XP progress indicator

[Golan2781]

Subject:
A UI element showing not just the veteran rank of a unit but also the relative XP required for the next level.

Description:
Instead of indicating merely the rank (veteran, elite, heroic etc.) of a unit, there is a UI element to indicate how much XP is required for the next level.

Possible implementations depend on existing UI elements.

• A second "health" bar. (Probably too clunky.)
• A circular indicator around the regular rank icon.
• An XP bar on each unit icon in the unit selection list.

Positive Effect:
Reveals the hidden stat XP.
Less ambiguity when leveling units.

Negative Effect:
Possibly obstructing view or being unnoticeable.

Media:
Example of a circular indicator.

Example of a linear indicator. (+Special/Mana bar)

Example of a triangle indicator. (+Special/Mana bar)

[methuselah]

I like this! I'm not certain about the implementation but it would indeed be nice to know and would offer a reward for paying closer attention to your units.

[IonorRea]

Good idea, bad implementation (circular).
If used on infantry groups it will be icon mess.

When somewhere on bottom/sidebar best from point of visibility of battlefield but of course worst from point of visibility of unit XP.

If putted little red triangle inside healthbar where triangle near 100% health mark will means near promotion it maybe can work also...

[Golan2781]

The triangle seems like a very good idea. It doesn't add much bulk to the UI and conforms well to multiple bars (mana, shield, load, SP).

I've added a quick mockup for a separate linear indicator and IonorRea's triangle idea to the OP.

[stormgear]

I like this, the more info the better (too much might be bad though, but I'm not gonna dwell on that). And its about time that we get better ways to see these sort of info's.

I'd also like to see within the menu bar (bottom, side whatever) their health/exp/mana in numbers. CNC4 applied this. What's a SP btw?

I also want an icon of some sort to represent their status change like buff, nerf, stealth, immunity, etc. visible next to their representing icon in the menu. Blizzard have this on their Warcraft series and I dunno why the CNC series can't have one too.

[Golan2781]

What's a SP btw?

Special Power. RA3's Athena Artillery uses the second bar to show the remaining duration of its defense shield, for example.

[Lauren]

I guess he is talking about special powers with SP. Some draw a preparation bar under the health bar, like the foxhole for the GDI riflemen.
But it could be too much if everything gets a bar directly in the game, there's also ammo and and other stuff, therefor in my opinion XP should only be displayed in the selection info.

[[GR]Agm]

Should be an option to include or not, just like you can toggle health bars on and off, you should be able to set an interface option that determines whether an XP progress indicator should be included with the healthbar cluster when you toggle it.

It would also be good if the earned XP appears above a unit when it makes a kill, that way even if you don't have the progress indicators turned on, you can at least see which unit got the XP for a kill, and how much it got.

[Lauren]

Showing xp for a kill might not that easy. For example since TW units are getting xp just for dealing damage. Would have to test it more but afaik you get either 25% or 50% of the whole "xp package" for the kill and the other part for dealing damage while the xp for dealing damage is:
xp * (1 - killpercentage) * min(damagedealt, maxhealth) / maxhealth

[[GR]Agm]

Showing xp for a kill might not that easy. For example since TW units are getting xp just for dealing damage.

Which is another reason, among many, why XP-for-damage is a terrible concept.