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[Feedback Request] UI Progress and Processes Shown in February Livestream

VaknarVaknar Moderator, Member, Staff
edited March 2023 in General Discussion
Hello glorious community,

We’d like your feedback on the Alpha Two UI Progress and Processes shown during the February 2023 Development Update Livestream.

To help guide this conversation, here are a few thought starters you can choose from:
  • How do you feel about the direction the UI is taking, based on what we shared during the February Development Update?
  • What are your favorite UI elements that you would like us to incorporate? Please provide examples when applicable.
  • Is there anything in particular you’re excited or concerned about regarding what was shown with the UI Progress and Processes?
Please don’t feel limited by the thought starters above. Feel free to share anything you’d like about Ashes of Creation’s UI shown during the February Development Update

We’ll be compiling a report for the design team on Friday, March 10 2022, so please try to get your feedback into this thread by then!

Everyone here at Intrepid Studios looks forward to reading all the feedback you have to share!

Edit:

We updated the Development Update with UI Process and Progress article on our website. There are now images of the UI shown during the livestream on the article! You can check that out here: https://ashesofcreation.com/news/2023-02-025-development-update-with-ui-process-and-progress

Edit 2:

We added a follow-up question which can be found here: https://forums.ashesofcreation.com/discussion/comment/393911/#Comment_393911 ^_^
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Comments

  • TheWolfofGarTheWolfofGar Member
    edited February 2023
    How do you feel about the direction the UI is taking, based on what we shared during the February Development Update?
    So far I like it, definitely a fan of the colour choices, the darker aesthetic. The icons looks great will be interested to see how the class icons develop and gain character and become distinctly recognizable.
    What are your favorite UI elements that you would like us to incorporate? Please provide examples when applicable.

    I would like to be able to specify where UI elements open by default, I would also like it to be possible to have ui elements persistently open on a separate window. For example I don't want everything to always open right in the middle of the main window covering my player character. Specifically I'd like transparency sliders on most of the ui elements. so I can pick and choose how obscuring any given window is.
    Is there anything in particular you’re excited or concerned about regarding what was shown with the UI Progress and Processes?

    I'd like to see ui/ux expanded upon with respect to animations and animation designs in a similar manner to the windows we've seen. so we can see the progression as well as our ability to tune/manipulate the size of these effects for yourself, other player characters, party members, hostile mobs & hostile player characters etc.
    2edh26ackfsa.png
    The Wolves of Verra
    are recruiting: https://discord.gg/Rt8G3sNYac
  • SjeldenSjelden Member, Alpha One, Adventurer
    edited February 2023
    My primary request, please save the UI and settings setup on the server side, not on the client side.
    Planetside 1 did this, and it was really welcome.

    The UI shown looks very good! Most of the important features I've met in various games have already been sorted by your team.
  • Looks great. Definitely would love a search option in inventory and options windows.

    Also, if we could mirror the windows that would be great. The crafting window was left-to-right and I'd like to be able to switch it to a right-to-left option, so I could have it on the right side of the screen when I need to.
  • I like how the back inventory looks and the different tabs for quest items, materials, etc but I would love for there to be a simple search option to easily zero in on the item you're looking for. I understand there are filters there that may help but I still think a straight search option would be useful.
  • Search menus, everywhere! All the places!
  • progress looking awesome. I would like to be able to save different "sets" of UI's so i can switch easily between Ui's depending which role or class I'm playing or wether im farming trees or mobs, dungeons or in world boss envoirments.

    I also like the idea of being able to customize borders/colours of the borders of inventory or around the abilities portraits and so on.
  • GaarennGaarenn Member
    edited February 2023
    Love the UI but I would change the skill UI changing it to something like bdo where you can move the skills around the screen as much as you want and change their size
    And PLEASE allow us to see our own character's health bar over our character just like in WoW or in FF14 so you can check your HP just by looking over your character instead of checking at the top of the screen (or allow us to move the health bar).

    Another thing that could be great would be UI saves for different types of character (like 1 UI for healers, another for tank, etc.)
    And account UI save, I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that its horrible having to remake your UI when you create a new character (same with the shortcuts for the skills)
  • LethalityLethality Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One
    edited February 2023
    I love UI. For me, it can make or break a game... the look, the feel, the interaction are all important.

