Epic Frontiers' beta GUI
by Ted Southard · 05/27/2009 (11:58 am) · 10 comments
I figured I'd work through some scriptor's-block with a blog...
The last two weeks has seen me working on the new GUI for Epic Frontiers. Born from a design meeting with my two other designers, we've agreed on a fairly interesting design for the interface. The main philosophy that we have is to enable the player to access information quickly while also having most of it hidden during most gameplay. Also, we felt that the GUI should be changed from the normal MMO GUI which inhabits the corners of the screen to something that is moved more into the players' line of site. The reasoning behind this is that it can feel awkward to shift your gaze too far during a critical situation, and by rearranging the GUI so that more elements are central, we help alleviate that somewhat.
We also felt that we could use "modes" instead of windows for combat, inventory/crafting, and NPC conversation, since those actions would not usually be happening in parallel. When we implement chat, it will probably remain in the same area as all other MMOs have it now, unless we think of a better idea that can be tested.
In any event, here's the Combat GUI, in all its circular glory:
Here is the slightly incomplete Inventory and Crafting GUI:
And the Soft Skills GUI which consists of Interrogative and manipulative skills:
The GUI revolves around the Action Hub (below), which has three buttons in the center: Red for Combat, Green for Inventory, and Blue for Soft Skills. Clicking these buttons changes the top one to reflect whichever GUI is active, and rotates the bottom buttons to keep the clockwise RGB pattern. The outer part of the hub is the Action Disc, which changes to present options for the GUI to the player, such as sorting actions for Ranged, Melee, or Magic types, as figured in the Combat Disc below:
The GUI also merges the 6-7 separate .gui files consisting of 8000+ lines of script into one 4000+ line playGui.gui file, which is longer but a bit more manageable for me. A lot of generalized functions, dynamic naming, and nifty lessons learned were applied to this to make it work, including functions that make some GuiDragAndDropControls behave differently depending on the prefix of the name of the control being dragged onto it (sometimes it just swaps the information from the control dropped on it, other times it takes the information in a slightly different manner), and the Disc that's "active" at the time.
Tonight's dev meeting will focus primarily on feedback for the GUI (we do have some lingering questions, but also enough work done for those in order to answer them), as well as pushing forward with concepts and content ideas.
For content, we're nearing "Phase Three" of fleshing out the history, lore, and cultures of the planet of Chi'Hamak. There's a tremendous amount of background information that we're developing such as holidays, history (even to the point of a common year system to match up the distinct cultural year systems being used by some), ways of speaking- for dialog, different cultures will have sayings and ways of talking that can give the text a good amount of flavor. The guys are also waiting on me to get the tools done for them to start pumping items, materials, recipes, and dialog into the system for testing- which will be done by about 5-6 hardcore WoW players who represent several different play styles for our Alpha stage, which will commence once the GUI is done and I set up the dedicated server.
All in all, I think we've progressed further than 75% of the Indie MMO projects out there: Most Indie MMOs don't make it further than the "announcement posting", and then more are destroyed by the sheer work that goes into creating the systems (because most people simply don't realize what goes into these games), or team-management dynamics that go horribly wrong. Those that make it to the point of having most of their gameplay done, content or not, are in a better position than most, as content can be added and concentrated on at this point, and hype made. And those who survive the massive push for content and get into Beta testing usually launch- and after that, I figure about 10-20% of all MMOs make profit, while the rest slowly fail. But hey, it's a launched MMO under your belt, and larger companies with more resources have failed at earlier stages than some Indies have gotten to with their puny shoestring budgets...
The last two weeks has seen me working on the new GUI for Epic Frontiers. Born from a design meeting with my two other designers, we've agreed on a fairly interesting design for the interface. The main philosophy that we have is to enable the player to access information quickly while also having most of it hidden during most gameplay. Also, we felt that the GUI should be changed from the normal MMO GUI which inhabits the corners of the screen to something that is moved more into the players' line of site. The reasoning behind this is that it can feel awkward to shift your gaze too far during a critical situation, and by rearranging the GUI so that more elements are central, we help alleviate that somewhat.
