EVE General Discussion

Hi, we tried to bring the gate FX into something we thought it was more believable, more "real" if you prefer. The previous flash, was just that, a big huge flash that really didnt have a specific direction in some cases.

All the gates now have different states, so if you watch closely you will see:
- Neutral state: A subtle fx when no one is jumping.
- Active state: Gate has been activated , you see lightning bolts, the intensity of the tear increases, someone is about to jump and gate will continue active while people are jumping, returns to neutral state after a few seconds of inactivity.
- Jump: The FX when you actually jump, where you see a flash on the core and a beam shooting into the direction of travel.

Hopefully you can see that some thought has been put into this which doesnt mean your concerns aren't valid, hence I'm posting specially to let you know your concerns are heard.

Regarding the sounds, CCP WhiteNoiseTrash is the right person to answer those questions.

Cheers!

Couldn't you add the reverse of the out flash for someone jumping in.

There also needs to be sound added back to the gate, it is virtually impossible to tell if someone has jumped a gate unless you are looking directly at it, which means that if I am fighting on a gate I probably won't notice anything.

I prefer it like this...Means 10man+ instalockoverkill (Urine Alliance) gate camps have to actually work for it and be on the ball looking and intel, rather than "oooooh gate flash, get ready to kill with all our power".

The "flash" in the core, sorry to say, looks terrible.
It reminds me of a flower blooming in high speed, looks extremely out of place..!
If youre confused about what I mean, the actual flash creates a sort of star or flower like pattern..
Basically This where the probes overlap, creates a sort of flower or star. The gate flash at the core looks the same, and it annoys the crap out of me, make THAT ONE THING look better, add better audio to the gate, like before, its way too subtle now, and the gates will be awesome. If you ask me.

My 2c

Thanks for responding. We really appreciate acknowledgement of our feedback :)

I do like your 3-state animation idea. Our main complaint isn't the 3 states so much as that the last two states are too subtle to be used as visual cues. As you say yourself, "if you watch closely." You shouldn't have to be examining the gate to see that there are ships incoming/outgoing. They need to be on par with the old gatefire effect in terms of visibility to anyone on grid.

The changes might not be all bad ... I get some of the "realism" or perhaps "more elegant" in a creative perspective.


Paying attention is a fine goal.

What I think always needs to be balanced is how much you want the game to be based on physical abilities like fast twitch and good eyesight and how much you want outcomes more based on decision making less influenced on how well you see or how quickly you can click.

It is a balance . Also at issue is how much you change the design of the game on things like this based upon a smaller subset of the players (maybe a 20% group ?)

I love the new font for instance as it makes the game much more playable for me.. easier on the eyes for extended hours. (yeah I know that many players who are experts laid out ways it could be even better but that comes down to things far beyond my technical expertise to have an option on)

I know people say >>> "get better glasses" .... but, after your in your mid 40's most people deal with something different than how well glasses correct vision on a more static distance. Quickly refocusing your eyes becomes harder. Moving from say Dotlan maps 28" away on a side monitor, to the small text on my overview say 17 inches from my face at the far right of my 24 inch monitor, to my guns an capacitor bars which are much brighter than the overview text and only 14 inches from my head... those all require refocusing.

That does get tiring on the eyes after a few hours... things like the new font really help incrementally.

Th gate flashes are so subtle that if I am reading my overview or looking at my weapon groups or reading corp chat, I've been missing the signals,, especially if not entirely zoomed into a "look at" mode on the gate.

I know as I become accustomed to the new actions it will be a few degree's easier,.... but still I think the design is unnecessarily subtle in a way that favors those with eyes that don't tire for no really hugely planned purpose...

... I'd think that if my eyes are on my primary monitor but still reading chat and looking at the overview, that would be "paying attention" ... if the flash is set where many people with better focusing eyes (as I had myself up until I was about 39 or 40 years old) can see it well when focused on other parts of the screen....

... is that difference in ease of players to notice based on physical attributes a considered development decision or an inadvertent one that never really got weighed in its consideration with people testing it who still had eyes (again glasses isn't the issue,, it's the quickness of adjusting focus) that could easily catch it as long as the camera was generally pointed at the gate?

they are your choices to make of course... just hope the pros and cons have been thought of with different players in mind.

Go back to your holiday! There'll be plenty of time to work once you get back! :P

It's recently been brought to my attention that there is absolutely nothing wrong with Gallente gateflashes, but everyone I know in Minmatar space is complaining about the lack of a gateflash period, or some admitting that there is a very subtle indication. There should be some consistency, perhaps Minmatar flashes should be made at least as prominent as these awesome Gallente flashes I'm hearing about.