I haven't noticed this before, but the SoD skin is really lacking in 'materials'. While BG2 has the clay-looking stuff, the bone/ivory ornamentation, the darker eggshell-like backgrounds, and even some wood here and there, SoD pretty much uses the same 'dried lava' texture for all the backgrounds. This leads to some serious lack of options when trying to make boxes and whatnot. Not quite ideal for what we're trying to do here.
The layout of the 2.3 SoD inventory is also somewhat different from the BG2 one.
I think the final blueprint that will be suggested on Redmine should have the width of the big window with stats details the same as in Pecca's above image rather than being narrower like in those BG2 drafts. It looks better, imo. Maybe also slots placed as above (from what I see Pecca moved them a little to line up more esthetically) if all skins art needs to be redone either way in order to work with common UI.MENU, although it's a minor detail. Other than this I agree that the blueprint is pretty much perfect. It's amazing that for the last few pages no one voiced disagreement for the base design. It indeed seems to be working regardless of the skin.
Also, if it feels wrong to vertically align the personal inventory with the ground inventory, adding a title such as personal to the personal inventory could help, though it doesn't feel very organic.
I'd like to keep some space in between the textbox and the icons to the left, to keep it as a separate area.
I still don't think we decided on the formatting of the Item Comparison text.
My current suggestion (based around the idea that scrolling while dragging an item around will be annoying):
I think it would be nice to include the item's basic properties as well, but this would seriously increase the likelyhood that scrolling will be required:
My understanding is that our current suggestion is to switch the ground items to use a scroll bar (except on tablets), essentially doing away with the page system.
Also, if it feels wrong to vertically align the personal inventory with the ground inventory, adding a title such as personal to the personal inventory could help, though it doesn't feel very organic.
People wanted to align the ground slots with the inventory slots vertically, and while initially I was against it, after doing it I too think it looks less discordant this way. We added the ground title background in order to try to differentiate between the two areas. Any suggestions you have for improvement are, of course, welcome.
I still don't think we decided on the formatting of the Item Comparison text.
We haven't yet, and I think I'll leave it to everyone else to try to come up with the best solution there. (I'm planning to turn it off, most likely.) Changes to the comparison text probably won't change the layout though, so I think we can proceed with the art mockups regardless.
Hmm, even if we use scrollbars, it would be nice to know how much stuff there is. Besides, tablets would still use page numbers.
I personally feel that the scroll bar would be too short to be effective, and I'd be happy with up/down or left right arrows, along with page numbers, though I could just be alone in that.
Yes, I think we can make a separate blueprint for the page/button version, and include it in the report as an alternative for tablets and for desktops if the scroll bar isn't feasible.
Finished the SoD draft. As always, any extra ornamentation I added (there's some in the header) is just placeholder for the actual artists to come up with something nice to put there.
SoD draft:
For reference, BG2 draft:
Current blueprint:
Edit: Oops, forgot to change the color of the stat icons. Fixed.
I can attest to the fact that the short scroll bars have worked great in ver. 1.3 for some time. They are used in the ground inventory on the main screen with the same two box tall setup.
@Thels I guess this is another example of why toggles are a good idea. I’ve never had any trouble with the scroll bar and never use the quick loot option. The buttons used in the current patch drive me crazy.
The green circle area is a 'gap' in ornamentation (the one I mentioned earlier) and I think that there is an opportunity to improve the look in that area. The orange area has a double red border, I'd suggest to have it as a single border.
I don't expect you to make these changes as they are just comments for note to go with the final drafts in our request.
@Mr2150 Good point about the gap, I'll see if I can find something to plug it with.
I tried both a single and double border as the separator (there's nothing there in the original), and IMO the double looks better, but I'll be sure to upload a picture of the other one, as I have kept it.
Personally, I think his double with the little spike in it looks better, but I have no horse in this race as I will use the BGII screen if given the chance. I just think it helps with ornamentation.
For me, the double border on the right is because the bottom section with the slots 'meets' the stat text box. There is no similar 'meeting' on the left hence my preference for a single border. Also, if you have a double border approach, it then 'meets' the PAUSED text box.... which makes it a 'triple border' and look too heavy.
Comments
The layout of the 2.3 SoD inventory is also somewhat different from the BG2 one.
I got the feeling that was never the intention, but rather the other way around. Of course I could be wrong.
Also, if it feels wrong to vertically align the personal inventory with the ground inventory, adding a title such as personal to the personal inventory could help, though it doesn't feel very organic.
I'd like to keep some space in between the textbox and the icons to the left, to keep it as a separate area.
I still don't think we decided on the formatting of the Item Comparison text.
My current suggestion (based around the idea that scrolling while dragging an item around will be annoying):
[Header: Equip to mainhand]
THAC0: 17 (+1) [in green]
Damage: 1d8+6 (+1) [in green]
[Header: Equip to offhand]
Armor Class: 6 (-1) [in red]
Mainhand THAC0: 22 (-4) [in red]
Offhand THAC0: 25 [in white]
Offhand Damage: 1d8+6 [in white]
Attacks Per Round: 5/2 [in green]
I think it would be nice to include the item's basic properties as well, but this would seriously increase the likelyhood that scrolling will be required:
THAC0: +1
Damage: 1d8+1
Speed Factor: 4
Proficiency Type: Long Sword
Type: One-handed
[Header: Equip to mainhand]
THAC0: 17 (+1) [in green]
Damage: 1d8+6 (+1) [in green]
[Header: Equip to offhand]
Armor Class: 6 (-1) [in red]
Mainhand THAC0: 22 (-4) [in red]
Offhand THAC0: 25 [in white]
Offhand Damage: 1d8+6 [in white]
Attacks Per Round: 5/2 [in green]
I personally feel that the scroll bar would be too short to be effective, and I'd be happy with up/down or left right arrows, along with page numbers, though I could just be alone in that.
SoD draft:
For reference, BG2 draft:
Current blueprint:
Edit: Oops, forgot to change the color of the stat icons. Fixed.
@Ravenslight: That always sort of bothered me in 1.3 as well. It was too tiny to work properly with if there were several pages.
I guess this is another example of why toggles are a good idea. I’ve never had any trouble with the scroll bar and never use the quick loot option. The buttons used in the current patch drive me crazy.
Amazing job, well done.
I would only have two tweaks for the SOD version.
The green circle area is a 'gap' in ornamentation (the one I mentioned earlier) and I think that there is an opportunity to improve the look in that area.
The orange area has a double red border, I'd suggest to have it as a single border.
I don't expect you to make these changes as they are just comments for note to go with the final drafts in our request.
Edit: It kind of matches the left hand edge of the screen.
I tried both a single and double border as the separator (there's nothing there in the original), and IMO the double looks better, but I'll be sure to upload a picture of the other one, as I have kept it.
Here's the one with the double divider:
I've removed the redness from both. Also added more ornamentation in the top left corner.
For me, the double border on the right is because the bottom section with the slots 'meets' the stat text box. There is no similar 'meeting' on the left hence my preference for a single border. Also, if you have a double border approach, it then 'meets' the PAUSED text box.... which makes it a 'triple border' and look too heavy.
Under the pause box my eyes see a separation. But then everyone perceives things a bit differently.