Possible Alpha-ish PoE UI screencap

[Hassat Hunter]

Screen...

 

And did you just made my point we need a sidebar for our characters??? (not floating though)

[Hormalakh]

If that's the final UI for this game, it has failed in its objective as a spiritual successor of the IE-games.

 

There I said it.

[Frenetic Pony]

Oh come on, it looks mostly good. Yes the spaces could be filled in. Yes they are a bit useless. But all the moaning is literally over a pair of small gaps. No need to be dramatic about it.

[Zeckul]

That UI is probably as final as the level portrayed in the screenshot.

 

That said, I am a fan of a minimalistic design and would be happy with something stylistically similar.

[ManifestedISO]

Where can I get an Obsidian coffee cup, beer glass, and water bottle, and why is the beer glass empty. What kind of office manager doesn't refill the beer promptly. Obsidian should be a place where beer flows like wine, and the women flock instinctively like the salmon of Capistrano. 

[Lephys]

"Top left, side, bottom" they say... feh! Augmented Reality is the best place to put the UI! Everyone knows that! Then it doesn't take up ANY of your screen, and actually just appears "around" the actual screenspace, via your perfectly affordable pair of $130 glasses, ^_^

 

Cubiq: Nope. I meant the forehead. It looks like it has weird eyebrow ridges and a rather special nose too, a bit like those giant people in the Avatar movie.

That part I just assumed was some kind of shadow or even effect.

... Maybe he's an Aumaua now? They appear to be mostly human in the face, but have a slightly strange-ish facial structure. Orrrr, maybe he's still, what... an Elf (can't remember what his initially-presented concept was), and he's just a snowflake. 8P

Edited April 23, 2014 by Lephys

[Karkarov]

Screen...

 

And did you just made my point we need a sidebar for our characters??? (not floating though)

No I am actually proving your point is bad.  Again every game that is modern and does this also does it in a way you don't like.  No one left aligns their UI, nobody.  The only people who put crap at the top left are as I said RTS games that need a metric ton of UI, and games with companion or party HP and they are put there specifically to be out of the way so they don't get in the way of the action which is center screen.  I am basically saying if you consider your party window to be trivial and unimportant (I sure hope no one does) then the top left corner is where you want it.  If you actually think it matters (I do) you want it on the bottom somewhere nearby the action bars where it is unlikely to block the view of anything important but also nearby other frequently used UI elements so you can get used to getting a picture of all important ui info in one glance....  Having to look to the top left for party stats, bottom middle for action bars, and then bottom right for the chat log is an inefficient/terrible design choice.

[Lord_Darkmoon]

I like the UI if it is the real deal, but I have to say that I am someone who likes to have very few UI elements on the screen. For me Ultima 7 had the best UI as there was no UI on the screen at all This is much more immersive and pulls you much more into the world.

Yes, Pillars of Eternity is said to be a spiritual successor to the Infinity Engine games, but a few innovations here and there are ok, imo if it adds to the atmosphere and immersion. I think that the core of the game will stay tru to the IE games even with a minimalistic UI.

[Sensuki]

There's no health bars or action bar, so it's probably just the one for the testing module.

[curryinahurry]

This UI has strayed quite far away from the IE type UI's; even IWD2.  If they are going to go in this direction, it's probably better that it not be a solid bar across the bottom as filler still won't give the kind of solid look that the IE games have.  I would agree with others that in this incarnation, having the panels be adjustable to run vertically along the edge of the screen for those who prefer that type of orientation, would be preferable to a bunch of filigree that just takes up space.

[Hassat Hunter]

"Screen" means screenshot, btw. It's lacking.

 

Nope, plenty of games do it, even apparently the Diablo III you so revere. Original Sin too. Dragon Age.

That they do it in a bad floaty way isn't exaclty doing away my point, and here's our chance to remove bad floaty and turn it into a sleek bar even more to the left. Looks better, takes up less 'screen' and is functionaly superior to portraits on the bottom.

So why the hate Karkarov? What has a side-bar ever done to you?

 

"games with companion or party HP"

And what is this then? Project Super Solo Deluxe? Or "have a party of 6"

This isn't X-Com or some other kind of turnbased game. You need the info IN YOUR FACE at all times. No time to go looking down all the time. You even say 'that way it wont block your view'... serious? You don't want you ****ING HP "blocking your view"? SERIOUS? You don't want crucial information cause 'it's blocking your view'? What the hell, dude?

 

Also major lol at that they are put top left to 'be out of the way of action' rather than being a quick overview. And then talking about the middle like we're going to place portraits in the entire middle of the screen. What exactly do you think we're discussing here? In the middle of the screen... hilarious.