    Feedback based on what we saw today would be that it's falling a little short of expectations for an MMORPG in 2023 (or 2024, 2025, etc) :smiley:

    Visually, I feel like there are too many gradients, too much specularity, too much shadowing, too much "chrome", too much fine edging on details etc. Not to sound too harsh, apologies if I am, but a bit of a dated mobile UI?

    From an interaction standpoint, it feels rooted in an earlier era of gaming, with panels dense with information and text rather rather than a responsive contextual experience, showing only what is needed as its needed.

    Of course the "visuals" are more based on preference... and I know AoC is going with a very high fantasy art direction. I guess I prefer a flatter, more modern take these days. But I also feel this form tends to influence the interaction more than it should. Hence my feedback :)

    Are you guys exploring any unique interactions? Maybe a different way to interact with items in a bag?

    To add some recent references, I think the early release version of the New World UI was excellent. It was visually appealing, was graphically rich but yet felt modern and not heavy. I think there was some interesting interaction design, such as slide-out panels, feedback to the user, etc. Particularly how the crafting interface worked at that time.

    Also, certain single player games do a great job... currently I am digging how Hogwarts is handling everything! Visually and functionally.
    World Class Indoorsman
  • AstroliteAstrolite Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One
    edited February 2023
    Functionality
    Clickable visible Health Bars above players as an option.
    Moveable Buffs AND Debuffs and visible under players healthbars
    Clickable raid frames
    Moveable MiniMap
    Minimal Clicks for things such as login rewards.

    Visual Aesthetic
    Opacity Settings for UI Windows
    I would look to make the UI windows as efficient as possible, backgrounds and dead space should be minimal.
  • MrPocketsMrPockets Member, Alpha One, Adventurer
    Overall I liked what I saw, simple and clean UI. keep it up!

    One of the UI features that I don't see in games, but always want...is the ability to customize and track "buff sets".

    For example: If my class has important buffs I want to track, let me place those timers/icons on my screen where I want. I also don't want these important buffs in a giant list of all the other random buffs I have.
  • arsnnarsnn Member, Intrepid Pack, Alpha One
    edited February 2023
    Positives:

    -Looks decent already! It seems to follow a clear structure and navigating the menu looks like its gonna be good.

    -I enjoyed the talk and the video in general and the presence of colby! Nice and authentic guy like everyone we got to see from intrepid.

    -I like that steven asked colby what feedback he is looking for and he also asked people to share which ui they liked the best. A call for a specific action is always good! I´d love feedback to be structured more like this.

    -I like how Steven and Margaret talked about how game builds impact the showcases

    (Also big positive is that magaret actually took notes on Stevens promises during the stream, seems like she plans on following that up!)



    Constructive feedback:

    -On the scale from modern and fantasy, i personally lean more towards a more modern approach than what we have seen today. Zelda and NW did it best for me, a modern structure/background with a strong focus items and icons that look very fantasy.
    Similar to this:
    acdp0suyzi8j.jpg
    My concern is that some people may not consider playing AoC since it looks too old school.
    UI is certainly a big factor in this , but "not a hill to die on", when it comes to capturing a broader audience imo.


    -I feel like a got a better feel for some aspects of the the UI in the last update bc it was ingame video footage.
    Clicking through menus and interacting with things, would paint me a more acurate picture, since that is what i do in games. But i see how talking about UI with footage playing is really hard.
    Not sure how good the feedback of people that dont have expertise in judging ui spreadsheets and screenshots is gonna be.
    Maybe live streaming the game could have been a good option?

    -Also another point i want to hit is the degree of customization.
    More custumization is not neceassarly better especially in the age of streaming and videos, where visual consistency switching inbetween content creators is certainly a factor to be considered.
    There should not be a learning curve when i watch a content creator. "Where is his mini map and why does his processing window look like he makes stonks 24/7?".

    -Maybe there is a bit too much info, on the first layer of opening up ui windows? Looked a bit overburdening with some walls of texts. But that concern might not be relevant at all, since the screenshots could have been a second layer, which the player gets to after navigating through the first layer. While navigating through several layers may not appeal to many people though.



    Context:
    I think intrepid already did a good job and the feedback i presented already is very granular.
    Im confident intrepid will hit the mark, when it comes to UI/UX features .



    Extra:
    The items look great!

