Words Worth Knowing: Reticules
Words Worth Knowing was a vertical I wrote weekly explaining key pieces of gaming jargon to parents, guardians and teachers, as part of the larger overall GameHub outreach effort. The column ran for nearly two years and resulted in around 60 WWK articles. GameHubHQ.com closed in late 2017. This piece originally appeared on Aug 15, 2016.
What It Is: Reticule = In video-gaming terms a reticule is simply another word for cross-hair, or any fixed orientating mark imposed onto the centre of the player's view. (Also spelled as "Reticle.")
What It Means: The reticule provides a central focus point for the player's view on the screen. This helps with targeting and keeping the player steadily oriented when moving at speed.
Why You Care: The reticule provides the player with a small reference point as to the location of the centre of their view. For many players this helps immensely with targeting and navigation. Other players find use of reticules to be immersion-breaking or visually cluttered, so many games give players the option to toggle reticules on or off. Some games allow players to customise their reticule into a different style, such as the traditional cross-hair, a simple dot, or something more fancy such as an arrangement of chevrons. In many games, the reticule will change shape in order to indicate to the player that a special action can be performed when interacting with certain in-game objects. For example, it is common for a reticule to turn red when over enemy characters and go green when targeted over allied characters, helping players avoid friendly-fire in the heat of battle.
