jtr7 on 29/4/2008 at 00:12

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Sorry 'bout that. I don't know Crysis, nor did I know what you were referring to about it, but even with a clarification, I still disagree with the connection, and I've already made my own clarification since that post. The context of your post told me too much was being read into what I was suggesting. And this proves it to me. I'm talking about being different, or taking a path less traveled. Subtlety, a sentence, a hint, a single image, no more.:angel: Making it a part of what's already been established is possible by existing canon, taking advantage of new gaming technology, and going with an approach that's more TMA and much less TDS about the mechanical eye. But I'm repeating myself. There's a whole post of ideas that say nothing of which you speak, and is in fact, more in agreement with what you don't want to see. I don't want extra HUD, dammit, I want less! And I want it to be a part of the virtual world, not a reminder of the real world.


People, the story is what the artists can use to define the look, and give reason for the appearance of something. The player doesn't ever have to know that story, but the art would hint at it, be inspired by it, and the story would create rules behind the aesthetic choices. The rules would keep things working together instead of seeming disconnected. The player doesn't ever need to know that story, the story grounds the visuals. I'm pushing for story over handholding the player. Ground the necessary HUD in the familiar, with a touch of the exotic. I'm sorry if this is too much like how movies are made, being a fan of how artists work on movies, and costume designers create costumes, and all the reasoning that goes on that only the fans who look behind the scenes see. My approach may be odd for a video game, but it's not at all uncommon.

A repost:
"Most of the time, the light gem's not necessary once you get the hang of it. The fact that it's always on the screen, and even combined with the compass in TDS, are how I could make the leap to having it in his fluid-filled mechanical eye (this would discount TDP/Gold, though, but I'm thinking of the sequel, and things have already been messed with, and I fully expect another game would mess with established ideas even more). I imagine the tiny compass floating in the oil at just within the artificial fovea, like the fround floating compasses today, but without the jiggling. The markings are tiny dots of phosphorous, like the old watches, but never fading out, unless it could be re-excited by passing through a lit area, which could be a subtle warning to the player. The light-shroom green glow of the radium would be small yet muzzy, and legible enough. A ring surrounding the compass set inside the eye is the light indicator. It's part of what holds the compass in place."

In addition:
The compass is set into the front of the eye, as I said, just within the fovea, right above the lowest segment of the artificial equivalent of a parafovea belt. If it were real, it would be tiny, and floating in a not-quite-as-tiny glass/crystal bubble with fluid, similar to the compasses we see today, but without the jiggling and bobbing. The crystal/glass bubble acts as its own lens, so the compass markings are in focus. The player would never have to read that, or hear that story. The HUD's artistic design would be made according to that story, become a part of the virtual world without a word, and provide the same tools, and have the same function.


Sorry, taffers, this is the best I can do. I made the compass on a TMA screenshot first, so the orientation is incorrect here. The markings would be rotated upwards not down. I would add even more subtle tracery of the outer ring, showing a bit more of how it's physically held in place with a translucent bracket, which the ring is set into. It's a reversal of the TDS compass/light gem, with the ring changing brightness to show visibility and the compass spinning inside. Of course the image isn't nearly as close as I'd like it to be to the idea I envision. The compass brightness would stay roughly the same, while the outer ring would disappear in complete darkness, and be bright enough to make the point when the player is completely visible. Playing in third-person would make it seem that there's a cameraman following. The idea is that the markings are radium paint, hand-painted, using a technique similar to writing passages of scripture on a grain of rice, but using paint on a tiny bead made of two halves of different materials--heavy on the bottom, light on top, with neutral buoyancy--in thin oil, to stave off corrosion. Radium is a heavy material, so the precise application of the paint to the bead is crucial. But no one would know any of this, unless they ask the right person. And since I'm just pulling this all out of my ass, and it doesn't matter at all, anyway, only you people are unfortunate enough to know the backstory.

(http://img219.imageshack.us/my.php?image=tds2he0.jpg) http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/345/tds2he0.th.jpg

When the player goes into zoom mode, the translucency goes away and the image of the HUD is sharp and brighter, because Garrett is using one eye instead of both.

jtr7 on 29/4/2008 at 03:34

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:laff: :sly:


:ebil:

jtr7 on 29/4/2008 at 04:32

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:thumb:


Care to share your conceptualisation of what you think would work? :)

jtr7 on 29/4/2008 at 05:18

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Agreed! Thanks!

jtr7 on 29/4/2008 at 05:19

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Heh heh heh.:thumb: