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[Arseface]

Why on earth does the tiles version not share approximate color usage with the ascii version?

I tried booting up the tiles since I've heard good things about it. I was immediately visually assaulted by really hard to parse item piles.

I'm really confused by this. I don't think there's anything you give up by making the item groups the proper colors. Especially since the blog shows extensive thought behind how to make good tiles.

[Kyzrati]

Item colors show more information than ASCII colors, though I agree they don't look as good for it. Their color follows a spectrum based purely on rating, because you can already differentiate subtype by the tile design/shape. By comparison, with fewer glyphs ASCII must use color to identify subtype, so the two systems are not identical.

Using different colors for different items makes the map even harder to parse in tiles mode because there will be too many differently-colored large objects. It's easier to get away with in ASCII because punctuation is generally smaller (pixel-wise) than letters.

Certainly I'd prefer better colors for the tiles mode, but most of the other colors have already been used (including some you guys haven't seen yet), so there aren't a lot of options for that. I could make an option that colors all item tiles the exact same color if anyone might want that, but it would lose the extra rating hint.

[ThKaspar]

It seems like a good idea but believe me It might not work like you want It to.

Tiles provide more visual information than It seems. Adding more colors to them would add a lot to the noise - distracting more than doing any good.

Also, like Kyzrati wrote - colors represent rating, while category is represented by the tile's symbol/look. If they aren't recognisable easily the icons are the problem - all information should be there, packed and ready for your eye to read.

[Arseface]

Tiles provide more visual information than It seems. Adding more colors to them would add a lot to the noise - distracting more than doing any good.

I made a simple mockup of what it'd look like if you had somebody terrible who doesn't know how to shade in GIMP in charge of the tiling colors.

It's no more noisy than anything else, and I left the off shades for that sickly pale green in the normal tile version.

[Kyzrati]

I think the sprites in the first shot look great and are very recognizable, and to me there's much less noise to the scene than in the last shot--it takes me longer to read the last one.

[Attica]

I like the way it is now.  When I see a purple or white item I immediately know that it's probably an upgrade or worth checking out. 

[Arseface]

It looks like I'm in the minority then.

I'll be sticking to the mode where I can see properly. You guys can do the same I guess.

[Phuket]

Though I do like the way you added the colors. I think being able to quick scan by color the rarity of the item is most useful. I like when I fly past a room and right off the bat I can kinda glance and see if there's any purple or white. At least with that information i'll know right off the bat whether I wanna stop in or not.

[jimmijamjams]

Thanks for putting these together, Arseface.  I've been having trouble articulating my problem with the tiles, but you've hit the nail on the head (so to speak). 

I feel that The difference in the colour scheme moving from ASCII to tiles makes the informations hard to parse (maybe I just need more practice).  I appreciate that the colours in tile mode also represent an item's rating, but (and I've said this elsewhere recently) it would be good if there was an optin to use the ASCII colouring for the tiles.

I'm going to have a shot at learning the tile colour scheme and see how it feels.  I may change my opinion on this.

[Kyzrati]

Hm, well, at least an option to use ASCII coloring in tiles mode would be possible. I wouldn't make it the default, but you could try it to see if you think it makes the map harder to read like I do.

[Kyzrati]

I added this to the config file as an optional feature today; attached is a preview. I believe it becomes rather difficult to pick out robots quickly when there are so many colors compared to just a couple. I'll be interested to know if anyone prefers to play with this setting on in the next release.

[jimmijamjams]

Thanks for putting it together. Strangely enough I'm finding that I can tell the the difference between items in the ASCII colouring easier than the current one.  I wonder how I'll feel about it when things are more hectic.

[CormacMccarthy91]

I think the sprites in the first shot look great and are very recognizable, and to me there's much less noise to the scene than in the last shot--it takes me longer to read the last one.

This exactly, having the tracks, wheels and legs the same color but different shapes is perfect, allows you to differentiate between pickups and enemies much more easily.

[Arseface]

I never have an issue differentiating between enemies and items in either tileset. They're not only larger icons typically, but they move and shoot things at me. I do have issues differentiating between weapon types and some other similar looking items. That seems to be the difference between the groups who prefer one or the other.

I leave oceans of parts in my runs. One time I left storage with the entire main hallway covered in parts. Being able to sift through them before the s's do is important.