Hey all, just to provide a heads-up on a few things we’re doing to address the legibility issues with the Starmap. This list is not extensive, and there’s quite a few more things being worked on to improve the UX.
particularly on microtech, the text disappears behind the planet sometimes while rotating the planet model.
That is exactly what is happening unfortunately due to a render bug. The marker and text will render behind the planet, making it very faint. We have a fix in the works.
there is a weird curved jittering rainbow lcd screen effect on planet surfaces
The color banding is probably due to a shader effect on the planet. We’re investigating what the cause of it is.
the location markers are too hard to see on the sunny side of microtech.
We have a fix in the works that will adjust the brightness of the lighting in the Starmap and are also working to make the surface of planets have more contrast.
sometimes the text becomes blurry for a couple of frames.
We have a tentative fix for this in the works.
the auto brightness adjustment when leaving mobiglas after looking at microtech sunny side view for a while takes a long time for the brightness to adjust
The eye adaptation kicks in due to the relative brightness of microTech compared to the rest of the screen when you zoom in. Adjusting the brightness of the lighting, the shader of the planet and tweaking the camera settings when the mobiGlas / Starmap are open are currently in the works to improve on this behavior.
Rest assured, we’re aware of those issues and are actively working to fix them. Please, keep the feedback and IC reports coming if you find other issues that affect the functionality / UX of the Starmap.
Thanks!
It really feels like they’re so focused on the “it has to look cool” part they don’t really understand that accessibility should be baked into the design process from the start. I hope we as a community won’t let up on this and make them realize UI needs to be usable first and foremost.
CIG makes a lot of stupid decisions but UI is probably one of their worst offenders. Don’t know if it has to do with the UI team itself or someone above them forcing these choices on them but it’s something they should really address.
When you think about it, it’s on brand. So far we’ve been treated to aesthetics over function in pretty much every way. That being said, I agree. I haven’t even had the pleasure of testing the new star map, surely even with the legibility issues it’s miles ahead of the current version
It’s totally on brand which is why it’s disappointing - the main responsibility of UI is (or at least should be) legibility after all.
I also didn’t have the chance to use the new system but based on what we’ve seen it should be way less clunky to use, so that’s something. I just hope this latest drama/criticism/call to action sticks this time.
