Improve / fix visual clarity between enemies and teammates

[dc-redeclipse]

Various feedback in recent times suggests improving/fix visual clarity between enemies and teammates to prevent team killing.

Since the HUD gets a new redesign, the visually friendly fire prevention (FFP) needs some attention, too.

The following sketch brings together old and new ways to achieve that.

1. Dynamic Teammate Icons

   Behavior: Implement distance-based scaling for teammate icons (Alpha/Omega) to ensure consistent visibility. Icons should remain persistent on the HUD at all times, including through geometry (occlusion-independent).

   Health Integration: Consolidate the health bar and icon into a single element. To provide immediate tactical feedback, the icon should momentarily transition through a color gradient (Green > Yellow > Red) when the teammate’s health status changes.

2. Minimized Enemy Indicators

   Minimalist HUD: Remove enemy health bars entirely to emphasize environmental awareness.

   Proximity Logic: Enemy nameplates should only trigger within close-quarters range. Beyond this distance, all indicators—including outlines, directional triangles, and names—should be removed to reduce UI hand-holding.

3. Optimized Teammate Outlines

   Scaling & Visibility: Adjust outline thickness dynamically based on distance to maintain clear teammate identification at any range.

   Status Alerts: Synchronize outline colors with the teammate's health status; a brief color shift should occur when a teammate takes damage, allowing players to quickly identify allies under fire.

4. Player Silhouette Management

   Clutter Reduction: Disable self-outlines in both first-person and third-person perspectives. This streamlines the visual field and prioritizes critical external information over the player's own character model.

5. Weapon Spawn Visibility

   Visual Noise Reduction: Completely remove outlines for weapon spawns. Currently, these outlines are visible through walls, which creates unnecessary "optical noise." Removing these will help players focus on more relevant combat information.

6. Optional Friendly Fire Prevention (FFP) Compass

   Contextual HUD Element: An opt-in setting that introduces a secondary ring around the crosshair.

   Directional Feedback: When a teammate nears the player's line of fire, a directional triangle should appear within the ring.

   Passive State: To maintain a clean UI, this element should dim to a low-opacity transparent gray when not actively providing a warning.

As an option to enable, there can also be a discussion about showing which weapon and ammo level the teammate is currently using, like shown here:

All this should be addressed as soon as possible as a key component for gameplay.