Symbols and Icons

[wodin]

WOuld it be possible for every military symbol there is a unique picture symbol instaed of some being shared. Otherwise you are penalised in a way for using picture symbols.

[Arjuna]

I agree in principle that it would be best to have a 1 for 1 match. However, my skills as an artist only stretch so far. Well more to the point is that the size of the area we have alloted for the symbol ( picture or military ) is pretty small and this limits what you can do. However, if someone else would like to profer their attempt at this we'll consider it.

[Rooster]

Not very easy. The biggest hurdle is the standard vs. motorized vs. sp. Here's what I came up with:

[Rooster]

And for paras:

[SeaMonkey]

Better Rooster,

Observing the counter, there seems to be a lot of wasted space in the lower quarter where the organizational size emblem is, I= company, II=battalion, etc. Couldn't that be put to better use displaying more info? Like, I / C.505 , or III / 505 Hq....etc....should free up some space to use for better layout.

[Arjuna]

Well actually the command bar at the bottom of the screen is quite full already. The left side is reserved for a HQ symbol, the centre for a size symbol ( and remember for an Army HQ that's four stars ), and the right side for the engagement status lights ( ie. blue = firing, yellow = receiving fire, red = takling casualties ).

[SeaMonkey]

Oh yeah, that's right Dave, completely forgot.......see how long its been since I played, but that'll be remedied when CotA comes out.

[Rooster]

The problem is that things get very cluttered very quickly - at least at the limits of my design capability.

I suppose that, for the serious player, picture symbols will prove inadequate after a while, and switching to the military symbols will be the right thing. But even that gives a limited view of the force represented by the counter. Look at the armor military symbol and you'll see that you don't know wether it's Mark IIIs or Tigers coming at you.

[hank]

I am a HttR player and the only comment I had about the game engine was that the silhouette of vehicles did not match the vehicle type. Expecially in regards to armor. In the Equip tab on the left menu, tanks where shown as trucks in HttR.

I got one reply back on the HttR forum they would be making improvements on the silhouettes. Has it been addressed in CotA?

I would like to be able to see silhouettes of Panthers if the unit is Panthers or a Tiger Ie, or Sherman or Firefly, etc. The on map silhouettes can be more generic in my opinion because there's a lot of info on those little blocks but the graphics on the menu should be more descriptive of the vehicle type. Helps immersion.

just my $0.02

Hank

[Arjuna]

hank,

Yeh I would like this too. But as I was the artist for the original symbols and I'm flat out on coding at present, this feature won't make the cut for COTA. If someone wants to draw a range of symbols for us then I'll see what can be done.

[Rooster]

[Rooster]

Of course, you will have mixed armor in a single estab - Sherman and Firefly, so the counter graphics can only give you so much info, whether you use the military or pictographic symbols.

[Fred98]

Graphically there is little difference between a Sherman and a Firefly, but there is a huge difference if you compare them to an M5.

And there is a huge difference in the German tanks between the Mark 111/1V range compared to the mark Vs and mark V1s

Good work with the silhouettes!

[Rooster]

True that the sherm and the ff are very very similar in appearance, but I would like to know if I were facing one vs. the other all the same. The ff packs a "heavy tank" punch, even if it's not quite constructed as a heavy tank.

[Brady]

It would be cool if the Tac symbols for German equipment matched those they used during that time, instead of the ever present allied/modern sysmbols used almost universaly by games.

[Plodder]

ORIGINAL: Brady


It would be cool if the Tac symbols for German equipment matched those they used during that time, instead of the ever present allied/modern sysmbols used almost universaly by games.

Hey,that idea actually sounds pretty good.You could also have the option to choose between either the allied symbols and the german ones for all units.It could help with immersion somewhat,and would be cool to see a what a real german commander would've seen on his map.[8D][:)]

[Agema]

Creating symbols for each tank can be impractical. There's not much difference in shape across the Panzer III and Panzer IV models, yet a large variation in capability.

At best, maybe splitting the symbols up into light, medium and heavy tanks is feasible - Rooster's designs look good. However, you'd have to bear in mind even then a Sherman crew might fancy their chances against a medium tank Panzer IV, but decide discretion is the better part of valour against a medium tank Panzer V. Besides, fully accurate knowledge of what the enemy tank was poor historically, and this is reflected in HTTR when those relatively harmless-looking Panzer IV(H)s turn out to be Panthers when your soon-to-die Shermans get a bit closer.
.

[Fred98]

I would be happy if they were "small" "medium" and "large"

The counters are too small for further detail. The samples above are proof.

[RedMike]

Hey that's a cool idea, I like it!!

The German tactical symbols idea I mean.

[Plodder]

ORIGINAL: Agema

Creating symbols for each tank can be impractical. There's not much difference in shape across the Panzer III and Panzer IV models, yet a large variation in capability.

At best, maybe splitting the symbols up into light, medium and heavy tanks is feasible - Rooster's designs look good. However, you'd have to bear in mind even then a Sherman crew might fancy their chances against a medium tank Panzer IV, but decide discretion is the better part of valour against a medium tank Panzer V. Besides, fully accurate knowledge of what the enemy tank was poor historically, and this is reflected in HTTR when those relatively harmless-looking Panzer IV(H)s turn out to be Panthers when your soon-to-die Shermans get a bit closer.
.

And besides,EVERY german tank an Allied soldier saw after 1942 was a Tiger[:D]