Settler lens

[cedar aurora]

Good day. I'd like to ask the developers to look into the "Settler" lens. Currently, it not only doesn't help players see what they need, but actually hinders them. I sincerely hope that work on this is underway, and that players will see an updated version in the upcoming update. Thank you for your attention.

[toxic wraith]

Might be nice to know what you want it to tell you that it's currently not?

[cedar aurora]

I've already described and illustrated everything in the two images I uploaded. If you didn't understand, I can explain it specifically for you. I don't understand why I need to see units that, on top of everything else, obscure almost everything important. For example, resource icons. Plus, this color scheme is just red, yellow, and something else, so I can't see anything because of it. In the second image, I've shown how I want the Settler lens to look, adding the location of the water and topographic features of the terrain. But it should be monotone, without all that brightness and variegation, which only distracts. All resource icons are clearly visible.

[toxic wraith]

Other than sure you don't really need to see the units (besides Settlers), I think you're stripping out too much information. IMHO.

[livid holly]

Is the issue color blindness or something else?
Might be worth checking for a mod.

[cedar aurora]

Personally, this image is perfect for the Settler lens. The only thing I need to do is highlight the resource icons and make them colorful. Also, add the word "water" to the tiles where fresh water is available. Add topographic features: hills, valleys, etc. I don't need the distance from another settlement, which is currently shown in red! I can easily calculate that myself. Most resources are red, brown, and yellow. And when you turn on the lens, they simply merge into one color and become difficult to see.

[cedar aurora]

Plus, I want the Settler lens to be turned on and off with a single button on the keyboard. It should be reassignable to any other button. Not like it's currently implemented, where I have to make a bunch of awkward movements, wasting my precious time.

[pulsar marlin]

I do agree with the issue of the red tiles in the Settler lens hiding fresh water. It's annoying that I can't see where the fresh water is until I destroy the settlement close to where I want to settle.

[livid holly]

A purple colored space might be nice.
But removing the red spaces where you aren't allowed to settle would be a bad idea.

[cedar aurora]

The game tells me you can't settle on a mountain or directly on a navigable river. Why do I need this information when it's so obvious and clear! And yet it paints all the mountains and navigable rivers red... lol. Why? Who is this aimed at?

[vast mist]

New players?

Honestly that whole feeble minded comment is really distasteful

Have a warning and be a better person.

[cedar aurora]

It was a question, not a statement. Do you feel the difference?

[vast mist]

I can time you out if you like. Statement.

The fact that you changed it shows you know it wasn’t a good comment.

[cedar aurora]

I changed it because I think you reacted to it incorrectly and it caused you some indignation.

[vast mist]

Have a time out, learn when to take the hint.

Anymore of that and you will face further action.

[inner bone]

Red should be for legal tiles that you cant settle on because of nearby settlements or some other reason. Any illegal tile should just have no colour at all (like the sea). And lower the opacity of the blue and yellow and its done.

[livid holly]

Why does that distinction matter?
I get wanting to know which red spaces have fresh water, but I don't see why it matters if it's red temporarily or permanently.

[turbid edge]

While I fully empathize with the intent of this thread, I cannot understand why you would suddenly turn hostile and launch personal attacks against another user for no apparent reason.

Anyway this issue has been pointed out numerous times already, and I really think it's about time it got fixed.

​What makes this settler lens problem truly infuriating is the toxic synergy it has with civ7 make you have to click exactly on the unit's crotch just to unselect it.

​When you think, "The filter is too thick, I can't see anything," and try to cancel the settler selection, you have to click the settlement again, close the settlement UI... it’s honestly just malicious design.

​Personally, I’d rank this as the absolute worst among all the UX experiences in Civ 7.

[inner bone]

For me, the current settler lens is unusable because its so opaque and unreadable. I flick to it to see water/illegal then go back to normal view to decide where to place. That's surely not what the Devs would intend. I'm not sure what you mean about temporary or permanent. The point is that if a tile was never something you could settle on (like a river or a mountain or resource) it doesnt need to be shown dark red. It can just be left blank so you can better understand the terrain and resources. The opacity is the other problem.

[livid holly]

Temporary red locations are within 3 spaces of a IP/Settlement. Permanent red locations are resources, rivers and mountains.

I see, so the issue isn't that it's marked the issue is that it's hard to read the terrain.

[inner bone]

There's no red over the sea. The player can simply infer that they can't settle there. Blank means can't settle. Doesn't need to be red for what you have described as permanent. It can just be blank.

Red can then mean 'something is stopping you settling here' rather than 'this is an impossible settlement location', which is useful information, to for example, kill a city state.

[livid holly]

I think if the resources and rivers and mountains were blank it would be harder to remember which spots were blue/yellow when flipping back to the lensless version, to better see the yields.

But that's just me.

[turbid edge]

Is it even necessary to highlight mountains or resource tiles in red? If there’s already an indicator showing exactly where settlements can be built, that indicator inherently implies that construction is impossible everywhere else.

​It would be much better making mountains, rivers, and resource tiles easily distinguishable from one another.

[hybrid oasis]

Settler lens needs an improvement but the red tiles are def necessary, maybe do it like civ 6 did

[hybrid oasis]

No need to be rude like that, it’s just reminding new players to watch out for resource icons, and city lengths, even I sometimes overlook resources.
The color pallete for resources and ingame scenery blend in

[vast mist]

Completely agree

[hybrid oasis]

I sometimes ignore 😭

[wind badge]

@vast mist This is clearly @cedar aurora avoiding their timeout

[vast mist]

No, this is another user (I hope)

[inner bone]

https://tenor.com/view/what-happened-chaos-gif-14104955

[livid holly]

did you even bother to look at the age of the accounts?
I don't know who federal is, but I feel insulted. 😢

[vocal edge]

All the settler lense needs in my opinion is a hotkey, I keep pressing 4 to try and bring up the settler lense because I have civ 6 muscle memory

[turbid edge]

There’s one more minor complaint I’d like to add, and I hope it’s recognized that the current lens UI is genuinely uncomfortable to use.

For example, once you click the settler lens, you can’t simply toggle it off by clicking the same button again. Instead, you have to click a different button to cancel it, which means you can't quickly turn it on and off with repeated clicks.

Now put all of this together.

1. The discomfort caused by the lens’s overly thick color overlay
2. The inconvenience of deselecting units
3. The inconvenience of toggling lens filters on and off

It’s truly a fantastic combination of inconveniences.

[hybrid oasis]

agree but the colors maybe still need to be there just maybe like 50% opacity

[livid holly]

How do you use the settler lens to cheat?