New NPC Conversation Window - Feedback

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Lord_Darkmoon, Jan 14, 2017.

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  1. Rinaldi

    Rinaldi Bug Hunter

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    I tried to compile some of the suggestions described in this thread and added a few of my own:
    1) Increase spacing between the dialogue of the NPC and the avatar
    2) Remove the "to you" and " to NPC" text from dialogue, and put the description of the NPC (and the name of the NPC if you have learned the name) at the top of the chat window (for example, it may say "Blacksmith". If you have learned the name, then "Ziggy, the blacksmith")
    3) Put the partial list of responses in a vertical list (if there are many possible responses, it will be far easier to scroll through a vertical list).
    4) Add fixed buttons for common responses: goodbye, name, job, help.
    5) The heading "partial list of responses" lets the player know he/she may need to discover other keywords.

    anyhow, just brainstorming.....

    [​IMG]
     
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  2. mercster

    mercster Avatar

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    ;)
     
  3. mercster

    mercster Avatar

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    Your mockup looks pretty good!
     
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  4. yarnevk

    yarnevk Avatar

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    I really like your revamp. Maybe add color text for avatar names would help break up the talkers without getting garishly colored conversation text? Even just the blank line between talkers made it much more readable. The oft used phrases could just be stickied to the top rather than seperate buttons, since they would vanish once they no longer apply - like 'name'.
     
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  5. Vladamir Begemot

    Vladamir Begemot Avatar

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    @Rinaldi (I figured it out) I hope you don't mind but I poached your layout.

    [​IMG]

    Trying to make a point that the whole thing doesn't have to be so much like an old Quake console.

    This would act the same, scrolling upwards as you talk with the NPC, going off at the top.

    Port already has the backgrounds and the buttons, this costs almost nothing. I grabbed those buttons from the Deck's menu, and shrank them.

    It had to go in that location due to camera angle, but could be in the middle or other side, depends on where you position the camera during dialog. I just wanted to show size for reference. Imagine how nice this is on the eyes!

    If it were me I'd also make the buttons dark text on the paper background color.
     
    Last edited: Jan 15, 2017
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  6. Vladamir Begemot

    Vladamir Begemot Avatar

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    With different buttons.

    [​IMG]
     
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  7. Womby

    Womby Avatar

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    Portalarium's new NPC chat interface functions better, but artistically it looks like it was designed by a programmer. Needs more artistic talent.
     
  8. Baratan

    Baratan Avatar

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    hide the (to you) (to bard) thing or make it an option.
     
  9. Rada Torment

    Rada Torment Community Ambassador (ES)

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    Well said. Morrowind have one of the best npc conversation system in the last 20 years of RPGs.

    This is actually a big improvement! good job Rinaldi.
     
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  10. craftymethod

    craftymethod Avatar

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    I'd like to see a word cloud with maybe hidden words that get unlocked or taught. Mini quests to get taught about "weather" or "elves" and then have these appear as conversation suggestions. Maybe a small selection of relevant words are displayed but clicking that arrow opens up a larger cloud window detailing topics I have "collected".
     
  11. Vladamir Begemot

    Vladamir Begemot Avatar

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    Upgraded. Box at the bottom of the dialog UI is for text, and there should be a scroll bar on the right but I didn't do it quite right.

    It was hard to get this camera angle, but it needed to happen because the camera doesn't naturally support having anything in between the characters.

    Character size and camera placement is obviously very important for placement of the UI, which is why I've included different sizes and placement of characters.

    Thought needs to go into getting the character into a sweet spot. Which character? I don't know, is the focus the NPC or the Player? The one in the sweet spot is the one that the brain perceives as important at the moment.

    I couldn't tell you which is best, size or character placement. How does one share .psd's easily now? If anyone wants to work with the file I'll be happy to get it to you.

    Below: Much closer zoom than normal, characters out of the way of the UI.
    [​IMG]


    Even bigger.
    [​IMG]

    NPC is the focus, not the player. UI has to be shifted.
    [​IMG]

    Not a fan of this, but it doesn't hurt to check it out.
    [​IMG]
     
  12. yarnevk

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    Sorry, not liking it. The transparency is so that you can have it large but not lose context of the rest of the scene which it is part of. If someone wants to adjust their view so it covers the talkers torso in first person view that is fine with transparency, but does not work with parchment. It is much easier on the eyes to have grey text on dark background, much like the forum. Parchment script may look nicer, but making it look like the books takes you out of the scene, it puts the visual focus on the text and not the avatars (which is why you had to post several times trying to find avatar/conversation window arrangement that would be very difficult to pose in game)

    They should take a hint from Skyrim and allow the camera to roam during the conversation. Not a fan of forced posing at all.
     
    Last edited: Jan 15, 2017
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  13. majoria70

    majoria70 Avatar

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    The text is too compressed to read and looks a little overwhelming imo but I like some things about it.
     
  14. Barugon

    Barugon Avatar

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    I like the layout but the text is too flowery.
     
  15. Ashlynn [Pax]

    Ashlynn [Pax] Avatar

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    Not really. And I say that as someone who loves that game more than you could know. The conversation system in Morrowind was very clunky. And a lot of the NPCs were a bit boring (The "less generic NPC" mods were fantastic).

    A comment I have about the conversation system though...

    If you're speaking to an NPC and they are centered on the screen - you don't need names next to their text. You don't need what the player says there either. It's obvious who is speaking and you know what you have said to them. The only thing that matters is what the NPC is saying to you. That should be all you see really.
     
  16. Alley Oop

    Alley Oop Bug Hunter Bug Moderator

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    you DO need to know who is talking and who is being addressed. there are three-way conversations in the plot.
     
  17. Ashlynn [Pax]

    Ashlynn [Pax] Avatar

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    Can you give me an example of these three-way conversations?

    I mean even if there are a bunch of them, there are better ways to show it than something that resembles an IRC channel.
     
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  18. Rada Torment

    Rada Torment Community Ambassador (ES)

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    Sorry to hear your bad experience with Morrowind but for me was really fantastic. I never had any issue following the journal and quests. Oblivion and Skyrim conversation system were terrible bad compared to what Morrrowind offered.

    I would buy the Morrowind system for SotA knowing what we have 1000 times before anything else right now.
     
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2017
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  19. 3devious

    3devious Avatar

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    I hate Morrowind so much that if our game reminded me of it I would never talk to anyone I'd just try to kill every single NPC I came across. Right now I only want to kill vendors. I can just stay out of shopping districts for now but please don't make me a mass murderer at release. The Oracle already hates me and I'm learning how to fight so that I'll be able to swing her around by those cables that are supposed to be her hair.
    Reminding me of that blight on RPGs is going to turn me red in a game where I bought in hopes of being a virtuous hero. Just because the conversation system and UI need work we need not react by jumping to systems that were awful 20 years ago.
     
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  20. Baratan

    Baratan Avatar

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    The Morrowind dialog interface was also very easy on the eyes.
     
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