UI Feedback

(EnderWiggin.DA.) #1

Feedback for Dirty Bomb UI
Build:13988 Release 18:00 23/11/2012
DX9

Below is my UI feedback for Dirty Bomb part 1. I need more experience in actual gameplay to give additional feedback concerning action UI. This is my opinion and I stand by it but hopefully it at least spawns (no pun intended) some discussion. It is human nature to point out things we don’t like over things we do like.
Priority=1 to 5 where 5 is most important to me.

OVERALL UI
Overall the UI is very similar to Brink. My impression is that SD is going for a clean, almost Apple device sort of look. Overall the UI is very pleasing to the eye although that concept clashes with the post “dirty bomb” scenario where I suspect things would be a little more hectic, dirty, and put together on the fly. I admit I do not have a full grasp of the story behind the action so maybe this is explained in the narrative. The game HUD appears to have been designed by someone used to playing games on a console or on a TV from a distance and not a PC with a much closer screen. Additionally, my initial observation is that the color palette is very grey which is in contrast to the color palette that was used in Brink; however, urban streets tend to be grey or black so… yeah. I still maintain that SD has the best artists in the business. I’m not sucking up. I really believe this and have since ETQW.

LIMBO MENU (Menu when you start the game and hit escape)

Quit Option
Priority:5
Why isn’t QUIT immediately visible in the menu at the top of the screen? Why is it in options?

Spawn Timer
Priority:5
This screen needs a spawn timer. A big, bold spawn timer.

Mouse position
Priority: 1
All of the options that I can choose are on the left side of the screen. My mouse cursor position should default over there as well and not in the middle of the screen with the model. Hell, the sucker should flash yellow to show me where it is so I know immediately where it is after hitting escape.

Field Ops Symbol
Priority: 1
To me, the field ops symbol looks like a radio symbol or sound coming out of a speaker in stereo. I do not understand how this implies FOPS. This symbol does not immediately tell me what this class does.

Color of Text/Menus
Priority:1
This comment comes from Brink and Shacknews comments. In short, SOME people (vocal minority) did not like Brink’s grey text on a white background in the main menu. I personally thought it was easy to see but I noticed you are going with white text again and I wanted to mention this. Really, it’s more to draw attention to the artists and menu designers to take a step back and think about if the text is easy to read.

CONTROLS MENU

Mouse Sensitivity Option
Priority :5
This is a big one guys. First, I would like to say that I LOVE the numbers on the slider bar when setting mouse sensitivity. I use a Razer DeathAdder Firmware 1.40 Driver 3.03, Polling rate 500Hz 900 dpi. In general, I’d say that Unreal 3 engine pretty much sucks the big balls in terms of nice mouse movement. My current setting is 5 on the slider bar. Now I know how to set sensitivity in the console or the config file assuming the developer doesn’t get crazy and lock those down. I also know that I can change the dpi in my mouse setup. I also know that I am not the only person that deals with this problem. I would really, really like more dynamic range on the low end of the scale. Perhaps a check box that switches the slider scale from 0-10 for people like myself.

Mouse Y-Axis
Priority:4
Because of the problems I have with mouse sensitivity, I would really like a slider or variable for the y-axis of my mouse (m_pitch). I have this set up in my mouse software but in game I really need to decrease the y-axis sensitivity even at mouse sensitivity 5.

Disable Tool Tips
Priority:4
I want an option to disable tool tips or hints if I haven’t missed it multiple times. They display in the middle of the screen and that isn’t cool.

Secondary Fire in Menu Options
Priority:3
Does this mean aim down sight(ADS)? Throw grenade? This description of “secondary fire” is not clear. Maybe it does multiple things.

Spaces in the List of Video and Control Binds
Priority:2
In the menus, there are spaces in the list of options. Are these place holders? It does not look clean to have spaces in the list of options.

Cannot Bind Backspace
Priority:1
You can think of me as a left handed player. In short, I use the keypad to the enter key. Having the backspace key stuck as “clear bind” limits a key I used in ETQW. However, there aren’t that many keys in Dirty Bomb and I can get by without binding backspace.