We also felt that we could use "modes" instead of windows for combat, inventory/crafting, and NPC conversation, since those actions would not usually be happening in parallel. When we implement chat, it will probably remain in the same area as all other MMOs have it now, unless we think of a better idea that can be tested.
In any event, here's the Combat GUI, in all its circular glory:
Here is the slightly incomplete Inventory and Crafting GUI:
And the Soft Skills GUI which consists of Interrogative and manipulative skills:
The GUI revolves around the Action Hub (below), which has three buttons in the center: Red for Combat, Green for Inventory, and Blue for Soft Skills. Clicking these buttons changes the top one to reflect whichever GUI is active, and rotates the bottom buttons to keep the clockwise RGB pattern. The outer part of the hub is the Action Disc, which changes to present options for the GUI to the player, such as sorting actions for Ranged, Melee, or Magic types, as figured in the Combat Disc below:
The GUI also merges the 6-7 separate .gui files consisting of 8000+ lines of script into one 4000+ line playGui.gui file, which is longer but a bit more manageable for me. A lot of generalized functions, dynamic naming, and nifty lessons learned were applied to this to make it work, including functions that make some GuiDragAndDropControls behave differently depending on the prefix of the name of the control being dragged onto it (sometimes it just swaps the information from the control dropped on it, other times it takes the information in a slightly different manner), and the Disc that's "active" at the time.
Tonight's dev meeting will focus primarily on feedback for the GUI (we do have some lingering questions, but also enough work done for those in order to answer them), as well as pushing forward with concepts and content ideas.
For content, we're nearing "Phase Three" of fleshing out the history, lore, and cultures of the planet of Chi'Hamak. There's a tremendous amount of background information that we're developing such as holidays, history (even to the point of a common year system to match up the distinct cultural year systems being used by some), ways of speaking- for dialog, different cultures will have sayings and ways of talking that can give the text a good amount of flavor. The guys are also waiting on me to get the tools done for them to start pumping items, materials, recipes, and dialog into the system for testing- which will be done by about 5-6 hardcore WoW players who represent several different play styles for our Alpha stage, which will commence once the GUI is done and I set up the dedicated server.
All in all, I think we've progressed further than 75% of the Indie MMO projects out there: Most Indie MMOs don't make it further than the "announcement posting", and then more are destroyed by the sheer work that goes into creating the systems (because most people simply don't realize what goes into these games), or team-management dynamics that go horribly wrong. Those that make it to the point of having most of their gameplay done, content or not, are in a better position than most, as content can be added and concentrated on at this point, and hype made. And those who survive the massive push for content and get into Beta testing usually launch- and after that, I figure about 10-20% of all MMOs make profit, while the rest slowly fail. But hey, it's a launched MMO under your belt, and larger companies with more resources have failed at earlier stages than some Indies have gotten to with their puny shoestring budgets...
About the author
Started with indie games over a decade ago, and now creates tools and tech for games. Currently working as a contractor for startups and game studios.
#2
Also, I should point out to everyone that the minimap at the top needs some render-to-texture work in order to fit inside its frame properly, but I'm leaving that for later (tried it the other day and decided I have more pressing issues).
05/27/2009 (1:38 pm)
@Tony: Thanks, it's going well enough that I'm waiting for anvils to start falling out of the sky ;)Also, I should point out to everyone that the minimap at the top needs some render-to-texture work in order to fit inside its frame properly, but I'm leaving that for later (tried it the other day and decided I have more pressing issues).
#3
Is it a bit small? I know MMO HUDs can get awfully screen filling awfully fast but ... The 3 slices look like it might be easy to hit the wrong button ... mind you, I am looking at a reduced image of course.
Did you do a greyscale test to make sure that the 3 colours are different tones and thus don't look the same if you're eyes are bad with colours?
As an image/element it is rather nice though.
05/27/2009 (2:17 pm)
Your circular loveliness...Is it a bit small? I know MMO HUDs can get awfully screen filling awfully fast but ... The 3 slices look like it might be easy to hit the wrong button ... mind you, I am looking at a reduced image of course.
Did you do a greyscale test to make sure that the 3 colours are different tones and thus don't look the same if you're eyes are bad with colours?
As an image/element it is rather nice though.
