Suggestion on unit icons

[Leylos]

Have you thought about adding certain features to unit/building icons to give the player an immediate indication what they are good for in addition to the normal unit descriptions?

Going by the example in your design document:
Bombers have high armour that reduces a lot of damage. This could be represented by a circle around the unit icon.
Fighters can counter them because of armour penetration, so they would have a small circle next to their unit icon.
They themselves have deflectors that grant evasion, which is represented by a triangle around their unit icon.
Corvettes have a weapon that counters deflectors so they would have a small triangle next to their unit icon etc.


This isn't so relevant when you only have very basic ships with clear roles such as bombers and fighters but once you start adding some of the more exotic ships this becomes very important.

[Astilious]

I like this idea - counters at a glance. The clear pattern and relationship with core fleet ships might allow even the more reading averse players to notice eventually. Though it could become a little cluttered for ships with multiple defensive/offensive types, which will be possible if I recall correctly.

[Lord Of Nothing]

I like this idea - counters at a glance. The clear pattern and relationship with core fleet ships might allow even the more reading averse players to notice eventually. Though it could become a little cluttered for ships with multiple defensive/offensive types, which will be possible if I recall correctly.

Agreed- sounds interesting, and would be helpful if it can be made to work, but the more interesting ships that this is meant to help most with might get cluttered. Not so much of an issue for multiple attack features, but multiple defence features could be tricky...

[WolfWhiteFire]

Agreed- sounds interesting, and would be helpful if it can be made to work, but the more interesting ships that this is meant to help most with might get cluttered. Not so much of an issue for multiple attack features, but multiple defence features could be tricky...

I would disagree there, you could put a triangle inside a circle or vice versa, a square or hexagon or whatever inside other shapes, just have to decide what would go into what.

[Leylos]

It obviously depends how complexe they are going to do it.
Something like AI War 1 wouldn't work, but they said they would streamline AI War 2 a lot, especially in regards to hull types, so I think it's worth a shot.
And as WolfWhiteFire says, you can combine certain features as long as it is clearly visible that Circle+Triangle isn't something new but rather a combination of both Hull Types.

At the end of the day this isn't supposed to replace unit descriptions but rather an addition to help new players not be overwhelmed by the game mechanics.