Edited April 23, 2014 by Hassat Hunter

[Karkarov]

Also major lol at that they are put top left to 'be out of the way of action' rather than being a quick overview. And then talking about the middle like we're going to place portraits in the entire middle of the screen. What exactly do you think we're discussing here? In the middle of the screen... hilarious.

You know so little about good UI it is painful reading your posts.

 

 

I like the UI if it is the real deal, but I have to say that I am someone who likes to have very few UI elements on the screen. For me Ultima 7 had the best UI as there was no UI on the screen at all This is much more immersive and pulls you much more into the world.

Yes, Pillars of Eternity is said to be a spiritual successor to the Infinity Engine games, but a few innovations here and there are ok, imo if it adds to the atmosphere and immersion. I think that the core of the game will stay tru to the IE games even with a minimalistic UI.

You should check out the Farcry 2/3 UI.  If immersion is your thing those games have the best UI ever made.  Want to look at a map of the area?  Your character literally pulls out a map and unfolds it and you look at the map.  Want to know where you are going in that jeep?  You look at the GPS right there on the dash.  Reloads? You either do it manually or it auto reloads when you run out of ammo, no bullet counter at all.  Want to know time of day?  You look at your watch.  Etc etc.

[Lephys]

You should check out the Farcry 2/3 UI.  If immersion is your thing those games have the best UI ever made.  Want to look at a map of the area?  Your character literally pulls out a map and unfolds it and you look at the map.  Want to know where you are going in that jeep?  You look at the GPS right there on the dash.  Reloads? You either do it manually or it auto reloads when you run out of ammo, no bullet counter at all.  Want to know time of day?  You look at your watch.  Etc etc.

The Dead Space games do this really well, too. Health "bar" is on your character's suit's spine. Ammo holo-displays in game-space above your weapon, etc. Even your inventory and map holo-display in an arc in front of your character, from your helmet.

 

I know that exact same practice can't be applied to an isometric RPG, but... it's very nice design, in-context.

[Silent Winter]

Well, I could live with it but I'd prefer a bit more style (as opposed to the minimalist approach).

Having said that - if we could relocate the UI elements (e.g. moving the portraits to a vertical line on the right), then I'd be happy too.

I don't care if it's "technically" superior to have everything in a line on the bottom - it suits my preference, and would feel more like an IE game (also in NWN2, which I'm playing at the moment)), to have portraits on the side.

[curryinahurry]

^ I've stated in a previous thread, as have others, that the human eye tracks more comfortably horizontally than vertically.  Our field of vision is also much stronger horizontal vs vertical.  I think that is why so many people prefer vertical orientation of portraits in this type of game; having to track status effects, health & stamina, and 5 companions.  

 

Also, the arguments about mouse travel and efficiency are pretty much rubbish.  With mouse acceleration, movement direction becomes much more important; clockwise for right-handed individuals is much more convenient than counter-clockwise (which is what the current UI arrangement uses).

[Silent Winter]

^ I've stated in a previous thread, as have others, that the human eye tracks more comfortably horizontally than vertically.  Our field of vision is also much stronger horizontal vs vertical.  I think that is why so many people prefer vertical orientation of portraits in this type of game; having to track status effects, health & stamina, and 5 companions.  

 

Also, the arguments about mouse travel and efficiency are pretty much rubbish.  With mouse acceleration, movement direction becomes much more important; clockwise for right-handed individuals is much more convenient than counter-clockwise (which is what the current UI arrangement uses).

Having just done a few quick tests with this idea (trying to quickly locate info in different parts of the screen (window+desktop) and getting the mouse to them, I can confirm that this is how my vision+hand-eye-coordination works most comfortably

[curryinahurry]

There has been a fair amount of research into how the eyes and hands work with regards to computer screens, and from I've read (which isn't that much), the science supports these facts.  I've not read anything that supports images and action bars at the bottom of the screen.  I personally think this is one of those "rule of thumb" conventions that evolved around action or FPS type games and now many think is best design practice.  Designing by rule of thumb is very dangerous and usually leads to half-arsed solutions.

[Sensuki]

Yes I also believe that the "mouse" statements made by JES last year were more his beliefs than actual fact - obviously not an FPS player, as yes, anyone right handed turns clockwise naturally.

 

However, there is no chance that the design of the UI will change. Portraits will be on the left, dialog window on the right, action bar/menu in the middle.

[curryinahurry]

Agree, and that's what I'm resigned to as well.  It would be nice if they included some mod-ability (solid frame and left/right vertical orientaion of portraits) but that is highly unlikely.  Still, Sawyer commented a while back about not wanting a "wireframe" look a la NWN for this UI, and that is exactly where they are right now.   Even is they add filler, I can't see this looking like an IE style UI (unless they do a much larger frame).

