How should the UI look?

[Rostere]

OK guys, I've thought about this a lot.

 

I feel very comfortable with the old- school Baldur's Gate (1,2) UI, and I really don't like newfangled thin, wiry and transparent UIs. Since this is a game where we, the players, are supposed to give input and I feel this hasn't been mentioned I thought I would give it a go.

 

Compare

 

 

to

 

 

Personally, I think that the old BG 2 UI has more charm with it's solid, ornamental look compared to the NWN UI with its thin, transparent, wiry frames. Hell, the NWN 2 looks so much better when you Baldur's Gate-ify it:

 

 

One strength of the newer UIs is that you can have several windows at once on the screen. Personally though, I find that I never have any practical need for this. I would much more prefer to have an UI just like the original Baldur's Gate, but upsized to modern resolutions (like in the same way that you enlarge vector images...). Oh, and when I say that I like Baldur's Gate's UI, that could also mean a similar- looking UI, but with IWD's placements of the various shortcut buttons. Those are all details. What do you prefer?

Edited September 23, 2012 by Rostere

[Ovocean]

I hate the bland-modern-flat-color UI style like in NWN.

I'm ok with floating stuff as long as it's hand-painted and merges in well with the game's atmosphere. Though I prefer a solid one-piece frame (BG) or bar (Fallout/PS:T)

 

I prefer no minimap, can be an option for those who like.

Edit: Thinking more about it, our characters have a larger view field than we have from our top-down view on the screen so a minimap allows to see as far as our chars do. Go for the minimap!

 

PS: You could change the thread's title to something more descriptive.

Edited September 23, 2012 by Ovocean

[Gyges]

Fine with the classical ui but if the areas are big we need a mini map or something so we have a bit of perspective.

[jarpie]

Don't like the UI in NWN 1, something more solid as was in BG1 and 2 suits better.

[Dem]

Eh, the UI isn't really a top priority for me, as long as it's clear and doesn't distract from the actual view.

[evdk]

The BGized UI from the NWN2 screens is... not good.

[Lysen]

I don't really have a preference, though BG-style UI certainly looks better. I wouldn't mind a bigger font on a widescreen monitor too, because my eyes ain't so good as they used to be.

[Rostere]

I don't really have a preference, though BG-style UI certainly looks better. I wouldn't mind a bigger font on a widescreen monitor too, because my eyes ain't so good as they used to be.

I agree completely with this. Having to squint to read the text is NOT what high resolutions are for!

[fkldnhlsdngsfnhlsndlg]

I love the NWN UI from a usability perspective. it is amazingly easy to navigate, has everything you would need immediately accessible, has a billion hotkeys and quick slots, and you can have as many windows open as you want, in any position on-screen. Awesome.

 

Problem is, it looks terrible. I'd gladly sacrifice a *bit* of that raw functionality if it meant a UI that had much more personality. Also, I love detailed, ornate sorts of visuals - the sleekness of more modern UIs leaves a lot of games feeling cheap and boring-looking to me.

 

As for minimaps, good ones are basically the most important addition you can make to a game and to not have a good, detailed mini-map and full area map would be a major blunder.

[qstoffe]

I wouldn't mind a bigger font on a widescreen monitor too, because my eyes ain't so good as they used to be.

 

This!!!

 

Better yet, make ALL of the the UI scale with the resolution! If this game become a classic then we might be playing it in way higher resolutions than what is standard today. I always hated the NWN UI because of the crappy UI scaling.

Edited September 23, 2012 by qstoffe

[Syraxis]

Nothing like BG's, which was good; for 1998. I'd like the UI to be minimalist compared to that yet still have the same functionality when needed.

[Rostere]

I wouldn't mind a bigger font on a widescreen monitor too, because my eyes ain't so good as they used to be.

 

This!!!

 

Better yet, make ALL of the the UI scale with the resolution! If this game become a classic then we might be playing it in way higher resolutions than what is standard today.

An excellent idea. It's not hard to implement programming- wise either!

[nikolokolus]

I like a clean UI ... that doesn't mean wiry or solid, it just means that an interface shouldn't detract from the imagery in the game-world, in fact a UI can be a part of that imagery.

 

Secondly, I like the idea of a customizable interface where elements can be grabbed and moved around or toggled on and off independently or even having multiple elements like a map, character and inventory screen on at the same time. A mini-map however in a high oblique, isometric (axonometric actually) projected game shouldn't be necessary.

[MinotaurWarrior]

I liked the balance struck by DA:O, where the elements feel like they're there, but don't obscure so much of the screen.

[Carlitus]

It must use 3 design criterion:

 

- Easy of use.

- It must be informative, but not obtrusive.

- Tha graphics used must be according the game's atmosphere.

[hideo kuze]

I would just add that I'd like for the mini-map feature to depend on a skill.

And its detail depend of the level of the skill.

 

for example: if your skill is low and you're at a labyrinthic dungeon, the mini-map may have wrong directions

Edited September 23, 2012 by hideo kuze

[Kaldurenik]

BG ui... As i had to pick i choose to have a minimap also... But only if it dont show anything except partymember locations / fog of war and locations you have explored (without adding any points of interest (note im fine with having the ability to add my own point of interests to the map).

[dlux]

Only 2 options? Wow, great poll.

 

Both are not really good options. The BG UI is nice, but it wastes alot of space. The NWN UI is also not optimal.

 

Something like the Dragon Age UI is alot better:

[Merin]

There is very little I like about NWN's design, so by default I have to choose BG's UI.

 

That said, as dlux said, I think the DA:O UI is better.

[Bendu]

DA:O UI would be perfect.

[Shevek]

Its best to use less biased, negative languange when making a poll. Instead of thin and wiry vs. solid, I would have framed it functional vs. decorative. Or you could do two separate questions such as:

 

How important is the visual look of the UI to you?

How important is the functionality of the UI to you?

 

Give spectrum options at the end of both. Notice I try to keep negative comments out and I attempt to have a sort of parallelism in how I frame questions.

 

You want avoid biased sounding polls or polls that push people one way or the other through suggestion.

Edited September 23, 2012 by Shevek

[Starglider]

PS:T is still my favourite UI design. Wasted space is not really a concern on modern monitors; hardly anyone will be playing this game on less than 1080p and 2560 x 1600 will be increasingly common by the time this game comes out. Multi-monitor support such that I can put the minimap and all the UI / char status stuff on a second monitor, with the main one devoted to the game world, would be nice but obviously is a very low priority feature.

Edited September 23, 2012 by Starglider

[Dem]

I think the reason Dragon Age wasn't mentioned is because it's not a classical insometric rpg (sure, it can be played isometricaly, but whatever). It's UI is pretty good, though.

[hideo kuze]

When I posted my answer I guess I wasn't thinking on what exactly the minimap is.

 

What I mean is for a "press M" and a map window shows.

 

Not a constant UI widget on the game with a damn quest compass.

[Zeckul]

I'm not a UI expert but I think the game industry has learned a thing or two about user interfaces since BG1, 1998. BG1 was a stellar and revolutionary game for its time, but that doesn't mean every aspect of it should be copied forever. As mentionned before, Dragon Age: Origins manages to give to the player something both stylized and functional without using up 40% of your screen's area. As for as style goes, we have no idea what might be best for this game yet, (and Obsidian doesn't know exactly yet either, probably), so it's up to them to decide.

 

I'm not voting because the poll is basically worded like "do you like something that looks great or something that looks terrible?".

Edited September 23, 2012 by Zeckul