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Author Topic: Distinguish small excess in fleet storage  (Read 2445 times)

TheWetFish

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Distinguish small excess in fleet storage
« on: December 09, 2018, 01:19:24 AM »

It is relatively difficult to distinguish if one of the logistics capacities is overfull when the excess is quite low 

There is an existing UI mechanic where the bar refills from the end as red which is good for determining the excess amount at a glance.  However this scales down in clarity when the amount of excess is small 

I think it might benefit from an additional signal to hard distinguish between under or over capacity, particularly something discernable from the cargo interaction screen 

I would consider this a relatively minor, quality of life improvement 
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XazoTak

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Re: Distinguish small excess in fleet storage
« Reply #1 on: December 09, 2018, 02:23:02 AM »

I think excess should just be removed.
The only reason you'd ever load up an excess is if you just finished a battle and know supply consumption will remove the cargo excess in no time, or if you have a tiny fuel excess and you're about to lose it by jumping.
Being able to store an excess using supplies doesn't even make any sense.
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Darloth

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Re: Distinguish small excess in fleet storage
« Reply #2 on: December 09, 2018, 02:47:20 AM »

It would make sense if there were truly valuable cargo.  Currently nothing we have is sufficiently high value per volume, that comes in any more than 1 unit.

But, say, if Pristine Nanoforges were 100 size, and you found one with three frigates and that went over capacity by 30 units... maybe you'd pay that supply cost to get it home and sell it
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Baxter

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Re: Distinguish small excess in fleet storage
« Reply #3 on: December 09, 2018, 03:14:25 AM »

I think excess should just be removed.
The only reason you'd ever load up an excess is if you just finished a battle and know supply consumption will remove the cargo excess in no time, or if you have a tiny fuel excess and you're about to lose it by jumping.
Being able to store an excess using supplies doesn't even make any sense.

I always viewed it as crew strapping extra containers to the side of the ship or even just floating them in space alongside the fleet, either option would involve a lot of jury rigging and extra work to achieve with some level of safety. I have a feeling that supply costs for going over are static though which can be annoying when I'm 100 capacity over my limit of 10,000 and it costs like 20 supplies a day.
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Darloth

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Re: Distinguish small excess in fleet storage
« Reply #4 on: December 09, 2018, 06:46:14 AM »

They're not static - going over more costs more supplies per day.

They are pretty harsh though.  I think a good argument for them to be usable would just be reducing the overage-per-day cost to 25% or so of where it is now.
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JustALittleGravitas

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Re: Distinguish small excess in fleet storage
« Reply #5 on: December 09, 2018, 04:14:15 PM »

They're not static - going over more costs more supplies per day.

They are pretty harsh though.  I think a good argument for them to be usable would just be reducing the overage-per-day cost to 25% or so of where it is now.

They're static in that being 20 units over costs the same regardless of how much cargo space the fleet has.

This leads to some silliness where my 3 Prometheus fleet is over on fuel by .5% and its doubling my supply consumption.
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Baxter

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Re: Distinguish small excess in fleet storage
« Reply #6 on: December 09, 2018, 10:28:36 PM »

You know, going over your fuel/cargo limit could just reduce your maximum CR ranking instead of costing extra supplies. That still puts a stop to additional fighting/exploring/looting but would result in fewer occasions where I have to leave behind a few thousand units of cargo and retrieve it later.
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TheWetFish

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Re: Distinguish small excess in fleet storage
« Reply #7 on: December 10, 2018, 04:38:56 PM »

I am just looking for a small UI change to an existing mechanic 

Interesting debate on the pros & cons of the mechanic itself but maybe a different thread for it?
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Sharp

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Re: Distinguish small excess in fleet storage
« Reply #8 on: December 13, 2018, 10:09:05 AM »

I am just looking for a small UI change to an existing mechanic 

Interesting debate on the pros & cons of the mechanic itself but maybe a different thread for it?

Very true, I do like your suggestion, maybe change the colour of the whole bar or have an ! icon in or by it.

Although you do also get daily messages now for being over-capacity so although this is a good suggestion it might not be high on stuff to do.
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Sharp

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Re: Distinguish small excess in fleet storage
« Reply #9 on: March 31, 2021, 01:01:48 PM »

This was a good idea back then and it's still a good idea now



Can see a few different ideas to more easily indicate visually when you are over-supply, especially when it's a small amount.

Very poor quality demonstration but hopefully is clear enough.


Warning Triangle
Next to Supply Usage, can work with tooltip to show why supply maintenance is high.

Over Supply
Shading on bar when over-supply
Red numbers

Over Crew
Completely different colour when over crewed

Fuel
As default to compare against, hard to tell visually if you are over or under the fuel limit without reading the numbers
« Last Edit: March 31, 2021, 04:19:31 PM by Sharp »
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