New Chat interface?

Any chance of improving the interface for when you enter chat? Maybe open a window centered in the screen instead of having to use the little chat window?

It doesn't really work the way you have it now, it makes conversations awkward.

 

We've redone it once already based heavily on input from @Lord_Darkmoon. Is the problem that the chat window doesn't resize when you go into conversation mode?

 

It still stays off to the side, like a chat window.

Is that the intended effect?

What changes did you make? Maybe I missed them?

 

We made a special mode for interactions with NPCs where it's much more focused/cinematic. You should see it every time you talk to an NPC (though vendors that buy/sell things will not trigger this mode unless you actually talk to them)

 

Oh it zooms in, I like that...I mean the chat interface could be moved to center and more prominent....presentation would be better.

 

That part is good. It's the chat box itself. It's small. It's off to the side and its...... a chat box. It still doesn't feel like I'm interacting with an NPC ala Ultima 6 or Ultima 7. It feels like I'm in a yahoo chat, not engaging in a role-playing game.

 

It's always going to be a chat box because we have to support free entry of text. You enter text through... a chat box.

(not saying we can't fix its placement/appearance/etc but core functionality still has to be there)

 

I'm unsure how else to get across my point. I don't mean that in a snarky way. I mean, I just don't know how to illustrate what the problem is without using the term "chat box." I typed my responses in Ultima 6, but I NEVER felt like it was a chat box. It's not the best comparison, because Ultima 6 had a format that would never fly today. It might be down to appearance. It LOOKS like a messenger program, not the interface for a Role Playing game.

Here are some thoughts:

1) It should be center stage, maybe taking up the botton 1/4 or 1/3 of the screen during close-up NPC interaction.
2) It could be borderless. With text that looks like it's floating on the screen, but always in the same spot. (Borders could exist, but be invisible)
OR
3) It could be on a parchment scroll. Cream background with dark brown lettering, curled and darkening toward the edges. Like a more modern version of the U6 interface

 

Sorry forgot to add one thing:

4) the text shoud be large and friendly. When I read that text in the U6 interface, it's easy to read. I always feel like I'm squinting at a wall of tiny text in the current set-up.

 

Couldn't you move the chat interface to the center by dragging it over and resizing the box to whatever size you'd like? I might be misunderstanding.

 

But you can't play the rest of the game that way as you need that real-estate during normal play. And re-sizing it before and after every conversation doesn't sound like much fun.

 

Ah, so the request is to move the chat window for NPC conversations or allow the ability to have a new chat window open up rather than a new tab. Just wanted to understand it

When the OP phrased it "when you enter chat" I didn't take it to mean when you engage an NPC in conversation and missed the request.

 

Yeah... I'm going to have to agree that I dont really much like the current interface. It's just the normal chat window for everything else, and if anything it's a bit jarring. I'd like a specific window come up with the NPC dialogue, and a free text entry maybe beside the npc or something... And still keep the npc text in the chat log of course.

Right now it is just very...jarring. Luckily we still have @Lum making awesome npc stuff in the interim... So I can ignore this until its refined

 

@Lum suggestions for slight ease of use improvements on the current system.

Smaller prebuilt tabs at the top.

NPC chat

Party/ whisper /guild (the globals)

Combat self

Locsl Misc Emotes. (The locals/RPs)

Be able to pull a tab off (like google chrome) and have a second chat dialog open.

No unique tab opening for an NPC. Just lump it in with the NPC tab. There is not that much street chatter.

I would like to switch between tabs looking for the comversation I want out of the pre fab tabs I mention above. Opening and closing unique tabs is confusing and seemingly unnecessary.

 

Exactly, it should be:

A) easy to read.
B) Only contain the conversation
C) Be prominent.

If it isn't those things it doesn't matter what the NPC's say because people will scan over it and it will be wasted.

 

+1 chat is basically awful still
all I see is enemy attacks where I want to have chat!!
"tabs" behavior is featureless and makes all the info hard to read.

change tabs into 'Filters' and let users place the chat filter types whereever they want - eg windowed see-through style