Workarea color policy

Could you provide screenshots of the current state and your suggestion? it would make the discussion easier.

I attach a screenshot showing current situation and 3 proposal. Please consider that the proposals are simple mokeups, no change done in code.

I am for #3 - the graphics could be improved though - the rings are hard to see.

Here's an alternative proposal. The idea is to signal the parts covered by an enhanched building is marked with a green plus. The same plus could also be used in the building window along with the building it is enhanched to. It's a bit off-topic, but I find the current solution of showing the building it would be enhanced into a bit lacking. With the green plus introduced it would be recognizable as tied to enhancing buildings, so that it would be easy to figure out the meaning.

I am also fond of #3 above, expect I think the colors should be improved. I also think this is a better representation than the current, which would help players form a correct mental model. The following reasoning would be a lot clearer:
* The filled circle is the base area
* The ring around is the enchanched area which would be added to the initial one to make a larger circle.
In fact, this is the reverse of what the current solution indicates.

expect should be except in the second paragraph...

I like your hjd's suggestion but I have one problem: what about
buildings that can be enhanced twice. The pluses can't be easily
doubled. I therefore still prefer #3. Also, the pluses in your image are
subtle and hard to miss.

It set this bug to triaged now but please do not take this as a sign to
stop discussing it. It only means that one valid solution is already
found - a better one will even be better.

  status triaged

>Also, the pluses in your image are subtle and hard to miss.
Well, mine were only to illustrate the idea. Naturally, someone would have to actually draw some proper, goodlooking pluses.

>what about buildings that can be enhanced twice.

Yes, I forgot all about them. What is the strategy here for #3, btw? Circle/ring1/ring2, then both rings, then only outer ring (going from closest to furthest away)?

>Yes, I forgot all about them. What is the strategy here for #3, btw?
>Circle/ring1/ring2, then both rings, then only outer ring (going from
>closest to furthest away)?
Sounds reasonable to me.

I just discovered duplicate bug 536473, which suggests adding a semitransparent circle around the building. This seems like a good idea to me, but I am not sure how feasible this is currently. The bug report contains more details, as well as links to what is considered requirements. I am not sure if this is still lacking or if it is in place, so it would be nice if someone in the know could take a look at it. For instance it talks about waiting for opengl, which was added a long time ago.

well, OpenGL rendering will land in build 17 as default rendering. That
is, the basics for rendering semitransparent circles or what not quickly
is then in place. The main question is if we want to keep compatibility
with software rendering then. However, this is to be decided after b17
is out of the door.

the fix commited is the proposal #3 from comment #2.
I suggest we discuss the semitransparent opengl thing in bug 536473

Released in build-18 rc1.