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IndiraLightfoot

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Everything posted by IndiraLightfoot

  1. IndiraLightfoot
    Agreed, enough with this 1980s neon light tackiness for magic light. There simply must be heaps of ways to represent magic graphically (and often there's no need to do it at all - perhaps just cool- and strange-looking items will suffice).
  2. IndiraLightfoot
    And so it begins... Vertical slice of PE, yum! Here goes! Munch, munch, munch... *RPG crumbs all over face* That was one tasty dungeon! Love the creepy and pleasantly magical atmosphere. For a while, I've been fearing PE was turning into some a turn-based isometric Ivanhoe-game.
  3. IndiraLightfoot
    You won't be of that opinion when you get the short end of the stick. I'd imagine you'd be pretty upset if all you got was some minimalist UI that slides away as soon as you're not moving your pointer. A small investment in time for the GUI guy would be a very wise move indeed for Obsidian. This is the path of least resistance and the democratic way into the big, bright future of Project Eternity...
  4. IndiraLightfoot
    Nah, I trust Obsidian here, and we prolly have to scratch three versions anyways. They would make two very good and functional UIs, no doubt about it, so the risk for that is practically zero. Two UIs will get the iteration time necessary, especially with all the alpha and beta testing we as a community will offer them. :D
  5. IndiraLightfoot
    True, no important features in the game should be sacrificed by any means. IIRC, GUI-guys are something of a niche, so it wouldn't affect the work on the game itself: content, writers, areas, artists, scripting. It's a matter of time and know-how for the GUI-peeps. And given Obsidian's experience in that field, I truly believe they can make two UIs of the kind discussed here pretty fast and cost efficient. They have RPGs under their belt that uses both systems, so I'm very optimistic that they will come to their senses here, as it were.
  6. IndiraLightfoot
    ^This! At least two alternatives: 1 and a mix of 2 and 3 (and highly customizable, resizable and "re-fontable"). Obsidian have so much to gain from this that I can't begin to describe half the benefits. Let's just settle with the fact that it will make a majority of the players/backers happy - which is a pretty sweet deal. Also, the UI is super-important. Plenty of posts here says outright "I will be put off if you pick this or that UI". The slight extra work is a piss in Mississippi compared to putting off a big chunk of their fan base. So. please Obsidian, consider this. In the end, it will pay off in dividends. It's almost a no-brainer.
  7. IndiraLightfoot
    Sedrefilos: Indeed, the log window should be toggable, and in an easy way like in ToEE. Centurionofprix: Yea, I hear you. Mind you, though, that log window is in a stretch-out state there. So it would slide away or default to the same width as the portrait and action bar pillar. Sensuki: This is my non-minimal compromise UI. And also, the aim is to remove the bottom screen block, which would effectively ruin much of the gameplay feel, since the screen would be like a letter box. I think this kind of lateral pillar IU is the way to go.
  8. IndiraLightfoot
    Okay, those of you that have argued against a UI block along the bottom of the screen has certainly convinced me. It would all but ruin the gaming experience on today's widescreen monitors. So, here's a mockup I made based on Malekith's. Basically, it's almost a vertical UI pillar that can be placed on either side of the screen. And hey, look at all the gaming space! I placed action bars along the portraits vertically, and it will shift in accordance with character in use at the moment. The message box/combat log is obviously resizable.
  9. IndiraLightfoot
    Karkarov has made a very interesting mock-up UI, that is very flexible (a little hub of buttons for pause etc can be toggled in) and mouse-movement-efficient too. Best one so far, and in fact it's pretty similar to ToEE's, except Karkarov's 1-2-3-buttons replaces the radial action menu of ToEE (wise choice). It certainly breaks the spell of immersion the least. I can't wrap me head around the arguments that a clunky old-school IE-UI is better for immersion. If anything, it breaks it. It feels like having a stone tablet or two out of Moses commandment collection right there on the screen. No thanks! Also. just because an interface is sleek and "minimal" (I dear not write "minimalist"), doesn't mean sci-fi, gamey or OS pop-up. It can be designed just as immersive as any IE dashboard, I assure you. If anything, it means more immersion and more of our beloved game. I'll say it again, it's just your nostalgia getting the better of you. And yes, these are not facts, just my opinons, but I felt like being opinionated this time, coz I care about getting as much game as possible and that sarcophagus of a UI is blocking my view, so let's re-bury it before it's too late. Labadal also did a nice mock-up, it's very function-packed and feels right. However, it's a bit crammed. Hopefully, some of it can be toggled out and even moved and re-scaled.