    I personally think its fine that Steven has fun in vegas on his journey of creating this fantastic project, but talking about how you are tired bc of late night poker/gambling certainly presents an attack angle for a lot of people. Welcome to getting judged by every breath you take, the ultra toxic mmo community will run with this for years :neutral:
  • Old Blind GuyOld Blind Guy Member, Alpha One, Adventurer
    The UI for the quest journal and character page does feel a bit dated. Mostly the frame of the pages feel older but not a huge deal.
    I think a search function for the settings would be great.
    Love the customization mentality.
  • Song_WardenSong_Warden Member, Alpha One, Adventurer
    Beautiful. Great news about 5.1. Love to see it. Keep up the great work and thank you for the old school stream.
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  • Regarding tanking, I really hope a system is used similar to Star Wars: The Old Republic. It has by far the best tanking system I have ever played.

    Essentially, "tank" abilitities, such as Guard and various Taunts, either share damage between the friendly target and the tank, or reduce the damage that the enemy target does to your allies while you are in the area. So, for example, if I cast Guard on an ally, half of the damage done to my ally is transferred to me (and are impacted by my damage resistances and such). This is very similar to how that Aegis ability from the Tank stream seems to work, so hopefully this is just a sample of this already being in place. On the other end, if I cast a Taunt in an area, all enemy creatures in that area get a debuff that makes them deal reduced damage to everyone EXCEPT me.

    These types of abilities make tanks in SWTOR very useful, even in PVP, because they do not rely on forcing the targeting of the enemy.

    I did actually like the idea that Steven mentioned of forcing a target switch on enemy players for a second, which is reminiscent but opposite of how a lot of games handle invisibility abilities. Basically, it takes the targeting off of one person and snaps it to another, but it is either much more limited in duration - for instance you can just switch target right back as a player - or it forces the duration and is much more intrusive on the player experience.
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  • pcolaspikepcolaspike Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One
    UI looks awesome . . .. but . . .

    Why is the default position always in the middle of the screen, blocking your character. He might get eaten by a Grue while digging through his inventory. It's always better to keep one eye on your character.

    And . . . .

    Even with the UI moved off to the side and not blocking your character, you will never see the Grue coming that is going to eat your character. Is there/will there be a transparency slider for that black background so that we can see through the UI?
  • LinikerLiniker Member, Alpha One, Adventurer
    Love it, I don't have anything negative to talk about, I liked everything I've seen today about the UI, from the design to functionality, everything is looking amazing, keep it up
    img]
    Recrutamento aberto - Nosso Site: Clique aqui
  • AzheraeAzherae Member, Alpha One, Adventurer
    Generally regarding UI/UX I've learned that I'm very different from many others because I abstract things too easily in my mind.

    Customization of position and colors is good, but after thinking a while about games I like and play a lot, versus where Ashes is now, I can finally say that my issue is I don't care about textless icons or square buttons.

    I don't like the colors much (I prefer for backgrounds to be closer to dark grey, and text then be light grey on that, like the default forum colors), and text sizes are also probably going to be something I change, but I feel that this is meaningful because so much of what I want would be outside the 'easy and normal customization options'.

    I thought this was a function of just being 'brought up on' the FFXI UI which mostly gives you the names of items to read with only a small icon beside them, but it's probably from far before that. So I'd want an option for the backpack, at least, where I am seeing a list of things with their icons and their names, much like a 'squashed' version of the BDO Vendor Purchase UI. Something about a 'block of icons' with no text or that only show their text when I mouse over them, doesn't work for me at all, so if possible, I'd like some consideration be thrown in the direction of making an alternate display type like this. I don't mind if I have to scroll it as a result.

    I could give extensive feedback on any iteration of this presentation type, at that time, if it's given, but again, I'm an 'abstractor' so I don't really mind as much how it is done. Just please give me some form of 'basic scrollbar with either one or two columns of text and smaller icons. I don't even care if it makes the icons basically unrecognizable.

    Beyond that, I think it looks mostly good, if a little generic in a way I'm trying to put my finger on. I think I'll wait for a more hands-on since I tend to dislike the default UI 'theme' for most games, but often, if the game offers any alternates, one of those alternates is perfect for me, so I'll await that.

