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New UI is a step back

SliceofhellSliceofhell Member Posts: 85
edited November 2013 in General Discussion (Spoiler Warning!)
It is incredibly annoying. You can't see when the ability is ready again.

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Post edited by Sliceofhell on
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Comments

  • RiduyRiduy Member Posts: 6
    I must concur, the loss of contrast is killing me, literally, on my Shadowdancer, especially after 1.2
  • ChildofBhaal599ChildofBhaal599 Member Posts: 1,781
    Yeah I thought the same hope it is fixed soon
  • SliceofhellSliceofhell Member Posts: 85
    @Sylvus_Moonbow they've implemented the same new UI in BGEE with 1.2. If you look carefully you can notice that the border around buttons is in different color.
  • Syntia13Syntia13 Member Posts: 514
    @aVENGER
    aVENGER said:

    @Sliceofhell This is being looked into.

    Oh, does it mean it will be fixed in BG1 too? Ever since the patch, playing my assassin is killing me. ;P
    Seriously though, not being able to tell if the icon is active or not is bothersome, I hope next patch will bring back some contrast to BG1:EE UI.

  • AlexTAlexT Member Posts: 760
    @Syntia13 eventually, yes.
  • SchneidendSchneidend Member Posts: 3,190
    Finally, a complaint that is actually a real problem. I agree that the new UI is not intuitive on the usable/not side of things.
  • Arsene_LupinArsene_Lupin Member Posts: 181
    Versus the BGEE UI, I think it's a step forward. I haven't had a problem with the low-contrast thing yet, though. Personally, I'm just glad there aren't any more BIG icon-sized gaps in the middle of the toolbar that make it painfully obvious Beamdog could have and should have added additional quick-use and quick-spell icons.
  • KaltzorKaltzor Member Posts: 1,050
    The lack of color in the bar kind of makes everything look unavailable...
  • ZarakinthishZarakinthish Member Posts: 214
    Judging by the screenshots, the only thing that changes between them is the border (with available abilities having a sand colored border and unavailable abilities having a grey border).
  • ZordrathZordrath Member Posts: 19
    edited November 2013
    Any insight into why this was even changed? What was wrong with the old, colored icons? I never thought they looked out of place, it just seems like an odd thing to change.
  • MungriMungri Member Posts: 1,645
    The entire UI was remade, so mistakes happened. The old effects wouldnt have been preserved.
  • Syntia13Syntia13 Member Posts: 514
    edited November 2013
    @Boozilla
    Boozilla said:

    Huh I thought I made that button inactive/active contrast more significant, thank you for the heads up. I will look into making it more defined.

    I think that the problem is not the level of contrast, but the fact that the action buttons don't 'lit up' at all. When I look at the side bars, it's easy to tell which icons are 'active':

    image

    But the icons on the bottom panel, the ones we need the most, are all 'dead'. If the inactive icons stayed the dark gray color, but the active ones were off-white like 'character record' and 'AI' buttons on the screencap above, I think that would be just enough.
  • BoozillaBoozilla Member Posts: 46
    Thank you for your input.
  • Syntia13Syntia13 Member Posts: 514
    ...and after the patch the bg2 UI is exactly like the newest BG1 UI, that is to say, the difference between active and inactive buttons is there, but it's barely perceptible. Come on guys. You CAN do it right. You already had. (*points two comments above*). Why don't you use the same lit/not lit coloring on the buttons that are actually essential for playing? Difference between dark gray and light gray is much easier to notice than difference between dark gray and dark brown.
  • WilburWilbur Member Posts: 1,173
    I'd say its five steps forward one step back.
  • Syntia13Syntia13 Member Posts: 514
    @Wilbur
    Wilbur said:

    I'd say its five steps forward one step back.

    Well, if it were my thread, I'd title it something like "One step back that sticks out like a sore thumb among all the step-forward goodness".
    But as I'm only a participant, all I can do is complain and complain about that one step back, that could be so easily* kicked into a leap forward. ;)

    * I assume that the look already used in sidebars could be easily implemented in the bottom bar. I could be dead wrong about it, as I don't know the first thing about programming.

  • RnRClownRnRClown Member Posts: 182
    I agree that it could benefit with a little more contrast between the two.

    When I have my display settings on 'Game Mode' or 'Movie Mode' I can spot the difference. In comparison the 'Eco' and 'Standard' settings provide more of a challenge. That said, it is more the outline of the icon - the square border - that signifies the change, from grey/white to the dull gold/brown. The icon itself - the skull or the stars - look effectively the same.
  • MungriMungri Member Posts: 1,645
    It would be great if they could light up like the side buttons do when active like @Syntia13 showed.
  • RyofuRyofu Member Posts: 268
    when the devs have time, could you also look into fixing the gaps in between some of the buttons? there is a very ugly rectangular gap between the 4th and 5th icon and the 8th and 9th icon. I thought at first it was a problem on my setup but seeing that picture i realized that more people have the same thing
  • MessiMessi Member Posts: 738
    Ryofu said:

    when the devs have time, could you also look into fixing the gaps in between some of the buttons? there is a very ugly rectangular gap between the 4th and 5th icon and the 8th and 9th icon. I thought at first it was a problem on my setup but seeing that picture i realized that more people have the same thing

    I think that's their way of making the UI fit widescreen resolutions. I agree though that it doesn't look very pretty.
  • PeccaPecca Member Posts: 2,228
    edited November 2013
    I think the gaps were there so the bottom bar buttons could be aligned the same way as the buttons on the keyboard that press them (F1-12). It's a design choice.

    As for the active/inactive buttons, there is a difference from the side bar buttons. When the bottom bar button is inactive, it gets automatically greyed out. It's hard-coded. Side bar buttons don't get inactive, they are grey by the artist's choice.
  • MungriMungri Member Posts: 1,645
    Is there also anyway that the thieving icon could go on the main bar and not in special abilities for cleric / thieves? Id rather have turn undead in special abilities instead and thieving on the hotbar.
  • RajickRajick Member Posts: 207
    I agree about this I need to know when my stealth is ready damn it. But the look and feel of it I love it's so much better the original imho
  • badbromancebadbromance Member Posts: 238
    edited November 2013
    aVENGER said:

    Mungri said:

    Is there also anyway that the thieving icon could go on the main bar and not in special abilities for cleric / thieves?

    We are looking into this.
    @Mungri, just set it as a hotkey (I use f) until it is changed.
    Works a treat for my cleric/thief
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