Map filters are pretty much useless for me (I'm colorblind)

[Raidhaennor]

Hello everyone !

I've been exploring the game a little bit, and, as the title indicates, I'm having a hard time making use of the maps filters. I've searched the forum and I haven't found anyone one else having a problem with the colors of the map filters (apologies if I missed such a thread). So I suspect it may have something to do with my colorblindness.

It's a bit tricky to describe as I can't make you see what I see (the "problem" being with my eyes and not the game), but I think it comes from two sources:

- the colors used are not different enough for me to see them apart
-and on top of that the filters are too "transparent". When the same color is applied to differents regions, it is "altered" by how dark or light that region originally was. And it looks (for me) like different colors.

For example : I start a grand campaign in 1757 as Prussia, and I apply the "military control" filter (the first one), as in the screen below. Well in that screen, I see the regions of Lubeck, Bolenborg, and Schwerin in 3 different colors, when they are all controlled by the same power (Holy Roman Empire). And on the other hand I don't see a difference between the regions of Prussia and those of its western neighbor (I want to say Hannover ?). And it's worse with the supply filter : I hardly see a difference with or without it.

I lose the benefit of the map filters, wich is to make an information - supply, military control, etc. - visible in a glance.

I'd like to know if there is a way to change both the colors and the "transparency" of the filters, and if so, how. Thanks in advance.


Note : the screen seems to deteriorate the colors, but my problem in game remains.

[Bertram]

Your icon seems to fit your problem .

The overlays are not very clear, and I think you are correct in that the original color seeps through to much, and the colors used to differentiate between the factions are to close. I am not colorblind, but I also have trouble in some of the overlays.

Having said that, I think that in playing ROP only one overlay is important - the supply one. You are not trying to turn the population, or win their haerts and souls, you are trying to kill their soldiers and take their towns. As long as you are in supply, the meaning of the population does not count. The control of the regions is of importance, but they are switched very quick, and you can see the who is in control by the little flags.

So the only one I sometimes turn to is the supply overlay, and even that one is easy in this game - close to a depot is good, more then 2 regions away is bad... the overlay is just for checking in some circumstances, and for seeing at a glance how well stocked the depots are. Of course the supply overlay will be the worst one in your circumstances, as the colors are a pretty evenly saturated red and green... Still, you would be able to see the status of the depots in the number of cates there.

To sum it up - you are irght in that the overlays are not very clear. Being colorblind will certainly make it worse. But don't despair, they are hardly needed in this game...

[Baris]

yes map modes colors needs some little work,especially in winter it is hard to see any difference as some map mode colors are not too dominant over default terrain colors,in previous patches loyalty map mode changed to show political nations i think,it is the most succesfull map mode,as swedish has very clear blue territory color and hannover pink, useful map mode to see allies and foes.(to see where the troops can be deployed with different nationalities) region map mode(5th) is the worst, as some colors are same in different areas. military control mode can be confusing in winter. but graphically it is very appealing game.

[Pocus]

Some colors can be changed, perhaps you can try editing them (you'll need to create a new .opt file in the settings directory)

colOvlSupVLow
colOvlSupLow
colOvlSupAvg
colOvlSupHigh
colOvlSupVHigh

this is for the supply filter

Most terrains also have an highlighting color that can be changed, the format is generally

colPlain for Plain, colMountain for Mountain, etc.
You can also changes the color for the areas, in the gamedata directory, AreaExtInfos file.

[Raidhaennor]

Hello again;

Sorry for the late response, I didn't have time to look into it before. I created a new *.opt file using the settings for the supply filter you gave me, and playing a bit with the RGBA format, and I have to say the result is a vast improvement for me (see screenshot), so thank you very much for that.

I also change the colors in the AreaExtInfos file ; at first I tried to change the "$LightYellow", "$LightGreen", etc in "$Yellow", "$Green", etc. but that did not seem to work. So I just used the RGBA format, and it works just fine, the same as the supply filter.

Now it's almost perfect, and to be absolutely perfect, I would like to change the remaining filters (military control and pop loyalty - although the 2nd one I can do without) the same way I've done with the others. If that's not too much trouble, I wouldn't mind some additional pointers.

I look at the General.opt file (I also wanted to change the scroll delay value - found it !) and I see several values that might have something to do with it, but I don't know how they work exactly, and changing them - either the color or the alpha value - didn't seem to have an effect :
colOverlayYes
colRegionContest
colControlLow
colControlMax

At any rate, thanks again for the information about the supply filter, it will make a world of difference for me.

edit : the fog of war is off on these screens.

[Pocus]

You're welcome Raidhaennor! I see that you modified the screens so that the constrat is much higher, right (the after screen is showing very dense red and green colors for me).

As for the 2 remaining filters, they are using a blend of the colors of the factions possessing loyalty and control in the region, the values you have spotted are no more used.

So you need to alter such faction colors in this case, by going to ROP\Gamedata\factions

Also, for the next patch, I have exported

ovlMaxFilterOpacity

which is a number (the alpha level) between 0 (transparent) and 255 (opaque), as of now it is at 125 but I guess you'll want something along 225.

[Raidhaennor]

Yes, I need strong contrast and well differentiated colors to be able to make use of the map filters (or anything that involves color-coding). When I look at the supply filter with the default parameters, I really can't get any information out of it.
But now all the filters are modified to suit my needs, I'm going to be able to fully enjoy the game. Thanks.

Incidentally, I looked into making the same modifications to AACW, and it works fine, except for the supply filter. I guess the format is different ? (I promise, this is the last time I ask about map filters ).

[Anthropoid]

In general, I prefer muted colors on computer-game maps . . . or so I thought.

I'm not colorblined, but I agree with the OP and some of the other contents that the colors could be a bit more contrasting. Particularly some of the opaque overlay mixtures that result in very difficult to interpret patterns.

Any chance that this might be changed in a patch? Or is there perhaps a mod?