    And as for the 'Dialogue options' being so large and central in big windows, I've hated that since Neverwinter and still hate it. I loved the 'long bar at the bottom' in Alpha-1, it allows me to stay a specific type of 'immersed' that I can't seem to get from any form of 'large box that is taller than it is wide', no matter where that box is placed on screen. I get a similar feeling from the crafting menu, it's too 'tall and a box' but I feel that this one is one where if you don't explicitly make a 'wide form' version, no amount of resizing, even with modular data change, will actually make it look good.

    tl;dr I dislike the colors, I want more text than icons for items, and plz give me a 'Landscape Mode' option.
    Sorry, my native language is Erlang.
    
  • Inventory sorting suggestion
    dynamic sorting feels great for example being able to set items manually to have them stick together in your bags for example putting a flags on gear to something like "PVP set" "Gathering set" or just "gatherables" so logs and copper stick together automatically. A real world example of this is the arkinventory mod for world of warcraft its a fantastic quality of life thing.
  • How do you feel about the direction the UI is taking, based on what we shared during the February Development Update?

    - I love the idea of a highly customization UI, and I think you're in the right direction! I have no idea how "much" customization you're planning on including, but I very much hope THEMES will be among them - cause my first critic would be that the UI felt very futuristic. I would very much prefer the "book and parchment" design in a fantasy game. I want the open map to look like a drawn map, I want the quest log to have the thematic of a book etc, the inventory to have a sort of "leatherly" / "bagy" feeling to it etc. WoW does this kinda decently, imo, but the CRPG genre does this amazingly well: Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous is one great example. Baldur's Gate 3 (currently in EA) is also pretty decent at it. Warframe is an AWESOME example of customization UI, so something like that with more medieval vibes would be great!

    What are your favorite UI elements that you would like us to incorporate? Please provide examples when applicable.

    - Well, already answered this. x]

    Is there anything in particular you’re excited or concerned about regarding what was shown with the UI Progress and Processes?

    - I love the idea of being able to change colors! I can't wait to see "how much" we'll be able to change! Fingers crossed!
    lizhctbms6kg.png
  • SolvrynSolvryn Member, Alpha One, Adventurer
    Vaknar wrote: »
    Hello glorious community,

    We’d like your feedback on the Alpha Two UI Progress and Processes shown during the February 2023 Development Update Livestream.

    To help guide this conversation, here are a few thought starters you can choose from:
    • How do you feel about the direction the UI is taking, based on what we shared during the February Development Update?
    • What are your favorite UI elements that you would like us to incorporate? Please provide examples when applicable.
    • Is there anything in particular you’re excited or concerned about regarding what was shown with the UI Progress and Processes?
    Please don’t feel limited by the thought starters above. Feel free to share anything you’d like about Ashes of Creation’s UI shown during the February Development Update

    We’ll be compiling a report for the design team on Friday, March 10 2022, so please try to get your feedback into this thread by then!

    Everyone here at Intrepid Studios looks forward to reading all the feedback you have to share!

    A scale. I'm the guy who plays with a UI thats so tiny most people can't see what I'm doing.

    Also, the ability to unframe my hotbar.

    Great job UI/UX team.
  • What are your favorite UI elements that you would like us to incorporate? Please provide examples when applicable.
    Dota2: When you press a button (ALT in Dota), the UI will give you more information and simplify the stats/Attributes of the player/character or items obtained or abilities.


    - For example, the stats/Attributes will turn from percentages into values or vice versa, and explains what each stat will give you (for example Strength will give more Health/Health regen, Agility will give you more Attack speed/Damage, Intelligence give you more Mana pool/regen etc...)

    - Sometimes it gives you more explanation and facts about the item or the ability.

    p0g87hatuiuq.png

    - Sometimes it gives you a TIP/Guide.

    7z6loi5bdfat.png

    - Sometimes it gives you a LORE behind that item.

    dyoj5faqeaip.png

    - Also when you hover over an option in settings/hotkeys, i would like to see a brief explanation of what this feature does because most people do not know.

    ifu0z0uvnicc.png


    3f4dzhm3c6t6.png


    - All these UI elements appeal to the player and help him to Understand abilities and items more, immerse him more, and make him love the UI <3 .

    -
    -
    -
    Much love devs thanks for the hard work o:)<3

    "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us." - Gandalf the Grey
    ret8fv77uwph.jpg

  • EuphorrixEuphorrix Member, Alpha One, Adventurer
    How do you feel about the direction the UI is taking, based on what we shared during the February Development Update?

    I am overall really liking the direction you all are taking, and the aspects you are taking into consideration, leaving room for future additions as needed. I know that there will be more passes on this, especially post A2, so for now, I say steady as she goes.

