The UI needs a new design before launch

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by ChairStacker, Jan 29, 2018.

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  1. ChairStacker

    ChairStacker Avatar

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    I didn't see this on the Q1 road map or in the post about the launch priorities, so I wanted to bring this to the developers' attention: The design of the user interface for Shroud is bad.

    Listen, I love the game, but the developers need to hear this.

    When I say the UI design is bad, I'm talking about the graphic design of the UI itself, like the plain gold border that is used around all interface windows. I'm talking about the hotbar (not the glyphs, but the design of the combat/non-combat hotbar itself), the presentation/layout of the stats on the character sheet, the buttons and tabs that are used on different interface windows like merchant and chat windows, the buttons at the top right of the screen, etc… I'm talking about all of the UI elements.

    People judge a book by its cover. People jump to conclusions. And a picture says a thousand words.

    A good, polished-looking UI makes people think that a game IS good.

    One of the recurring complaints that I've read over the past year about Shroud has been that it looks like an old MMO, and I bet many of the people who say this are often talking about the UI design.

    New players would have a much better first experience with Shroud if you improved the UI design. And the UI is the one thing that everyone who plays Shroud sees and uses, no matter what they do - crafters, adventurers, merchants, housing aficionados, dance partiers, drop outs, gear heads, jocks, etc. :)

    Finally, there will be a lot of press coverage at launch, and that means a lot of screenshots and videos will be taken and distributed to a lot of potential customers.

    What do you want the UI to say about Shroud?

    Bonus idea: I bet all of your devs are overloaded and you may not even have a UI designer on staff - so, how about launching a UI design contest? The community did a great job for your promo video, and I bet we could do the same for your UI.

    @Chris @DarkStarr
     
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  2. DreadLord

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    I would like to be able to walk and look around at the same time. If I'm running down the road and turn the camera to look to the side, I run in that direction. I find that part of the interface/controls to be very annoying. I have to stop to look left or right. Why? Are the avatars too uncoordinated to look one direction while walking in another?
     
  3. Astirian

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    These two things are fairly important polish-wise and would be at the top of my launch list alongside performance, NUE (Which I think they've pretty much nailed now from some of the feedback I've been seeing) and solid storyline progression for Offline.

    But yeah, in terms of the marketability of the game as @ChairStacker points out, definitely needs a stronger UI look.

    Here's a screenshot side-by-side I did of SotA and UO. It definitely feels like a modern UO/U7-9! But the UI elements in UO are a lot more solid. Skeuomorphism is the word I'm looking for. Steve Jobs was a big fan of it in the early years and the old Ultimas really embraced it.

    Look at the character frame, the skills scroll, the bag and the map in particular:

    [​IMG]

    The yellow outline stuff definitely feels like placeholder material. The bag mode in SotA looks a lot rougher than UO's now dated (yet classic!) design. (I have to admit to using the list mode because of it but my preference is always the bag for nostalgia's sake! And maybe immersion...)

    IMHO, even if you *only* replaced the yellow borders with a stylized wood, metal or stone look; it would be a big visual impact.
     
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  4. Rada Torment

    Rada Torment Community Ambassador (ES)

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    You right, UI needs improvements.

    For the new user experience (NUE), the ease understanding of what they are seeting is one of the keys. If new players get a bad impression of one of the first things they interact with, the UI, there is something not working well.

    About the community help. I'm an artist myself and I would say the design part is not the hard one, the implementation is. Usually UI work is more complicated than we think. I would love to help but not sure if they would accept something like this now, just two months before launch.

    Thank you for the feedback about something, I think, is really important in every game.
     
    Last edited: Jan 29, 2018
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  5. Sir_Hemlock

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    They gladly accept praise...oh and $$$
     
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  6. Earl Atogrim von Draken

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    @ChairStacker I am torn. I used it so long that I got the feeling it has a nice retro touch. But I guess you are right.
     
  7. DavidDC

    DavidDC Programmer Moderator SOTA Developer

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    Thats something that would be cool to have as a community open ressource that we can modify the skin at our will. Users would create wonderful and all kind of skin that anyone would like somehow.
     
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  8. Armitage_

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    The UI definitely needs some polish, and ideally some customization options also.

    I for one, hate my health bar in the top left corner of the screen. I know this is the default behavior in a lot of other games, but that doesn't make it right. I would love to be able to move it closer to where this game makes me look(at my combat bar)
     
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  9. Earl Atogrim von Draken

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    I can't help myself but WoW raid interfaces come to my mind. I guess somebody just walked over my grave in the future ^^
     
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  10. craftymethod

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    Sure the UI needs work, but I think the game really needs an awesome launch trailer too. Something that really pulls the strings.
     
  11. craftymethod

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    Refresh the main menu at least I guess?
     
  12. Gorthyn

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    I agree that UI could do with a polish and also just need to say that everytime someone posts a screenshot of UO my nostalgia levels go sky high !
     
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  13. Nietzsche

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    I loved the original UO animated opening chest to show the "shard" of the gem of immortality then clicking the gem to log into the world.

    Shroud of the avatar has nothing like that just a boring landing page that you click continue. To be honest I don't really even like the font style of the words either.

    Agree with everything else said on here about the UI also needing a spruce up before launch
     
  14. Aartemis

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    I agree, the UI is much, much to rigid on top of the game. It should flow and blend into the game itself.
    Too many hard lines around each UI Gump. Soften it and perhaps shrink the footprint of some things.

    Its a little hard to describe but it just feels like the UI is jumping out at you. That gives it the appearance of a
    cheaper made game that did not have the tech or time to make it meld to the game.

    I agree 100% that first looks can immediately turn people away or get them to engage. Please take the time to make some adjustments.
     
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  15. Elwyn

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    This is annoying when I'm in autorun. I also like turning the camera while fighting, but at least combat has become less dependent on camera facing.

    When I'm running manually, I'll turn the camera and do diagonal WASD movement.

    The thing is, you really need to add another set of controls so that movement and camera can be controlled separately. This might be doable with a joypad, but is still not a trivial UI problem. It's easy to say it's broken, but unless you can suggest how a new design should work, that's not very useful.
     
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  16. MindBlast

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    Totally agree. This game needs better looking UI badly. And new menus etc.
     
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  17. Carlin the Druid Archer

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    Totally agree. A little bit of love / design on the UI would go a long way.
     
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  18. redfish

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    It depends. I do UI design all the way from the art phase to the coding and markup. How hard it is to implement depends on what you're doing and what tools you're using. Some frameworks are very flexible and allow you to accomplish a lot with them easily; others less so.

    One comment I would add is being a good artist doesn't necessarily make you a good UI designer, since good art often doesn't make for good UI. Artist's UI is often as bad as Programmer's UI.

    I agree with some of the comments in the op that when people say the game looks old, they often mean the UI and not the game visuals.

    I have some ideas on how I would personally like to see it, based on what I would enjoy as a player... In fact, I've been doing some mockups of UI revamps in my free time. When I get my computer back, maybe I'll finish some of that up and share. The devs might not want to fully go in the direction I have in mind, but maybe it will be helpful in some ways and help start conversation.
     
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  19. Barugon

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    The SotA UI looks much better. I really don't want UI elements that unnecessarily take up a lot of screen real estate.
     
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  20. Almar

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    The UI is definitely amateurish looking and a revamp prior to launch would completely give new players with high expectations a better introduction and feel for the game.

    Cosmetic issues are important at the start of any relationship.

    This cannot be overstated enough and I will be disappointed if the game ships with the existing UI.
     
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