Tooltips and Hotkeys

[Scary Nachos]

Hello! I was just wondering what a "proper" tooltip should have. Like a hotkey..... cooldown.. how long it lasts.... what it does... etc. I just want to see what everyone else would think a good "proper" hotkey should look like, and what it should contain. And I was also wondering if there is a super easy way to do hotkeys and tooltips cause i gotta do alot :banghead: but anyway, I would just like to see what everyone else things a "proper" hotkey should contain. Thnks

 

[Komaqtion]

I'd say:
Name (XD)
Hotkey
Description
Duration
Buffs

 

[emilemil1]

When the ability is trained:

At the top it should display: Name, Level and a Hotkey.

I prefer QWER or ZXCV for hotkeys as they are close together and arranged as the skills of a hero. That way you allways know which button is the hotkey without looking at it. I also like to put [] around my hotkey, like [Z].

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Then it should display a short description of what it does (should only show values that never change), and how the hero does it. Example:

The Bloodwarrior rotates quickly with his blade lowered for 6 seconds, dealing damage to all adjacent targets.

Or a more descriptive/historical version:

When she formed her first connection with the higher realm, she linked herself with the higher beeings and their restoring powers. When she focuses for a moment she can transfer these energies to her surroundings.

The second example is a bit less in depth but it tells a little story instead.

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Then a very informative description about what it does EXACTLY. Except for values that never change, like Avatars magic immunity, IF it is displayed in the less informative description.

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Finaly it should say things like, Activate/Deactivate XXX, Turn on/off autocast, and if it does anything extra to perhaps summoned units. (this usually exists by default and is in yellow if i remember correctly)

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It is also nice if some of the text is colored in a sutiable color, ofc the same colors should be used for the all of the abilities for the hero.
Perhaps all heroes of the light team can have bright yellow colors and the dark team can use dark blue/black colors. But for gods sake do not use to many colors so it looks like a frikkin rainbow!

Imo the description for when training the ability should not have the more informative description. Instead a longer version of the historical description. Unless the game is extremely tactical and you need every little bit of information you can get (like in Warlocks)

I guess this got kindof long But that is how I like it!

 

[Curo]

I agree with emil. I usually have a main body text for the tooltip that describes the basic function of the spell, and includes any values that are constant (numbers that don't change as you train levels in the spell).

In the training tooltip, I usually use formulas that tell the reader how the spell changes [ex. Lasts (4 x level of ability) seconds]. Anything in brackets I colour cyan.

In the regular tooltip, instead of using the formulas, I have the regular body of text that never changes, then I go down 2 lines with |n|n and use jot-notes to describe any effects, duration, cooldown, etc that change for each level. The jot notes I also colour cyan (but not the actual hyphens).

Example:

Learn [COLOR="Yellow"]F[/COLOR]ireball - [COLOR="Yellow"]Level [x][/COLOR]

Fires a blast of flame that sets the target on fire for [COLOR="Cyan"](level of ability + 1)[/COLOR] seconds and deals [COLOR="Cyan"](10 x level of ability)[/COLOR] damage per second.  10 second cooldown.

Cast [COLOR="Yellow"]F[/COLOR]ireball - [COLOR="Yellow"]Level 1[/COLOR]

Fires a blast of flame that sets the target on fire.  10 second cooldown

- [COLOR="Cyan"]Deals 10 damage per second.[/COLOR]
- [COLOR="Cyan"]Lasts 2 seconds.[/COLOR]


Cast [COLOR="Yellow"]F[/COLOR]ireball - [COLOR="Yellow"]Level 2[/COLOR]

Fires a blast of flame that sets the target on fire.  10 second cooldown

- [COLOR="Cyan"]Deals 20 damage per second.[/COLOR]
- [COLOR="Cyan"]Lasts 3 seconds.[/COLOR]

Etc.