Pillars of Eternity Beta Discussion [GAME RELEASED, GO TO NEW THREAD]

[poetic codex]

^Infinity Engine's UI transitions were so seamless, you kind of forgot it was there, which is the best thing you could say about it. So let me get this straight...they funded the game using our nostalgia for the Infinity Engine, in order to make a game where they try to depart as much as possible from what made the IE games so great? Does not compute.

 

[Sensuki]

Your version definitely solves some problems, but IMO not all of them.

Absolutely my friend. I am however keeping my reworks inside Obsidian's constraints. Josh will not split the UI up like in the BG games unfortunately.

Your point about abilities is a good one, but I think they can solve that by just having the action bar of the unit selected show up when selected.

 

[Sensuki]

Expert UI Designer "Mayama" who does not like my UI suggestions and wants to remove the combat log from the game thinks radial menus are the way to go: http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/68035-placement-of-the-skill-bar-and-mouse-movement/

 

[FeelTheRads]

NWN2 didn't have a radial menu, did it?
NWN1 did, though, at it was the worst of all.

POR:RoMD had a decent right-click menu. I think right-click menus can be good. Just don't make them radial.

 

[Infinitron]

A context-sensitive-style UI would be an interesting thing to try to add in an expansion or something, but it's probably too much of an overhaul of the game's original UI concept to consider adding right now.

 

[Abu Antar]

AN UI Baldur's gate II style is the only thing I wanted. I even made a shitty mock up and posted it on their forum a few months ago. If not that, let me move around the UI elements how I want. I want my combat log in the middle the way it is now.

 

[Rake]

Hopefuly mods will fix it.
I swear, not a single designer in this fucking intustry knows how to design a good game UI.

 

[MicoSelva]

The 'combat log on the right' fad must die right now. Wasteland 2, D:OS, PoE - all these games are guilty of this. What the fuck?
What was wrong with the log being in the middle?

I would also accept it on the left side:

 

[Sensuki]

probably because they all use iPhones and shit.

Windows XP (7 made some improvements) is pretty much the ultimate UI design for an OS - I can't even believe they considered getting rid of the start bar ROFL. Fucking clueless idiots.

The good thing about WL2 is you can move the UI, so I moved the log to the left when I played.

All brainwashed by Apple.

 

[Once more unto the Codex]

probably because they all use iPhones and shit.

Windows XP (7 made some improvements) is pretty much the ultimate UI design for an OS - I can't even believe they considered getting rid of the start bar ROFL. Fucking clueless idiots.

The good thing about WL2 is you can move the UI, so I moved the log to the left when I played.

All brainwashed by Apple.

Huh? What does apple's designs have to do with the price of tea in China?

 

[made]

What's funny is that today's designers take all kinds of ideas from WoW, ranging from quests and loot to combat abilities - why can't they copy what was probably the game's best feature: a fully customizable, LUA-based UI?

 

[Infinitron]

Funny that you say that. Wasteland 2's customizable UI was explicitly influenced by WoW.

(Most) Codexers don't want customizable, they want SOLID.

 

[Sensuki]

http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/68039-sensukis-suggestions-014-non-terrible-inventory-mockup/

 

[Infinitron]

lol at Witcher quest items inventory

Also what about mah wizard and his scrolls?

 

[made]

(Most) Codexers don't want customizable, they want SOLID.

Most of the time they get neither.

Nice to hear about Wasteland 2 though. When I pick it up in a year or two there should be a plethora of UI mods to choose from.

 

[felipepepe]

Items should be bigger. They use the same 40x40 icon size of the IE games, but at the time we had 640x480 resolutions... 800x600 at most. Resolutions has more than doubled since, a 40x40 icon is minuscule at 1920x1080.

20/20 vision people should check their privilege.

 

[Infinitron]

My reaction to Sensuki's inventory on the Obsidian forums: http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/68039-sensukis-suggestions-014-non-terrible-inventory-mockup/

This seems like a case of throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Here's what needs to be done first:

1) Improve the presentation of the Stash. Integrate it with the main window instead of making it a tiny pathetic separate window thingie like the Bags of Holding in NWN.

2) Make the per-character inventories larger if necessary. Or at least redesign them so that they're not obviously smaller than what was originally intended, which makes people feel like they're being ripped off.

Then, after you've tried that, decide if any further streamlining is necessary.

 

[Sensuki]

Items should be bigger. They use the same 40x40 icon size of the IE games, but at the time we had 640x480 resolutions... 800x600 at most. Resolutions has more than doubled since, a 40x40 icon is minuscule at 1920x1080.

20/20 vision people should check their privilege.

They would be bigger if the inventory scaled with resolution, but it doesn't. Item sizes are good if you run the game at 720p.

 

[Mystary!]

Considering that the racial and cultural bonuses are pretty minor (+1/+2) and you get 57(?) starting points they're basically drops in the ocean.
Give us 10 starting points - like in Fallout - and maybe the stats would actually feel significant. Granted they would need to have greater scaling than now.

 

[Sensuki]

They need to revamp the point buy most likely to make the bonuses from culture and race worth more than a point from the point pool.

Racial limitations would matter if the Attribute numbers were not IE (and more like Fallout), but they are.

 

[MicoSelva]

More like they should alter racial and cultural bonuses so they do not tie into the point-buy system.
Alternatively, race should provide both a bonus and a malus (basically a minmaxing aid), D&D style.

 

[Sensuki]

Instead of +2 Strength as Aumaua, give them +4% Damage and Healing or whatever outside of the attribute system?

 

[Mystary!]

Just have the starting stats at 5, give us 5-10 points to distribute +1-2 from race/culture (or other bonuses.)
57 is unnecessary stat inflation, and the only reason is "IE had it".

 

[Sensuki]

It used to be less points, but the attribute arrays looked incredibly shit, it was like:

10, 10, 10, 14, 10, 14

I (and others) asked for more and we got more.

 

[Mystary!]

18, 3, 3, 3, 18, 3 is better?
I'd prefer 8, 3, 3, 3, 8, 3.