HUD

Spawn Timer
Priority:5
The HUD needs a spawn timer

Choose Class by F1-F4
Priority:5
I used the right side of the keyboard (keypad primarily). The keys to choose class need to be able to be rebound. Additionally the symbols upon death at the bottom of the screen with the keyboard shortcuts did not draw my attention until about the third death. I’m not saying it should fill the whole screen, but the choose class shortcuts could be more noticeable.

Vsays on Top of in Game Chat
Priority:5
WIP, I know.

Health Bar and Ability Bar
Priority:4
I like the bar at the bottom right which shows your med pack/ammo packs charging. However, there are two things in game I want to know at all times. My health and my ammo. Ammo is very clear but the health bar is as far away from the center of the screen as can be possible. Even with the bloodshot eye effect when taking damage, I want the health bar to be more noticeable. I will admit the HUD is it is very minimalistic and “competitive” in this respect. I’m NOT advocating going back to the Half Life:2 health and ammo indicators on the crosshairs. Ugh.
EDIT:Additionally I think the health bar needs a “+” or first aid symbol to let you know it’s the health bar. I didn’t realize that’s what it was at first.

Minimap in Lower Left Corner
Priority:3
WIP I know. Out of bounds areas need to be more clearly marked with brighter colors or more contrast. Could the paths of vehicles be marked on the map?
The blue circle in the middle of the minimap is confusing as I think there is a friendly right behind me.

Press F6 to Ready UP
Priority:2
This displays at the top of the screen in warmup. It SHOULD be it own line. What button is to UNREADY?

(Ashog) #2

[QUOTE=EnderWiggin.DA.;409769]Press F6 to Ready UP
Priority:2
This displays at the top of the screen in warmup. It SHOULD be it own line. What button is to UNREADY?[/QUOTE]

Ehm not sure I understand what you mean here? I hope you are not asking to place this message to the screen center like in ETQW?
That would be a bad idea because it always annoys when in prematch. Sometimes people do crazy and funny things in prematch while waiting for more people to join. This also includes demo recording of these prematches. The message “press ready” in the center of screen obstructs the view for both fragging and demo. I hope it stays on top like now.

Otherwise agree on the things mentioned. I also have some problems to check health in the rush of the fight at times (too far away) but maybe it is because I need to get used to this new position of it after previous SD games.

(Smooth) #3

Very useful list, thanks for putting this together!

(EnderWiggin.DA.) #4

Negative. Currently on my screen Press F6 to ready up overlaps with “Waiting for X Players”. Some days, it can be a bitch to get people to ready up. I think the “press F6 to ready up” should be displayed all of the time at the TOP of the screen so people always know to press F6 to get the game started. This is assuming the game doesn’t automatically start at 4 players which may depend on the server settings. In short, I think they should be two lines like.
Press F6 to Ready UP
Waiting on 3 Players <-- Sadly, this is the only message I’ve seen for objective play

(EnderWiggin.DA.) #5

HUD

Different Crosshairs
Priority:4
I would appreciate a larger selection of crosshairs. I would especially appreciate a non pulsing dot that I can change the crosshair color. This is actually something I’d be willing to spend a couple of dollars on.

(EnderWiggin.DA.) #6

Added an edit in my original post which I forgot to write originally. I think it’s important and that is why I’m making this post so it’s not missed.
EDIT:Additionally I think the health bar needs a “+” or first aid symbol to let you know it’s the health bar. I didn’t realize that’s what it was at first.

(Breo) #7

Maybe a dynamic UI if your health is low you see icons from the medpacks on the ground with full health they are invisible.
Also you see a lot of icons when you need to deliver the datacores to the EV when you pick one up disable all the datacore icons and only show the EV icon.

(DarkangelUK) #8

Since the subject of ‘getting back to PC roots’ has come up, I wonder how things would be without constant markers on the HUD? I remember jumping on RtCW a few weeks ago and thinking ‘wow, all I see is game!’, no consistent team mate tags, no objective markers floating in my view all the time. Back then you learned the maps, you stuck with your team, you communicated instead of relying on team icons to tell you where they all were. Downed team mates were loosely pointed out on the compass and you had to actually seek them out. I guess this could come under ‘hardcore mode’ some have been throwing around, it just sometimes annoys me having constant floaty icons in my view… other times I’m ok with it.