    What are your favorite UI elements that you would like us to incorporate? Please provide examples when applicable.

    A few things I would like to be included:

    searchable options in the options menu like wow implemented in 10.0 for ease of accessibility to find that one option fast would be something nice, especially since you have the search bar in the gear screen.

    cascade/accordion menu option in character screen to hide gear panel and such, but by default have it opened until a player cascades it, this shows its there, but gives the option to make that pane smaller/move screen space, for when you are out in the world.

    I know everything cannot be a 1 size fits all etc, and screen resolution and size will play an aspect in this, however I would like the ability to have either an option to resize windows, and not have them locked into position. To help with this, in each window, you can add a check box for locking and unlocking this to allow for each person to chose the size of the windows, but also lock them so its not miss clicked on.

    Is there anything in particular you’re excited or concerned about regarding what was shown with the UI Progress and Processes?

    I do like all the aspects and points that have been taken into consideration. It FEELS that you all care for this, and didn't do a "welp we need a screen for this cause everyone has it" and you have taken into account for what you need, and room to grow if needed.
    I know I am going beyond what the video was intended for, however I am concerned with how the augments will look and feel, but i know that is something that will be shown in the future. Something I would give a head nod to is like how wow did theirs in 10.0 was rather clean, they had their class base skills and then their specialization to the right, in that same window.


    This is part of this post is an honorable mentions:
    FF14 (and now wow) having a full customizable UI option is nice. I think having a few 'presets' for UI opens as default would be cool, maybe some with art with the mini map / action bars and a minimalist one too. But Steven said it best this stream, Finding what is default is tricky. I would say offer something simple, like Options A, B, C and Other, with other being you customizing it.

    I'm sure this bit is cause I'm an Edge Lord, but I would LOVE to have a dark mode for the UI, where everything can be toned down to darks and greys. (plus it might help for colorbind options). I love the colors you all have picked, just feels silly if I'm a dark wizard or knight and open an ultra colorful book. I guess the take away here is deeper options for the player, something I know we will get or get close too, especially post A2.
    This is dorky, but i feel like I would be that person that walks into the secret council and when I open my 'books' (stats/bags/etc) BOOM rainbow of color, and I can see the NPC standing next to me snickering "He has a My Little Pony book guys!" (please note, im not an RP'er or bronie but this was what i had in my head to convey what i was thinking, hope it made whomever read this laugh or smile).

    something that I really liked from a newer game that came out, was the incorporated bag aspect that Sons of the Forest has. Instead of a screen that pops up, its interactive. I'm am NOT saying that we should go that direction, however I just wanted to share this here, so that there is an outside the box for how a game did inventory that was rather immersive vs -clicks button, screen pops up- . Not sure how this could really be a thing in AOC, nor am I recommending it, but I thought it was worth mentioning for a quick peek at for something cool and different (yes i know that is a survival game, but it was something unique that added a nice touch i wanted to give a head nod too).

    I'm sure I'm getting ahead of myself here, but for non combat related things, such as letters, or even bounty posters/scrolls, would be cool to have a 0.5 second animation that pans into your toon opening the item and the item acting like it is, a letter, or scroll to reveal the information, almost over the shoulder and us seeing the item in our characters hands, but this might be a bit beyond MMO stuff, however it is a deeper dive into immersion.
  • OrbificatorOrbificator Member, Phoenix Initiative, Royalty, Kickstarter, Alpha One
    edited February 2023
    A feature I loved from another game was how Black Desert Online would show you a preview of an ability.

    I don't know if this was in the stream, but a biography page would be loved. Your character's history, affiliations (Spouse, guild, citizenship), and perhaps when they first entered that server.

