1095 replies to this topic

[Heffay]

Blurry, on 20 November 2013 - 03:07 AM, said:

So this will drop when april 2014? and we can move on to actual content?
unfortunately it isnt enough for me I have left.

You've been saying that for 2 months. Are you afraid that there might be someone on the forum that hasn't seen you say that yet?

[Alex Warden]

could we just all tell PGI that it´s great, no flaws and such? so they just finish it and can start with CW implemetation?

[Peiper]

One rhetorical question for PGI:

Are you really spending time programming this overly clunky, cluttered, and obnoxiously complicated mechlab instead of kicking out Community Warfare, tutorials and PRIVATE LOBBIES???

You know the only reason we're eagerly awaiting UI 2.0 is because it's the gateway for the rest of the game to be implemented. (As in, we don't need the new mechlab. YOU think it's a good idea, and we don't care. We want more stuff to do, not another way to do the same damned thing.)

Edited by Peiper, 29 November 2013 - 12:12 AM.

[TanE]

OK, here is my suggestion for a better overview in the loadout screen (maxed out my paint skills... ):



As you can see, the elements are the same as in your design choice. But it is more comfortable to see what is inside a mech.

- On the left side is the fast navigation bar. The headers are bright blue to be more obvious.
- In the loadoutscreen the are the same buttons for mech areas for choosing the internals (Weapon types, Ammo,...). Choosen internal areas are highlighted in the right overview.
- Directly beside the navigation bar is the component screen, opening when choosing the weapon types for example.
- Component types are grouped together now (here: weapons)
- for more overview the is only on icon with a short declaration of the component. Under the icon are the different versions with short informations in overview (there should be the speed benefit for engine sizes as well) and the standard long information by clicking on it.
- the main change in the loadout screen: on the right side is the complete internal overview of the mech. All incarnations of mechwarrior simulations have this, and there is a reason for this.
- Internals are now highlighted in the same manner as the icons in the component type navigation (red box around them) for a better recognizability.
- Internals can be added by drag and drop.
- I added a chat window at the bottom of the screen for a later version of UI 2.0, so that i can read directed messages from the corp for example.
- I also added an easy recognizable button to change the name of a mech.

Edited by TanE, 29 November 2013 - 02:06 AM.

[1Sascha]

Good point TanE.

May I also suggest the following?

When overhauling an established UI, the best approach IMO is to stick with established elements/basic functionalities to make the transition as painless as possible for seasoned users/players. That's why you don't see car manufacturers suddenly deciding to put the gas-pedal on the left and the clutch on the right.
Having used 1.5 for 4 months now, I should be able to jump into 2.0 and start customizing pretty much instantly. This is not the case.

You should also not remove useful functionality (like the "shortcut"-paperdoll or the ability to mouse over a weapon in the summary and getting shown its location on the Mech).

That's why I can't understand that everything has been swapped around with 2.0.

What was wrong with the basic layout of having your Mech in the center, the summary on the left and the weapon/equipment menus on the right? Besides sticking with established patterns, the Mech should be in the center anyway because it's the most important "player" on this screen. Superimpose the "working areas" (read: the slot-window in which we actually drop weapons/equipment) over the currently selected section.
Also make those areas a lot bigger than what they are now - at least the one that's currently selected. As it is now, the biggest elements on the screen are also pretty useless. We've got a huge 3D-model of the Mech on the right that pretty much only serves cosmetic purposes and we've got a huge window with equipment on the left that (in most cases) shows a lot of redundant stuff (like the engine selection menu with tons of identical icons in there).

Also: Gives us a persistent summary window that'll always show stuff like tonnage free/used, crit slots free/used, weapon hardpoints free/used, equipment installed/equipment slots free, etc.

UI 2.0 is lacking much needed functionality. Where is the option to save/load custom builds? Where is the option to quickly locate a certain engine/weapon? Where is a weaponlab-function showing dps, heat-capacity and time to overheat à la smurfys?

I think I've said it before but the actual developers of a game *still* getting beat by a fan-made webpage in the functionality/user-friendliness department is kind of embarrassing.


S.

Edited by 1Sascha, 29 November 2013 - 04:12 AM.

[Chronojam]

Bryan Ekman, on 08 May 2013 - 02:23 PM, said:

Internal testing starts in late July. Public test mid to late August. Live late Summer.

