1C center pieces very hard to see in large hypercubes (n >= 6)

[GoogleCodeExporter]

This is mostly a feature request rather than a bug report.  I loaded up a
6^4 hypercube and found that without extreme sticker shrink it is almost
impossible to see into the center of each hyperface cube.

I'd suggest the option of being able to turn of outer layers or highlight
them in some way.

Another idea would be to allow each hyperface (a cube) use a gradient for
the color rather than a solid color.  That is, the center could start out
at say, a dark blue and as it moves out to the edge, end up as a very light
blue.  This wouldn't solve the issue of not being able to see the pieces
but it would help discern what layer they are in when you do see them.

Another idea would be that instead of turning off outer layers, allow outer
layers to be almost transparent or wireframe or both.

Original issue reported on code.google.com by bmenr...@gmail.com on 16 Nov 2009 at 9:04

[GoogleCodeExporter]

This is in large part what the sticker-shrink control is for but it's certainly 
not
the only way to approach the problem. Roice implemented related functionality 
in his
standalone Magic120Cell which allows the user to toggle the visibility of 
various
piece types to help people hide the parts that they don't care about in a given 
step.
I think that adding such a feature here would give you what you want.

BTW, I think that your idea of a transparency gradient might make for a very 
cool
alternative to front-cell culling. If we made polygons fade into transparency 
the
closer they get to turning inside-out, then we might be able to eliminate face
culling altogether. The tricky part seems to be figuring out how to decide how
transparent a sticker must be before clicks simply pass through.

Original comment by cutelyaw...@gmail.com on 18 Nov 2009 at 3:05

• Changed state: Accepted
• Added labels: Type-Enhancement
• Removed labels: Type-Defect

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Melinda,

I have been trying to work with sticker shrink to do this too but I'm using a 
very
small laptop (Asus Eee 900) with a screen resolution of 1024x600.  When I shrink
stickers enough to see into the center the cubies are too small to see the 
lighting
on them and I lose my z-depth perspective.

You're right that my suggestions above have their own set of difficulties and
problems.  The piece finding ability (issue 30), if implemented certain ways, 
would
partially solve this issue.

Regarding the transparency cutoff before clicks pass through, I'm thinking 25% 
but
user reconfigurability of it might be necessary.

Another idea, rather than gradient or transparency would be to allow outer 
layers of
each hyper face to be temporarily set to white.  Since each hyperface is a 3D 
cube
this would be like pealing an onion but without actually making the outer layers
disappear.

Original comment by bmenr...@gmail.com on 21 Nov 2009 at 10:56

[GoogleCodeExporter]

I believe that M120C allows for hiding various piece types or to set them to a
neutral color. In the meantime you might find that using a small sticker size 
and a
zoomed-in view will help you see inside when you need to. You can easily zoom 
in and
out with the scroll wheel when needed.

Original comment by cutelyaw...@gmail.com on 29 Nov 2009 at 9:16