Turning off those selection circle eyesores and other player options

Dago_Red

Will all these options to tailor visual aspects of the game be included and ready to go on release?

This should be a given on/off toggle, but the appearance of the neon green and red selection circles under both party characters and foes in the official screenshots is alarming. Why those would be toggled on in what are basically marketing screenshots I don't know -- it begs the question.

I forgot that's how these old D&D games used to be until I saw the screens, it's been so long. I always turned those off right away and always thought they were just there for people new to gaming who couldn't figure out what was what. If those could not be turned off, it would absolutely be a deal breaker for me.

Some clarification on that and other user friendly toggles, sliders, switches and levers in the game customizing would be very welcome to hear about from a developer.

Other than that, I've been spreading the good word, very excited about these and the future possibilities!

Syntia13

The color circles can be turned on/off or set to only appear in specific circumstances even in vanilla games, so I don't expect any problems with that in EE.
As to why are they visible on screenshots - Umm... why not? They are a part of the game, and, believe it or not, some players like to have them visible.

Bytebrain

Syntia13 said:

The color circles can be turned on/off or set to only appear in specific circumstances even in vanilla games, so I don't expect any problems with that in EE.
As to why are they visible on screenshots - Umm... why not? They are a part of the game, and, believe it or not, some players like to have them visible.

Yeah, I would never turn them off. Can't see the problem with them at all...

Permidion_Stark

I didn't even know they could be turned off. Something new to try next time I play.

jpierce55

Considering the large scale of some battles.... I imagine those circles are needed by most people at some points.

Grif

Completely agree, I hate those circles too. I've played all IE games and always turn 'em off. They will still come up with mouse hover which is perfect for pause and play tactics and even adds a bit of difficultly (having them off) since you can miss an enemy hiding somewhere that you didn't account for.

Dago_Red

Exactly the kind of thing that illustrates why those training wheel circles should not be a default -- you can occasionally miss an enemy hiding in shadows -- which is the point of an enemy hiding in shadows!

What is the point of playing a game when glowing circles point you to everything? Why even have animated graphics then? Just have dots moving around with circles under them if the aim is just to have everything in a neat package for you with a formula to follow in every encounter?

I want to play D&D, not work on a paint-by-numbers math problem.

Syntia13 said:

As to why are they visible on screenshots - Umm... why not?

Because those screenshots were to serve as marketing posters, not tutorial instructional diagrams. it would be helpful to have them in 1 screenshot so that new players could see that there are player aids that may be toggled on, but not in all of them. People said --" whoa that looks kind of cheesy." I said, "no I'm almost certain those are just optional aids, you turn them off while playing."

Aesthetically speaking, single color glowing neon circles are terrible looking, and they don't match the rest of the game at all.

Moomintroll

I played with them off briefly as I thought the game would look better, I soon missed them despite the meagre amount of information they give. They help us play the game and they don't look bad (to me), as Syntia13 said, you can already turn them off.

Jaxsbudgie

Would be nice to change them to white, perhaps lower the opacity.

Dago_Red

If I'm not mistaken, that's how Icewind Dale II was. I think no matter what you did, sometimes the selection circle was under the currently active character, but it was a dull white and so not as abusive on the eyes.

Not to mention less of a clash with the otherwise, realistic artwork style, of the game.

Dee

I heard a rumor that they were giving the option to change all the circles to triangles.

Jaxsbudgie

Aosaw said:

I heard a rumor that they were giving the option to change all the circles to triangles.

Ooooh then I could make a triforce out of Xan, Viconia and Kivan.

Archaon

I get strange double circles for player character, and of various colors... Do you guys get the same? And does somebody know how to turn off selection circles altogether?

DJKajuru

You turn off the selection circles in the gameplay section > feedback options

They used to be all green, but now they are the same color of your clothes (Imoen's circle is pink, jaheira's is brown etc)

MedullaOblongata

I didn't think they were a big deal at all. Those "training wheel" circles help me find and position my characters on the screen, when I would have otherwise been totally lost. No biggie, but opacity manipulation sounds like a good idea too for those displeased with the way they look.

gynoid

You can change the colour of the circles by changing the main clothing colour of each character (on the Inventory screen).

agris

wasn't there supposed to be an option to use the original green ones? I'd like to have them without the major character colors all being green...

mibbles

I miss the original green ones, though the new ones are nice, too. Hopefully the option will be enabled in the next patch... Meanwhile, here's a theme tune for the issue!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4ZxxHbJGbY

Awong124

Jaxsbudgie said:

Ooooh then I could make a threesome out of Xan, Viconia and Kivan.

Fixed.