Nameless Voice on 26/2/2009 at 02:03
The first one looks better to me, the second one gives an impression of there not being enough frames to animate it smoothly (despite the fact that the other parts of the texture are animated more smoothly).
Both are too fast to read. :D
Briareos H on 26/2/2009 at 02:23
The second one. The longer pause makes it look like there is heavy data loading or processing between each frame, somehow marking it as more relevant to a monitor display.
To me, the speed of the first one seems right only for a transitional initialisation phase (OS loading) or a constant raw dump of memory, which is clearly not the case when you look at the contents.
ZylonBane on 26/2/2009 at 02:24
My concern with the fast scroll is that it looks kind of "frantic" to me. In a perfect world I'd have the text scrolling by smoothly and much, much more slowly. But the 10-frame limit on 256x256 textures means that to get a seamless scroll cycle, the text really needs to haul ass.
Perhaps it would be best to not simulate a scroll at all? Just have each new frame of text be completely unrelated to the last.
Kolya on 26/2/2009 at 03:11
Quote Posted by ZylonBane
Perhaps it would be best to not simulate a scroll at all? Just have each new frame of text be completely unrelated to the last.
Either that or a "typing" animation. It wouldn't matter if that went fast.
RocketMan on 26/2/2009 at 03:45
I agree that the fast scroll seems a bit unrealistic if it was actually intended to be read but it seems to mask the repetitive nature of the text, at least for me. The smooth scroll flows nicely with the rest of the animation and it's harder to identify the 3 or 4 unique frames used for the text.
ZylonBane on 26/2/2009 at 05:29
Which one do you mean by the "smooth" one?
Hemebond on 26/2/2009 at 07:11
I would prefer number two; especially if the text was slowed down further. Replacing the entirety of the text each time, but still maintaining the smooth movement of other elements. And perhaps make the text smaller.
Matthew on 26/2/2009 at 10:38
I had originally thought number two was preferable, but I'm leaning towards number one now.
Pardoner on 26/2/2009 at 10:51
I vote for the second animation. It seems more suited to a machine that is idle, or at least, operating independently of any human input.
While I like the first animation for the reasons that Rocketman gave, the speed of the scroll seems a little odd in context of the game. A terminal that busy might invite more player curiosity than it deserves, as well as detract from the atmosphere of the ship by making it seem more vibrant than it should be.
