Classic Dialogue Option?

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Astirian, Sep 18, 2018.

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  1. Astirian

    Astirian Avatar

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    Sorry, it's a hack job... but what do you folks think? I made a mock-up. Even the wolf is intrigued!

    [​IMG]

    I'm thinking you could programmatically take a snapshot of the NPC's bust, zoom it, and use that as a portrait. The frame I used is a bit cheesy and the font is wrong but I'm getting my nostalgic U7 kicks ha-har!

    I kinda messed it up by leaving the action bar and the map but there you have it.

    P.S: This isn't really about descriptive text either, that ship has sailed I think. Unless they want to hire me for rewrites, I'd totally move to Austin.

    @DarkStarr #illbuyyouguysabeer
     
  2. Chatele

    Chatele Avatar

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    Don't like it
     
  3. Astirian

    Astirian Avatar

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    Fair enough
     
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  4. Mingo Ebonmark

    Mingo Ebonmark Avatar

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    Ultima VII and all of it's expansions is my all time favourite Ultima!
     
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  5. Astirian

    Astirian Avatar

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    To my eternal shame I only finished it for the first time in 2011! I have fond memories of playing it with my cousin when we were teens. We'd set up the laptop next to the desktop and just sort of live in the "same" game universe. Magical stuff.

    But my true love, somewhat heretically, is Ultima VIII. That intro! "You have been a thorn in my side for far too long Avatar!", Tenebrae, the dark and mysterious tone... Also it was my first Ultima so that's a thing. I couldn't believe what I was seeing when I read a small preview for UO in PC Gamer magazine. Happy days!
     
  6. Paladin Michael

    Paladin Michael Bug Hunter

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    I like the kind of font. Another font would be great. Unfortunately, I assume, this ship has sailed, too ...

    Beside that:
    You know, the complete rework of the UI has got ...
    ... the golden frame ... ;)

    Because of that you know why people won't like that kind of frame ;)
     
    Last edited: Sep 19, 2018
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  7. Astirian

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    I can fix this, brb. :)
     
  8. Paladin Michael

    Paladin Michael Bug Hunter

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    ;) Don't invest too much time - you know, they will relaunch the complete quest system ...
    Let's wait for the first experience with early access on Episode 2 ...
     
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  9. Astirian

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  10. Browncoat Jayson

    Browncoat Jayson Legend of the Hearth

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    This is a pretty decent mockup. However, its too narrow to do its job for most of the conversation we have. Conversations here are not trees, like Ultima 7, but for the most part are flat. Therefore, there are a lot more options that will appear at the bottom, and there is more text that will appear in the portion at the top than you show. Also, there should be a text entry field, as not everything in SotA is click-to-ask; maybe an "other" keyword that brings up a parser?

    I'd move the NPC portrait off to the side of the window to the top left, and put the Avatar's portrait (from the inventory) to the bottom right, with their own gray outlines (instead of white). Even that would be a challenge, as I don't know if NPCs have a camera "bone" in their rig that could reliably show their animations in a small frame like that.

    The one thing I'd really like to see in a dialogue window, however, is a button to open your Journal, so you can review quests you might have to ask this NPC about. Once filtering for the journal comes online, it will help a ton to be able to access this easily.
     
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  11. Astirian

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    Thanks man!

    Something a bit more like this maybe?

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Sep 18, 2018
  12. Browncoat Jayson

    Browncoat Jayson Legend of the Hearth

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    Looks good to me
     
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  13. gtesser

    gtesser Avatar

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    I like it.
     
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  14. Terrence Phillip

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    I like it too!!! But that's still not a modern dialogue interface (brings back a nice fuzzy feeling though :) ). The big problem with the ingame dialogue interface we have right now is that it's not immersive enough. The example you gave is already a lot better.
     
  15. Anpu

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    I think that is just too big and obtrusive. But I do like the idea of this.

    It is however possible with the coming Quest System 2.0 they have redesigned the chat window.
     
  16. Floors

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    Now - after that fishing thread - how about we vote if THIS is worth "valuable developer resources" or not !!
     
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  17. Astirian

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    I'm looking forward to the fishing but I'm also really looking forward to a polished questing experience. :D They've addressed a whole bunch of stuff over the past year so I now personally have every confidence they'll get to this and treat her right. To be honest the last 20% takes us closer to Dec '18 if you ask me. ;)

    I'd round off Ep I. with Quest Bug-fixes (and spelling, found a 'retreive' the other day) -> Journal Rework -> Difficulty Curve QA Pass -> Spawning Rules QA Pass. And then burst into Ep. II kicking and screaming with equipable companions! /firerockets /preparethefleet /armtorpedoes

    Edit: And @Vladamir Begemot's tutorial of course.
     
    Last edited: Sep 18, 2018
  18. Paladin Michael

    Paladin Michael Bug Hunter

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    I like the kind of font. Another font would be great. Unfortunately, I assume, this ship has sailed, too ...

    Beeside that:
    You know, the complete rework of the UI has got one main point?
    ...


    I hope the input line will vanish (as I wrote in another thread: until they get a parser like infocom had ...)

    If the dialogue window could show the NPC text separated from the Avatar text, it would be fine.

    Like this excerpt from a huge thread:


    Avatar:.............................| NPC:........................................................
    It's never too late to climb on| Well, as you are asking this, I have to confess:
    a mountain to have another .| I never looked at it that way, but may be after
    sight - and suddenly things ...| I take time and - of course a cup of tea - I will
    could appear in another way. | find a way to show up with new improved ideas.
    In a way we never thought it | Sometimes it is very simple to make it simple, if
    could be possible... .............| we try to look from another point of view. I will
    .......................................| try to make a new experience...



    However, I am looking forward for early access to Episode 2 ... really excited, how the new quest engine will improve ...
     
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