Crosshairs - Revision history

Staffan Björk at 06:34, 22 June 2014

2014-06-22T06:34:31Z

Staffan Björk at 18:39, 9 October 2011

2011-10-09T18:39:49Z

Staffan Björk at 08:09, 24 September 2011

2011-09-24T08:09:08Z

Staffan Björk at 07:56, 24 September 2011

2011-09-24T07:56:50Z

Staffan Björk at 11:25, 21 September 2011

2011-09-21T11:25:26Z

Staffan Björk at 11:24, 21 September 2011

2011-09-21T11:24:54Z

Staffan Björk: /* Interface Aspects */

2011-09-21T11:24:28Z

‎Interface Aspects

Staffan Björk at 11:23, 21 September 2011

2011-09-21T11:23:18Z

Staffan Björk: /* Using the pattern */

2011-09-21T11:21:29Z

‎Using the pattern

Staffan Björk: /* Using the pattern */

2011-09-21T11:18:15Z

‎Using the pattern

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 [[Category:Patterns]]
 [[Category:Interface Patterns]]
 [[Category:Needs revision]]
 [[Category:Needs references]]

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 == Consequences ==
-[[Crosshairs]] are visual aids for players to interact with [[Game Worlds]], and are most often used to support [[Aim & Shoot]] actions in [[Combat]]. They are a form of [[God Fingers]] for triggering specific actions directly rather than selecting game elements to interact with, but this is mainly relevant when the [[Crosshairs]] are moveable.
+[[Crosshairs]] are visual aids for players to interact with [[Game Worlds]], and are most often used to support [[Dexterity-Based Actions]] - especially [[Aim & Shoot]] actions in [[Combat]]. They are a form of [[God Fingers]] for triggering specific actions directly rather than selecting game elements to interact with, but this is mainly relevant when the [[Crosshairs]] are moveable.
 As visual aids, [[Crosshairs]] may be part of [[HUD Interfaces]] or create these, and may introduce [[Non-Diegetic Features]] in games.
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 [[Aim & Shoot]],
 [[Combat]],
 [[Friendly Fire]],
 [[Weapons]]

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 While most with [[Crosshairs]] have them fixed in the middle of the display, exception such as [[Missile Command]] and ports of the [[Operation Wolf series]] exist.
-The site GiantBomb has a list<ref name="gb"/> of games using [[Crosshairs]]. Actually, it also has a list<ref name="gb2"/> for games that does ''not'' have crosshairs, something which is done to increase difficulty or to make people make use of the in-game scopes.
+The site GiantBomb has a list<ref name="gb"/> of games using [[Crosshairs]], and has another one under the name ''Iron Sights''<ref name="iron"/> for sights that have to be activated (both these are assumed to be part of this pattern). Actually, it also has a list<ref name="gb2"/> for games that does ''not'' have crosshairs, something which is done to increase difficulty or to make people make use of the in-game scopes.
 == Using the pattern ==
-While the actual design of [[Crosshairs]] is more a question of graphical design than gameplay design, there are a couple of gameplay-related options for them. The first is if their location should be fixed (as in the [[Quake series|Quake]] and [[Unreal Tournament series]]) or moveable (as in [[Missile Command]]). They can be modified by [[Auto-Aim]] functionality, either directly through making the system more them through the use of ''reticule magnetism'' or indirectly (in [[Combat]] contexts) by letting bullets aimed near [[Enemies]] hit anyway. [[Variable Accuracy]] makes players that aim for a longer time have higher chances of hitting where they aim, and games using this pattern often indicate the current accuracy through the [[Crosshairs]].
+While the actual design of [[Crosshairs]] is more a question of graphical design than gameplay design, there are a couple of gameplay-related options for them. The first is if their location should be fixed (as in the [[Quake series|Quake]] and [[Unreal Tournament series]]) or moveable (as in [[Missile Command]]). They can be modified by [[Auto-Aim]] functionality, either directly through making the system more them through the use of ''reticule magnetism'' or indirectly (in [[Combat]] contexts) by letting bullets aimed near [[Enemies]] hit anyway. [[Variable Accuracy]] can either require players to activate scopes (e.g. through ''Iron Sights''<ref name="iron"/>) or make players that aim for a longer time have higher chances of hitting where they aim, and games using this pattern often indicate the current accuracy through the [[Crosshairs]].
 [[Crosshairs]] can also be modified to provide more information about what is aimed at. Showing [[Handles]] and [[Health]] are typical examples of this but this can also be used to show [[Tooltips]]. [[Crosshairs]] also make natural starting points for creating context-dependent [[Pie Menus]] since they already allow players to indicate their point of interest.
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 <ref name="gb">[http://www.giantbomb.com/crosshair/92-638/ Page] on the GiantBomb site describing [[Crosshairs]].</ref>
 <ref name="gb2">[http://www.giantbomb.com/no-reticle-aiming/92-4658/ Page] on the GiantBomb site describing ''No-Reticle Aiming''.</ref>
 </references>
 == Acknowledgements ==
+-