#4
05/27/2009 (2:19 pm)
Thanks your blog has been very informative, will love to see Epic Frontiers in action. 
#5
05/27/2009 (5:23 pm)
Great work so far Ted and keep it up!
#6
@Everyone: Thanks for the feedback!
Oh, and I replaced the crappy semi-transparent backings with snazzier window-looking ones:
And with the feedback from tonight's dev meeting, it looks like the buttons might get a redesign. We're looking to try to get them to display a quick-glance measure of how much endurance/focus/time an action may take, which necessitates an icon backing or possibly a new button layout. Also, the bars at the top may change for an addition of a timer bar to accommodate our action/cooldown timers (which I actually forgot about until they reminded me tonight, lol). On top of the changes, there's probably a dozen or two additions to the GUI as well- enough to keep me busy for another month of hard work.
05/27/2009 (8:32 pm)
@Steve: Good points. I thought about the slices of the disc being too thin, and it's sort of borderline, so they might actually expand. As for the tones... I didn't think of that at all. Thanks for the heads-up :)@Everyone: Thanks for the feedback!
Oh, and I replaced the crappy semi-transparent backings with snazzier window-looking ones:
And with the feedback from tonight's dev meeting, it looks like the buttons might get a redesign. We're looking to try to get them to display a quick-glance measure of how much endurance/focus/time an action may take, which necessitates an icon backing or possibly a new button layout. Also, the bars at the top may change for an addition of a timer bar to accommodate our action/cooldown timers (which I actually forgot about until they reminded me tonight, lol). On top of the changes, there's probably a dozen or two additions to the GUI as well- enough to keep me busy for another month of hard work.
#7
And I definitely think your going in a good direction with the newer transparent gui background/borders!
About the colors on the wheel: the red & green wedges look the same to me when looking only at those two colors. Yet I can differentiate between them when looking at the blue wedge. I do have a rare form of colorblindness though.... just thought you might like to know ;) Maybe you could add some sort of glyph or highlight to aid those who are color-perceptually challenged, but you shouldn't let it detract from the control itself.
05/27/2009 (10:23 pm)
Cool! I like the circle control thing. I was actually messing around with a + shpaed control sort of like that... but I think the circle and color wedges is more pleasing to the eye. And I definitely think your going in a good direction with the newer transparent gui background/borders!
About the colors on the wheel: the red & green wedges look the same to me when looking only at those two colors. Yet I can differentiate between them when looking at the blue wedge. I do have a rare form of colorblindness though.... just thought you might like to know ;) Maybe you could add some sort of glyph or highlight to aid those who are color-perceptually challenged, but you shouldn't let it detract from the control itself.
#8
05/28/2009 (2:03 pm)
Nice upgrade! That's definitely a whole lot cleaner and professional looking.
#9
Thanks. I'm a big fan of "non-standard" GUIs. The problem, like the rest of an MMO, is that people forgot why things were done the way they were and assume that that's the way they need to be done.
And yeah, I'm probably throwing glyphs at the buttons in the hub, but only once we've decided whether or not to add a fourth button to it (for the Social/Guild disc), otherwise I'll have a psychotic break from constantly redoing buttons. So far, I think I've given away about 3 GUIs worth of icons, buttons, and general GUI art (well, once the last revision of GUI stuff is put up as a resource).
I should probably throw together a nice shiny GUI pack to make a few bucks ;)
05/28/2009 (4:02 pm)
Quote:Cool! I like the circle control thing. I was actually messing around with a + shpaed control sort of like that... but I think the circle and color wedges is more pleasing to the eye.
Thanks. I'm a big fan of "non-standard" GUIs. The problem, like the rest of an MMO, is that people forgot why things were done the way they were and assume that that's the way they need to be done.
And yeah, I'm probably throwing glyphs at the buttons in the hub, but only once we've decided whether or not to add a fourth button to it (for the Social/Guild disc), otherwise I'll have a psychotic break from constantly redoing buttons. So far, I think I've given away about 3 GUIs worth of icons, buttons, and general GUI art (well, once the last revision of GUI stuff is put up as a resource).
I should probably throw together a nice shiny GUI pack to make a few bucks ;)
Torque 3D Owner Tony Richards