Character Screen

Ismaul · Jan 30, 2007

Elhoim said:
Interesting proposition Ismaul, I will borrow some ideas from it

That was the idea.

Elhoim said:
The bounding boxes for the skill numbers are shit too. Use imagination. What about a rock/brick with the number ingraved in them?

Click to expand...

Remember that those numbers arenÂ´t static, and they are rendered by simple text in game. I can engrave them in PS, but it wonÂ´t work ingame.

You got a point. I didn't think about that. But forget the text, the frames can still be improved, and my rock suggestion still holds.

Apart from that, I think I made an error chosing the brick style from the alchemy screen, since you seem to be going for a marble one. For consistency, it might be better to replace the brick style "bounding boxes" with the marble style ones from the inventory screen.

I'll try something else when I get time.

serch · Jan 30, 2007

Looking at those wonderful character screens I've realized there's no mad greek brawling skill or something. How does an AoD character fight if caught unarmed?

Vault Dweller · Jan 30, 2007

He doesn't. He runs away or dies with honor (teh role-playing!).

Cool interface ideas, btw.

Claw · Jan 30, 2007

Wild Slop said:
Unless those 3 skills have a "synergy" ability

Obviously not.

I think it would be best to group them in line with the other general skills.

For any good reason?*

* I decide if the reason is good.**

** It isn't.

Elhoim · Jan 30, 2007

I agree, I like them where they are now, with the combat skills but separated a little.

Excelent suggestion, Claw

Claw · Jan 30, 2007

I know. :wink:

PS: And it only took months of bitching about it and one or two people agreeing for it to not be ignored anymore. Yay!

Elhoim said:
Interesting proposition Ismaul, I will borrow some ideas from it

I like his changes too, although not so much your version he based it on. You should make it look as neat and orderly as your previous version but try to seperate the sections like he did.

I don't think it's necessary to align the skill values of the last three combat skills with those of the weapon skills, though.
I'm not sure if you favour keeping your background or use marble, but in the latter case you might consider keeping your background for the inside of the boxes.

Thrym · Jan 31, 2007

I'm just now noticing, but no luck stat? I just assumed it would be there, and it's always been a really cool stat, at least if implemented with just a little bit of thought.

Claw · Jan 31, 2007

All the cool stats are in TES.

Elhoim · Feb 1, 2007

A new WIP:

Ismaul · Feb 1, 2007

I was going to do that. :lol:

I find the placement of the + boxes wierd. Since the - only comes up when the skill is selected, I'd rather have the + boxes adjacent to their skill boxes, as I did in my version.

And I'd work on the bounding boxes for numbers in general. You'd definitely gain something by giving them more style, especially in the main stats area. Now it feels unnatural, and somehow you get to see more frames than numbers, whish is not a bad thing per se, but in this specific case it's lowering clarity. The frames stick out more than the numbers, obviously because the numbers are flat and the frames are embossed. What about making them a light ingraving instead?

If you're not gonna have esthetics, at least have clarity.

Elhoim · Feb 1, 2007

I think the - comes up not when selected but when you have placed some skill points in them.

About the number boxes, I will do something about them. I still donÂ´t know what, tough...

Dementia Praecox · Feb 1, 2007

Fantastic! It's waay better now. However, that horizontal wooden beam between the stats and the descriptions looks a bit out of place. Perhaps better if it was made of stone? It doesn't harmonize well with the stone at the top of the screen and in the main GUI. Or how about it not being there at all?

Edit: I understand Ismauls criticism of the frames around the numbers, but still, I kinda like them as they are now.

Vault Dweller · Feb 1, 2007

Absolutely fucking awesome. It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

Jasede · Feb 1, 2007

I should tell that your wife.

Dementia Praecox · Feb 1, 2007

Vault Dweller said:
Absolutely fucking awesome. It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

Looks like the competition is pretty much DEAD! :lol:

Not that I mind any more, with a firm helping hand form the codex-community I think Elhoim will deliver exactly what AoD needs.