    Also, having class-specific abilities, like the convictions of the cleric, should really be more noticeable. Those tiny boxes arn't enough, in my opinion. Like him or not, Narc had some feedback I agree with here. The segment I'm talking about starts at about 5:52. I don't necessarily agree with the specifics, like the tank meter, but overall I like the idea he puts forward. https://youtu.be/dQi3p53ZZEc?t=352

    This one is a STRETCH but: Maybe keep in mind that one day a controller may be used to navigate the menus. I always prefer to use a controller. Even in games that don't support it, like guild wars, I use a controller through steam. I'm not sure if this game will be on steam or not but if there's any way for me to use a controller I'll be attempting to do so.
    Perhaps controllers would get a specialized cursor. Games like Warframe, and Destiny do this.
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  • Mos Def KnightMos Def Knight Member, Alpha One, Adventurer
    edited February 2023
    I think it would be a good idea if perhaps the health bars have colors for each class like in the ElvUI mod for WoW. For example, Cleric could be white, Fighter Brown, Rogue Yellow... etc. This makes it super easy at a glance to know what class you're looking at, and it could be combined with some class-specific art to make it functional and also aesthetic. If you intend to include the sub-class as information as well, there could maybe be a gradient of some sort, but honestly I think the base class would be a better idea.

    pgecd2ss1r50.png
    Here's an example, but it wouldn't even need to be that extreme.
  • I'm wondering something about backpack's UI outline. Would the border outlines/coloring of these UI be able to change based on what type of bag we have equipped?

    I also have a sweet idea about bags/backpacks. Why not make legendary bags/backpacks that we could find?

    PVE/PVP'rs have legendary weapons/armor. I was thinking add legendary bags for something someone like a crafter or gatherer main to look forward to?
    *make them have triple the storage of the best bag anyone else can get, or make them unable to be looted out of if you die and no material mat loss.
    *maybe make it a full 3-d model and have it fly back to you from your corpse kinda like Dr. Strange's cloak.
  • It would be very important to me for most UI setting functions easily selected for a hotkey or enabled by macros to bypass the menus. Some examples would be showing/hiding UI settings, swapping gear sets without having to interact with character menus, and toggling graphic settings and audio levels to player-selected presets.
  • DiamahtDiamaht Member, Braver of Worlds, Alpha One
    How do you feel about the direction the UI is taking, based on what we shared during the February Development Update?

    Stencils shown at the start of the video: Love it. The slim, metallic look is awesome and it blends right into the UI instead of taking over. You don't consciously notice them most of the time but you find them when you actively search for them and they do a great job framing and distinguishing the UI from the rest of the game. Please stay with the subtle style, it looks great, does the job well, and actually sets you apart from other MMOs (which will make it easy to identify your game when people see it pictured: "oh that's Ashes").

    Inventory window: Its clean, individual items stand out and are easy to find as my eye travels over the interface and all the individual parts of the interface are distinctive. When we are playing the game I will be able to give better feedback on how easy/hard it is to find things or organize things, however, the static image show in the video looks fantastic.
    Aside from how it was set up the color scheme for the thicker bars (like the one along the top of the inventory window) looked great. Most games, not just MMOs, use just a monotone color scheme for thicker boarders and it really cheapens the look and feel. The multiple hue blend is definitely the way to go.

    Iconography: Love it. The icons seem distinctive, I could for the most part see obvious differences between them. As long as the symbols are an obvious reference to what they are representing and they can be easily distinguished from each other at a glace we should be good.

    The Mock-ups: Looked good. The multi-color menus shown at around 35:15 on twitch look fantastic. The layout is great, the (again) multi colored bars do a great job distinguishing each element.
    I didn't like the lettering. The font is fine, but the faded grey color just blended into the background so I would like to have the ability to change the coloring. I'm pretty sure it was said that we would be able to.
    The menu in the bottom left of that mock-up at 35:15 felt too much like a shapeless info block. Loved the others, didn't like that one.

    Quest dialog box: Nearly perfect. Do exactly that, with one exception. The lettering of the dialog choices was too mono and bland. I have to dig through to get the info. I would want the coloring to organize the different parts of that window for me. One color for dialog, a different shade (or different color entirely) for my choices. The dialog and the choices are two different things so they should appear that way without me having to dig and sort on my own. An hour of sorting and sifting through monotone dialog boxes will mentally drain you and make you not want to engage with the plot lines.
    I agree with Steven that the dialog box looks easy to interact with, I just don't think is does enough to distinguish the different elements.

    Crafting menus: Love it. Layout is fantastic, the different crafting elements are presented in a very easy to read format. I spend enough brain power thinking about what I'm crafting and what I need that I don't want to think about the UI at all and it seems like this would easily accomplish that. It simply has to be something I can use for long periods of time while always having everything I need in front of me. We'll know more when we get down to it, but that layout looks great.

    Quest Journal. Best one I've seen. I honestly can't think of anything obvious that should be changed. Everything I can think of that would be important at a glance is there and the layout is great. My only complaint is, again, the bland lettering.


