New HUD Layout!

[tnoyce]

Just adding my 2 cents.

I like what I see.

[Roros]

Linked-bolts chain-fed fully automatic crossbows. Just sayin'.

[Opal Monkey]

No HUD can ever be perfect for everyone, but this certainly looks more functional than the TQ one. I'm guessing that having the top cleared out is more important on GD because of the rotating camera, so you can get a good view of any location in the distance?

Originally Posted by medierra

Crossbows? Only time will tell...

Time, or maybe this screenshot?

[Mind Dragon]

I dont really care for the avatar but I thought it would be funny if something was smacking you with an ax or hammer, you would see it connect with the side of your helmet and push you to the side a bit. Your eyes would go wide...

Ok, the avatar was a good idea but maybe it isnt for this game and the mood it projects? There is a humor, even in the most generic sense, in seeing yourself all of the time.

I thought the hud extends pretty far up the screen -- and it also seems to frame or bucket the rest of the screen -- as it rises on the sides. Somehow I dont really like that.

(I would have put up a picture but I dont really want to use a 3rd party upload service -- no big deal)

[jiaco]

Originally Posted by medierra

Our intention is to make the gun usable but we don't have tech for that yet and it is probably a feature that will come later.

You do have the TQ traps tech though, it that what the mini gun is at the moment, or is it just scenery?

[i.n.s.a.n.e]

Originally Posted by medierra

We could ditch the avatar. Currently it allows you to select yourself or cast spells on yourself, which I thought people might use. We could potentially move that functionality to the resource bar or something but it seems less intuitive.

I have mixed feelings about the mini-map. I agree it stands out a bit too much on the bottom but, at the same time, I really like not having UI elements hanging down from the top. It feels sort of oppressive and annoying, especially in GD where you can view further forward than you could in TQ. You can still enlarge or close the mini-map. We've talked about allowing it to pop down to bottom right of the toolbar for larger resolutions where there is enough space.

Noooo, please, don't! =( The avatar is awesome feature! It has this oldschool games feeling into it.. Please, do not get rid of it..

The self-targetting feature makes perfect sense and can be useful. Though, if I remember correctly, you could cast spells on yourself automatically when not targetting an ally in TQ..

Anyway, as was said already, you could always add the dmg indicator feature to it. =) It does not have to be a bleeding portrait (would be awesome though!), as it probably involves a lot of work, but the portrait circle could be infilled with blood, from the bottom to the top, the less hitpoints player has, and when dead, there could be a skull picture. Easy peasy, and working nicely for its purpose. You could also implement some significant "sign of dying", below 30% hitpoints or something, into it, like the heartbeat in TQ but better, so players on HC would have their lives little easier, heh.

Originally Posted by ASYLUM101

This is what I thought the avatar was for, if you could make it work on something else, that'd be great cause personally, (not sure how others feel since I didn't read every post) I don't care for the avatar. It's humorous at best, but I don't feel it adds anything. The self cast is a great feature, but do you think you could bind that to a hotkey rather than have it as a UI location?

Humorous, yet unique. It was an old games feature that brought you closer to the character, I for myself loved it just because of it.

[MadWasp]

Originally Posted by i.n.s.a.n.e

Noooo, please, don't! =( The avatar is awesome feature! It has this oldschool games feeling into it.. Please, do not get rid of it..

The self-targetting feature makes perfect sense and can be useful. Though, if I remember correctly, you could cast spells on yourself automatically when not targetting an ally in TQ..

Anyway, as was said already, you could always add the dmg indicator feature to it. =) It does not have to be a bleeding portrait (would be awesome though!), as it probably involves a lot of work, but the portrait circle could be infilled with blood, from the bottom to the top, the less hitpoints player has, and when dead, there could be a skull picture. Easy peasy, and working nicely for its purpose. You could also implement some significant "sign of dying", below 30% hitpoints or something, into it, like the heartbeat in TQ but better, so players on HC would have their lives little easier, heh.



Humorous, yet unique. It was an old games feature that brought you closer to the character, I for myself loved it just because of it.

I.N.S.A.N.E is right! I agree with him !

[matthewfarmery]

I do as well

[alucidzombie]

Originally Posted by medierra

We could ditch the avatar. Currently it allows you to select yourself or cast spells on yourself, which I thought people might use. We could potentially move that functionality to the resource bar or something but it seems less intuitive.

I have mixed feelings about the mini-map. I agree it stands out a bit too much on the bottom but, at the same time, I really like not having UI elements hanging down from the top. It feels sort of oppressive and annoying, especially in GD where you can view further forward than you could in TQ. You can still enlarge or close the mini-map. We've talked about allowing it to pop down to bottom right of the toolbar for larger resolutions where there is enough space.

The top of that screenshot only looks empty because of the specific location and fog. In most circumstances, it would be filled with more detailed scenery and distant enemies.

I think its coming along great. Love that everything is at the bottom, even the minimap. if just one HUD element was at the top it would break the entire view, I hate it when games scatter info all over the screen, and having anything at the top makes the game instantly more claustrophobic. i think a lot of you would be surprised at how easy it would be to get used to the map down there, and how much more immersion it creates to have it out of the way. The only thing i don't like about this setup is that it's asymmetrical and your eye is drawn toward the map. if the avatar was the same size, up higher or larger than the map it'd be more visually appealing. could be my western left-to-right mindset, or some sort of ego-based need to have "me" be the most important thing in the HUD :P

The avatar is a good call, both in design and functionality. I'd much rather use that to self target in the midst of battle if i was surrounded by mobs. but of course i wont be because ill be a badass gunslinger who pities the fools that try to get close enough for melee. I also like the proposals for a Doom/Wolfenstien face reaction system for it. That would be swell.

[Darkenmal]

Originally Posted by medierra

Well, that isn't a compromise, that's reworking the UI system so that people can do whatever they want. While I'd like to totally rework the UI like that, it is a luxury we can't afford right now. I don't think the location of the mini-map is important enough to people that it would be worth a significant time investment.

If we were building the engine from scratch, we'd probably do a lot of things differently but we've inherited this tech. So, we're in a position where a lot of technology exists and we can either choose to keep reworking it or spend that time adding new stuff. We've reworked a fair amount of stuff but generally we've leaned toward adding new features as we feel the existing stuff is generally "good enough" and that there is a lot of new exciting stuff we can do.

Sounds good. I had no idea if it were possible, but I had played Lord of the Rings Online, and I thought that it was pretty cool you could pretty much move everything around however you please.