Redesigning and Overhauling the interface.

[Rhianu]

Hey, I'm sure we all know that the interface has got a lot of problems (just read the latest blog entry on the BG main page, LOL). So I made this topic to discuss how to fix and improve it. To start, here's a spec sheet I put together detailing exactly how I would redesign and overhaul the game's interface if I worked at SE. If anyone else has anything they'd like to contribute, feel free to do so.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...edesign_01.jpg

Keep in mind that what you see above is a work in progress. I've still got much more that I'd like to change.

EDIT: I design a new Quest Log:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ewquestlog.jpg

A few weeks ago, I was trying to introduce a friend of mine to the game. I went through the menus, explaining to him how everything worked and where things were. When I showed him the Quest and Mission buttons, he asked, "What's the difference?" Indeed, it's a valid question. What is the difference between Quests and Missions? Well, if you've ever played any of the offline Final Fantasy games, you understand that they have a main storyline and several side quests, and that is the difference between Quests and Missions in FFXI. But then, why use the terms Quests and Missions to distinguish between them? The difference between the two words is ambiguous at best, and the difference between the them in FFXI has become increasingly blurred as time goes on, especially in the new Wings of the Goddess expansion pack. And so I elected to rename them, changing them to Main Quests and Side Quests, instead of Missions and Quests. I believe that this not only clarifies their purpose and function, but also brings them more in line with how the game actually works these days.

Also, since some people in this topic complained about how my redesigned interface made it take more button clicks to get to things, I have taken great care to make the new Quest Log as streamlined as possible, and ensure that it does not add excessive and unnecessary complexity to the interface.

EDIT: A lot of people were getting confused by the above image, and didn't understand exactly how the new Quest Log that I designed would work. So I edited it slightly to make its functionality more obvious, as well as providing explanations to eliminate any confusion:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...uestlog01B.jpg


EDIT: Here's a slightly redesigned menu for the map markers:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...s_redesign.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...sign_small.gif

[Max™]

Duel, and this would have been great to put in the Dev's hands about 5 years ago....

[frodnonnag]

dual =/= duel. adding superfluous option to pvp when discussing UI overhaul is retarded.

[Max™]

Also: I totally expected to get Fresh Prince'D or Monster Mash'D, and I was disappointed.

[Rhianu]

Spelling errors have been fixed. Thank you for pointing them out. You must reload the image to see the changes.

[Toxictaru]

While the UI is probably convoluted to some, after about a day of playing, most people seem to grasp where most everything is.

Personally, I was looking through some of your ideas, and found them to actually add to the convolution rather than solve it. I don't want to have to go through 2-3 SUB-menus in order to find something, when in reality, it was easier to access BEFORE changes.

Also, I get the feeling like your ideas here are spurred by a person on the GameFAQs message boards, and it was a person named GaminGrandma. I'm not so sure that this is the audience SE was targeting when they first started working on FFXI (the grandparent age)... maybe choose your battles?

[Waef]

I agree some things are definitely unnecessary, but I think more than 7 should be kept, so you don't have to navigate through sub-menus. Also, chances are we'll never get a duel option...and if you're going to send this to SE as changes to the UI, I think you should simply keep it as that--changes to the UI. Don't try to throw in extra options for them to add into the game when the original idea is to change the UI. However, a change to the UI would definitely be nice, although after playing so long it would take a while to get used to. It would probably help new players though.

[Charla]

Personally, I'm very used to using the escape key to untarget things, and it just doesn't feel like a place that a menu belongs. What's more, moving things from the main menu into a new "sorta-main" menu doesn't really constitute simplification. It's true that I never actually use certain menu options like region map, magic or current time, but that's because it's much easier to type /rmap or /clock, or press alt-i or alt-m.

A duel option would be extremely useful to build TP or remove sleep, and for that reason will never happen. Unless you want to suggest some contrived way of making it into useless fluff, like wiping tp upon exiting duel mode, and making it impossible to enter while asleep or bound, but in that case why would you want it? Just to show random people how fast they can get oneshotted?

[Julian]

GaminGrandma is an obvious troll.

Anyway, I think the menu is fine the way it is. Some things could be a little better, but we're all used to the way things are right now anyway.

[Thistle]

While the UI is probably convoluted to some, after about a day of playing, most people seem to grasp where most everything is.

What he said. It may not be perfect, but it's quick to get used to.

[shinoniken]

Some good ideas, but FFXIs bad UI isn't really because of the menu, it's the HUD. The fact that everything is pretty much cemented in place is really stupid. My chat log is way longer than you can fit characters on one line. You normally can't see anybody's tp, or alliance mp. The default buff/debuff icons are plastered in the middle of the screen and give little to no information. Nothing is customizable, besides the .dat swaps, which technically you're not even supposed to do. That shitty radar-thing is completely useless, and theres no built in minimap. You can't normally hotkey abilities or spells, sans the shitty ctrl alt macro thing, and the macros are horrible with the 6 line limit, and a extremely prone to lag. And that's not even everything. Fixing the menu would be a band-aid on a gaping wound.

[Raen Ryong]

The radar's VERY handy for NM hunting :D

But yeah, the UI does need some improvement. I like the idea of a duel system on a side note <_<

[VZX]

Also the fact that I should have been able to navigate through the menu using certain sequence of keys I pressed doesn't always work if I do it really fast. The wait time of the animation should not be a burden. It takes about 1 second to gain full control of your character after you exiting the /map. And that is too long.

[Kkel]

Restructuring the menus now, after a vast majority of us can pretty much navigate them blindfolded, is... yeah... no thanks.

Brandson addressed the vast majority of real UI issues when he put together his adjustment pack, and it's continued on today by Emiko with FFXI Style. The Windower pretty much handles the rest. Sorry if you're on X360 or lolPS2, but that's how it always is when it's console vs. PC.

[Therin]

We need a complete UI overhaul, not this silly mess. Sorry, but I don't like it.

[Epical]

I don't know if anyone remembers it, but sometime in 2005 someone made a mockup of what their take on FFXI's UI should be like and it was AMAZING. I think a mod even went into production for a bit before they stopped for whatever reason.

I don't think anyone has the screenshot anymore since it was so long ago, but if they did, 9001 Epical Points for you.

[Kabbalah]

For one thing, the clock is a problem. Remember the Kirin teleport? That thing highlights the problem with its positioning. There's also the idiocy with the compass: I'd like to know where I'm facing, but can't do so when involved in a fight.

Actually, a lot of the UI's problems have to do with overlapping. If anything, I want the ability to move and resize as many elements of the UI as possible.

[Priran]

I'd like to know where I'm facing, but can't do so when involved in a fight.

/point <me>

[millionsknives]

I don't know if anyone remembers it, but sometime in 2005 someone made a mockup of what their take on FFXI's UI should be like and it was AMAZING. I think a mod even went into production for a bit before they stopped for whatever reason.

I don't think anyone has the screenshot anymore since it was so long ago, but if they did, 9001 Epical Points for you.

This one? Because its pretty sweet~

http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m...f0fd5ffgg3.jpg

http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m...s/d0a12b46.jpg

http://i334.photobucket.com/albums/m...s/bbc18f77.jpg

[Aevis]

lol millionsknives beat me to it