(shirosae) #9

How about toggle/hold to view HUD overlay options? That way you could even make them a bit more obvious than they are now, but without getting in the way.

(DarkangelUK) #10

Well part of it was the mind game and the learning experience that came with not knowing where everyone and everything was at any one time. A guess a temp ‘show all’ button would at least help remove the clutter when it’s not required.

(tokamak) #11

I really really need a dot in my cross hair. I can’t work with that void in between the hairs.

(EnderWiggin.DA.) #12

This was something I considered writing but held off until I actually got to play some more. I still haven’t played with a large number of people to see if that effects screen clutter. The HUD could get quite cluttered in Brink.
HUD

Ability to reduce object marker alpha for objective icons and other things
Priority:5
Perhaps a slider in options or key as previously suggested to adjust the objective marker opacity. An alternate, and possibly needlessly complex solution, is for the icons fade in or out as you get closer to the objective.
I will say that jumping into my first rounds the markers were a big help although the alpha should probably be turned down a bit even for default. I still don’t know the maps very well and the objective icons definitely help. Brink definitely went overboard with the “helpful” icons though.

(zenstar) #13

The goal is not only getting back to PC roots though… It’s also bringing those old PC roots into the new era of shooters.
It’s going to be difficult to do, but there are new additions to the genre that make shooters better. There are also old traditions that were great fun and have gotten forgotten since.
I don’t think they should be striving to recreate Quake 3. Even that has been updated for a new audience. They should be capturing the speed and fun of Q3 and marrying it with the accessibility and creativity of the newer shooters.

However: what if there was an option to have no team markers or any clutter but have a “see markers” button like alt that works like the “see treasure” button in diablo? While holding it down all the markers and whatnot are shown.
Or what if that worked in reverse? While holding it down it removes the clutter?

Or: a list of checkboxes where you tick off what you do and do not want to see on the HUD? (maybe combined with a “see all” toggle button?)

(stealth6) #14

I like the game to be a bit immersive, so you only have things on your HUD that you’d know in real life. So just your ammo and health really. To figure out where objectives are you could take out a map and look at that, and after a few games you’d know where it is anyway.

Also the cool down on miniguns can be removed from the hud and transferred to the gun itself. Like a hightech touch screen on the gun that tells you when it’s going to overheat or just the color of the gun could change to a bright red. This could add a slight skill to these guns, knowing when they are going to overheat, without having a clear indicator on your screen.

Basically treat your hud like your real eyes, in real life I can’t see where an objective is unless I’m wearing some kind of special goggles like google glass with a screen overlay.

(zenstar) #15

[QUOTE=stealth6;410319]I like the game to be a bit immersive, so you only have things on your HUD that you’d know in real life. So just your ammo and health really. To figure out where objectives are you could take out a map and look at that, and after a few games you’d know where it is anyway.

Also the cool down on miniguns can be removed from the hud and transferred to the gun itself. Like a hightech touch screen on the gun that tells you when it’s going to overheat or just the color of the gun could change to a bright red. This could add a slight skill to these guns, knowing when they are going to overheat, without having a clear indicator on your screen.

Basically treat your hud like your real eyes, in real life I can’t see where an objective is unless I’m wearing some kind of special goggles like google glass with a screen overlay.[/QUOTE]

I have to disagree. If I had to check objectives on a map I’d have stopped playing already. I won’t take time to learn a game that is actively being difficult when there are so many games out there that are easier to pick up and play.

While there is a limit to what should appear onscreen so as to not overwhelm the player and obscure the play-field, more, context sensitive information that is easy to pick up on and doesn’t get in the way is good. It makes for a better game.
It’s not easy to do all the time, but that doesn’t mean “scrap it all”.

If you want an example (from another genre) of good onscreen information have a look at a game called “Mark of the Ninja” by Klei. No matter what you’re doing it’s constantly telling you what your button presses will do (X to grab the wall) and you’re never at a loss when it comes to controls or what you’re meant to be doing. It actually has some fairly complex, context-sensitive controls (mostly around climbing) but it’s intuitive and the information is always visible but not intrusive.

