AlexUK Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 Could photos work? Example: Nearby soldier (head and shoulders) Far soldier - silhouette on a hill Radio - solider using handset Voice - soldier shouting 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der Alte Fritz Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 Here is a little picture of what I mean.... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der Alte Fritz Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 You could use the rare coloured or less rare colourised pictures instead of black and white for example nearby soldier http://www.referenced.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/2.jpg Radio http://i44.servimg.com/u/f44/16/14/02/21/002_2_10.jpg Voice http://www.culture24.org.uk/asset_arena/7/45/11547/v0_master.jpg They would need cropping so that they were a lot smaller but you get recognisable faces in CMBB with a 32 px x 32 px image. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juju Posted March 22, 2014 Author Share Posted March 22, 2014 Hmm, photos are going to be difficult as I need more than just a face to convey what an icon actually does or means. For now I'm thinking sober and simple is the way to go. You guys have already given me a handful of ideas to work with for now. Gimme a day or so, and I´ll post 4 all new ones. And if those don't work, well, knowing myself (rather well, actually) I'll likely make even more. And after that I'll probably give up on these for a year or so, and then try again. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Offshoot Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 @regiment0: Voice = ear (indicating within hearing range). Heh, I've already tried that a while back. At 30x30 pixels it tends to look exactly like certain lady parts. So I wouldn't hold my breath for that one. Hell, I would! But this sounds like a challenge 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kieme(ITA) Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 IMHO: - visual close needs a bit more contrast - voice is really a bit ambiguous. A shouting mouth (as is) was really a good choice - radio I'd suggest an antenna with radio waves like this http://de.freepik.com/index.php?goto=27&opciondownload=17&id=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5vcGVuY2xpcGFydC5vcmcvZGV0YWlsL2FudGVubmEtYW5kLXJhZGlvLXdhdmVzLWJ5LWpvaG5wd2FycmVu&fileid=517097 - visual far looks good but also more contrast First of all thank you Juju for sharing. I decided to quote the above because I agree with it. The voice contact icon represented by a shouting mouth is the most intuitive. On the other hand I really like the radio idea, although it should be a bit crisper as an image. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wodin Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Maybe something more stylised would do. Not a graphic designer so abit stumped. Radio for instance could be an aerial with those little thunder bolts emitting from it.. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juju Posted March 23, 2014 Author Share Posted March 23, 2014 Erwin made a very interesting point about an 'increasing range concept.' I decided to play around with that a little and came up with the following. I feel it's quite intuitive. BTW, they look so fuzzy because they've been blown up to 200%. Opinions? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wodin Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Juju I like..only issue is they would be nation specific and I'm one of those who avoid nation specific changes. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juju Posted March 23, 2014 Author Share Posted March 23, 2014 Juju I like..only issue is they would be nation specific and I'm one of those who avoid nation specific changes. You have to admit it does fit the Red Thunder scheme. Tell you what, if people like this concept, I'll see if I can cook up an Axis variant. Might be difficult to find the right picture, though. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juju Posted March 23, 2014 Author Share Posted March 23, 2014 Hope I did my research right on these. Here's a (WIP) preview of the new Soviet small arms plus a possible replacement for the Kar I'm considering: 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger73 Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 After all, the idea of a MOD is to give you an option - a different approach. You could move away from the 'cartoon' icon idea and replace the icons with Tactical type signs (say section, platoon, company battalion - giving the idea of distance) but as you say this has to marry in across the entire mod. <snipped> I recommend against this; not because it is a bad idea but rather because it is a bit too arcane for a general audience. As prior military and gaming grognard, I could get into it. However, my experience is that such obscure "elitism" alienates newbies and would-be's. The game already has a steep learning curve. I opine that additional arcana could be detrimental. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Collingwood Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Juju in the first set the eye was a bit creepy for me. I like those second icons much better than the first, very nice. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paraloid Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 This is way out of my area, but my two bits. Could you do a (white/pale) stylized silhouette in the three sizes you showed before, with the same speech bubble/eye arrow/hand gesture. Designed right, this could provide something which would be generic "soldier" rather than something which is nation specific, as Wodin noted. That way it'd also chime in with a stylized radio icon as well. