High Contrast

Posted on: December 12, 2005

Several things again came to me at once, in a smooth cluster. If you've ever seen those nature videos where there's a flock of assorted birds on a tree and they fly off as a predator approaches, well, imagine that graphics sequence in reverse. The birds have returned to the tree and I'm gazing at their gorgeousity.

I've noticed that many Resis of Second Life are in an older demographic than those who typically partake in online "gaming" experiences. I'm no scientist in this area, but I've come across quite a few grandparents inworld.

Secondly, we spend so much time inworld digesting new information. The whole orientation process for newcomers introduces us to notecards for the first time, and from there on, we'll continue doing it. Reading reading reading… and reading some more. Some of these activities might be better bolstered with more "SHOW" instead of "TELL" in the future, at least in the form of multimedia help, but until then…

Since this is the case, why is the Second Life interface so challenging to look at?

Nearsightedness (the literal kind) runs in my family, and I figure by the time I'm a senior, I'll have a hard time looking at SL. Compound that on top of my current gamma deficiency.

Let's take a look…



Yush, this is a notecard. Apart from some extra antialiasing settings I have enabled, this is how most SL Resis would see a notecard. Cropped, but unaltered otherwise. Functional, but not an elegant thing. Some things I'm at unease with:

  • Jarringly low contrast in the "border". That dark blue title text on the dark gray background doesn't really touch it. Even the orange UI elements (minimize buttom, zoom button, resize handle) seem to be on the verge of being sucked into the dark mass.
  • More low contrast in the actual body—black text on a gray background. Eyestrain central.
  • Small font size.
  • IT_IS_DULL

How do we handle these problems? The answers are straightforward.

In classic video games, different characters were represented with the same sprites, but different shades. Take the green and blue slime from Dragon Warrior or Sub-Zero and Scorpion from Mortal Kombat, for example. Called palette swapping, this principle can be easily applied to SL: simply change the colors!

And here we have it!


This is slightly hyperbolic, but allows me to discuss further points.

Post-it notes, made by 3M, are extremely popular the world over. Especially the traditional yellow varieties. Why could this be? I believe it has to do with the warmth of the sunshine. Now, white-on-black for a notecard would be great—that's maximum contrast!—but giving a NOTEcard more of the feel of a NOTEpad helps draw out the text and refresh your eyes. It enhances readability.

Also, notice I've lightened the title blue, so that it too, is easier to read against the murky gray. Be hot, be cold—you know what they say! A common problem with the current SL interface is that it's too much "in the middle". It doesn't enthuse, nor does it even keep in theme with what the website looks like. It is merely functional and doesn't inspire. And, the same tealish shade (what shade is that exactly, anyhoo?) used in the eye-in-hand logo should be splashed more. It's pleasant, it's comforting.

O, there is also a very subtle extra orangeing to the UI elements.

I didn't change the font size here to make it bigger and cheerier, but there is a way to do this. It's just not easy to do at the present, and requires modifying your settings.ini file. If you're curious, more info about that is presented in the thread, "Anyway to alter the font in the script editor?". I did it, it works.

The colors of the interface can also be changed if you dare. Oz Spade knows how.

Many new Resis, of course, do not want to tinker around and change text files. It detracts from an enjoyable experience and is a pain in the ass. If you've ever seen a no-mod notecard, you know that's how bad things can get.

Putting this into the system, would put more power into our hands, to not only continually shape the online world we live in, but the tool we use to do so—Second Life itself.

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