Reading this thread from the beginning is amazing in light of the latest feedback thread where virtually every post is disappointed.

[codynyc]

soooooo disappointed in this game... i am still playing but barely... maybe once a week now. moing on to something else.. I had such great hopes for the game but these devs Just drag it on and on and on.. The only thing they seem to get out on time ( like clockwork) is the money grab .

[Charli3 Tang0]

Really wish I had been able to participate in the beta test yesterday... would be nice if the community had a bit more heads up on the testing schedule... but no worries. All feedback posts seem to point to similar issues.

PGI: you have to be spending time on something... please show the community where that time is going. As it stands right now, I'm not sure anyone knows... communication has been lacking and the beta tests aren't showing promising progress. Even the webpage is showing it's age (there's still a link to the OCTOBER Creative Director Update on the home page...).

[Pyrrho]

Chronojam, on 29 November 2013 - 02:34 PM, said:

Reading this thread from the beginning is amazing in light of the latest feedback thread where virtually every post is disappointed.

6 pages, not bad.

Edited by Pyrrho, 29 November 2013 - 07:31 PM.

[Ward Serpentine]

UI 2.0 looks good for the most part. A couple of things I'd change.

Provide a list view as well as the icon vies
Reduce or eliminate the focus clicks
Remove the confirmation window when unlocking skills (two clicks is enough).

[N0MAD]

Heffay, on 29 October 2013 - 08:52 AM, said:

You can't have CW without UI 2.0. There is no place to plug it in in the current interface.

You can't have any of the things we want so badly without UI 2.0. Lobbies, gifting items, unit affiliations, private matches, etc, etc. CW is just one component of a TON of things UI 2.0 will allow. It's the fundamental architecture that will make future expansion of the game possible.

So no, CW isn't more important than UI 2.0 right now. Nothing is more important than UI 2.0.

Yet Around 130 people max looked at any feature during the test and roughly 140+ bothered to give feedback on the test. ( numbers from the feedback poll). PGI gona take that as enough numbers for actual testing and feedback to whats is claimed as most important feature in development?. What has happened to the MW community? where has it gone?.
Ya tell me it was a holiday in USA, but we live on a planet, there is a world wide community. Sad to see, really.

[ApolloKaras]

N0MAD, on 29 November 2013 - 10:46 PM, said:

Yet Around 130 people max looked at any feature during the test and roughly 140+ bothered to give feedback on the test. ( numbers from the feedback poll). PGI gona take that as enough numbers for actual testing and feedback to whats is claimed as most important feature in development?. What has happened to the MW community? where has it gone?.
Ya tell me it was a holiday in USA, but we live on a planet, there is a world wide community. Sad to see, really.

I would have left feedback if I think it mattered. They didn't act on any of the suggestions from the first time the only thing they did was to add the camo, artemis re-work etc. That mechlab is absolutely atrocious. I hope they iron a few things out before debuting it, because right now if you are making a mech... its a lot of clicking. There wouldn't be so much clicking if I had a photographic memory, and could see where the hardpoints were without having to click on every part lol. That and the writing for the item (that actually tells me its a Standard 250) is so small with this GIGANTIC ICON of an engine (that is worthless - it provides no information and has no reason being that big). The only gripe I have is usability.

[anonymous161]

Yeah I knew this ui2.0 was gonna suck. Most of what they have done has sucked. Started out fine but a lot of us hardly play this like we used to. I no longer feel like I am achieving anything relevant playing this game. For me it's gonna be a while before I really get into this again.

This game is so freaking boring now, nothing new in a long time besides hero mechs n such. No maps in quite a while...new no weapons, and they never did create their own mech that wasn't already part of the franchise have they? Why they bother if it's gonna just be a copy paste job on a different engine from the past games.

Meh i'm just rambling now I'm just tired of the game.

[BFett]

My idea on an improved mechlab.

http://mwomercs.com/...ost__p__2950894

Even if you disagree with how this is set up, I think we can all agree that the mechlab currently in UI 2.0 needs some work.

[JudgeDeathCZ]

TanE, on 29 November 2013 - 01:51 AM, said:

OK, here is my suggestion for a better overview in the loadout screen (maxed out my paint skills... ):



As you can see, the elements are the same as in your design choice. But it is more comfortable to see what is inside a mech.

