Crosshair cursor

[baobobafet]

Updated some cursors with drop shadows, added a few new color variants, repositioned cursors graphics to as close towards the active click zone as possible.

Just so you're aware, the hotspot is settable in the game code, and could be brought out to config pretty easily.

Yeah I know this can be adjusted, but I thought I'd set them as close as possible to a common 'hot spot' for now :)

Here comes the nitpicker again :)
They sure look nice, but I'm not really a fan of having a crosshair as mouse cursor. It implies attack/shoot instead of action which doesn't really fit for the context of the UI in my opinion. An arrow or triangle like shape is closer to what we are conditioned to.

Nozmajner, Don't beat yourself up over the nitpicking too much - whenever I create something, I usually end up being my own worst critic ;) (par for the course?)
One reason I added the rocket 'arrow' cursor - was for traditionalists. I think the crosshair has fine select applications that an arrow just doesn't hold a candle too however, and may prove useful in some instances. I would prefer to see an option in game that would allow a player to cycle through various cursors so they could choose whatever suits the situation (or their fancy) at any particular moment in game. A dedicated cursor cycle (select) key could be a flexible and useful 'in game' option.

I'm not sure about the drop shadow either, especially if it's that far from the cursor. It felt detached from the UI.

Yeah it's one of those pref thingys, I added the shadows last, just as an option for those who like that sort of effect - sometimes it can be helpful to distinguish it from the rest of whats going on.
Like you said a 'detached from the UI' appearance to help make it pop out from the rest of the action. It's an esthetic choice mostly though.

The major aim was to give the player a variety of cursor options - rather than leave them at the mercy of whatever might be considered the default cursor choice.

[baobobafet]

Oopsy, neglected to ask, Robn,
What if any, is console support syntax for changing cursor type?

[robn]

No support right now. Not hard to do.

[baobobafet]

Thanks Robn\, - might be a handy function?

One thought, regarding crosshair usage, it might be appropriate to have the cursor auto change on navigation screens to the more accurate targeting crosshair when selecting potential star or planetary destinations.

[bszlrd]

@baobobafet:
That thing you are saying about the cursor shadow makes quite a lot of sense. I guess it's a balancing act between detachment and not distinct enough. :)

[baobobafet]

@baobobafet:
That thing you are saying about the cursor shadow makes quite a lot of sense. I guess it's a balancing act between detachment and not distinct enough. :)

Yeah I was playing around with the shadows a bit the other day and depending on how noticeable (transparent) the drop shadow is can make a lot of difference (even just blurring it has an impact)
All stuff to play with I guess - feel free to toy around with it - you may find a better compromise.

[robn]

Thanks Robn\, - might be a handy function?

Definitely. I'd also like to bind it a bit more deeply into the UI itself. Rather than hooking onMouseOver/onMouseOut and switching the cursor, I'd like to make it so that you could set a cursor for a particular UI widget and it would automatically switch to/from that cursor as the mouse moves.

Not at all hard to do, I've just gotta find some time for it.