Vision cones feedback

[FabianK3]

Hi everyone!

Apparently it has been six years since the vision cones topic was alive.
For the last week vision cones were test-merged with better technical improvements and we would like to hear your feedback on the matter.
This test-merge has ended with this post.

Before you share your thoughts, take a minute and fill out the currently active poll on the game server, found in the lobby menu.
This thread is meant for specific suggestions for changes regarding the implementation of vision cones and how they work.
The poll is meant to reflect on whether or not vision cones are something we would like to permanently introduce.

Whether or not vision cones are permanently introduced hasn't been decided yet. The poll and the suggestion on the topic are needed for a decision.

Here are some questions we are interested in:

• What do you like about vision cones?
• What do you dislike?
• What should be added or changed to get your approval?
• What should be changed to better integrate vision cones in the game?
• What issues did you experience with vision cones?
   

[Farofafeijao]

So far, I think it's kinda cool how the vision cone changes depending on headwear. It's neat. Though I'll say that some visual indicatiors for sound happening outside of your vision range would go a long way to improving situational awareness without needing to remove vision cones. This because, as cool as the vision cones are, they reduce a lot your situational awareness, and specially in a game where you're always needing to bounce back between the text log and the game screen, having limited awareness is not allways a good thing.

Otherwise, It's great. It's fun getting spooked by shit you didn't see coming.

[Menroka]

I would like to start off saying, that the idea and the atmosphere created by these vision cones is good.

It makes the world more immersive and also more chaotic, which I believe is something currently needed.

That being said, the loss of situational awareness can be quite overwhelming depending on the circumstances.

In the real world our ears can give us very precise information about what surrounds us. We can even discern different people just by the noises they make.
In that sense, I would like to echo the notion of adding some kind of visual sound indicators and I would even go as far as to say, that these should be unique for every mob. We got 2²⁴ different colors to choose from and there could even be different animations/symbols used for this. (Or you could just make the vision cone half transparent for anything making some kind of noise while in your blindspot (Or maybe someone else has an even better idea))

[NerdyVampire]

What do you like about vision cones?
-- At first I was skeptical, but actually playing with it, I got used to it and felt it added a bit of realism.

What do you dislike?
-- That I am *entirely* oblivious to what happens in that last cone.

What should be added or changed to get your approval?
-- If I turn away so I am not longer viewing an entity, it would be neat if it faded away over a few seconds from my awareness, rather than be erased from it, if that makes sense? But that's more of an upgrade than a necessity I suppose.

What should be changed to better integrate vision cones in the game?
-- I agree that if cones exist, then sound should somehow travel from behind you.

What issues did you experience with vision cones?
-- I did not experience any issues with the cones themselves, however some part of the implementation affected AIs in a way that allowed me to view entities in maintenance without camera coverage. It is reported on the git.

[DrPockets]

I do think vision cones were implemented better this time than six years ago, but my general opinion has not changed from being against them so I'm going to essentially repeat my thoughts from last time:

While it would be nice in theory to make the game more realistic, I found playing with vision cones to be fundamentally not enjoyable to play with. SS13 as a 2D, grid-based, top-down, primarily visual game doesn't lend itself to vision cones in my opinion. In real life while I can't see directly behind me, it's much easier for me to know what's there. It's fine for the game to not be as realistic as possible and allowing people to see in 360 degrees. I'd much rather have that than a clunky vision system. 

I can see fringe benefits to adding vision cones, but not enough where it's worth worsening the player experience in several other facets of the game. 

While it's good to have some gameplay mechanics that force realism so people don't have to pretend they didn't see/hear/know something, this is allegedly a HRP server so there should be a base level of trust regarding powergaming. If someone is reacting instantly to somebody twenty feet behind them quietly sneaking in the dark, that's a player problem.