Morgulon the Wise

Tablet Pc if possible

@ rjshae: sorry that I ignored the layout changes. It is just in my interest to change the concept of the frame. I'm still working on a example for myself, where you have already layout parts you can use.

Then you'd have the original without the statues and smaller portraits...

I' d like to post a UI which resembles some sheets of paper (or splices of obsidian and bones) scattered and sticking out from the border of the lower right (or left for the left handed) corner of the screen. On the right (or left for the left handed) some oval medallions show us the high resoluted and animated (pain, sleep etc.) painted portraits of the members in our group (little maybe also animated pic for the pet). Engraved in this medallion and mostly to the side where the screen ends some icons and placeholders for status effects as well please our eyes as give us the information we need (the distribution of these might be a problem). The blue bar could be on one side of the pictureframe, the health/damage should be shown as in Indira lightfoots example. Choosing one of the menu icons the obsidian or paper rearranges in a new surface which could also be a new frame. I would like to be in the position of a mage or a god who has this setup on a magic table. (Ohhh I'd love to play this on a tablet pc) Even if it is rough/ curved it wouldn't break my immersion. Please don't make it rectangluar. but somehow I can't post pic here... How could Ido that? (honestly) €: In my opinion the space is NOT an important matter in IE games. As long as the UI only gives the feeling of a frame and not a tiny window its OK for me. I dont want a super action game, where every extra bit of new information is essential for playing it (which would lead to minimal UIs). We have the space bar to stop time. We have TIME for such aestetic things as a beautiful moody frame... This is what I miss in most of the recent games.

I would prefer much bigger portraits - and thats where the side panel comes into play. By the way: this gap between combat/quest log might give you an extra look down there but I think its unaestically compared to a closed bar on the bottom. If you want to keep that mockup please put everything in the middle of the lower screen . I'd also like some (not immersion-breaking) curves in the UI for a little less Windows/Program-Tab-aestetic.

Some things came to my mind by reading Karkarvs post: 1. Will there be a shortkey again for showing HP bars and numbers? --> Please don't do it that way or make it changeable in circles to the characters feet which show the percentual health + numbers over their heads (also only showing by pressing a shortkey) Maybe the engagement range could also be presented in this way. 2. coloring of the character in some way if he has poison/ is blessed/buffed as in IWD2 -->I dont like that stuff. Only very potent magic shields should be visible all the time or magic which has the purpose to be shown (mantle of fear for example) 3. As it was said in the monk topic: Only show fire aroud the fists the moment they strike, magical barriers, when they repel and a good mix of shooting/weaving magic with the hands or with a possible staff. Not magic glows everywhere. There should be soul economy.

Hell yeah! This is customisation! Keep it up.

That's why i always prefer when the devs don't take our opinions seriously. Trying to please your audience is backwards. You should be making the game YOU as a dev wants to make, and have the audience form around that game, not the game formed around the audience preference since there isn't a consencous of what makes a good game among people. That is Bioware's biggest problem in my opinion. They have listened to their audience way too much. But in kickstarted games that can't work since we paid for the game already, and deserve to know what is being made with our money. But as you see noone can agree in anything. So, in my opinion, the devs should always make the choice that is closer to IE (thats what we paid for anyway, so if someone complain about that his complains are invalid), and only stray for that model if THEY genuinely believe that what they want to change would make for a better game for the people who liked the IE games. The problem in here is that the IE UI is also not that much consistent. Because of this we all percieved an other forms of UI in IE games. So what do do? 1. Dont listen to your audience and please particular groups... Nah, but they should consider some sentiments (such as mine!) (no! mine) 2. Copy one of the old UIs/ Take the choices closer to IE... Nah, not only. (I saw Chris Avellone playing Arcania, which induced to me a certain fear that he has no existent experience in playing such games at all - I hope he has greater knowledge when roleplaying with pen&paper. That's because I'd like to go PE more in that direction) 3. Listen to the audience to get ideas obsidian didn't have til now and mix it with their own thoughts... --> That's what I would do and what I think they are doing right now. (I believe in you) €: Oh, I see you already solved this.

This is essentially what I wanted. I only dunno what others think about it.

@ animated portraits: they could be fine if they aren't made by using the 3D graphic. It is nowadays usual, I know but animated paintings are in my opinion one of the best things an oldish game could offer. There is only the downside of a lot of work, but I paid for that and would pay more to 100% get it.

I've only read the first 5 sides of comments for this update, but I summarize for the UI: Many of you want to keep an old style UI where others want it minimalistic. I see that Khango and Monte Carlo already reacted to that and offer their own conclusions to that (and I like Khangos version), but I think other factors could be drawn in: - Do I need a red /bright flash on the Portrait to see whats happening to my group? (screams etc. are set for me) - Do character portraits need windows??? Do I need the character portrait background in the UI? - Wouldn't it be better if the portraits could move like in Planescape Torment (on a higher niveau)? The UI of the Update is in my opinion too dated. It should be more interactive and lively. To the lizardman: -Why have they to wear feathers and skulls? I mean sculls is OK but why isn't there ever an intelligent lizard folk who is clever enough to build their own cities and wear "normal" clothes? If they are friendly enough and don't sit all day in their caves they should have no problems communicate with bordering cultures who show them different ways to dress? I would like lizardmen who replace their tribal feather hat with an modern (!!!!!) plume hat. There isn't a big difference. But the impact on the lizardmen would be the difference. They would get an culture which likes to trade and chat, but also goes to war or steal (If their plume hats are too much torn by their horns) I would REALLY like to be confronted with such lizardmen instead of a "cold-blooded-jungle-warrior-who-seeks-his-next-prey-for-his-personal-aztec-like-altar" In other words, I would like if all the cultures get a bit mixed up. (But I don't want an ogre to wear a plume hat... it would be creepy) And If lizardmen are non-greyish bad guys, they should at least trade with other bad guys... And in this manner they could wear their beloved skulls, but mixed with the robes of the dark mages nearby, some stolen stuff and if they have a really bad taste some of the ogres undies as a toga. What ever: Mix it in a reasonable way.

I really would like to have a NPC in the game who owns that Plum hat. Although a companion with this hat could be much more narratively (And that man/woman shouldn't ever give it away like Minsc& his little friend Bo!) Maybe he/her allows to wear it once you save his/her life - after it burnt half to ashes during a narrow escape out of a burning city ^^ Eccentric hats shouldn't ever come to short in a good story (--> Dawn of War 2 Orc campaign)

I would like to add something to my former comment: Gods get more powerful than others by the number and faith of their believers but they have still some kind of minimum level of power even if all of their believers have died. Also gods can maintain their level for some time, even if they lost their people who worship them. At this time they either have to change the concept wich they represent (accompanied by a massively change of their self-concept) or they have to wait for/find new followers. Maybe some methods for gods exist to raise their minimum. This could be also the major difference between the younger and the older gods.

I'd like to have a god of stolen goods... Has anyone until now cared how they feel? Couldn't a god represent or even avenge them, if they exist in a world where nearly everything has a soul? Another thought besides the Pantheon might be about the gods childs have, before they get accustomed to the common gods. Maybe such gods are at some times or in some cases very strong and want to join the league of the "older" gods. At least I like it, when the strength of gods highly coheres with the number and the religios faith of their believers. For me, this is the most realistic version of how gods function. Panthen might establish after the creation of gods through the nature itself, but I don't believe in family structures between them.