The only time a naked HUD is useful is for games that are meant to be claustraphobic like Dead Space. Removing information from the HUD in DB will only slow the action down.

(stealth6) #16

Just health and ammo is a bit over the top, a minimap and some information about objectives like dynamite armed, disarmed, etc… is needed.

Just something like icons hovering on your screen where objectives are or 30 meters to the nearest objective aren’t needed imo.

(DarkangelUK) #17

I think that’s a speculative conclusion, RtCW had health, ammo, class action bar and a compass that gave the general direction for revives/dyno plants etc… the pace was absolutely fine. You add a bit of learning and adaptability to the game, unless everyone’s suddenly contracted ADD and learning is now considered something to be shunned and discouraged.

(zenstar) #18

It’s not that everyone has contracted ADD but it’s that back in the day you worked to be a gamer. UI design was the last thing that people thought about when it came to a game. Go back and play some golden oldies and you’ll see what I mean. There was also less competition for time so you either played this game or you could wait a few months for another to come along.

While striving to capture the fun and speed of an old pc classic we shouldn’t be trying to pare down years of UI advancement too.

I agree that there is a point where things get to be too much (glowing enemies) but trimming down too much will be detrimental.
Nowadays if a game has an interface that isn’t as good as or as intuitive as its competition it will fail. Sure it’ll pick up a cult audience if it’s a good game, but most people will move onto a game that is more user friendly, sometimes even if that’s a worse game.

Suggestions like “using a map to find objectives” are ones that will turn almost all your potential players off your game.

RtCW had enough pointers to not be called a naked HUD, but if you want better learning curves and more intuitive play then you’re going to need better information provided to the player.

RtCW had a compass, ammo count, power bar, sprint bar, health, objectives list and team overlay and I wouldn’t go back to play that now.

It’s like living off Greg’s pasties your entire life and then being taken to a farm and having a home-made game pie. Once you know what a proper pie is the cheap pasty may fill you but it’ll never be as good again. And if you have the option to always have the real deal then why would you go back for anything other than nostalgia?

Also: RtCW was limited by resolution. You couldn’t do a small onscreen informational tag at that resolution without it either being unrecognisable or it would cover far too much playing area.

(tokamak) #19

Having a little head of your character like in W:ET down in the interface would be a nice touch though. Optional so it doesn’t bug the people who don’t want it. But for more casual players it would be a little reminder of what they bought/achieved in the game.

(stealth6) #20

[QUOTE=zenstar;410364]It’s not that everyone has contracted ADD but it’s that back in the day you worked to be a gamer. UI design was the last thing that people thought about when it came to a game. Go back and play some golden oldies and you’ll see what I mean. There was also less competition for time so you either played this game or you could wait a few months for another to come along.

While striving to capture the fun and speed of an old pc classic we shouldn’t be trying to pare down years of UI advancement too.

I agree that there is a point where things get to be too much (glowing enemies) but trimming down too much will be detrimental.
Nowadays if a game has an interface that isn’t as good as or as intuitive as its competition it will fail. Sure it’ll pick up a cult audience if it’s a good game, but most people will move onto a game that is more user friendly, sometimes even if that’s a worse game.

Suggestions like “using a map to find objectives” are ones that will turn almost all your potential players off your game.

RtCW had enough pointers to not be called a naked HUD, but if you want better learning curves and more intuitive play then you’re going to need better information provided to the player.

RtCW had a compass, ammo count, power bar, sprint bar, health, objectives list and team overlay and I wouldn’t go back to play that now.

It’s like living off Greg’s pasties your entire life and then being taken to a farm and having a home-made game pie. Once you know what a proper pie is the cheap pasty may fill you but it’ll never be as good again. And if you have the option to always have the real deal then why would you go back for anything other than nostalgia?

Also: RtCW was limited by resolution. You couldn’t do a small onscreen informational tag at that resolution without it either being unrecognisable or it would cover far too much playing area.[/QUOTE]

Bleh my thoughts are the exact opposite to yours :smiley: and I agree with DAUK that it sounds like gamers have ADD if they need objectives to be pointed out to them at all times. It’s like the UI is doing half the work for you.