Possible UI changes?

[CeeAy]

I *MIGHT* take a stab at this. No promises, so don't hold your breath. Just something I read on SC2Mapster about custom layouts.

http://www.sc2mapster.com/media/attachment...out_Example.PNG

[Karawasa]

That would be sexy and much appreciated. I looked for a UI guy in the past but it seems not very many people do it (or were interested). I think a custom UI could help a lot, especially for capturing new players.

[CeeAy]

I'm assuming I can work in my own empty custom map and export the pieces. It shouldn't be that hard since it looks like a combination of PHP/XML/CSS type stuff.

[Karawasa]

I'm assuming I can work in my own empty custom map and export the pieces.

Indeed, you can.

[CeeAy]

Here is something you could do in the mean time while I figure this stuff out. Just so there is a different look to the UI:

http://www.curse.com/assets/sc2/dark-protoss-ui

[Karawasa]

Any updates regarding this? I am very interested in having a custom UI.

[Alevice]

Hi there,

I learned not long ago of Karawasa looking form someone to review the current UI of the map. I decided to fill in, and here are some of the considerations I have coming as a newbie to the map:

Accesible Unit Icons
In the same vein that it has been set for the Hero, I believe both the Worker and the Elemental Summoning Center should have its own Hero-like icons as well. This grants the benefits the curent pre assmebled unit groups provide (a clickable element that selects the corresponding unit, in addition to a hotkey), without having to sacrifice three unit groups that the player should be entitled to use as he wishes.

For the worker itself, simply flagging it as a hero should do the trick. By creating him first, he would be assigned to F2, with the hero follwing with F3.

For the Summoning Center I would specifically recommend giving it a dummy WarpGate ability that grants a unique icon with a uniquely defined hotkey (by default W, but I believe it can be changed). The unique icon placement makes it standout to a newcomer, which is crucial in understanding the game.

Example:


Further Explanation of the Element Mechanics
During my first match, it took me up until the 8th wave or so how to unlock my elemental towers. I am of the opinion that when the player earns his first Vespene Income, a decently sized tip shows up that informs that you can now summon an elemental baddie to unlock an element tier by going to the Summoning Center pressing the Warp Gate button/hotkey. Perhaps even flashing the command buttons for summoning those guys.

Queries should be placed on a static table in a dialog that could be collapsible/hidden.

Further on the whole mechanic, I found a good idea placing icons for current and next wave, however, the icon is small enough to not be qite readable, and the fact that unless you already are familiar with the map, you wouldnt know what they represent. I would suggest replacing the elemental icons with more symbolic ones (a red flame, a brown rock, green grass, blue waves, etc) that would inform right away, and/or large icon size and tooltips for them.

For the creeps, I believe a glossary (using the same for the melee units) that displays them with their elemental strenght and weaknesses, along with some sort of categorization, would help as a reference for the player to anticipate their tower setup.

Leaderboard and global information
I believe leaderboard should only show non shared info, that is, ony player data, not map data like current wave nor the interest rate. I feel that curent columns for player data work as intended, so no suggestions there.

Wave data (current wave level, netx wave, their creep info, etc) would be better placed at the top center of the screen in a slightly bigger font.

Example:


Player information
Current player life, experience, resources and such I beliee should be placed at the bottom left, with both life and xp rendered as bars, and the interest payback countdown there too right below minerals possibly. Also, terrazine should ave a tooltip describing whats it for.

Example:


Standard console
Standard SC2 console hud doesnt really fit with the map and consumes a lot of in game scree state for the map needs. I suggest removing it, and placing all selected unit info and command buttons to the right side, with command buttons having different sizes for specific commands (primary unit commands should be much larger that upgrade options and such).



An example (needs reotuches on certain elements and weights, but gets the idea):

That's pretty much what floats in my head at the moment. All hero related stuff is curretly an inconsistent mess that I will eventually address. Any comments and arguments are welcome.

[WindStrike]

Another thing, since 1.5 will now allow for customized health bars, say Fire element units can have Red health bars, Water with blue, etc. I'll look through some more stuff regarding 1.5 and potential improvements to EleTD.

Don't forget that a tutorial map will be able to be attached to the map, so while we don't want the game to be so complex, things can now be pointed out in the tutorial (well, will be).

[Karawasa]

You bring up a lot of great ideas! Some thoughts;

I'd like to keep the minimap at the bottom left. So player info would go top right, which is intuitive since resources are already there.

I'd also like to keep the command button area the same. It would be good to get rid of that long horizontal bar where selected unit info is displayed though. The needed information like name, HP, and weapon can be squeezed into what is currently the portrait area.

Hero is a mess but since it's a secondary mode let's put that off until we fix this.

[Karawasa]

Another thing, since 1.5 will now allow for customized health bars, say Fire element units can have Red health bars, Water with blue, etc. I'll look through some more stuff regarding 1.5 and potential improvements to EleTD.

Cool .

Don't forget that a tutorial map will be able to be attached to the map, so while we don't want the game to be so complex, things can now be pointed out in the tutorial (well, will be).

I'm not putting much faith in the tutorial system. I doubt many players are going to take the time to try something like that. I'd rather design the UI so such a thing is not needed.

[Alevice]

You bring up a lot of great ideas! Some thoughts;

I'd like to keep the minimap at the bottom left. So player info would go top right, which is intuitive since resources are already there.

I'd also like to keep the command button area the same. It would be good to get rid of that long horizontal bar where selected unit info is displayed though. The needed information like name, HP, and weapon can be squeezed into what is currently the portrait area.

