Forum:Updating the ME2 Enemy info box

Being the complete nutball I am, I've taken it upon myself to attempt to improve the ME2 Enemy info box. This sprang from the thought of "hey, wouldn't it be cool if the wiki showed the HUD item that displays an enemies defenses?"

Here you have the result. It's not ideal, as I can't just shove an image under text. (wikia considers setting background images behind content a potential security risk... probably wise.), so I have to do old-school table layouts in order to get all of the content to fit correctly.

Since I added this, I figured we could delete the rows of the table that list defenses that don't apply to an enemy. I hope you agree. :)

I've tested my changes on Chrome, Firefox, and IE. So far as I could tell, it looked correct on all of them. If it doesn't, let me know. It's quite possible I've missed something.

Anyway, I'm looking for:
 * 1) Comments on what I've changed. Does it suck? Could this one little tweak make it better? etc.
 * 2) Other suggestions for improvement of the template as a whole. Things that could be added which would be useful, things that could be removed, tweaks to the color scheme, etc.

Other than that, I'll leave the discussion open to you. :) I've given an example of the template's usage below. Thanks!

Oh right, almost forgot. Part of the reason I'm doing this is to get an up-to-date feel for what the template should look like, so as to apply this toward an eventual Mass Effect Enemy info box, so don't heckle me about that. :P Dammej 08:28, July 9, 2010 (UTC)

Comments
I like it. Can't decide if the health bar looks better where it is or at the top of the infobox, though. Tough call. -- Commdor (Talk) 08:42, July 9, 2010 (UTC)

I love the health bars thing, but I'm not so hot about it's location. It just doesn't look right in the box itself. Maybe try it on top? JakePT 12:22, July 9, 2010 (UTC)


 * Since it'd be tedious to change the template to implement every idea, I just made a couple of changes right in my sandbox. User:Dammej/Sandbox/MEInfoBox has the two styles that I'm trying. The top one keeps the health bars inside the box itself, but above the picture. The second has them outside of the box entirely. I'm not sure what to think about either. I feel like the rest of the table needs something to separate it from the picture of the enemy... I'm just not sure what. Using the name again might look silly. :P Dammej 17:38, July 9, 2010 (UTC)
 * Ok, since I appear to have missed a lot, I actually like it where it is on this page, just below the image. The other two, like at the top and outside the box entirely, just don't look right. Well there's my opinion. Also why is you entire sandbox page in French, I think? Not good with languages. Lancer1289 18:13, July 9, 2010 (UTC)
 * Not french, just filler text. Perhaps using a more "cerberus" color theme for the rest of the box would help the info box to look right. I'll have a go at changing it. Dammej 18:34, July 9, 2010 (UTC)
 * Well ok then. Anyway I like the more orange Cerberus color, but I still like the info box on this page, with the bars below the picture. Above and outside altogether just don't look as right, to me anyway, as the bars below the image. Again my opinion. Hmm, maybe we could do blue, darker shade, ones for ME and orange for ME2 enemies. Possiblities. Lancer1289 19:17, July 9, 2010 (UTC)
 * Er, something happened to my preview or something. I thought the page had the 3 boxes, but I guess it was just two. Ah well. I've put both above and below previews for the "cerberus" theme. Dammej 19:36, July 9, 2010 (UTC)

I've moved the health bar indicator to the top of the page. There is some precedent for this information appearing at the top of the box rather than below the picture. See System and Planet. I'm also holding off on changing the color of the rest of the box for the moment... unless people want to re-do the color schemes of all templates related to ME2 content. It's doable... just kinda outside the scope of this project. If the colors are liked we can make a seperate project whose goal is to make a unified "ME2 color scheme"Dammej 01:25, July 10, 2010 (UTC)
 * Yes a color scheme for ME2 enemies would be a seperate project. Anyway, I can't argue with precednet in this case with the linked templates. Well if this does get changed, I guess I can't argue with bars anywhere, just as long as they aren't outside the template. That just doesn't look right. Lancer1289 05:09, July 10, 2010 (UTC)
 * If this is still up for vote I would like to say that the health bars below the picture are more to my liking. The health bars above the picture but inside the template aren't too bad they just seem to deemphasize the picture (if that makes any sense). Bastian964 05:23, July 10, 2010 (UTC)
 * Well I fell I should just say again, I think that the bars should be inside the template box, and I'll tollerate either. Although I would prefer them under the picture for the reasons that Bastian946 stated as I understood what was said and agree. Lancer1289 05:30, July 10, 2010 (UTC)