- On the left side is the fast navigation bar. The headers are bright blue to be more obvious.
- In the loadoutscreen the are the same buttons for mech areas for choosing the internals (Weapon types, Ammo,...). Choosen internal areas are highlighted in the right overview.
- Directly beside the navigation bar is the component screen, opening when choosing the weapon types for example.
- Component types are grouped together now (here: weapons)
- for more overview the is only on icon with a short declaration of the component. Under the icon are the different versions with short informations in overview (there should be the speed benefit for engine sizes as well) and the standard long information by clicking on it.
- the main change in the loadout screen: on the right side is the complete internal overview of the mech. All incarnations of mechwarrior simulations have this, and there is a reason for this.
- Internals are now highlighted in the same manner as the icons in the component type navigation (red box around them) for a better recognizability.
- Internals can be added by drag and drop.
- I added a chat window at the bottom of the screen for a later version of UI 2.0, so that i can read directed messages from the corp for example.
- I also added an easy recognizable button to change the name of a mech.

PGI kick your mechlab UI 2.0 designer and hire this guy.We ant THIS mechlab and not that {Scrap} which is in that UI 2.0 now !

Edited by JudgeDeathCZ, 01 December 2013 - 01:08 AM.

[JudgeDeathCZ]

N0MAD, on 29 November 2013 - 10:46 PM, said:

Yet Around 130 people max looked at any feature during the test and roughly 140+ bothered to give feedback on the test. ( numbers from the feedback poll). PGI gona take that as enough numbers for actual testing and feedback to whats is claimed as most important feature in development?. What has happened to the MW community? where has it gone?.
Ya tell me it was a holiday in USA, but we live on a planet, there is a world wide community. Sad to see, really.

I gave them my feedback on test be4 this one and it is still the same.GIVE ME MECHLAB LIKE SMURFY'S!
I do not care about other aspects of new UI.It is so painful to set up a mech.

[TanE]

Thanks for the feedback! I made some more improvements on basis of Mikens changes of my first idea:



I added and changed the colours in the navigation bar, proper coloured the frames around the weapon icon/buttons and added some important buttons, that should be implemented (did I say shortcuts? ).

I think the triangles for the hardpoints are Ok, but I didn't changed that here.

Edited by TanE, 30 November 2013 - 04:42 AM.

[Pyrrho]

^--- this is getting to where what I was thinking we needed.

[moneyBURNER]

If there was a contest to create the most clumsy and irritating UI possible while maintaining a plausible sense of professional effort, the current UI 2.0 would be a frontrunner.

I honestly have no idea how you can pursue the intended goals in the OP and end up with this INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID INVALID frankenUI prototype.

Other people have done a great job of listing many of the flaws, but I don't have the patience anymore.

All I will say is the most obvious

<deedeedeedee deedeedeedeedeedeedeedeedeedee>

of advice: the actual mech should be the central focus of the mechlab. All modifying actions should be linked to and flow from the mech model on one persistent screen with various contextual

<deedee deedeedeedeedeedeedeedeedeedeedeedeedeedeedeedeedeedee>

and persistent windows, emphasizing not only efficiency and comprehensive, easily accessible information (don't make me have to count the number of heatsinks installed during the build process), but also an imaginative sense of immersion, because this is

<deedeedeedeedeedeedeedeedeedeedeedee>

the only place where the player can interact with their machine externally and fully appreciate its design.

It's almost 2014 -- you'd think we'd get a jaw-dropping 3D mechbay/hangar/showroom that exudes the sophistication of a futuristic simulator with a really slick interface that would actually be a pleasure to spend lots of time in, as a result of

all the design lessons learned and adopted in gaming and web interfaces up to now (cough, Smurfy's).

Edited by moneyBURNER, 30 November 2013 - 10:42 AM.

[Chronojam]

Charli3 Tang0, on 29 November 2013 - 04:47 PM, said:

Really wish I had been able to participate in the beta test yesterday... would be nice if the community had a bit more heads up on the testing schedule... but no worries. All feedback posts seem to point to similar issues.

PGI: you have to be spending time on something... please show the community where that time is going. As it stands right now, I'm not sure anyone knows... communication has been lacking and the beta tests aren't showing promising progress. Even the webpage is showing it's age (there's still a link to the OCTOBER Creative Director Update on the home page...).

You dare suggest they not schedule a test during Thanksgiving, the busiest travel/vacation period of the year in the United States?