Worldmap -First out of two times in this post I'll say turn it back as it was pre 2.0. The extra text clutters the screen, traveling became clumsier. There is also no way to know travel times to unnamed areas. -Plus, when the worldmap area is stretched by modding, it creates a scrollable gap underneath, which of course shouldn't be there.
This. Not only the map is less readable by all the 'destination unreachable' junk text but it also looks worse than in vanilla BG2 and BG2:EE patch 1.3 - game now ignores icon animation (when area is unreachable icons should run animation with different shades of red colour).
If devs prefer current implementation at least externalize all of this into UI.MENU, so we can adjust it with mods. Currently there is no way to change how the map worldmap looks via LUA code.
That huge empty space below BG2:EE worldmap also deserves to be fixed.
3) If the combat stats are the default screen that appears whenever you go to the Record screen, the status effects could go there. And Saving Throws could move over to the bottom left.
Rationale: saving throws are immutable characteristics of any PC, just like ability scores. And the number of them won't change, so it solves the problem of the lower left box needing scroll bars.
The right-hand column could need scroll bars anyway, because the list of Resistances could grow. So, moving Status Effects there means a single scroll bar could handle both.
Aah, no that's just lazy copy paste of a screen text I had in hand. The "overview" tab (I really don't like "information") would consist more information than just that.
Everyone always forgets the Kit Description (including me)...
For those who are curious, I'm using Affinity Designer for these mock-ups. It's a great tool for wireframe UI design, and significantly cheaper than Illustrator or Photoshop.
(And for those who are wondering why my mock-ups look way worse than Pecca's, it's because:
A. I don't have the digital art skill to do what Pecca does, and B. I find it easier to start with the skeleton and add detail later, especially when I'm still moving things around.)
Another way could be this. On the left there is an information that never change size (in case of no off hand, there would simply be "-" or something). The class and status effect would go to the right to the list. the advantage would be no gaps on the left, the disadvantage would be the class information disappering when changing tabs (but since it is in the main tab I think it's fine). Keep in mind that this is again just a rough mockup.
I think that's actually my favourite one yet, the only thing I'd change is making Overview the big button on the bottom right and move it to the top of the button section:
I like the layout of this one @Pecca. Now if only I could see it in tones similar to those used in BGII. This black with red blotches is really starting to wear on me. Even just looking at these mock up screens.
This is personal preference, of course, but I would prefer that it stay how he has it now. It feels more balanced to me then if the big one was on top.
For sure, the reason I figured Overview should be largest and on top is because that's the button you will have 'on' most often so it should be easiest to get to and largest - preventing misclicking.
Then, instead of a button that says "Class Description," just put the name of your kit as the name of that button. And put it up high somewhere. Boom - efficiency.
I like that however wouldn't that end up as 'Fighter / Mage / Thief' potentially... which could be a nightmare in German/Polish.
Like I said, if 'Overview' is the default display, then it will actually be the button you click least. Good usability principles dictate that the button you hit most should be in the easiest-to-target spot. Which in this case would probably be 'Skills.'
Will it? If I click Skills, then I have to click Overview to go back. If I click Class, then I have to click Overview to go back. So whenever I click one of the other buttons I have to either close the record screen completely, or click overview to go back. Therefore overview is probably pressed most often as it's your way to get back to the most useful screen after having pressed one of the other buttons.
However, I suppose it depends on how you actually use the record screen, which varies person-to-person of course, and if it remembers your previous view when opening/closing or defaults to overview each time.
Moving biography to the journal is problematic as the journal doesn't 'know' which character is selected - one of the big issues with the UI currently.
Maybe 'Kit Description' and 'Biography' could be combined? Does the Kit Description take up more than half the window height? As long as you can see the beginning of the Biography and then scroll down to read the rest, I think that would be okay.
this doesn't sound bad actually. In such case I'd suggest changing the button name to 'Background'.
My personal favorite Infinite Engine character record layout is IWD2's layout.
It has the portrait on the left, which I like. The portrait is the least used bit of information on the record screen. Once you've confirmed that you have the right character, it's basically "dead space" on the screen. When it's in the center column in the BG1/BG2 record screen, your eye has to sweep over it to get from useful info on the right to useful info on the left.
Merging some buttons should be possible, but for the last concept to work visually best, three rows of buttons on the right would have to be kept. Also, it's not easy to replace middle column information with something else, because the text has to be centered there.
Plus, I don't see the class/level information info in the tabs list as much of a problem really, because the player won't be going to other tabs all that much.
hope i'm not derailing anything, I just wanted to suggest scaleable right-side portrait bar in the main view. or at least bigger portraits.
like i said in the other thread, i think the portrait bar is too small with unscaled UI (can hardly distinguish NPCs at a glance, status icons are hardly visible etc.)
You are right there @trinit - trying to see the status effects on a non-scaled interface is next to impossible. The only issue I would see would be if people had optimised their portraits to be a specific dimension and the upscaling impacts that. That said, if there was an option to make the portraits on the right sidebar larger that could be toggled on/off - I think it would be ideal for everyone - and people could then choose what suits them best.
So something like:
Scaled
Non-Scaled
Small Portraits
Large Portraits
Scaled wouldn't need larger portraits as they already are maximised for that option.
Here's one with three tabs. Overview would contain Class/level, Status effects, General Info, Skills, Proficiencies, Ability bonuses and Resistances. Background would contain biography and class description, statistics would stay same.
Comments
If devs prefer current implementation at least externalize all of this into UI.MENU, so we can adjust it with mods. Currently there is no way to change how the map worldmap looks via LUA code.
That huge empty space below BG2:EE worldmap also deserves to be fixed.
For those who are curious, I'm using Affinity Designer for these mock-ups. It's a great tool for wireframe UI design, and significantly cheaper than Illustrator or Photoshop.
(And for those who are wondering why my mock-ups look way worse than Pecca's, it's because:
A. I don't have the digital art skill to do what Pecca does, and
B. I find it easier to start with the skeleton and add detail later, especially when I'm still moving things around.)
Overview
Class / Skills
Stats / Bio
However, I suppose it depends on how you actually use the record screen, which varies person-to-person of course, and if it remembers your previous view when opening/closing or defaults to overview each time.
But yeah, five buttons is a pain.
It has the portrait on the left, which I like. The portrait is the least used bit of information on the record screen. Once you've confirmed that you have the right character, it's basically "dead space" on the screen. When it's in the center column in the BG1/BG2 record screen, your eye has to sweep over it to get from useful info on the right to useful info on the left.
Plus, I don't see the class/level information info in the tabs list as much of a problem really, because the player won't be going to other tabs all that much.
like i said in the other thread, i think the portrait bar is too small with unscaled UI (can hardly distinguish NPCs at a glance, status icons are hardly visible etc.)
So something like:
- Scaled
- Non-Scaled
- Small Portraits
- Large Portraits
Scaled wouldn't need larger portraits as they already are maximised for that option.