[DONE][Suggestion] Craft max range indicator on the globe

[DoxaLogos (JG)]

So, another idea I got that I think would be nice is a way to toggle the craft's maximum flight range onto the geoscape globe.  I think this would be handy particularly in the XCOM files mod if you want to see if the Hummer or the Mudranger or the Osprey can reach that new point of interest no the map.  Even more important if multiple points of interest have popped in quick succession, and I'm trying to decide which craft is best suited for the mission in range. Then make a decision based on that.  When I'm done deciding which craft to use, I hit the toggle key to remove the circles.

I envisioned possibly making the range circles a different shade per craft at each base and possibly labeling the circle with the craft name.   If the craft has global range, no circle would be displayed. 

Thoughts?

[ohartenstein23]

Meridian, Hobbes, and I (Dioxine and Solarius Scorch were probably part of it too) discussed this at length for Hobbes' Tech-Comm mod when craft ranges are even shorter than those in X-Com Files, and there are a number of issues, such as not being able to draw on the globe at all when you're determining where to send a craft (the 'select destination' screen) and the fact that fuel is only consumed in 10 minute increments past the hour (not 10 minute increments of when the craft was launched), which makes the actual range of a craft dependent on the launch time.  What could probably be done is draw a set of 'radar circles' at set intervals or a state similar to the select craft destination screen that gives the distance between a base and a location, and the player can calculate the range of the craft from info given on the craft screen.

[DoxaLogos (JG)]

Good points to consider based on how the engine works behind calculating fuel.  I don't think I would be too hung up if it didn't show in the select destination screen.  I'd be more interested in just seeing it as soon as a mission (or multiple missions) pops up, and I want a rough idea of how far away from my bases's hangared craft's range it's located.   It wouldn't have to be exact, just close.  Something may be better than nothing

One could possible constrain the circle based on  calculating the fuel at the longest time interval from 10 minutes past the hour which should be the "shortest" possible maximum range.  So, yeah, you can go further than the circle, but would be risking your craft running out of fuel beyond the circle.

Thematically it would be similar to your flight planner saying, "Given the prevailing winds and weather, Commander,  This is my best estimate of how far our current stationed craft can safely reach right now and make it back okay.  Any further and you may be pushing it, sir!".

I'm very tempted to prototype something up

[Solarius Scorch]

Alternatively, if you click on a mission and select "Intercept", your crafts could be colour-coded based on whether they are in range. No circles, no clutter.

[KZad Bhat]

Green for certainly in range, red for certainly out of range, and yellow for the in between when they can't be certain.

[Meridian]

138   # gold
239   # bright green
133   # minty green
246   # blue

Good luck finding red

[DoxaLogos (JG)]

Hmm... I like the color coding idea too for the select destination screen.

EDIT: Also, what if a list of craft that were possibly in range of a mission showed up on the Mission Detected screen?  Color coded as well.

DOUBLE EDIT: And if you click on the craft from the list, it opens the select destination window for that craft that you want to send on the mission.  Reducing number of clicks to get craft on target.

[KZad Bhat]

124 could work in place of red, but the real importance is just having a standard code, and the idea of yellow for uncertain is a stopgap for the issue of no being to properly calculate for your first 10 minute block.

So for that you could do:

239 = certainly in range
106 = uncertain range
124 = not in range

Although while each of those looks good for the number displayed . . . other letters, digits, or combination of could change the issue.

[DoxaLogos (JG)]

Okay, after playing around the color green with what feels like forever (late into the evening), I think I finally got something worthwhile.  Red was easy, but green was a pain because the interceptor screen is mostly green.  Blue didn't look good either.  With help from Otto Hartenstein, I got the upper bound range calculation working quite well.  I tested it by having the circles drawn on the globe and seeing how well the craft got to the edge of their respective circles before running out of fuel (sometimes barely made it past by a couple of pixels at most).  BTW, my range circle idea was horrible idea for too many reasons but it looked ugly.  I went with Solarius's suggestion of using the Interceptor Screen which I believe works out better (except the green!).

I posted an image below, so here's how to decode it.

Brighter Green (or greener) means the craft is good to go ( equates to <80% max range - totally arbitrary)
Yellow is the craft might make it ( 80% max < range < 100% max )
Red means the craft cannot make it (> 100% max range or the craft is not allowed to fly to the destination)

Plain normal green means the craft is not ready which is usually displayed by the status (Refueling, Missing Pilot, Out, etc.). Maybe this should be blue?


BTW, this screen is only available if you click on "intercept" from the mission/ufo screen.  If you click on the "intercept" button from Geoscape, you'll get the normal intercept screen, because I have no way of knowing what target you are interested in measuring the range of the intercept craft.

And this is not checked in yet.  Hoping for feedback.

[Lord_Kane]

Okay, after playing around the color green with what feels like forever (late into the evening), I think I finally got something worthwhile.  Red was easy, but green was a pain because the interceptor screen is mostly green.  Blue didn't look good either.  With help from Otto Hartenstein, I got the upper bound range calculation working quite well.  I tested it by having the circles drawn on the globe and seeing how well the craft got to the edge of their respective circles before running out of fuel (sometimes barely made it past by a couple of pixels at most).  BTW, my range circle idea was horrible idea for too many reasons but it looked ugly.  I went with Solarius's suggestion of using the Interceptor Screen which I believe works out better (except the green!).

I posted an image below, so here's how to decode it.

Brighter Green (or greener) means the craft is good to go ( equates to <80% max range - totally arbitrary)
Yellow is the craft might make it ( 80% max < range < 100% max )
Red means the craft cannot make it (> 100% max range or the craft is not allowed to fly to the destination)

Plain normal green means the craft is not ready which is usually displayed by the status (Refueling, Missing Pilot, Out, etc.). Maybe this should be blue?


BTW, this screen is only available if you click on "intercept" from the mission/ufo screen.  If you click on the "intercept" button from Geoscape, you'll get the normal intercept screen, because I have no way of knowing what target you are interested in measuring the range of the intercept craft.

And this is not checked in yet.  Hoping for feedback.

I like the idea, but how about the text stay the same and just a new coloumn gets added with basically an indicator light?

[KZad Bhat]

Actually, that could simplify it even more, and should be possible just through scripting.

[DoxaLogos (JG)]

I like the idea, but how about the text stay the same and just a new coloumn gets added with basically an indicator light?

Not a bad idea.  Let me whip up something tomorrow evening, and post it.  I don't know anything about no "scripting"

[ohartenstein23]

Actually, that could simplify it even more, and should be possible just through scripting.

Scripts are battlscape only, they don't apply to geoscape.

[DoxaLogos (JG)]

Alright, round two of the range checker for a mission/ufo site intercept screen.

I tried a mix of symbols that didn't work out so well.  Ideally, I would have liked a solid circle or square that I could color, but I'm dealing with text fields on the column since it's a TextList widget.

If the colors are bad, another option is to go with same color, but use different symbols to mean out of range, n/a, maybe in range, and in range.

I may make the "not ready" craft blue again, since red is overloaded.

Look forward to some feedback I would do think this is good feature to have though.

EDIT: Round 3.  I played with unicode chars and found some nice universal shapes.  I think these look better, but now I'm having trouble deciding which is the best shape to use.

1. Circles  (I learn towards this because of the traffic light concept)
2. Squares
3.  Mixture of shapes for the color blind

[Meridian]

Craft max range indicator has been implemented in OXC in November 2018: https://github.com/OpenXcom/OpenXcom/commit/843731100cafb5d5d99937f515deb330eacf2ca3

Closing as done.