Chat readability

[ardesia]

In some maps I have difficulties in reading chat text, due to colors contrast between chars and background.
Say, white chat on snow, or green chat on cyan see.
I believe it would be nice to have a black 50% alpha background (or similar) as a default feature for chat text, even having no idea of how difficult this could be to be added in game code

[Joe]

Also clan chat in desert, very hard to see.

[DOOMSDAY]

BEING COLORBLIND MYSELF, DOOM GAVE UP BEING IN CLANS DUE TO NOT BEING ABLE TO READ CHAT. THEY CHANGED CLORS OVER TIME YET DID ACCOUNT FOR THE VISUALLY DISABLED. IMO IT IS QUITE DIFFICULT TO LEAD CLAN WHEN NOT ABLE TO UNDERSTAND, OR SEE, CHAT. DOOM DIDN'T QUIT JUST WENT SOLO AS IT WAS MEANT TO BE.

[josh50052]

well it has been changed to help but not always accurate. i believe that the game checks what colour tile you are standing on.... maybe it could base it on whatever colour tile is 7/10 steps above your character? or have it toggled in menu...? as depending in how zoomed in or out you are this would be effected. say if you are fully zoomed in the game could make it base colour txt on whats 5 spaces above you then as you zoom out this number increases so it always matches the background behind the txt?

[ardesia]

I take these facts into consideration:

A_ we play on many different devices featuring different gammas

B_ we play with variable zoom setting, often changing zoom while chatting

C_ we often walk while chatting

D_ chat font dimension is a variable too

E_ maps are almost never flat color, we have trees, buildings, players, stones... A lot of color variability

F_ to read a text u need flat and well contrasting bkground

G_ chat text colors have a precise meaning

H_ game already has a function able to add a transparent black background (see dropped items icons)

I don't know Creator programming style, but be sure that I would prefere to add a transparent black background to chat text (probably using an already existing function) instead of writing down a case manager for A to E points!

Plus, on a design pov, I believe it would also be an elegant solution

[josh50052]

I take these facts into consideration:

A_ we play on many different devices featuring different gammas

B_ we play with variable zoom setting, often changing zoom while chatting

C_ we often walk while chatting

D_ chat font dimension is a variable too

E_ maps are almost never flat color, we have trees, buildings, players, stones... A lot of color variability

F_ to read a text u need flat and well contrasting bkground

G_ chat text colors have a precise meaning

H_ game already has a function able to add a transparent black background (see dropped items icons)

I don't know Creator programming style, but be sure that I would prefere to add a transparent black background to chat text (probably using an already existing function) instead of writing down a case manager for A to E points!

Plus, on a design pov, I believe it would also be an elegant solution

i agree maybe items could become normal shaeded and the top part could be permanently shaded?

[James142]

maybe make it to where you could personalize you chat colors? like a rrr,ggg,bbb in the setting to choose the color of each chat setting, like say,

Normal Chat - 80, 80, 195 (Little bit darker than a sky blue)
Private Messages - 255, 30, 105 (A bit darker than hot pink)
Clan Messages - 40, 160, 20 (Semi darker green)
System Messages - 255, 255, 0 (Pure yellow)

This is only an idea, but I think would help with personalizing you chat settings to your own liking

[Arachnia]

maybe make it to where you could personalize you chat colors? like a rrr,ggg,bbb in the setting to choose the color of each chat setting, like say,

Normal Chat - 80, 80, 195 (Little bit darker than a sky blue)
Private Messages - 255, 30, 105 (A bit darker than hot pink)
Clan Messages - 40, 160, 20 (Semi darker green)
System Messages - 255, 255, 0 (Pure yellow)

This is only an idea, but I think would help with personalizing you chat settings to your own liking

A really good idea - I even suggest to add a reset button to set the colours back to the default settings.

[James142]

maybe make it to where you could personalize you chat colors? like a rrr,ggg,bbb in the setting to choose the color of each chat setting, like say,

Normal Chat - 80, 80, 195 (Little bit darker than a sky blue)
Private Messages - 255, 30, 105 (A bit darker than hot pink)
Clan Messages - 40, 160, 20 (Semi darker green)
System Messages - 255, 255, 0 (Pure yellow)

This is only an idea, but I think would help with personalizing you chat settings to your own liking

A really good idea - I even suggest to add a reset button to set the colours back to the default settings.

yes a reset would be nice in case you just want default colors again

[ardesia]

This is only an idea, but I think would help with personalizing you chat settings to your own liking

The possibility to personalise chat colors seems interesting to me too, but that wouldn't solve the main problem of occasional illegibleness.
Whatever it would be the color you could select, there will always be somewhere in the FT world a part of the map in a color not enough contrasting the chat one.

To read a text we need color contrast.
The maps we move in have a backgroud color highly variable and often not apt for readability, as in the above-mentioned cases of white-chat-on-snow, orange-chat-on-desert-maps or whatever-color-chat-on-mixed-colors-roofs-of-a-town.

The solution is not to change chat colors, but to give chat text a contrasting backgroud whatever the map color is.
The game is already using a partially-transparent-black background for dropped items and minimap; being partially transparent it doesn't completely hide objects.
The text lines would have a good readability if displayed on such a background, that could appear only along with the text, perhaps as a feature of the font itself, instead of always being there in the upper part of the screen.
Question is: is it technically possible to add chat text such a background?
If it is, I warmly hope it will be added in future releases