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| Thread: Color-coding, do you like it or not ? |  This thread is pages long: 1 2 3 · «PREV / NEXT» |
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supertommy
Known Hero
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posted February 21, 2015 03:10 PM |
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Color coding is good if done properly. As mentioned by many, H6 was ridiculous. So far I like the color coding of all the revealed units.
But I still fear for Dungeon.
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Pawek_13
Supreme Hero
Maths, maths everywhere!
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posted February 21, 2015 05:37 PM |
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Colour coding is unimaginative, however, if one can call that, I am fan of "style coding", by which I mean that the style of units is consistent across the whole lineup. This implies some repetition in used colours but overall, there is no dominating colour and yet there is a selection of them that when you see it, you outomatically know to which faction a specific unit belongs.
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adriancat
Famous Hero
Protector Of The Peace
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posted February 21, 2015 06:07 PM |
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Galaad said:
I'd appreciate if voters express themselves, at least if you opt for #3 
Well, I have opted for the #3 because I have indeed mixed feelings. On one side I like most of the creatures of Heroes 3,4 and 5, on the other side, I like Heroes 6's Necro & Sanctuary, both factions look great (Necro could use a little less green though) 
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The_green_drag
Supreme Hero
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posted February 21, 2015 06:36 PM |
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I don't mind it as its being done much better in h7. The factions color scheme should be obvious when the entire army is on one side. In h6 you could pick out one unit and it would have every color associated with the faction on it. The new haven, academy , and necro represents their colors over many units, not just one.
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Greenlore
Known Hero
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posted February 21, 2015 07:07 PM |
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Overall color coding is a good thing,but it can be overdone like in H6(I think necro wasn't even the most problematic one,I think that dungeon was even worse,considering that the minotaur and manticore got turned purple for the upgrade...)
Personally I'd think the best way to do color coding would be to give us multiple color choices for our units.
It always feld weird being for example the red player and then playing the mostly blue and yellow haven faction in H6.
It would be cool if a certain part of a unit has an interchangeable color,so that if you play as the blue player,your units actually have a bit blue on them(or you could do custom sets,where you can choose the color for every creature individually,so people who don't like faction colors themselves can do whatever they want).I mean this is already present in H7 to some extent,since the neutrals have grey colors instead of their regular ones(at least on the world map)
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Minion
Legendary Hero
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posted February 21, 2015 07:12 PM |
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Color coding is not needed in a TBS. Pretty sure you can see what enemy units are even without it ;p
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"These friends probably started using condoms after having produced the most optimum amount of offsprings. Kudos to them for showing at least some restraint" - Tsar-ivor
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Stevie
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
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posted February 21, 2015 07:41 PM |
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Edited by Stevie at 19:48, 21 Feb 2015.
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I think that color coding is an unnecessary feature that's not only detrimental to the design of the creatures, but also ultimately self defeats its own purpose.
Let me explain.
The idea behind color coding is that it tries to make creatures more recognizable. In principle, being able to recognize the units right away without too much processing is highly desirable. For new players that's valuable. For experienced players not so much as they stop having that problem at some point.
What Heroes 6 did was give each faction a color theme. For example, Dungeon's was purple. So whenever the player would see purple, he/she would immediately think Dungeon. Sounds good, right? Sure, but hold on a moment. Now tell me which Dungeon creature is which. Having a problem? Well duh, they're all freaking purple! That's what people had a hard time with. For many, battles would look like Purple vs Red or Blue, etc. where creatures were a different shade of the same color.
Not only that, but it comes at a great cost which is creature designs and that's something I can't accept at all.
If you have a problem with units not being recognizable you either believe your players are brainless, or there's an underlying problem with your theme. Either way, color coding is not the solution. Color coding just makes it worse.
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Guide to a Great Heroes Game
The Young Traveler
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Sligneris
Supreme Hero
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posted February 21, 2015 10:16 PM |
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Sleeping_Sun said:
Like purple Minotaur and Manticore.
The basic, non-upgraded versions look pretty cool though. =D
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Zombi_Wizzard
Famous Hero
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posted February 21, 2015 11:17 PM |
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Sligneris said:
Sleeping_Sun said:
Like purple Minotaur and Manticore.
The basic, non-upgraded versions look pretty cool though. =D
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Simpelicity
Promising
Famous Hero
Video maker
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posted February 21, 2015 11:41 PM |
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Why is "I don't care" not an option?
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Galaad
Hero of Order
Li mort as morz, li vif as vis
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posted February 21, 2015 11:45 PM |
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Edited by Galaad at 23:45, 21 Feb 2015.