Elhoim · Feb 1, 2007

Vault Dweller said:
Absolutely fucking awesome. It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

I donÂ´t know, it doesnÂ´t look extreme enough for a 2007 game...

PS: Great interview! :lol:

Joff1981 · Feb 1, 2007

Regarding +/- buttons, would it not be better to have the + on the right of the number box where the - would be and move the - to the left hand side of the number box? Obviously you'd have to move the number box across more, but without both + and - on the right it won't be a problem. This way it doesn't look like there's something missing on the 90% of occasions that the - button isn't visible.

Elhoim · Feb 1, 2007

Dementia Praecox said:
Vault Dweller said:

Absolutely fucking awesome. It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

Click to expand...

Looks like the competition is pretty much DEAD!

Not that I mind any more, with a firm helping hand form the codex-community I think Elhoim will deliver exactly what AoD needs.

I wonder what kind of job Android has that takes so much of his time...

I have a full time job, and IÂ´m working on this and on unit texturing for Rome: Total Realism, and still I have free time left for playing games AND having a social life...

Anyway, whenever he comes back he still has a place waiting for his GUI.

Claw · Feb 1, 2007

Elhoim said:
About the number boxes, I will do something about them. I still donÂ´t know what, tough...

Why? I don't see anything wrong with them. There are other interface screens to work at, if you know what I mean.

Joff1981 said:
Regarding +/- buttons, would it not be better to have the + on the right of the number box where the - would be and move the - to the left hand side of the number box?

I agree with that. And since the "-" only appears after putting points into a stat and presumably disappears as soon as you close the character screen, I don't even see a dire need to move the number box. There is enough space for the "-" on the left.

Ismaul · Feb 1, 2007

Joff1981 said:
Regarding +/- buttons, would it not be better to have the + on the right of the number box where the - would be and move the - to the left hand side of the number box?

I think we have a winner.

Oh! I forgot to mention that in this screen we no longer have a way to know that the second numbers near the combat skills are synergies. Having another title would be unesthetic in the current design, and move all the skills down. What about writing "synergies" vertically on the right side of the synergy frames? Or an abbreviation. Or something.

Elhoim · Feb 1, 2007

Oh! I forgot to mention that in this screen we no longer have a way to know that the second numbers near the combat skills are synergies. Having another title would be unesthetic in the current design, and move all the skills down. What about writing "synergies" vertically on the right side of the synergy frames? Or an abbreviation. Or something.

I also tought about the same thing, and came to the conclusion that a tooltip would be the best solution. You only need to know what it is only once, and using screen space just for that seems like a waste of it.

IÂ´ll see if it looks OK vertically tough...

suibhne · Feb 1, 2007

Elhoim said:
I also tought about the same thing, and came to the conclusion that a tooltip would be the best solution. You only need to know what it is only once, and using screen space just for that seems like a waste of it.

Respectfully disagrizzle. Sort of.

Synergies will be important all the time, in that I want to always be able to see my current skill levels and have some idea of how they're constituted. How about this: skill ranks with a synergy bonus or other bonus are colored differently, and you can mouse over them for the tooltip with a full breakdown of the rank (including all bonuses from equipment, synergies, etc.)? (Uncolored skill ranks will be skills where you have no bonuses, and a tooltip will either not pop up or won't show you anything interesting.)

Elhoim · Feb 2, 2007

We are talking about the label, not the actual synergies, if thatÂ´s what you understood.

Relien · Feb 2, 2007

Ismaul said:
Joff1981 said:

Regarding +/- buttons, would it not be better to have the + on the right of the number box where the - would be and move the - to the left hand side of the number box?

Click to expand...

I think we have a winner.

I have to disagree with that. There actually exists something like a "mouse movement laziness" if it's connected with actions you could do often - like tweaking skill point increases during levelling up. It would be more convenient to have the "+"/"-" buttons next to each other. Just keep the "+" on the right of the number box and eventually display "-" right next to it.

Elhoim · Feb 2, 2007

A new WIP for your pleasure. Inverted the plus and minus buttons and changed the number boxes.

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