    What are your favorite UI elements that you would like us to incorporate? Please provide examples when applicable.

    The ability to fully move, resize, reshape and organize ability bars. FFXIV and SWTOR are the two best I've seen at this. I am able to do pretty much what ever I want in both of these game. For example, for some classes I will have a 3x4 bar on the left, three 1x12 bars in the middle and a 3x4 bar on the right. There are some features one game has the other does not, for example in FFXIV I can hide unused boxes, in SWTOR I cannot.

    A search bar that will eliminate items as I type. Many games do this, Ark comes to mind since I was playing it yesterday. It has very long, cumbersome lists for crafting (bad UI choice), however if I know what I want I can sort the list myself by typing in choices. If I type "stone" all my stone structures and walls appear and everything else is gone. It also does it as I type, I don't have to search and search again until I get the right word like I do in FFXIVs marketplace.

    A UI request:
    One thing I don't see in any game is the ability to create a click-through, fully customizable, info box. In FFXIV I take an unused action bar, shrink it down, place it near eye level to the left of my character and I place "copies" all of my timed and triggered abilities on it. I want the main Icon and hotkey organized along side my other abilities on the main hot-bars, but I want to see the timers and procs without having to constantly look down at my bars.
    I would like, as an alternative, to see a separate UI element to accomplish this. That way I do not have to use up an action bar. I would also like it to be click-through so I don't have to train myself to avoid it. Most importantly I would like to be able to put all kinds of info into it, not just abilities.

    Is there anything in particular you’re excited or concerned about regarding what was shown with the UI Progress and Processes?

    I'm concerned about two things:
    1) Iconography - The way you are presenting this is great. My concern lies in not distinguishing the icons from each other enough and with not providing enough reference. By reference I mean not giving us the ability to remind ourselves of what a particular icon represents. Allowing a small popup to appear when we hover over an icon would easily solve this issue, I would no longer have to research an unfamiliar icon.
    2) Text coloring - I mentioned on a few of the screens above that the individual items, like the quest log and quest dialog screens, were using coloring for the text that was far too bland, and different elements were far too similar to each other. It doesn't have to be anything jarring, but the various elements should sort themselves out by color and shade at a glance instead of having to mentally separate them ourselves. For example the dialog box and the dialog choices box had text coloring that was almost identical. It creates a wall of text feel. If they are different elements inside the same box, they should have different coloring.
  • maouwmaouw Member, Alpha One, Adventurer
    edited February 2023
    Big fan of the processes that the UI/UX team is using!
    The default is looking good.

    I have a particular interest in character portraits - especially for dialogue boxes.
    The dialogue box shown on stream is traditional, easy to skim, not very engaging and quite skippable:
    t2bxa8tkduko.png

    To me, dialogue systems are especially important because portraits can communicate expressions and personality - which infuses a lot more life into dialogue and is more likely to get me hooked into what an NPC is saying. There's heaps of potential to tie this into how Ashes wants to have NPCs react to players and have perceptions of them. (Especially disgust towards dirty Tulnar ;) )

    jdbcm4uyxfmd.png

    The Harvest Moon franchise mastered the art of dialogue boxes (with portraits) in a way that made NPCs come alive to me without having to go the full Witcher 3 route with cutscenes.
    So first, some examples from Harvest Moon DSC:

    Neutral Expressions:
    ipnk40owp7ki.pngpfycgiyw5waw.pnge5ov4fp5p0ks.png

    There are 2 things I want to point out from the above:
    • the DEFAULT portraits make eye contact with the player - this is a subtle detail but it engages you because it feels like you are being talked to.
    • the default portraits are not always emotionally neutral expressions - this adds to a sense of npc personality - some people's default state is always-chirpy, others are always down, and others are brick walls of emotion.
    • almost all casual dialogue with NPC's will rely on the default portraits - writers don't have to puppet the portraits unless there's significant dialogue being dropped.

    Next, the entire emotional spectrum for 1 character:
    cvb8qswyvx25.png
    • 6 portraits is sufficient for main characters. Secondary characters only had 3 expressions: neutral, positive, negative.
    • Body language contributes to expression too (especially in 3D games with more realistic body proportions)
    • One of the portraits is a secondary neutral expression, so writers can switch it up for long dialogue so that a character can shift a bit while remaining neutral.