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juju Posted March 24, 2014 Author Share Posted March 24, 2014 This is way out of my area, but my two bits. Could you do a (white/pale) stylized silhouette in the three sizes you showed before, with the same speech bubble/eye arrow/hand gesture. Designed right, this could provide something which would be generic "soldier" rather than something which is nation specific, as Wodin noted. That way it'd also chime in with a stylized radio icon as well. Valid points. But I should clarify that what I'm doing with these icons fits into the overall scheme of the mod. One of the main design elements is the use of colored icons for every individual weapon and vehicle instead of silhouettes. That goes for these icons as well. It'd take a lot of convincing for me to deviate from that direction. BTW, just to make things clear, I'm no artist either. Outside of CM I have zero-zip-zilch experience in the graphical world. I merely scratch the surface of what Photoshop is capable of. So I'm certainly no authority in this field either. If anything I'd call myself resourceful. My goal is simply to make pretty eye-candy for myself and you guys, and to have lots of fun in the process. So, yeah, keep those suggestions coming, but understand beforehand that I cannot honor them all. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juju Posted March 24, 2014 Author Share Posted March 24, 2014 I've accepted the offer from the three people who applied to test the mod. Thanks to Rambler, Der alte Fritz and PhilM. These three should should cover all bases. All we need now is the actual game. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der Alte Fritz Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 While we are waiting shall we have the "what shade of green is 4BO" discussion that should kill a few days 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canada Guy Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 I do like the second set of icons but could we also get your integrated colour scheme with just the actual words as well. That way we have a choice and my brain does not have to figure out what I am looking at. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poesel Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Opinions? I like the 'increasing range' thing. That is very intuitive. Voice: upon first seeing it I thought: 'Is he thinking nothing???'. IME in comics this kind of thinking bubble depicts characters who are currently too dumbfounded to think of anything. In the spirit of increasing range I suggest you zoom in on the mouth more to get more difference to visual close and do away with the bubble. Visual close: drop the arrow. The picture alone is good enough. Visual far & radio are spot on. Thanks for making! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juju Posted March 24, 2014 Author Share Posted March 24, 2014 IME in comics this kind of thinking bubble depicts characters who are currently too dumbfounded to think of anything. Yeah, you're right. I tried to do something text-like. Thing is, I hardly have any pixels to work with. Even an exclamation mark doesn't work. I'll see about that arrow. Maybe I could blend it into the background a bit. Or something. Zooming in on the mouth; no. But a closer view, maybe just the head, I'll consider that. Thanks. @ Wodin: There. Still nation specific, but a choice nonetheless. As with the last pic, they're so fuzzy because the pic is blown up to 200%. If I can come up with something I might even do a 'neutral' version. @ CanadaGuy: There will be no text only version. But as usual I will definitely offer optional sets with text overlay. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjkerner Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 As for the arrow, just take the tip off and leave the dotted line. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juju Posted March 24, 2014 Author Share Posted March 24, 2014 Okay next version. On top, let's call it version 2. On the bottom; version 3, a variant inspired by poesel71's suggestions. At this point I can't say which one I prefer myself. opinions? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger73 Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 Okay next version. On top, let's call it version 2. On the bottom; version 3, a variant inspired by poesel71's suggestions. At this point I can't say which one I prefer myself. opinions? +1 to Version 3, on the bottom. This will be a fun mod. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 I really like the look of v3 without the dots or arrows, but I found myself initially confused by Voice and Visual Close in v3 without the aid of the dots and arrow of v2. I had to read the text underneath. Maybe get closer to the guy's mouth rather than showing his whole head for Voice? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Offshoot Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 The later iterations look really good, and they have an internal consistency and logic to them. I don't think the arrow is needed in any of the versions and is inconsistent if used for close but not for far. For me there is enough differentiation that it is immediately apparent what they represent given that you have to read the manual anyway to understand what they are (there isn't anything in the UI that says 'these are the levels of C&C), though I think I prefer the one with the speech bubble and don't have a problem with the three lines (thought bubbles have a different format usually). You could probably remove the grey border and make the whole thing the whiter shade for better contrast and maybe try a horizontal squiggle if the three lines aren't liked. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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