  10. IndiraLightfoot
    To be sure, portraits are much more important than any combat log or message box. Atm, I'm playing Temple of Elemental Evil, and I really like how clean the UI is there. The portraits are a separate row to the left and the UI-frame is some thin and solid dark-grey stone with light-grey streaks as contrasts - almost like that great obsidian and bone suggestion. To the right, there's the hub with quests, map, options, etc. It's small and on top there are two small buttons for combat log/history roll-ups. Say that you'd add the option of spell-icon bars with the same thin and neat graphics and I think we have ourselves a homerun! :D
  11. IndiraLightfoot
    Josh, the points you are considering there look very promising. Thanks for sharing them already. As for the recurrent bizarre request for a more spread-out, hugging-the-frame-of-the-screen UI: It may be inefficient as far as mouse movement is concerned, but it looks and feels "right". I don't know why, it just does. One thing perhaps is that having all the UI as a big rectangle bottom-screen gets to blocky - like a crammed chunk of info for a UI, a boring dashboard. Having the UI crawling along the border of the screen and in small chunks that can be regulated by the player is to be preferred, perhaps not aesthetically, but for that CRPG-organic feel you get from having it there - a cool CRPG c-o-c-k-pit instrumentation bonanza, if you will. Finally, make sure that spell-icon space is aplenty and customizable.
  12. IndiraLightfoot
    Lysen, indeed! That is so fab. I've been wishing for that kind of system in CRPGs for years. It's such a great mood enhancer. And that drawing is wonderful and simple. I can't wait to play this game.
  13. IndiraLightfoot
    While I really like the NWN2 interface, if they'd twist my arm and let me keep one thing, it would be the use of spells, skills and items on those movable, stretchable bars. No digging through the UI to get at them - everything I hold dear one click away, no fuss.
  14. IndiraLightfoot
    Yea, menus, character sheets and minimaps certainly are something that hopefully be dealt with as tastefully as possible. I have no problem with them getting their own screens and such. Perhaps there can be a toggle or two for it.
  15. IndiraLightfoot
    I like the UI structure of Curryinahurry's 2nd version too, and I think the message box in this would go the bottom right, being rather wide and low, but obviously scalable.
  16. IndiraLightfoot
    Sensuki: Thank god for that. Caryatids are cool, but not cooler than the game I'm playing.
  17. IndiraLightfoot
    Curryinahurry: Thanks for the link! I love your mock up, especially where you can get the transparency. I wouldn't want that BG2 texture, but it certainly shows what's possible. A tip, also post the link over at Update 54 where it will be seen by many more.
  18. IndiraLightfoot
    Malekith: Bone and obsidian is such a brilliant idea! :D Dry, greyish osseous material will compliment the dark gloss of obsidian just perfectly. Both bone and obsidian stands for eternity. It will fit the game (and the company, no less) while still not just being some standard materials like stone and wood that fade into the game environments. Also, being a fan of necromancy in RPGs, I know I'd just love it.
  19. IndiraLightfoot
    Knock on wood that we get something less arboreal.
  20. IndiraLightfoot
    Zed, Malekith: I stand corrected then! I had no idea that an interface could muster such a level of atmosphere to a game. I agree entirely with Keyrock, if anything, those interfaces were clunky back then, and they are downright disturbing nowadays. I've been playing through IWD2 and Planescape recently, as well as BG1, and it all just feels off. Then, as soon as I try NWN2, I feel free to experience the game first-hand. Perhaps it has something to do with my playstyle. I rarely use the pause-function, so NWN2's system fits me better perhaps.
  21. IndiraLightfoot
    Tigranes: Interesting, I think you're on to something there. Basically, what you are saying is go for IE-inspired UI, but make it as customizable as that in NWN2 - scalable, movable, etc. And while I personally don't care much for stone and wood for UI graphics, I get the point of the interface being too much an overlay on the game. However, I reckon the interface shouldn't look like the environments either. How about an IE-UI-graphics based on bone or cool metals and gems, almost like ancient jewellery?
  22. IndiraLightfoot
    Thanks for making a poll, Keyrock! And although my firm opinion is that there's room for both of the first points in the poll in PE, I went ahead and voted for the NWN2 alternative, obviously updated for 2014. Zed: The spirituality of those wonderful games isn't exactly residing in those clunky UIs. It's just your nostalgia getting the better of you.
  23. IndiraLightfoot
    I think the main problem with the suggested IE-like UI is the apparent risk of misclicking. At least the portraits ought to be separated to the right in a vertical row.
  24. IndiraLightfoot
    Sensuki: They have the know-how to whip up a NWN2-UI updated for 2014 in no-time, in addition to a IE-sarcophagus UI. If you are right about this divide, and I think you are, it would be well invested time on behalf of Obsidian. I predict that once you get to pick, most people will opt for the up-to-date minimal one, just you wait and see.
  25. IndiraLightfoot
    Sensuki: Josh can be opinionated at times, and I love him for it, but I wouldn't take that too seriously. Josh has also been quoted saying that he doesn't like BG 2 all that much, for instance: http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/63767-josh-sawyer-on-quest-staggering-and-why-bg2-might-have-had-it-right/ I've got a feeling that Obsidian will listen to many of us that want to see an up-to-date customizable UI that can be described as minimalist.
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