Solid GUI in Progress

[MasterPrudent]

I thought this might be interesting for those of you who don't follow/stalk the devs on twitter. Josh posted this pic of Kaz working on the solid GUI: http://instagram.com/p/x7u7Tdpx-t/

 

It's obviously very much a work in progress (the combat log seems to be sitting underneath it at the moment) but if nothing else it might be reassuring for the many people on here who are keen on having that solid bar ie feel.

Edited January 17, 2015 by MasterPrudent

[Leferd]

Thanks for the link! Question is, will it be in enough of a presentable state that it'll make it into the next BB update? 

[MasterPrudent]

I'd be surprised if it did. He appears to have only just started to hash it out and that picture was only put up a few hours ago.On the other hand it probably isn't going be a radical overhaul of the interface so maybe it can be done fairly quickly.

[Ashen Rohk]

The UI looks great as it is, minimalistic with some nice subtle motifs. A blocky UI would do nothing more than pander to nostalgia.

[Rumsteak]

They said they were going to add a blocky UI option so I'm happy they kept their word.

 

Curious to see what the final result will look like. Can't see very well from the screenshot. It almost looks like metal instead of the traditional IE stone and parchment styles. If we look at the color right now, maybe they're going for a BG EE "blue marble-ish" style (not my preferred one).

Edited January 17, 2015 by Rumsteak

[Flow]

Retro for the sake of it.

 

Oh well. As long as you can turn it off.

[Rumsteak]

IIRC it would be optional so probably turned off by default?

[Quantics]

Yeah I would turn it off without hesitation. 

[Luckmann]

For god's sake, the combat log needs to be in the centre.

[Rostere]

Kaching! Looking forward to a solid-looking UI

[BlueLion]

Can someone explain how this is a better GUI design? Other than from a nostalgia point of view. FWIW I'm not bashing, I'm genuinley interested in the pros/cons.

[Rostere]

Can someone explain how this is a better GUI design? Other than from a nostalgia point of view. FWIW I'm not bashing, I'm genuinley interested in the pros/cons.

 

How is any design better than any other?

 

I know for sure that I loved the BG UI, but hated the NWN and NWN2 UIs.

 

Me, I want something which is stylish, clear and fits the game's theme. I don't like when all the things you want to see is shrunk to minimal sizes. I want something which feels solid and tangible and not something which reminds me of shuffling around windows in my OS' interface.

[BlueLion]

 

Can someone explain how this is a better GUI design? Other than from a nostalgia point of view. FWIW I'm not bashing, I'm genuinley interested in the pros/cons.

 

How is any design better than any other?

 

I know for sure that I loved the BG UI, but hated the NWN and NWN2 UIs.

 

Me, I want something which is stylish, clear and fits the game's theme. I don't like when all the things you want to see is shrunk to minimal sizes. I want something which feels solid and tangible and not something which reminds me of shuffling around windows in my OS' interface.

 

 

There are always certain ways that one design is better than another. It's about finding the right balance of form vs function. For example, there is no gain in NOT having a full page inventory as it increases the amount of space available and doesn't detract from the gameplay as you don't need to see the edges of the areas.

[Hassat Hunter]

Still pure bottom bar, eh? And the little bars over the characters look bad..

*still wants a L shape*

 

Please don't do something as bad as IWD2's interface, please...

[BlueLion]

I don't see much wrong with it as it is in game currently.

[Sedrefilos]

Hope they won't go with the solid UI.

[Malekith]

BlueLion, on 17 Jan 2015 - 1:51 PM, said:

Can someone explain how this is a better GUI design? Other than from a nostalgia point of view. FWIW I'm not bashing, I'm genuinley interested in the pros/cons.

I prefer my UI elements strictly outside of the "game screen" That's why i'll intsantly turn off all floating numbers.action bars and all that crap, and i want  a solid UI acting as a frame to the game window (BG style) or at the very least a solid bar at the bottom (IWD2, Fallout style). Plus solid UIs are better to look at.

 

Ugly minimalist UIs, pop ups and floating numbers need to die in a fire

[Quetzalcoatl]

Hope they won't go with the solid UI.

I don't think you will be forced to use it, it's an option.

 

[h3st]

Huh, I thought the solid UI debate was over some sort of transparency/opacity thing. But it's about whether part of the screen should be obscured by a bit of static graphic just because? Sounds about as useful as building a wooden frame around the inside of your monitor. But then I use a window manager which doesn't even have titlebars for its windows and I've hidden a lot of my browser's bars, so I guess I'm sort of the odd one out.

 

As long as the information you need to play the game is easy to make out and buttons are easy to use, why would you want to hide more of the viewportal into the game world? You could accomplish that just by lowering your screen resolution. : )

[Hassat Hunter]

Cause I prefer to spend my 100 hours looking at pretty than FRGDFL Fugly?

[h3st]

Cause I prefer to spend my 100 hours looking at pretty than FRGDFL Fugly?

You think the game world is ugly? : (

[Jarmo]

I prefer my UI elements strictly outside of the "game screen" That's why i'll intsantly turn off all floating numbers.action bars and all that crap, and i want a solid UI acting as a frame to the game window (BG style) or at the very least a solid bar at the bottom (IWD2, Fallout style). Plus solid UIs are better to look at.

Yea. For some reason minimal floating ui elements seem to obstruct more than solid out of the way interface. Despite the latter actually obstructing way more. But you cant see the little bits through the cracks so it does not bother the same.

Edited January 17, 2015 by Jarmo

[Boox]

Personally, I like solid UIs because I feel that a well-made, skeuomorphic one adds to the atmosphere. I guess they just look prettier to me than the "floating boxes" variety and I don't really mind not being able to move the different UI elements around. While some might dislike the fact that you can't see through the cracks, as Jarmo aptly put it, not having that extra bit of game-world on the screen isn't an issue for me.

 

I think it's a great decision by the team to try and cater to fans of both UI styles by providing both options, everybody wins

[Rostere]

Ugly minimalist UIs, pop ups and floating numbers need to die in a fire

 

Yep. Pretty much this.

 

Huh, I thought the solid UI debate was over some sort of transparency/opacity thing. But it's about whether part of the screen should be obscured by a bit of static graphic just because? Sounds about as useful as building a wooden frame around the inside of your monitor. But then I use a window manager which doesn't even have titlebars for its windows and I've hidden a lot of my browser's bars, so I guess I'm sort of the odd one out.

 

As long as the information you need to play the game is easy to make out and buttons are easy to use, why would you want to hide more of the viewportal into the game world? You could accomplish that just by lowering your screen resolution. : )

 

I want the UI too look like an in-game object. I do not want **** like this:

 

 

Pretty much a textbook example of how to not design a pretty UI.

 

Now look at this:

 

 

Now THAT is beautiful to look at.

[Sarex]

 

I know some people don't care much for the bottom bar, but the inventory screen is the prettiest for me in all the IE games.