I think my main problem is that while the box resembles the game's version, the shape clashes with the rectangular shape of the rest of the box, leaving 4 big empty corners around it. I've added my take underneath (I'm prefer the bars be wider if going in this direction, but I'm not gonna bother fiddling with the images yet. JakePT 06:26, July 10, 2010 (UTC)
 * Had a look at your page where you're trying them out. Big fan of the orange theme, I was actually trying something similar myself back when I was pressing for new character boxes, but never went through to proposing them since I didn't think anyone would go for it. I also prefer the angled health bars box on the outside on the top. Having those angles really doesn't work inside a rectangle IMO.JakePT 06:30, July 10, 2010 (UTC)


 * Hmm, I think that that would be a good idea, however I still prefer the bars below the image. A box for the bars is good, however above just seems to crowd the image. Below seems to sit better, but again my opinion on the matter. Lancer1289 06:30, July 10, 2010 (UTC)

I see what you mean JakePT. Hmm. The only reason I don't care for the health bars outside of the box entirely is that there's nothing to visually connect the two pieces of information anymore. The bars are just floating above the table, with no obvious indication that they're related to it. I've mocked up a way to compromise that, I think. Check it out in my sandbox when you get the chance. It's just an image right now, because I don't want to expend the effort to get that solution working without knowing if I have support for that direction yet. I think it would solve the issue of the angular-ness of the container clashing with the rectangular box, anyway.

I'm not opposed to going for a rectangle instead of the in-game (I literally copied the textures. It's about as close to in-game looking as you can get :P) hexagonal design, but I think extending the bars farther than they are will look just too long. I think if we go the rectangular direction, it might be best to split the name from the health bars, and have the name appear above the image, with the health bars (being the same width that they are now) appear below the image. I'll try to mock that up as well, though I don't have an image ready, so it'll be a bit longer. Let me know what you think. :) Dammej 23:27, July 10, 2010 (UTC)
 * The box seems to work better, but I still don't like it at the top or outside the thing entirely. They look good right below the picture where it seems to fit better. Well from my perspective anyway. Again me just voicing my opinion here. Lancer1289 23:38, July 10, 2010 (UTC)
 * The problem with the box is that instead of room between the shape and the info box it instead just replaces that with too much between the box and the name/the bars. Since that's the in-game texture and the box has almost the same problem as it, I vote for the hexagonal design. Also I personally think the in-game texture looks better anyways, since its closer to the shape of the health bars. Bastian964 02:03, July 11, 2010 (UTC)

Added another mocked up one to my sandbox page, at the bottom (currently). Uses boxes, no red to be found. Tries to solve the "too much space" problem by giving the health bars a label to the left of them. Thoughts? Dammej 01:14, July 12, 2010 (UTC)
 * I can live without the Cerberus theme, until we have another vote on that one, but I still like #2 on the page. ""Cerberus" theme, health bars below". Not a lot of space and it is, well to me anyway, more visually satisfying. Lancer1289 01:20, July 12, 2010 (UTC)

Gaaaahhh, too many options, the bane of my life. Maybe we should hold some sort of elimination vote, narrow the options down to two and then hold the final vote. Because now I can't decide anything. I favor this one, but only if the full Cerberus theme will be used in it. I like the simplicity of this one, but don't so much like the in-game health bar bit has that orange background part gone. Maybe I'll flip a coin to decide if I should decide this by flipping a coin. -- Commdor (Talk) 01:31, July 12, 2010 (UTC)