129 réponses à ce sujet

[Mister Mida]

Kudos for the design of the GUI, morrie. I'd rather have your design than the design that Bioware came up with for ME2. I don't understand what was so bad about ME (1)'s to be honest though. That one did the job adequately.

[Eag07]

I think the HUD should be customizable. Players should be able to choose how many elements they want to see, I think that's the best way to please as many people as possible. Same goes for color schemes, no reason to restrict players to only one. It worked in Deus Ex, I see no reason why it couldn't work in Mass Effect...

[kalle90]

sinosleep wrote...

Invasive HUDS are going the way of the dodo. Games like Dead Space and the Fight Night series have cleared the way for more cinematic, less "gamey" HUDS and the industry has jumped on the bandwagon big time. If anything expect an even less obvious HUD for ME 3.

Not saying you have to like it, but it's clearly the route the industry is going in.

Thing is HUDs are a simple part to make optional and customizable. It shouldn't be hard to make the same stuff shown in various ways (including hidden)

Unless Bioware wants to go with the "What we did was perfect" argument some other developers are using. It seems they're doing that with the "Mining mini-game is fantastic" though

[Lumikki]

Terror_K wrote...

Agreed. The ME2 HUD was god-awful. I remember people saying that prior to release and devs popping in and saying "don't worry, the HUD hasn't been finalised yet" and then, lo and behold, the game comes out with the same crappy, useless HUD.

It was a clear case of "fixing" something that wasn't even broken in the first place; there was nothing wrong with ME1's HUD at all. It was great.

In million year I would have not guess this. ME1 good , ME2 bad. Hehe..

How ever, back to topic. I ques it could be improved, but I don't realy need much information to screen. Basicly my opinion is, less as possible, meaning put only what is really needed. I ques it could be good to have opinional stuff there if someone want's more than someone else.

ME1 HUD was little bit too big but other ways fine, except the quick slots in screens top, there was zero need for them to be all the time there, because it would be too slow to click them with mouse. Of cause ME1 allowed to hide it, what was good. Also ME2 has same problem with this quick slots.

ME2 has sound warnings for shields, what was good, because it's not important to know how much there is shield left, but know there is still shields. This provide player easyer way to consenrate to gameplay and not look screen all the time to see, did anyones health starts drop. As long shield was up, there is no need to worry health. So, you heared when you need to pay attention to someones health.

I think only thing missing in ME2 was health bars for companions. Shepard did have both shield and health bar.

Basicly I would say complaining about HUD in both games is little bit pointless, they both did work fine.

Modifié par Lumikki, 13 octobre 2010 - 01:14 .

[morrie23]

I don't think I've played a game recently that had an invasive HUD, at least on a console. I think going HUD-less would be a mistake, I know the temptation is there in order to be 'cinematic', but I think it would hurt ME3. As others have said, I don't think the ME1 (xbox) HUD was invasive, it was informative (you knew your squad health, their stance, Sheps health, and overall shield strength). Maybe it could of done with a facelift, but the information was good.



Kalle, I think BW know they messed up the mining mini-game, hence the improvements in the patch. Also thanks Mida for the kind words!

[sinosleep]

Terror_K wrote...

I personally don't like it, because I think they've taken it too far. I'm not against the concept, but too many games these days don't provide all the minimum necessary info to the player any more like they once did. There's quite a few games where the simplest thing like an on-screen map/radar is gone and means I have to rely on a silly arrow on-screen or have to keep flicking to the separate map screen just to know where I want to go (Brutal Legend springs to mind as being particularly bad for this).

Just like one can have an overly complex HUD, one can also go too far the other way and not provide enough info to the player, in which case you go from "minimalist HUD" (which is ideal) to "beyond minimalist HUD" whereby they give you the minimal info you need, and then remove even more. ME2 crossed this line, as well as also having a poorly designed and unclear HUD on top of it all. It's another case of games being dumbed-down as a whole and the industry oversimplifying and overstreamlining things, which ME2 is overall a victim of. I don't like the trend... it may work for simpler games, but with RPGs I expect a bit more info on screen, and expect it to be better presented. As far as I was concerned, ME1 had it pretty much dead-on, both it terms of the amount of info presented and in the manner it was presented. With ME2 I'm not given enough and what's there is weird and confusing.

The thing is that the info that's necessary to the player kind of depends on the player. Did the ME 1 HUD present more info? Yeah, but I think the ME 2 HUD presents enough info. Do you really need to know where your squadmate's shields are down to the each individual percentage of shields remaining? I certainly don't, particularly not when shields are blasted off in about 5 seconds on insanity way. Being able to see cool downs, when shields are up, and when they hit health is more than enough info for me and it eliminated some of the on screen clutter. Personally the only thing that I really want back is the radar, and that's largely because it doesn't make sense with the rest of what ME 2 did to make the game as much of a pause free experience. They went out of their way to up the gunplay, and put tracking on the powers so that you don't have to pause, but then they make you pause in order to access the radar? Doesn't make much sense.

kalle90 wrote...

Thing is HUDs are a simple part to make optional and customizable. It shouldn't be hard to make the same stuff shown in various ways (including hidden)

Unless Bioware wants to go with the "What we did was perfect" argument some other developers are using. It seems they're doing that with the "Mining mini-game is fantastic" though

Other than racing games and flight sims how often do you see customizable huds? There's got to be some reason as to why it never seems to be the case in any other genre.

