I have looked in the pda, in the faq threads here and even looked in the version logs. My eyes are tired So where might I find what these symbols mean when looking at the ships? Please
What 17 people viewed this and no one has an answer? So the Devs put in a feature and even they can't answer my question?
I don't know for a fact what it means. If I had to guess the ! means something like "you're within detection range or the object is becoming aware of your presence" The eye symbol, on the other hand, means something like "you are seen by the enemy and they are actively pursuing you" That was my conclusion when I tried playing again. Hope it helps.
The ! mark on a target indicates that target has seen and is aware of you. If it's hostile, it can and will attack.
Do we still not have an answer from the devs about this? If it's as @IndigoWyrd says "The ! mark on a target indicates that target has seen and is aware of you. If it's hostile, it can and will attack." then what does the 'eye' symbol mean? Or is it more like @Cleff says in post #3?
It seems to me like @Cleff has it right. I've spent a lot of time chewing through asteroids today and I can see Carriers with the "!" symbol from quite a distance and they don't move towards me. However, once that "eye" symbol comes up, they're on me like a flea on a dog's arse. ! = hostile, be careful eye = they're a comin for ya
I've seen similar but I've also seen the ships change direction and start heading towards me, without an 'eye' symbol. The 'eye' symbol only appears when it gets closer.
I honestly think you are all grasping at straws for a meaning that is probably not there. And that is very likely due to your own personal boredom with this game now. But maybe that is just me. Unicode Character 'SQUARED DOT OPERATOR' (U+22A1) fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/22a1/index.htm ⊡ Unicode Character 'EXCLAMATION MARK' (U+0021) fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/0021/index.htm !
True mate. We are all guessing what they mean by what we have seen. Would be good if we could get an official answer on it though......
No. I'm genuinely curious what each symbol means. Maybe it's just a debugging tool left in by accident. Or maybe it has game play implications.
I know these were mentioned in some experimental thread when the new hud/ detection mechanics were made, but I searched a dozen times and can't find it. It's either in experimental or in the "patch notes" section.
There is clearly a meaning if the devs coded it in to show certain symbols on the HUD when certain parameters are met, that's not accidental or meaningless. Grasping at straws? Some simple logical reasoning while using cause-effect analysis resulted in most of the posters here coming to the same conclusions. Just felt like addressing that quickly; your post seems somewhat inflammatory so unless you present a further intellectual discussion I probably won't comment more on it.
I don't know exactly what the exclamation mark means, but the square with the dot is no eye, but simply the position marker of the target/enemy. /jmc
Speculation : The eye means the player is spotted. Dot and square means the front or back are towards the player.
To be clear the eye appears on the left of the square w/ dot in only some instances, just like the exclamation mark. I can see where the confusion comes from as OPs image doesn't include all 3.
I thought I had seen it with three before. In any case I hope we can get an official response to this question.
From what I've seen, the exclamation mark means the same thing is does in MGS; there was a sighting, and assets are moving in to investigate. You can move some distance away and see drones and ships search the area where you just were. Keeping an asteroid between you and them also seems to work. The eye symbol means they are observing you right now. Drones are going to engage you and keep you sighted while the patrol CVs move in. You'll need to either destroy or outrun the drones to escape.