@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 While most with [[Crosshairs]] have them fixed in the middle of the display, exception such as [[Missile Command]] and ports of the [[Operation Wolf series]] exist.
-The site GiantBomb has a list<ref name="gb"/> of games using [[Crosshairs]].
+The site GiantBomb has a list<ref name="gb"/> of games using [[Crosshairs]]. Actually, it also has a list<ref name="gb2"/> for games that does ''not'' have crosshairs, something which is done to increase difficulty or to make people make use of the in-game scopes.
 == Using the pattern ==
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 <references>
 <ref name="gb">[http://www.giantbomb.com/crosshair/92-638/ Page] on the GiantBomb site describing [[Crosshairs]].</ref>
 </references>
 == Acknowledgements ==
+-

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 [[Category:Patterns]]
 [[Category:Interface Patterns]]
 [[Category:Needs revision]]
 [[Category:Needs references]]
 [[Category:Patterns created on the Wiki]]
 ''Visual aims to help players aim.''

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 [[Category:Patterns created on the Wiki]]
 [[Category:Stub]]
-''Visual aims to help players shoot.''
+''Visual aims to help players aim.''
 Many games require players to aim at what they want to interact with in the game worlds. While some games lock the point players can aim at to the middle of the screen, it can be difficult to judge exactly where this is. [[Crosshairs]] can be overlaid on the game world presentation to make this more easy, and in other games where players can move their aim point freely it is more or less required that players are provided with [[Crosshairs]] to be able to know what they are pointing at.

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 === Interface Aspects ===
-[[Crosshairs]] is an [[:Category:Interface Patterns|Interface Pattern]] and many of the options surrounding [[Crosshairs]] are related to interface issues. For example, the actual design of [[Crosshairs]] is often changed to reflect which [[Weapons|Weapon]] is being used and the status of [[Variable Accuracy]] systems. The [[Crosshairs]] can also be used to provide additional information about what is being aimed at, most commonly [[Health]] or [[Handles]], the latter to avoid [[Friendly Fire]] (another more extreme solution is to remove [[Crosshairs]] when aimed at friends). Later installments in the [[Battlefield series]] show how [[Pie Menus]] can be used to allow optional actions based upon what is in the [[Crosshairs]].
+[[Crosshairs]] is an [[:Category:Interface Patterns|Interface Pattern]] and many of the options surrounding [[Crosshairs]] are related to interface issues. For example, the actual design of [[Crosshairs]] is often changed to reflect which [[Weapons|Weapon]] is being used as well as the status of [[Variable Accuracy]] systems. The [[Crosshairs]] can also be used to provide additional information about what is being aimed at, most commonly [[Health]] or [[Handles]], the latter to avoid [[Friendly Fire]] (another, more extreme, solution is to remove [[Crosshairs]] when aimed at friends). Later installments in the [[Battlefield series]] show how [[Pie Menus]] can be used to allow optional actions based upon what is in the [[Crosshairs]].
 == Consequences ==

@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 == Using the pattern ==
+[[Variable Accuracy]]
-While the actual design of [[Crosshairs]] is more a question of graphical design than gameplay design, there are a couple of gameplay-related options for them. The first is if their location should be fixed (as in the [[Quake series|Quake]] and [[Unreal Tournament series]]) or moveable (as in [[Missile Command]]).
-−
-The change be modified directly by [[Auto-Aim]] through the use of ''reticule magnetism''
-−
 === Can Be Modulated By ===
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 [[Pie Menus]],
 [[Tooltips]],
 === Interface Aspects ===