Combat: Action Icon- Recovery Bar

[constantine]

I find it very obstructive to have 'Action Icon', 'Recovery Bar' over PCs' head right in the middle of combat.

 

Apart from that, it's ugly to look at, being that it takes away from the stunning game visuals.

 

As has been requested by many backers in different threads, it would be an easy task to pass that info down onto the character portrait. PCs should have *nothing* above their heads, that is why the UI is there.

 

Please, do that.

[BillyCorgan]

I agree with you.

[archangel979]

Didn't OE say there would be an option to turn off such bars completely?

[BillyCorgan]

Imagine this screen without all this "action info"... so better.

 

Why not something like that :

With this, there's nothin more on gameplay screen... and action should be more "clear"

Edited December 26, 2014 by BillyCorgan

[Osvir]

 

Why not something like that :

With this, there's nothin more on gameplay screen... and action should be more "clear"

 

This looks really good. That "Enemy Info" could be used as a general informations screen, in-depth. Instead of having all enemies information when pressing "Tab" in combat, you could get it on "mouse hover-over" and pressing "Tab" instead only shows "Name" and "State" (Barely injured, hurt, near death, etc.).

 

- In-Depth Info = Mouse Pointer Hover [Target]

- Tab = Enemy Name & State

 

A bit more expansive:

Even over paintings in the inn, or similar. Could be an on-the-go diary/logbook, on-screen with scrollbars. Object/Target identifier. Dialogue Log is more narrative, Combat more mechanical, and the "Target Info" screen objective.

[BillyCorgan]

Proper development of the "concept".

I would not have said it better.

;-)

[Sensuki]

Not inside the portrait please. Below it, if you must.

 

You can disable Combat HUDs, but you have no idea if your units have a queued action because Obsidian has ignored requests to move the combat idle to a recovery time idle.

[Sedrefilos]

A toggle button could do the job. Like press "I" to show combat info, repress it to hide.

[Luckmann]

A toggle button could do the job. Like press "I" to show combat info, repress it to hide.

 

Or something similar to Alt functionality, perhaps Ctrl or Shift.

[mstark]

I would really like to see this change.

[constantine]

 

 

A toggle button could do the job. Like press "I" to show combat info, repress it to hide.

Or something similar to Alt functionality, perhaps Ctrl or Shift.

 

The point is not to hide it, but to tranfer it elsewhere. In particular, embody the info in the Character Portraits, or something similar.

 

 

I can understand the devs intention was not to take your eyes off the action, but the result is very ugly and takes away visual goodness. A quick glance at the PCs Portraits to verify that the unit has taken your order or to check your recovery bar won't hurt any1.

[constantine]

It was bad to watch other threads suggesting such a change get buried and I hope such will not be the case with this one.

 

Perhaps most of you don't have a problem with how things are with this matter ?

[Lord Wafflebum]

It was bad to watch other threads suggesting such a change get buried and I hope such will not be the case with this one.

 

Perhaps most of you don't have a problem with how things are with this matter ?

Mostly. The way it is now kinda clutters the screen, but it doesn't bother me. 

 

Ultimately I'm indifferent.

[Nakia]

If I stop to think about it I find it odd looking but mostly I am indifferent to it.

[archangel979]

Yea I don't want anything over the heads of my characters but I also want a way to quickly know what each character is doing or not doing.

 

I know Sensuki protests each time I bring this up but BG Enhanced Editions added current character action to their portraits and it works perfect. With one glance you can see exact current action of each character and when they are idle.

 

PoE needs something similar.

[Sedrefilos]

I personally like to see the info on the action screen rather than elsewhere (on icons, bottom screen etc), but I won't tag it as a problem if many people want it to be changed. Maybe an implementation of both would be the best. Maybe pushing a button several times changes the position of info. Default on screen, push -> moves down (on icons or wherever), push again -> completely hides it.

[constantine]

Yea I don't want anything over the heads of my characters but I also want a way to quickly know what each character is doing or not doing.

 

I know Sensuki protests each time I bring this up but BG Enhanced Editions added current character action to their portraits and it works perfect. With one glance you can see exact current action of each character and when they are idle.

 

PoE needs something similar.

I too liked the EE addition. Very practical and wastes no space.

[Sensuki]

Put it underneath the portrait instead of inside it and it's fine by me.

[axedice]

 I think it is really important to see the information about cast/attack timing and idle time in the game to understand the combat better (this is a great chart btw if still accurate : http://i.imgur.com/WR2BQ1N.jpg ) , and I am suprised that BillyCorgan's ideas have been buried without any real debate.

 

Here is a comparison with a mockup I made with ideas borrowed from previous posts (and yes I suck at ps)

 

 

1) Action info on character portraits, showing who is idle ( BB Rogue) , who is recovering from a spell (BB Wizard) , who is casting a spell (BB Priest) , who is recovering from an attack (the PC) and who is attacking (BB Fighter) , with timers for each action. 

 

2) Enemy info panel in the UI with action information, rather than blocking the main screen.

 

3) An action - queue bar at the top for the selected character that shows recovery time etc. and the queued actions. Detailed version of what we see on top of the portraits.  

 

2 and 3 are optional of course, but something like #1 (with the timing in numbers) is definetely required ingame, in order to follow who is doing what and when. You can see how the pop up UI with the TAB button confuses the main scene with clustering elements on top of each character, and makes it harder for players to manage combat. 

 

Also an indicator of weapon speed in the item descriptions would be a great addition. I think the "true RtwP" element of the game is fantastic, especially compared to the semi-TB system of Infinity games, but the interface communicates this poorly and definetely needs better visuals before the game ships. 

 

[Havelok]

One of the first things I did when I started playing the backer beta was turn off these ugly indicators. Then I promptly realized "oh ****, now I have no idea what's going on" and promptly turned them back on. 

 

It's currently a bit of a no win situation. After playing the EE editions of both games, I really miss the "action icon over portrait" feature. 

[archangel979]

I still hope they do something for release or their promoted feature of letting some players turn off extra indicators will be nothing but words on paper made into half arsed option in the game.

Edited February 24, 2015 by archangel979

[axedice]

Has there been any other discussion about this? Do the devs view such UI elements as trivial issues right now? With the release approaching I'm sure bug fixes / late game design are top priority, but this seems to be an important (and lacking), yet simple to implement feature. 

Maybe something like this could be modded? 

[ryukenden]

I really like axedice idea where enemy stats are listed next to the combat log, the action bar are located on top of the portrait, and enemy health bar on top center of the screen. All that information is actually kinda useful.

 

Maybe its just me but the center menu seem unnecessary.  Can we get a option where you can hide all those buttons and KEEP the clock. 

Edited February 25, 2015 by ryukenden

[Luckmann]

I really like axedice idea where enemy stats are listed next to the combat log, the action bar are located on top of the portrait, and enemy health bar on top center of the screen. All that information is actually kinda useful.

 

Maybe its just me but the center menu seem unnecessary.  Can we get a option where you can hide all those buttons and KEEP the clock. 

 

This is what really gets me with the game UI (and also some of the fan-made mockups); why are the centre menu buttons given such prominence? They're just about useless, yet they take up prime real estate in the UI. If they should feature at all, they should be small and out of the way.

[Grotesque]

 

^One of the perks of having big characters portraits!