Magic & Mercenaries: The Curse of Eternal Darkness

[V_K]

I would move the bottom bar to in-between the viewport and the UI buttons, but otherwise I like the center look.

 

[ProphetSword]

I would move the bottom bar to in-between the viewport and the UI buttons, but otherwise I like the center look.

I was thinking something similar. I'm still sorting out how to make that bar look a little more dynamic, but this is where I am at the moment...

EDIT: You can see a larger version of this screenshot at the link below if you want a closer look at it:

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1vvoz8kf...lxVwwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screenshot+%2849%29.png

 

[V_K]

Looks great to me. To make it more dynamic, you could use the griffins to show some party-wide (de)buffs like in MM3-5 (if the game has those, of course).

 

[anvi]

I mean... it does look like a blobber. Portraits or not.

 

[ProphetSword]

I mean... it does look like a blobber. Portraits or not.

Then I guess you'll be excited to know that I had to go back to the original layout. Turns out that while it started off looking fine, it ended up causing a ton of issues.

* The backgrounds broke in some resolutions, making them completely unusable. No idea why.
* As a result of the above, I had to change how the backgrounds worked, and there wasn't any way to make them look good.
* The increased resolution made the walls look terrible in some cases. They weren't made for a view quite that large.
* As a result of going to 16:9 a lot of other screens broke, including the combat screen, which was built around a 4:3 aspect ratio.

The change in the layout also meant more work if I were to pursue it, including:

* Creating new backgrounds for the ones that no longer worked.
* Creating new portraits for characters where they weren't previously needed.
* Creating all new walls to account for the bigger viewscreen.
* Recreating nearly all the screens in the game to work in 16:9.

At this point, I'm glad I only wasted two days worth of work instead of the months it would take to get all this stuff working as expected. Truth is, I'd rather just press forward with content development than end up rebuilding whole sections of the game from scratch. Besides, even though I know some people liked it, the game felt less like a Gold-Box game and more like a Wizardry clone.

Thanks for all the feedback from those that gave it. I probably should have waited a bit longer before posting about it and getting people's hopes up.

 

[anvi]

I like the way it looks and I don't really care how it looks, I'm just saying people seeing it on Steam and thinking it is a blobber might complain. The only thing I'd care about with the look of it is to make the ui smaller. Something more like:

 

[ProphetSword]

I like the way it looks and I don't really care how it looks, I'm just saying people seeing it on Steam and thinking it is a blobber might complain. The only thing I'd care about with the look of it is to make the ui smaller.

I call it anvi-GUI:

 

[anvi]

Perfect, you brought it into the 90s.

 

[Stormcrowfleet]

When is this game coming out ? Or at least on Steam so we can wishlist etc. ? This game looks awesome. Love Goldbox style game.

 

[ProphetSword]

When it’s done.

 

[Lagi]

awesome!!!

I think I would prefer models instead portraits, because I would immediately know who is who in combat.
But portraits looks much better in terms of "immurision" and graphic quality. Maybe you could put both? there is enough space.

IMO there should be more information abut to party pictures, than Health,mana,armor. Maybe you could squeeze in there equipped items?

I could complain about lack of mini map always displayed. Im getting lost in each blobber I play.
Maybe you could change the vast black space at the bottom into a map? that would become back a message log, when something important pop up?

either version is a great improvement.

 

[anvi]

:D

 

[ProphetSword]

I guess I have a hard time letting things die. Instead, I decided to simply keep working with the new UI. The more I worked with it, the more problems I solved. The more problems I solved, the better the layout got, which lead to adding a few more advancements to the game.

Game now has a working compass graphic instead of just text. Skies now move instead of just remaining static (other tiles, like water, also move). I'm playing around again with the idea of putting torches in the game to make the day/night cycle and the dark dungeons a bit more realistic. The 3D window is now twice the size it was in the original layout and is in the center of the screen, which is quite comfortable to look at.

All of it is subject to change, of course. But, here's an animated GIF anyway...

I can still go back to the original layout at a moment's notice, but this is growing on me quite a lot. Not sold on the torches yet, though.

 

[The Red Knight]

It looks odd for playing with the map view IMHO.

 

[ProphetSword]

I'm not sure why you think that. Seems okay to me, especially in full screen mode...

 

[anvi]

You should make the UI bigger, I can still see some of the game world in that postage stamp middle part.

 

[anvi]

Here's a new version for you:

 

[Lagi]

Here's a new version for you:

hey, make this guy your graphic designer

 

[Lagi]

Can I play User Interface with you?

 

[Bad Sector]

So, basically just have a screen in the options with a UI editor so that anyone can make their own UIs :-P.

 

[ProphetSword]

I'm feeling like people don't really care for the new UI. As I said, I can easily go back to the old one. Just a matter of a single button click.

 

[ProphetSword]

I went back to the original layout.

I don't have time to fight with people over what's the right way to get the job done or how big certain windows are or whatever dumb thing they think that really doesn't matter when it comes to a CRPG. My original layout is similar to the Gold-Box games, which was intentional from the start. Those who get it and understand what I'm going for will like the game and those that don't can pass on it. Personally, I think some people have some really shallow criteria and I never should have let them get into my head to begin with.

 

[anvi]

Wait... I got into your head yet the UI only got bigger? How does that work? Gold-Box games looked like that because of technical limitations and it was the era of clueless UI design. It doesn't need to look anything like that now. Huge UI and small view of the world makes no sense unless you want it to look retro. And even then you can be retro and yet improve it at the same time. Or:

Grimoire has a small game window but there are tons of buttons and things in the UI so it sort of makes sense. That and it was designed 20 years ago.

 

[Alchemist]

I liked this one quite a bit, but I also like your original Gold-boxy layout equally as much. I think the original layout is more likely to appeal to the old-school Gold Box fans, and less likely to confuse blobber fans looking for the next Wizardry-like.

Do what you need to do to get the game you want to play done. After it's released you can always put out an "Enhanced" Edition to reel in the graphics whore "but muh immershun" crowd.

 

[ProphetSword]

Do what you need to do to get the game you want to play done. After it's released you can always put out an "Enhanced" Edition to reel in the graphics whore "but muh immershun" crowd.

The thing that some people don't understand is that I actually get a lot of feedback from people who like the Gold-Box look, especially when coupled with a game that will be similar in style. They don't give a damn about it being graphically trendy; because there are plenty of CRPGs out there that are flashy and modern. This one looks the way it does so that it feels like the kind of game it's trying to replicate. It's clear that some people won't ever understand that. I shouldn't have lost sight of my vision, so that's on me.