Just to let you know that I’ve been attempting to improve the colouration of the white player box on the game page, but in the process I just discovered I’ve made the name of bots disappear when they are the white player.
I’m looking at how to fix that.
(The reason for the change is described here basically to make it clearer in all circumstances which player is which, and tidy up some other hard-to-read scenarios)
To be clear to all, the name is still there and you can still click on it, it’s just that the name is currently inadvertently the same colour as the background.
It seems that the color scheme design would be made much easier by first abandoning the color gradient used in the box. Then, consider every possible combination of the different possible text colors and backgrounds that may appear and choose an overall palette with sufficient contrast.
I still don’t like the revised color design for paused games, since the contrast for the black player box seems too low. Another thing to consider is to use a different subdued color for each name box, or to not change the color when things are paused.
I think it’s inevitable that improvements will inch forwards in increments, with some mis-steps along the way - it’s really tricky!
Input on the topic would be most helpful with screenshots of actual designs, and the corresponding implementation.
It is among the easier things you can to do tweak this - see ogs.styl at lines 190 and 305.
Hypothetical suggestions are really not that useful, because the devil is in the detail: you have to actually try out the colour combinations listed in
(the original set I tried with)
and
(which lists the things I forgot)
to see if it actually works.
Substantial look and feel changes are also harder to get approved: the idea of proposing to change the “feel” of those containers by no longer having a gradient is not something I felt ready to tackle myself, but if you have a candidate design, by all means put it forward.
I recommend reverting the change for now.
Is the gradient in the name box a design requirement?
Nah, I’d rather fix the bot issue and progress forwards: the change is concrete improvement on what was before (once it’s fixed).
I’m not sure how to take this question. There’s no smiley, and yet it is very odd in this context.
Taking the question at face value: these sort of projects are not driven by “design requirements”.
Things are the way they are because at the time they were put in place, the owner (currently anoek) thought it was the best thing available at the time.
To get them changed, he needs to be persuaded that the change is an improvement.
The bigger the change, the harder this is, in practice (IME).
That’s pretty much how it works.
One thing can be viewed as objectively good or bad on its own.
The more “things” you glomp together, the greater complexity is brought to their collective goodness or badness.
I’m simply asking if it is required or desired to keep a color gradient in the name box or the winning percentage bar.
Would a proposed design change that converts those boxes to flat colors be immediately rejected out of hand? Or is that flexible? Your response seems to indicate that things may be flexible.
I’m also wondering this, since as was pointed out by @BHydden, the gradient for the white player box (for the dark theme) disappeared, while there is still a gradient in the black player box. Is this an issue that should be fixed (i.e., should the gradient to the white player box be restored?) Or is it okay to just transition to a design that abandons gradients altogether.
Oh - I don’t know 
I kind of assumed it was part of the look and feel, and tried to retain it.
If that is true, it’s a bug.
The weird thing is that for me, there is a gradient there (and it’s very beuatiful 
)!
It has not yet been established what conditions are required to have no gradient.
I’m referring to this, where you seem to already acknowledge the bug?
@Eugene, I even see the missing gradient in the screenshots that you posted in your pull request. So, it might be a monitor issue.
I think there technically still may be a very slight gradient. Looking at your code, it appears that you do still have a gradient, however, it seems to be so subtle that my monitor and @BHydden’s does not clearly show it.
Even on a monitor with better grey depth, I think the gradient on the white player box in the dark theme will probably still look much less pronounced than the gradient of the black player box.
I see the screenshot, and to me it appears that there is a gradient, though very slight.
However, if you look at issue #1006 you can see my screenshots, where the gradient is more pronounced - and that’s how they all appear to me.
So more information is needed about why the reporter gets this result.
It looks all the same for me. No visual gradient. This is pic from 1006
If you look at black’s box it goes from grey on top to black on bottom. Compared to that change from grey to slightly different grey looks flat.
But I’m liking flat more.
I was referring to your screenshots in #1006 when I said this above:
Maybe your monitor/eyes are more sensitive, but it seems that the intended gradient is indiscernible for me (on two different screens) as well as whatever devices/eyes @S_Alexander and @BHydden are using.
I too prefer a flat color design, which also has the benefit of making color scheme design a bit easier (for not having to deal with a variable background color). I don’t mind having a gradient on both, but having it be inconsistent (black with obvious gradient and white with almost invisible gradient) looks weird.
Yeah, I just checked the RGB values of @Eugene’s screenshot too. It seems that the top of the box is #888888 while the bottom is #989898. I don’t think many monitor/eye combinations would be able to notice a gradient between those two color values.
I have sensitive eyes?! Who knew!
You guys are posting pictures with gradients and saying “no gradient” 
It’s funny that “flat” is finding some favour.
It would make life a lot easier to find the right colours!
It was easy until I discovered go players are colour blind 
(Interesting: I have found that on 3 desktop monitors I see the gradient clearly. On my mac screen I can see how it is subtle. Maybe I should just make it bold gradient on the mac and we’ll be happy …)
Just use established OGS colours… we already have dark, medium, and light grey in other places… so just have one fall from medium to dark and the other fall from medium to light
Lol, No. I’m not good in all the design stuff. I can use the color picker to track down the colours OGS uses for other elements, not finding good new ones.
The gradients are bothering me for a while now, since it’s the only place I’m aware OGS deviates from flat colors.
Gives you a step up on Eugene, at least 
can you fix this?