New NPC Conversation Window - Feedback

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

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  1. Lum the Mad

    Lum the Mad Developer Emeritus Dev Emeritus

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    Because the NPCs are perfectly positioned in the screenshot which almost never happens in practice.
     
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  2. mercster

    mercster Avatar

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    Maybe not, but:

    A) For users who have "zoomed in conversations" on, you can make it so.

    and

    B) Even if not, it's almost intuitive that you are on left, replies are on right.

    At any rate, I'm also talking about the font style / look of the conversation gump here. It is pleasing to the eye. I would probably put the vertical responses to the left and part of the "frame" (more like what Morrowind does spatially) but this is the best mockup I've seen.
     
  3. majoria70

    majoria70 Avatar

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    and we can't take ourselves out of the actual scene when talking to show just the two who are speaking. I would not mind this. It is immersive to me. One key though is to have the goodbye to get out. I was showing a new person how to chat to npc's and he was in a panic and said hey how do I get out of this? Guess he never played UO lol. I said just type goodbye or hit escape ;)
     
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  4. Womby

    Womby Avatar

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    One of my pet hates (I have a lot of pet hates) is user interface boxes that I cannot reposition. If I can drag it around the screen then I'm quite capable of finding a spot for it where it works for me.
     
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  5. majoria70

    majoria70 Avatar

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    lol well hopefully it is just not a text box and instead is an experience.
     
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  6. yarnevk

    yarnevk Avatar

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    The UI is not part of the world, it is a meta necessary to interface with the game world. Like Elder Scrolls has became with Skyrim immersive in an RPG means very few UI elements on screen, with those that are necessary for game interface being as minimalist as possible. Look at Skryim minimal conversation interface and contrast it with the book interface, which is simulating that you are in the world reading a book with a fancy font and cover and thus should have a fancy UI.

    Ornate panels with curlyQ's take up valuable screen real estate for seeing who I am talking to. The transparent box with text is functional and minimalist, and keeps me engaged in the scene and seeing past the UI.
     
  7. Sir Cabirus

    Sir Cabirus Avatar

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    Dear Lum, thank you for your example in German language :)

    I like this font and for me it is easy readable. Maybe one need to concentrate a little more because of the font, I think this is good for the memory. Otherwise one could skip important information. Ultima VII is a very good example. This game has an unimaginable amount of text. Nevertheless this game was - and still is - very successful and an unmatched milestone in the history of computer role playing games :)

    Please look at this screenshot

    [​IMG]
     
  8. majoria70

    majoria70 Avatar

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    Well as usual we go back and fourth on what we want and it's different for each person but hopefully enough of the important things will be taken away from this thread for the Dev team to make a conversation experience that is not cheap looking and more enjoyable that the jumble of words we have now. I think they have some ideas now. ;)
     
  9. yarnevk

    yarnevk Avatar

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    Yes if cell chat left/right is used then it makes sense that the keyword list is on the left. If they add forced emotes for those you are talking to in future releases,, then those could be on the right.

    First person and convo logs needs to be considered, so spatial cartoon bubbles would not work. I also would hate the writers to be constrained by the UI to be length limited in conversations, like Skyrim dialogue must be one liners that fit within the caption system, thus the paragraph directions on how to get somewhere got replaced with quest pointer.. Let the writers say what they need to say, if I need to scroll back and reread, let me. As one pointed review said this is not a game for those who do not like to read, and it should stay that way!

    ESO uses the zoom into talker method, so that the conversation can be instanced removing the immersion breaking group of other players also having the same conversation, but anyone that thinks others break their immersion would already be in SPO where this is a non-issue.

    I stay in first person so camera manipulations by the game to accomodate dialogue is simply not immersive, if I want to change my view to not center the talkers let me! For example maybe I am distracting the guards while my buddy is looting the merchant stalls and need to keep an eye out.
     
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2017
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  10. GrayFog

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    True, on Skyrim. But SotA still looks bad imo :p
     
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  11. Svahn

    Svahn Avatar

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    I believe this is the most important piece of information in this thread :)
    I hope the devs are ready to listen to this now.
     
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  12. Svahn

    Svahn Avatar

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    I agree with everything you wrote, and will add with hope - this is an early far from finished concept of how it will end up.:)
     
  13. Lord Andernut

    Lord Andernut Avatar

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    I prefer words to the right. Second choice would be the left. Last choice would be the bottom.
    Granted one may feel differently after using it.

    I also like conversations that spin out and tighten back up like one might find in fallout 4. I think though we can find all kinds of conversation systems we liked from RPGs (and perhaps feel differently about we each prefer).

    I do know there's lots of room for improvement and am glad we're doing something!

    I do hope keywords disappear once clicked, I do -not- want to be scrolling through a lengthy list of keywords.
     
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2017
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  14. Svahn

    Svahn Avatar

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    I agree - until they give us Mass Effect dialogue wheels, which would get my vote.
    I feel there is no need to be able to type anything unless a "typing system" is implemented really well with appropriate responses from npcs etc.
     
  15. Barugon

    Barugon Avatar

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    I like this layout but I think the style should be more like what we already have.
     
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2017
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  16. Barugon

    Barugon Avatar

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    The biggest problem is distinguishing who says what. I think just a blank line between what each participant says would go a long way to making it more readable.
     
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  17. Barugon

    Barugon Avatar

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    That screenshot makes my eyes hurt.
     
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  18. Mortanius

    Mortanius Avatar

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    I agree... I really like the way this looks. Easy to read/ attractive. Is it not possible to have the camera set to this view every time one engages in conversation with an NPC?
     
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  19. mercster

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    You'd think so!
     
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  20. Womby

    Womby Avatar

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    Aesthetics are always subjective, but some things are not. Forcing people to constantly scroll backwards and forwards to look for key words is objectively bad design.

    No matter how careful you are, your dialogue interface is always going to be in the wrong place for somebody. By all means place it in a default position, but give people the power to move it.

    Appearances matter. Why go to the trouble of having high poly models, nice PBR based metallic armour and weapons, beautiful world building, etc. if you then hide them behind an ugly 90's text interface. How about a beautiful modern text interface?
     
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