    How it comes together:
    46xmv9mtnoet.png
    • Despite 6 characters being involved in this scene, you only need 2 portraits active at any given time: the person speaking, and the person they are responding to/who last spoke.
    • Characters always face the middle of the screen. If a character faces the edge of the screen it feels like they have their back turned (which can be desirable).
    • Dialogue is delivered 2 lines at a time max - just like subtitles. (Please don't throw blocks of text at us - it accelerates the urge to skip)

    Ashes doesn't need portraits that are as big as what Harvest Moon uses, but there's so much potential in a 3D game where your portraits don't have to be manually painted - you can generate them from the 3D models.

    Procedural generation of Portraits
    We can take a page out of the Sims 4 here:
    njv0kzksioqv.png
    Have manually defined poses for different expressions that you can quickly apply to a rigged NPC.
    Sims4 poses are a bit too extreme for what I'd expect from the most of Ashes' NPCs - although a few eccentric characters are ok.

    If you have a variety of poses for each expression, but each NPC only uses 1 of them, then you can get NPC's with sets of personalities - Gerard's angry face is different to Natalia's etc.

    Reducing toil for writers
    If you have tools where the writers can simply type an emoji at the end of a sentence that automatically gets picked up by the system and applied to the NPC's portrait. I think that would make rigging emotions really easy for writers to do as they go along.

    TL;DR emojis make a huge difference in how we communicate online - dialogue systems with portraits give you the ability to tap into more advanced ways to expression emotions for NPCs.


    Edit: I want to be clear that I'm asking for a full blown dialogue system that you don't typically find in MMOs. Please, this is something that the MMO genre desperately needs to innovate. It's already tiring enough that some RPG's think it's cool to have everything read like a book. Please don't do this in games - make the dialogue engaging, not a paragraph dump.
    I wish I were deep and tragic
  • In general the UI looks good. Some things that I would like to be added if possible:
    - when playing the game, I'm not sure if we'll be able to track cooldowns and see a popup like Weakauras telling us that an ability is almost ready again. Maybe we can solve this by allowing individual ability slots in the ability bar to be placed wherever we want. Instead of moving the entire bar, just move a single slot for better visualization.
    - the crafting UI. I noticed that the example provided doesn't seem to have enough space for many materials. I'm assuming the UI will be adjustable in size. Please add the option to hover on crafting materials required to see what is needed to craft them. If I need a gold bar, let me hover on it to know that I need 5 gold ores. If I click on the Gold bar, take me to the recipe for the gold bar itself, but always allow a "Back button" that takes me to where I was before.
    In some games navigating the crafting UI is a pain because the game can't remember where I was before, and you end up using external sites for tracking materials needed.
    There is also the possibility of adding a "Tree" of mats required. This tree will inform which professions can craft what, and how many I need. This eliminates the need of going out of the game, because in this tree I can keep track of what I need, maybe allowing to select how many of the item I want, so it calculates on its own how much raw materials I could need from other professions.
  • MayhemMayhem Member, Intrepid Pack, Alpha One
    Looks good.

    Few things i wish to be added would be a moveable and scaleable icon bar(s) or something where you could set what you would want it to show and prioritize what it shows.

    Examples
    Add 1 row x 1 icon slots
    CC status on my character,
    Prioritize Stun-Silence-Root-Interrupt-Slow

    Add 1 row x 3 icon slots
    First Slot = Buff status on enemy character
    Prioritize CC Immunity-DMG Immunity-DMG Taken Decrease

    Second Slot = Self/Friendly Buff status on enemy character
    Prioritize Crit DMG increase-DMG increase

    Third Slot = Self/Friendly Buff status on enemy character
    Prioritize Critical Rate Increase

    Add 1 row x 3 icon slots
    First Slot = Buff status on my character
    Prioritize CC Immunity-DMG Immunity-DMG Taken Decrease

    Second Slot = Self/Friendly Buff status on my character
    Prioritize Crit DMG increase-DMG increase

    Third Slot = Self/Friendly Buff status on my character
    Prioritize Critical Rate Increase

    Something like this, Maybe you could go through every single ability by every class and select what you want to have show up and prioritize by effectiveness/duration in the order u want

    Also i would like an option to have CC effects show on enemy nameplate where the class icon is if they are affected by CC. Similar customization with Prioritize Stun-Silence-Root-Interrupt-Slow
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