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Because I did cast Haste before creating the thread.
Didn't think of it sorry ...
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blizzardboy
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Nerf Herder
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posted February 22, 2015 06:55 AM |
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I agree with what most people are saying here. I like factions having certain colors themes as long as you don't pull an H6 and make Dungeon look like they got waterboarded in a swimming pool of purple glowsticks. You need to show some restraint and keep factions from being so one dimensional.
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"Folks, I don't trust children. They're here to replace us."
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Kimarous
Supreme Hero
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posted February 22, 2015 09:56 AM |
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I have a mixed stance. Colour-coding is ideal when it comes to uniforms, thus making them... uniform. Haven, for example? Makes perfect sense - it's one big army, and the additions to the creatures aren't overdone. It also somewhat makes sense for very similar creatures. Inferno, for example - big red fiery devils make sense being... well... red. However, trying to apply that principle to a faction that, by all accounts, warrants diversity, and it becomes a problem. Stronghold is diverse and begs distinction among its ranks, and don't even get me started on the purple minotaurs of Dungeon. Heck, Dungeon overdid purple even for the units where purple made sense. Parrot-feather assassins, anyone?
Overall, again, I'm mixed. Colour-coding: great for the uniform, bad for the non-uniform.
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alcibiades
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
of Gold Dragons
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posted February 22, 2015 01:04 PM |
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Didn't we have another thread discussing exactly the same thing a couple of months ago? 
Edit > Right, here it was.
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What will happen now?
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rodaff
Tavern Dweller
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posted February 22, 2015 03:21 PM |
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Voted No.
I never had any trouble distinguishing my own units.
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Simpelicity
Promising
Famous Hero
Video maker
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posted February 22, 2015 05:53 PM |
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It's fine Galaad, don't worry too much over it. The poll itself isn't as good as it could be, but it sparked some form of discussion, that's all that matters.
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Maurice
Hero of Order
Part of the furniture
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posted February 23, 2015 09:58 AM |
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Edited by Maurice at 09:59, 23 Feb 2015.
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As alcibiades pointed out, there was a different thread a while ago  .
I'll quote myself from that one:
Quote:
Flexible monocolor is used in many games, where accents on units are colored according to the player's main color. I like it that way.
Units belonging to a certain faction should share a common theme, something that unites them. Haven moreso than others, because of the military discipline that the faction breathes. It helps to identify the faction of the units more easily.
But if you take a look at games like Warcraft or Starcraft, the player color is integrated into the units themselves. It helps to identify the player of the units more easily.
It should be of a more subtle nature but still noticable enough; not "in your face", turning it into monochromatic factions.
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MattII
Legendary Hero
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posted February 23, 2015 10:07 AM |
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Edited by MattII at 10:08, 23 Feb 2015.
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I'm conflicted, on the one hand I think it's got its good elements, f.e. helping to bind a faction together, but it's easy to go overboard, and H6 not only went overboard, it went right down to the seabed.
Now take a look at H3 Fortress, the main colour is green, but with blues and yellows and browns too, that is the sort of colour-coding I want to see.
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Gryphs
Supreme Hero
The Clever Title
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posted February 23, 2015 11:43 AM |
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Color coding like many things is good in moderation. It is good for making factions have that feeling of unison, and that in my opinion is all it should be used for. The color-coding in Heroes 6 as many have said before was just to much.
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Stevie
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
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posted February 23, 2015 12:26 PM |
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Edited by Stevie at 12:28, 23 Feb 2015.
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Maurice said:
But if you take a look at games like Warcraft or Starcraft, the player color is integrated into the units themselves. It helps to identify the player of the units more easily.
It should be of a more subtle nature but still noticable enough; not "in your face", turning it into monochromatic factions.
Okay, stop you right there. Let me tell you that there's a big difference between the games, namely that Heroes is a TBS game while War and SC are RTS games. There's valid reason for wanting to make creatures recognizable at sight in an RTS, because the time window of your processing is limited. In a TBS you can take your time browsing each creature on the battlefield without suffering any penalty. So what does color-coding accomplish at this level in a TBS? - NOTHING.
There is not one single thing that color-coding does which individual representation can do better. Except making the battlefield look like a clash of colors. Creatures lose their personalities, their individual flair, their mythological appearance won't account for nothing anymore because the Ashanian rules overwrite that.
I believe that in a TBS there is 0 reason to have color-coding rather than a more accurate individual representation. Or at the very least in Heroes.
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Guide to a Great Heroes Game
The Young Traveler
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