Hero is a mess but since it's a secondary mode let's put that off until we fix this.

Yeah, I keep forgetting mentioning the minimap, and the idea would be indeed to keep it where it is. The plan was tu put all the info beside it, but I could see where you are coming from by suggesting placing it at the top right. I will try some ideas and posible integration with the wave info bar proposal.

As for the tutorial, I agree with you, I would prefer a more self explanatory UI and game progression over a required tutorial. I mean, a tutorial could be convenient in the finer points ("how I didnt think of that!"), but not a requirement to get the basics ("hurr durr whaer i cn haz elemuntz").

[WindStrike]

I'm thinking possibly the creep's elemental icon? Just a thought.

[Karawasa]

[WindStrike]

I'm really liking this mockup. That said, here's some suggestions that should help optimize the EleTD experience, in coordination with that mockup.

Interest: Since interest can't be upgraded and is a flat 2%, instead of showing your interest rate, this should show how many minerals you'll get on your next interest. If you hover your mouse over this though, a help box will appear saying that you get a 2% interest rate.

• Listed to the right side of it is the timer. Or rather, it could say "## minerals in ## seconds", the first two ## being how much you'll get, the second ## being the countdown timer.
  
• Listed below this will show you how many minerals you've gotten total from interest. This should help players A LOT.
  

Elements: Similar to League or Dota, when you get a new element, the icon for both the amount of upgrade points you have and the elements you already have should flash. People are attracted to flashy and shiny things.

Build Menu: On your builder, you always have to select 'Build' in order to reach the menu of base towers you can build. This should instead always be visible. Likewise, if you're selecting a tower, it'll show all available upgrades here, along with the sell button.

• For change builder model, this will be on the selection info for the builder itself.
  

Help Menus: All of the help menus that were on the builder would instead be buttons. On the mockup there, between where the build menu is and the elements, all of the help menus would be right there.

• Element Query - Doesn't need to exist anymore due to your elements being shown on the screen anyways.
  
• Dual Element Towers - By clicking on the dual towers, it expands into a horizontal box, with an icon for every dual tower. The ones you don't have will be grayed out. When you hover over one, it'll show you the cost and info of it, just like normal when you're figuring out what to upgrade to normally. If you click it, this allows you to straight up build that tower without having to upgrade all the way to it. Naturally, the build time will be equal to what it takes to upgrade all the way to there.
  
• Triple Element Towers - Same thing
  
• A note on both of these build menus - the horizontal length of each should not extend past the build menu. It should stay contained just above the bottom-right side of the screen still.
  

Selection Info:

• When you select a tower, since every tower model is the same, the unit icon (you know, the green/yellow/red depending on its health) might as well not exist, unless each tower is getting custom icons. In this case, it should be situated on the left side of the info box, just how it is currently.
  
• Regarding the icon, a suggestion to show the damage type would be to color the icon in accordance to the damage type. Hovering over THIS would show what it's good against and bad against.
  
• All damage info would be visible without having to hover over it. Total DPS, attack damage, attack speed, range, and AoE. This is in the middle.
  
• On the right side would be the tower's effect, shown without having to hover over it. It would list the name of the effect, icon, and a QUICK description. Below it, if there's any icons, (ex, flood tower, change AoE/attack speed), that's where it'd be. Alternatively, it could be as it is now, description is done by hovering over the icon. If there's cluttering issues in the UI, especially given all the damage info, then yes, I'd say just keep it as is it now, except now in the bottom-right of the selection info.
  

Hero Mode:

• When selecting the hero, all upgrades are shown in the bottom right (where the build/upgrade menu is) without having to click into a menu.
  
• Selection info will show (in the middle) all damage info, just like a tower.
  
• On the right side of the hero will be a list of icons, showing its upgrades and abilities. Hovering over each icon would, of course, detail its description.
  

Current Round and Next Round:

• This should show both element type and special ability, both as icons.
  
• Same for next round.
  
• The timer before the next wave starts should be somewhere in here.
  

Control groups would still be listed exactly where they are currently, above the selection info.

Hotkeys need to be maintained on the build menu and the selection info.

Regarding the current Wars mode, only two edits I'd make would be removing that current/next round on the side, and in the selection info, not only should it list the cooldown, it should list the type of creep it's spawning at everyone else. Regarding a future wars mode, there may need to be a different interface for it - not the bottom and right sides of the screen, but the left and top sides might need reworking.

[WindStrike]

After some further thought (and trying to see how these changes would look in-game), the chatbox in the bottom-left would just take up space. There's no real need for it, plus everyone is already used to the chat messages appearing in the middle for everyone. Might as well scoot the mini-map back down to where it was.

As for the elements bar that's shown on the right side of the map, it's not going to fit very well. Instead, it should be placed in the top-center, between the resource info and the scoreboard (horizontally across, of course).

A scoreboard just for fruit points doesn't need to exist. Another column can simply be added to the scoreboard. Something I don't really understand that's there is the "Out" on there, displaying the number of creeps alive in the area. Honestly, you can probably see this just fine through the mini-map. It's extraneous and unnecessary, so that can just be tossed.

Regarding the double/triple queries, now that some room has been cleared up can actually go where the elements bar was, that is, on the right-side of the screen. Change builder model should probably be here as well. And instead of these being horizontal boxes, they should be vertical and stem down from the bottom of the scoreboard. If those end up crowding things too much, there's still some free space on the build menu, which I'm sure can be expanded a little bit.