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Comparing the old and new character record UI. Is it final ?

00zim0000zim00 Member Posts: 267
edited March 2016 in The Road to v2.0
Edit Thread Moved: I know there is a new thread similar to this one already here but as Dee said, "It's gone a little far away from the SoD UI" so it has been moved here :)

Edit: So apparently there is a 2.0 beta patch for bg:ee and bg2:ee i had no idea about which has relevant information.. guess the feedback would have been better posted there if i knew about it lol. Still, i think my points are still valid.

Please know I have been a huge fan of the baldurs Gate series and beamdog for many years and I am in no way trying to belittle their amazing work. But one thing caught my eye that i had to bring up.

On one of the recent streams we were show what the new UI for the character record screen looks like. My question for the devs or anyone who might know. Is this the final design or was it a temporary place holder screen that still had work to be done?

The first image below is showing M’Khiin Grubdoubler with the new UI. The reason I ask is it the final version is because it seems to be lacking character and is kinda bland compared to the original BG. Most noticeable is the lack of visual flavor the old menus had.

(New UI)
http://imgur.com/z3mIioU
image
(Original UI)
http://imgur.com/HTgawB6
image

I dont want to go to much into it unless its confirmed to be the final version otherwise im bringing something up irrelevant. But it feels to me almost streamlined in order to better suit the tablet market. It also has confusing elements that don't make sense such as why is there an inventory tab? There is normally a inventory button on the side panel so its doubling it up. And why are class and kit description separate buttons/categories? It also feels that overall your getting less information at a glance now.

Of course until I play the game I have no idea if that is a good choice or a bad choice. So im going to focus on what i think is the main reason im making this post. The original UI visual design is clearly imo superior to the new UI. Your losing so many of the iconic elements its staring to look like a spreadsheet.

In order to properly compare what i think the UI could look like vs what it currently seems to have changed to I have made my own quick mock-up design to show my point of view. Assuming they are wanting more buttons/categories and a larger area where you can read text. My design is a mix of both the new and old elements. It has a similar layout of the new design but dosnt remove the information people want at a glance. Please also ignore the button names as I just picked whatever to fill in the design and not all information is there but as i said it was a quick design. Also to note with some of what I consider "important" elements missing I have not added them as i assume Beamdog would want those in each of the button categories, even if i might not agree with it.

(My compromising design)
http://imgur.com/Q8Nrbgl
image

(My design with extra buttons if they are needed)
http://imgur.com/bcDlPRr
image

Now i know my design far from perfect and im not claiming it to be. Neither am i saying "I hate the new design and will never buy the game without the change!" or something like that. But if it is the final design im just going to be honest and say ill be disappointed.

Thanks for reading :)


EDIT: New Mock-Up #2 . Details in a few posts below if your interested

image

EDIT: New Mock-Up #3. Details in first post on second page.

image
Post edited by 00zim00 on
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Comments

  • PeccaPecca Member Posts: 2,218
    The new GUI is under public beta-testing right now. So some things can change, but how much, I don't know. I like your pics, the enlarged windows. This won't get officially implemented though, because it wouldn't fit on non-wide screens.
  • 00zim0000zim00 Member Posts: 267
    Pecca said:

    The new GUI is under public beta-testing right now. So some things can change, but how much, I don't know. I like your pics, the enlarged windows. This won't get officially implemented though, because it wouldn't fit on non-wide screens.

