Changing how the "vision" enhancement looks for each race, and a suggestion for how motion tracker might work.

[Bob]

Summary (a quick, 2-3 sentence summary):So the idea is that the Xenomorph dark-vision toggle should have like a reddish tint to everything, and they shouldn't see full geared out bodies through walls. Instead maybe a colored outline, and this is the thing, with a colored dot on their heart, and it could be color-coded for what type of creature it's seeing. And this change would coincide with the addition of motion tracker for marines that goes off similar tech where it could keep the heart-dot thing without an outline, but every dot would be the same color/blue and only register after a character moves. Not sure what else the tracker would do with beeping and things like that.

Benefits (How this will benefit the server and game as a whole):So it would make things more interesting for Xenos to look at, and conceal the tech of the humans through walls. It could be like a "life vision" where in the case of dead bodies it wouldn't give a heart-dot, and the color-coding or some difference like that could help Xenos identify if a host is impregnated as well. And I saw mention of the motion tracker in the forum on how it used to be a thing but caused lag, and I was thinking if it took some aspects from how the aliens see prey through walls it might not be so intensive. Relatively new player here, so not sure how this might conflict with already established aspects of the game.

Details (Description of how you think this would work, the benefits, etc):Not sure how motion tracking would work. I've only played as Xenomorphs, so not sure how it would look seeing them zooming through vents, but hey just a suggestion. Maybe you know more. So the motion tracker would take up the whole screen like the Xeno-vision does. And, at least for new players, the Xeno-vision would give more info, or be more easily digested in terms of the difference between light detection and seeing through darkness. Again I'd probably have to sit down in front of photoshop to alter a screenshot of the current game to figure out how this could look.

Implementation (Optional, if you have an idea how to implement it):

That seems about it so far. Have a nice day.

[Casany]

Well, this has been talked about but the devs even said that to do this they would have to do a total overhaul of vision, and there are bigger fish to fry. Not -1, but just pointing out what the devs will probably say

[Bob]

Is this an invitation to argue my position?

[Casany]

Is this an invitation to argue my position?

Its not that the idea is bad. Its actually three things (no, this isnt an argument)
1. It is super hard to code. If you can show reliable code to make this work, sure, but just imagine trying to code this. It isnt as easy as pressing a few buttons
2. Its not broken. The vision system as of now is good enough, and there are many things that have higher priority such as hugger combat and the all consuming balancing act. Plus the Sulaco remap
3. I want you to imagine the lag that this would create. Unless there was some seamless way, and if there is you can say it, there would have to be so many checks and so many things to add in, and the lag would be unimaginable. See, there were once motion trackers in the game but they were removed because of this reason.

See, you may say drones can do it on other servers, but thats at all times. Here it would only be through walls. The color overlay wouldn't be hard to implement, but the rest would be near impossible without some major lag issues. I understand theres gonna be an argument most likely, and I dont wanna answer that. So I'm just gonna leave this here and wait for Noize to weigh in.

[Bob]

Theoretically, as it is now, would giving the marine players also the same vision abilities as aliens increase lag that much?

[Casany]

Theoretically, as it is now, would giving the marine players also the same vision abilities as aliens increase lag that much?

marines cant see through walls, or see mobs through walls anyway. That would be a major buff. The 'ping' method of motion tracking would still cause lag, though not as much. No matter how you do it a motion tracker is always gonna add a little bit 'o' lag

[Bob]

Well, probably. I was thinking maybe like a little effect that pops up whenever an entity inputs a movement button. And in terms of lag, if it's just a bit of delay, if it can be handled, I personally would have more fun at the expense of it on the basis of my preferences, but maybe other players like that fast action. But I can imagine unhandleable lag with uncontrollable jerky sprites everywhere.

[Bob]

And I was thinking like with the Drone pheromones that effect every alien on screen, instead of increasing stats, it would apply a little sprite onto every character "on screen", even if you can't see their personal sprite at the time, that "shows up" or "lights up" only when the character is moving.

[Casany]

And I was thinking like with the Drone pheromones that effect every alien on screen, instead of increasing stats, it would apply a little sprite onto every character "on screen", even if you can't see their personal sprite at the time, that "shows up" or "lights up" only when the character is moving.

I dunno, I aint a dev, Ive only messed with the code a bit. Mainly focus on map making. But Im just pointing out what the devs will probably say from my past experiences

[Bob]

Okay so creating new and color-coded things for aliens wouldn't be that necessary, but if you say applying a reddish filter or tint onto things wouldn't be much trouble, then that would be a thing that could help in the way that a player wouldn't have to think twice about which option was currently active.

[Bob]

Although there might be arguments against even that, so. You know.

[Bob]

And in terms of the alien vision, what does this game say it is seeing? I've heard heat-vision, and it reminded me of the second alien movie in maybe an explanation of how the aliens couldn't find the little girl.

But in this game the Xenos can see dead bodies....? (through obstacles)

[Bob]

There's a prominent position that they see the electrical field of the organisms, like sharks apparently do.

...

And then I found an explanation on the internet that she survived because the complex was large.