¥oJimBo

Very nice look too it!~

Lueamdar

Nice layout. Look forward to seeing it final

-Lue

Togras

In regards to the gauges, I'd suggest making a sort of fancy capsule to encase them in so they're easier to see on the background. As it stands, they're somewhat hard to see as the rest of the UI has the same exact design.

So, either, make a specific TGA file for those part sof the UI with the space for the gauge, and a little border around the space and/or put the gauge in its own seperate area of the window that is clearly and distinctively different from the rest of it.

As far as the flow goes, that just comes with time and working on the UI =P It looks pretty great so far.

[Edit: Also, as another suggestion, change the font colors. White's pretty hard to see on that background. Change it to something warm, dark and easy to see when you're flicking your eyes to it, like, say, blue. Also, you may want to consider making the font a little bit bigger, especially on the HP and Mana %s.]

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Dreamlife

Also you have those huge circles in each corner of the UI.. ID make a vertically huge compass strip that you can pattern and font match to the other circles and underlay it in one of those corners.

Cairenn

Thanks for the input folks, keep it coming.

Dreamlife, those circles are already filled. I know you can't necessarily see it very well in the screenshot, but they contain a Scottish Thistle, Irish Harp, Greenman and Tree of Life (top left, top right, bottom left, bottom right). I am considering making a "hole" in the left edge of the player window to sock it in there. My hubby says to just leave it free-floating and let folks put it where they want (top center, just under buff bar, as an example) or turn it off completely, since so many use the map window now.

Togras

Don't remove the compass. Ever.

Just don't.

People still use it, myself included (when I actually play), and would definitely appreciate you kept it in. The map is kind of big, and is annoying to have in your way all the time, so if there's a smaller solution (i.e. compass) and you have a rough idea of where you need to go, it's invaluable.

Also, just because they're static images doesn't mean you can't do anything with them. You can turn them into gauges, with the 'empty' graphic being the original gauge, and the 'full' graphic being the design, but colored suitably.

I'd change the layout of those designs and put it this way:

Tree of Life (top left), Greenman (top right), Irish Harp (bottom left), Scottish Thistle (bottom right).

The Tree of Life could be turned into a health gauge, the Greenman into an endurance gauge, the Irish Harp into a mana gauge, and the Scottish Thistle into a breath gauge. For those that don't have a mana guage, if you keep the graphics as part of the background, they'll still see it, but it simply won't be blue

The casting gauge, considering the graphic style, should be kept to a long, thin blue bar. It shouldn't be too fancy as the UI is already graphically 'busy', and it would probably be EXTREMELY distracting.

Right, more ideas as I get them =/

[Edit: Cairenn, check yer PMs]

Cairenn

You misunderstood what I said. Without the portion in parentheses, the sentence reads:

"My hubby says to just leave it free-floating and let folks put it where they want or turn it off completely, since so many use the map window now."

ie if folks want to turn it off completely, they can, whereas if I make it an integral part of the UI, they don't have that option.

You can trust that I won't get rid of it completely. Since I basically never use the map window ... trust me, the compass stays. I am just debating (as I said) whether to make it an integral part or not.

Drakkhen

First I want to say that your last UI was fantastic and I can see that your new project will have some of the same elements. One thing that I see missing is the full inventory access in the right hand border. The ability to access my full inventory and equipment without opening a large obstructive window was invaluable to me. It is especially handy if you have items that have clickable effects on them.


Just an observation

Drakkhen

Cairenn

It's still there, it's just hidden in that screenshot, along with a couple other surprises.

Togras

In that case... =P

Yeah, making it free-floating would be nice, although make it naturally part of the UI. The idea behind viewport UIs is to make it all flow together. No one likes a cluttered looking workspace =P

kasca

Only thing i can add is:

1) maybe make the spell bar for the top of ui or side. me/myself/I always hit them down there.
2) add weapon slots and one bag at least so it melee freindly.

I love the look cant wait to see it done

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Cairenn

The slots are there, just hidden, along with a couple of other surprises.

I'm still trying to figure out the spell cast bar, I may leave it alone and let folks slot in whichever one they want.

Dolby

Hey Cairenn,

I like the look of the interface. Here are some suggestions I have if you like. I don’t understand what that big round thing sitting on top of that block is in the lower center. It takes up a lot of the screen imo. I don’t know if it’s just the screen shot or my monitor but it’s also a little hard to read the gauges with that nice pattern that goes around the viewport. Maybe you could add some kind of plain beveled background around the gauges make them look there attached to some kind of plaque(sp?).

It looks great and is an awesome start. Did you design that pattern your self?

Cairenn

Thanks Dolby.

The medallion in the center above the target window is the Welsh Dragon plus. It still needs some touching up, which should make it slightly smaller.

Hrm, that might be a way to "fix" the gauges. Considering the time I spent finding just the right knotwork and then making them work, I don't want to just get rid of them ...

No, not a single piece of the artwork is my own. I got images from broaches, stonework, posters, etc, then modified them all to work together. Heh, no, I could only wish that I had the talent to "create" anything of my own, the best I can do is to modify others' work. But, if it all looks like it was made "together" then I've accomplished part of what I am trying to do.