tmewett
Increase visual contrast
This PR focuses on making the "hide color effects" mode a) more similar to the default mode and b) higher-contrast and more suitable for visually-impaired players.
(This is still WIP, I may also make some monster colors brighter.)
What do you think @davidalayachew ?
Oh this looks much better. I can give you a better answer when I am in-game though. Is there anyway for me to build this myself and find out?
You find a build here, under Artifacts: https://github.com/tmewett/BrogueCE/actions/runs/15209658802
Oh, the enemies are much easier to see.
Here is a Kobold on Dark Squares.
Very nice. This is a much better place to be in compared to before.
Now, here is something interesting. I entered this room from the right. Meaning, going from Bright Squares to Dark Squares. On the Bright Squares, I could see the Kobold just fine, and on the Dark Squares, it wasn't too bad.
But right here, during the transition from Bright to Dark, the Kobold is almost impossible for me to see. Here is a screenshot. It's so weird lol.
And here is a second screenshot with 2 Kobolds, to show the difference. The Kobold's color changes depending on if they are standing on a Dark Square or a Bright Square.
To give a little insight to my visual problem, I have astigmatism. Here is an example.
On the top-right most image, you can see that there are fences (? or pillars?) aligning the walk way. A clear contrast of white and black, if you look on the left side of that same image.
Whereas on the bottom-right most image, that black and white contrast is practically absent, just showing white. In fact, if I zoom out the image, then even the top-right most image appears like the bottom-right most image -- with the contrast between white and black completely gone.
And that is what I think is happening here.
When the Kobold is on the Dark Squares, it's dark on top of slightly less dark. Any blending doesn't do much to inhibit the picture. And when the Kobold is on the Bright Squares, the Kobold gets a sharper color, allowing it avoid being overpowered by the brighter colors.
But in that screenshot above, the Kobold lands on a Dark Square (the first one on that path), AND YET, is still surrounded by walls that are bright. Thus, in just that 1 square, that Kobold is effectively invisible to me.
Tbf, this is miles better than where we were before. If we are good with calling it here, I say let's ship this and I'll be a happy camper. But if you want to go a step further, I would alter the color for the Kobold when on darker squares. In the rare case where the Kobold is standing on a Dark Square surrounded by bright items/elements/walls/etc, I'll be blind to the Kobold.
And of course, I can bypass this 1 square problem by just zooming in using a maginifier that I have available on Windows (press the Windows Key and + or -). It's just that I sacrifice seeing the rest of the room, and that caused its own problems for me. So, exchange 1 problem for another.
Thanks again for all of your efforts on this. This alone is a sharp improvement.
And just to highlight how much of an improvement this is, compare the above to the old way. Here is a screenshot of the old way.
Even zoomed in, I struggle to see this. Lol, it's a night and dday difference. Ty vm.
Thanks again for the in-depth feedback! Glad it's improved
How do you feel about the purple of the dark areas? Is it clear - is there room for me to make it less intense and darkening?
I think I will boost the base brightness of the kobold color, and the player color modifiers when dark and invis. From there we can merge this change and then fix other constrast issues if they are still problems (I remember there were other monsters but hopefully this change will improve those too).
Purple of the dark room is definitely clear, so feel free to change it further if you feel that the purple is too gaudy. And sounds good about the merge. Let me know once it's out and I'll give it a shot.