    Yeah im not expecting a change really.. but couldn't hurt to bring it up maybe for a patch or mod.
    As for fitting on non-wide screens, the image i made is extra wide and there is alot of empty space where the main text is, as well as the button sizes can easily be reduced to fit the non wide screen monitors if it ever came to that. But i do understand your point :)
  • PeccaPecca Member Posts: 2,218
    Well, I'm already sharpening my modding teeth. :)
  • 00zim0000zim00 Member Posts: 267
    edited March 2016
    Oh :P? what kinda mods you have in mind? Besides a possible BG UI restore mod xD
  • PeccaPecca Member Posts: 2,218
    Since the new GUI is supposed to be extremely well moddable, I'm very curious about what everything I will be able to do. And enlarged screens will be useful now.
  • 00zim0000zim00 Member Posts: 267
    edited March 2016
    Oh that's awesome, curious about that now to. Well if you ever decide to do anything feel free to send me a pm. After doing the mock up design I have come up with a few ideas that might be helpful to mull over :)
  • PeccaPecca Member Posts: 2,218
    will do.
  • cmk24cmk24 Member Posts: 605
    edited March 2016
    FYI there is a similar discussion about the inventory screen over in the road to 2.0 board: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/48317/i-do-not-like-the-simplification-of-character-details-in-inventory-ui/p1
  • gus100gus100 Member Posts: 10
    i personally prefer the new record sheet because it got similitude with a character sheet paper as im crazy for dungeons and dragons i like it a lot.
  • PaladinPaladin Member Posts: 335
    edited March 2016
    Hi all,

    Dee made a strong post over in a thread in the Road To V2 Forum, which seems to be relevant here.
    Dee said:

    Whoa, there. Some big assumptions being made.

    The UI changes you see are not designed with tablets in mind. We have plans for how to improve these screens (some of which will come in this update, others will come later), but the changes you see are designed for desktop systems first.

    Bugs will be fixed; don't worry too much about that. If the functionality is something you don't like, that's something we want to know about. But let's drop the conspiracy talk. If the current design is flawed, tell us that; don't spread rumors about why you think the design was created in the first place.

    Source: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/48317/i-do-not-like-the-simplification-of-character-details-in-inventory-ui/p3

    I don't think it's fair to say that this was done with a tablet-first approach. We don't know that. I think Beamdog knows that their primary user base are fans from the PC-game. Alienating them wouldn't make good business sense. All that said, I do prefer the original UI, too. I like the ideas that Beamdog has put forth with these updates, but not the execution. I would prefer something with a bit more character. But, this is all just personal preference.

    Thanks,
    ~Pally

  • dibdib Member Posts: 384
    I have to agree that I'm skeptical of the new character sheet. I guess the best we can hope for is that someone makes a mod to restore it to a state that's closer to the original. I really liked @00zim00 's suggestions.
  • dibdib Member Posts: 384
    @00zim00 the layout looks great but the font in the new buttons is inconsistent with the buttons on the bottom and I'm not loving the look of it in general. But great job anyway!
  • 00zim0000zim00 Member Posts: 267
    edited March 2016
    dib said:

    @00zim00 the layout looks great but the font in the new buttons is inconsistent with the buttons on the bottom and I'm not loving the look of it in general. But great job anyway!

    Yeah i dont have the baldurs gate font xD. And dont really look at the little details as its not meant to be perfect more the overall design i was trying to show. Really wanted to get rid of the huge list on the side of the new UI lol.

    As for the look i prefer the original baldurs gate design or my first mockup but it was my attempt of merging the look of the old with the elements of the new such as all the extra categories and extra viewing space but without having to scroll though a dozen things in a list to find the information you wanted.

    Curious if you think its better then the new UI and is there any elements of this new mock-up you dont like in particulate? Feedback is helpful :smile:
  • dibdib Member Posts: 384
    edited March 2016
    If I was unclear, the only thing I didn't like was the font you used, loving everything else! :P It's hard to definitely say which one is best without a hands on test but my current, preconceived, impression is that your design is superior to the new UI in SoD in many ways.
    Try at least using a font without serifs.
  • 00zim0000zim00 Member Posts: 267
    edited March 2016
    Probably just me reading it wrong xD its 2am and im exhausted haha. And if i end up making another design at any point i will do :)
  • FrecheFreche Member Posts: 473
    Woa! That new beamdog ui looks really bad, all relevant information hidden under submenues.

    Only good thing is that it's going to be more moddable, looking forward for that.

