer Proud member of Forgotten Soldiers.

7ruth	Posted: Sep 4 2004, 05:41 PM
Regular Group: Members Posts: 96 Member No.: 10 Joined: 13-July 04	yea, yea... we know your better than us... --------------------

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