Edited April 24, 2014 by curryinahurry

[Sensuki]

If there was a decorative bar surrounding the elements it would, but as I stated previously in the thread, I think it's just a temp UI for their area module tester. When the Area Designers are designing a level they create a 3D Blockout and then run around in that 3D Blockout and test the design, once it's complete it goes to Environment Art.

[Hassat Hunter]

You know so little about good UI it is painful reading your posts.

I know where my eyes are during gaming.

And that all portraits on the bottom is **** isn't even based on theory, but actual practice... IWD2 has the ****ties IE UI ever. PS:T one's is somewhat redeemable by not being fairly combat centric, so it's not that needed to have actual references of your character as in IWD2 was the case.

 

IWD2's UI was utter ****.

It's character placement was one of the various reasons why so. If you think that's good UI, obviously... you have some pretty weird eyes compared to mine.

But feel free to tell me how IWD2's UI was better than BG2's to someone who played both and actually felt them.

Feel free to ignore every TEAMBASED RPG has always put them exactly where I say them to be (topleft). Feel free to give all kinds of examples of single-character or RTS or whatever games to prove you have no utter clue what you're talking about. Go... ahead. 

You should check out the Farcry 2/3 UI.  If immersion is your thing those games have the best UI ever made.  Want to look at a map of the area?  Your character literally pulls out a map and unfolds it and you look at the map.  Want to know where you are going in that jeep?  You look at the GPS right there on the dash.  Reloads? You either do it manually or it auto reloads when you run out of ammo, no bullet counter at all.  Want to know time of day?  You look at your watch.  Etc etc.

I'll be sure to look out for my characters butt to look at it's HP. In isometric. During combat.

Since it's so completely relevant to the current discussion. What did you say again about painful to read?

[marelooke]

Ehm, nobody wondered where the skills are? Some kind of hotbar would be really nice, instead I see useless buttons for stuff like settings, the journal et all. Quite a lot of people will never use these once they learn the shortcuts and being able to free up that screen space for more useful stuff would be really nice.

 

As would a way to do most things with shortcuts of course, in BG2 I could do pretty much everything (including casting spells) using only shortcuts, freeing up the mouse to be used solely for environment interaction, which was really nice (and one of the reasons the PS:T UI is one of the worst ever, sorry, it sucks).

 

Another more recent game with a rather good UI was Dragon Age: Origins btw.

Edited April 24, 2014 by marelooke

[Karkarov]

There has been a fair amount of research into how the eyes and hands work with regards to computer screens, and from I've read (which isn't that much), the science supports these facts.  I've not read anything that supports images and action bars at the bottom of the screen.  I personally think this is one of those "rule of thumb" conventions that evolved around action or FPS type games and now many think is best design practice.  Designing by rule of thumb is very dangerous and usually leads to half-arsed solutions.

And none of that research has anything to do with video games or video game UI design.  Again, I don't care about mouse clicks or movements.  Action will be on center screen, not the top left corner.  You need to quickly see party status, action bars, maybe even a combat log at a glance.  You can't "glance" to the top left or top right corner of your screen without looking away from the center of it.  You want the important elements placed in such a way that you can still see them without having to "look away".

 

Assuming for a minute god descends and demands the party window has to be in a corner.... it is still better in the bottom left or bottom right corner simply because it unifies the UI and keeps it organized on one "row".

 

Lastly a video game is not a book.  You aren't going to play a video game the same way you read a book.  They just aren't even similar. 

[Hassat Hunter]

Then maybe you should look at research how eyes work (since you obviously have no clue whatsoever from your last post) and what parts are more getting attention then not.

 

@ Marelooke; Yup, Black Isle REALLY sucked with UI design. I was kinda hoping they actually learned these past 15 years, but I suppose not.

[IndiraLightfoot]

Karkarov: Although I am, as you know, something of a proponent for an L-shaped UI (although as minimalist and adjustable as possible, of course), this last post of yours just rings so very true. I've been playing lots of D3, M&M X, COH2 and now IWD2 this spring, and indeed my eyes scan the bottom centre, or even the entire bottom ledge the best. In COH2, I get into trouble, because the unit shields and their health are high up on the screen, in one corner. All the while, in D3 and even in super-clunky IWD2, my eyes seek out the bottom section, and it works much better. All in all, I guess I'll be happy to sacrifice the bottom part and get a stretched out letter box viewpoint of the gameplay for that info while combat is running.

 

Here's a view of ID2's brick, which actually works pretty well. My eyes are keeping track on the log much more than I remembered, as well as on the portraits for health and status effects:

Edited April 24, 2014 by IndiraLightfoot