    @00zim00 Your mockup looks really nice. I don't know how needed that #2 menu is. Also would considering getting exp info onto the info screen.
  • cdxcdx Member Posts: 94
    Loving the view of the mock-ups, I like it a lot better than the bland v2.0 style. As for feedback - I think the list of attributes would look a bit better if the Strength, Dexterity, etc are left aligned and the corresponding numbers are as they are now, on the right. The current right-align of the words messes up the tidiness of the lists.
  • lroumenlroumen Member Posts: 2,538
    Luckily, I still have the 6CD and the DVD versions of the game so I can always play those if my immersion is broken.
    But I am positive that beamdog will review any feedback you may have to improve their gui to please the players. Just.... This topic should be in the v2 forum....
  • DeeDee Member Posts: 10,447
    It's gone a little far away from the SoD UI, yeah. if 00zim00 doesn't mind, I'll move it there now.

    Also, if any of you have checked out the public beta and experienced the UI changes first-hand, I encourage you to fill out our feedback survey. There's a link in the Road to v2.0 forum.
  • 00zim0000zim00 Member Posts: 267
    @Dee By all means please do :)
  • DeeDee Member Posts: 10,447
    Mov'd!
  • illathidillathid Member Posts: 320
    Freche said:

    Woa! That new beamdog ui looks really bad, all relevant information hidden under submenues.

    Only good thing is that it's going to be more moddable, looking forward for that.

    @00zim00 Your mockup looks really nice. I don't know how needed that #2 menu is. Also would considering getting exp info onto the info screen.

    Yeah, I agree about the #2 and XP. I think making lore and reputation always visible isn't a bad idea either.
  • StoibsStoibs Member Posts: 66
    Can't upvote this enough.
    I absolutely hate the unnecessary and arbitrary changes that Beamdog are proposing to the character sheet in the current beta. Looks so crap and out of place and wasn't even requested or wanted in the first place. Not to mention it removes loads of functionality and easy-to-glance-at information hidden behind more navigation and sub categories.

    This idea here and these mock-ups is a compromise I would be fine with that should make everyone happy, if the character sheet 'must' be changed by Beamdog for whatever reason.
  • prairiechickenprairiechicken Member Posts: 149
    I like your ui but I think buffs and status effects should be displayed without scroll bars (or spacious enough to contain many)
  • 00zim0000zim00 Member Posts: 267
    edited March 2016
    Thank you everyone for the kind words and feedback :)

    I like your ui but I think buffs and status effects should be displayed without scroll bars (or spacious enough to contain many)

    I think the issue is that near end game, at least how i play lol. You can have upwards of 20 Status Effects on you at once. So besides having a scroll bar the only other real option would to be removing it entirely and moving it to one of the main large text tabs. Then replacing it with some of the information others have suggested such as the XP Bar and perhaps squeeze in a Lore/Reputation figure.

    Im going to wait maybe another day or so depending on how inspired I am but mostly to get more feedback then ill make another Mock-up with as many of the suggestions included. I know Beamdog may not even be considering using my designs but i find its the most effective way for me personally to express my ideas!

    So keep the feedback coming :)
    Post edited by 00zim00 on
  • DeeDee Member Posts: 10,447
    @00zim00 I recommend looking at Balsamiq for all your mockup delights. You lose the textures, but it lets you focus on layout.
  • antimatter3009antimatter3009 Member Posts: 24
    I said this another thread, but I'll throw my 2 cents in here as well. This is my favorite character record mockup I've seen or heard described. It keeps the flavor, surfaces useful information in easy to access places, and seems to flow intuitively (impossible to be sure without playing with it, but it looks good).

    My only piece of feedback is I don't like that the main left side panel still contains what amounts to a text dump. It just need a tweak, though. Personally, I think if the "headings" (like Class, Proficiencies, Saving Throws, etc) were somehow bolded and turned into clickables that toggled the details sliding out beneath them, that would take care of it. That would kind of turn it into a hybrid between the 1.3 and current 2.0 UIs, and I think it would hit a sweet spot. Add a hide/show all button, and people who like the 1.3 could even play with all categories shown and get roughly the same effect.
  • StoibsStoibs Member Posts: 66
    The Panel with the text dump is what I like about it, since the 'new' current beta design does away with this altogether, and many of us original players prefer to have all that info as we're used to it like that.

    The reason I like this mock-up is that it's the best of both worlds with that text dump still intact, while at the same time allowing for others to use those newer category buttons at the top if they so desire.
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