Modifié par sinosleep, 13 octobre 2010 - 12:43 .

[kalle90]

sinosleep wrote...

kalle90 wrote...

Thing is HUDs are a simple part to make optional and customizable. It shouldn't be hard to make the same stuff shown in various ways (including hidden)

Unless Bioware wants to go with the "What we did was perfect" argument some other developers are using. It seems they're doing that with the "Mining mini-game is fantastic" though

Other than racing games and flight sims how often do you see customizable huds? There's got to be some reason as to why it never seems to be the case in any other genre.

Developers don't see a point in the extra work? They don't know how much customization would be enough? And I agree that in most games the lack of it doesn't really bother me because most of the time HUDs are decent and there's no point to compare with other games' HUDs, but this goes back to the "ME1 did better" and I'd definitely use that HUD in ME2 if it was possible

Of course we all want Bioware and Mass Effect to go higher than 99% of games too.

The amount of fanmade HUDs around these forums shows there is demand for different types of HUDs. It shouldn't be much trouble for Bioware to have:
- ME1 HUD (possibly with some slight modifications, I can't think of any though)
- ME2 HUD (possibly with some slight modifications like better ally health meter)
- Bare minimum HUD
- Perhaps even throw in a "Tactical" HUD that has more info and is more like some FPS helmet
- Plus seperatedly togglable radar, notes like "melee to exit" and a handful of color schemes would also be welcomed
Of course this could lead to someone wanting even more, but atleast they would all be unique "I'd like this" instead of a huge crowd of "I liked this and that about ME1 HUD more"

Modifié par kalle90, 13 octobre 2010 - 04:50 .

[kregano]

This thread has some pretty good HUD mockups: Tinkering with the Mass Effect UI



I particularly like the fifth one in the OP and the one by Lord Tirian.

[morrie23]

Hopefully they'll kill the melee to leave mission banner, I find it immersion breaking.



I don't think we need much more information than what we alread have, I would've just liked to have known what the little shapes around the squadmate pictures meant when I first played. I know now, but its hardly intuitive, let a lone overly informative. There's alot to be said for consistency across the HUD, which there is little of. Shep, the squad, and enemies all have different bars to show the same things.



The hiding of the radar in the pause menu is bit silly, they did so much to make the combat flow, but it forces players who want to use the radar to pause more often. A toggleable radar would be more preferable.

[Salz99]

I dunno, I personally much preferred the ME1 hud. The blood flowing across the screen does absolutely nothing for me and seems just a flavor of the month hud style. The option to customize would be nice, even if its just the ability to switch between the ME1/ME2 hud.

[Phaedon]

I'd rather have the option to choose between the ME2 'clean' HUD and this HUD.

[uzivatel]

kalle90 wrote...

It shouldn't be much trouble for Bioware to have:
- list

Remember this post next time your boss / customer ask you to do something they consider easy ... something you know is going to take you weeks or months to do.

[kregano]

Phaedon wrote...

I'd rather have the option to choose between the ME2 'clean' HUD and this HUD.

Is there supposed to be a picture there?

[CannotCompute]

I agree with OP on all points.

[Phaedon]

kregano wrote...

Phaedon wrote...

I'd rather have the option to choose between the ME2 'clean' HUD and this HUD.

Is there supposed to be a picture there?

I meant OP's HUD. There are some people that want it more informative, and some others that prefer it clean, like me.

[Gumbeaux Jr]

IMO the less HUD the better.

[Chala]

morrie23 wrote...

Before I start I should clarify that I’m going to be talking about the Xbox 360 ME2 HUD as that is the one I have most experience with. Although, things that I mention here will probably also be relevant to the PC HUD.

I don’t think the current ME2 HUD is bad per se, in fact it has some good points. I particularly like the converging
semi-circles that signify when Shepard can cast a power again, they are subtle but informative. Also the level of detail given about enemy status is good and clear. However the HUD is lacking in some areas.

Firstly, the HUD provides no indication of how strong your shields are unlike in ME1 were more segments were added to the shield bar as Shepard levelled up etc. I know this seems like a minor point, but I think that giving a graphical representation of shield strength increase added to the RPG feel of the first game. Adding segments a al ME1 would instil a sense of progression that is often missing in ME2.

Secondly, I miss the radar. I know it’s sort of there, but you have to bring up the power wheel to see it. This adds
unneeded pauses to the combat. The fact you can still access it makes me wonder why it was excluded from the HUD. Please put it back in the bottom right corner, or at least give us the option to do so.

Thirdly, the squadmate shield/health and power use status is poorly presented and lacking in detail. This is no
consistency between the graphical representation used to show Shepard’s status and the status of the rest of the squad. Also those little portraits are a bit silly IMHO, I’d much prefer text. A bit of consistency and a little more detail
would be appreciated!

Finally, the Hammerhead as no HUD! There are many thing wrong with that vehicle, but the lack of information on health is glaring. If BioWare put a vehicle in ME3, they need to implement a HUD for it.

To end, here is my idea for a more informative HUD (bare in mind I'm not a designer!):



Edited formating.

 a weird way, this reminds me to the aliens versus predator 2 hud.... I LOVE IT

[Yxiomel]

uberdowzen wrote...
I'm sure the current system is very informative...I just have no idea what any of it means. Can someone help me out? I've narrowed it down to the big part at the top represents shields and the bottom might be health? Agree.

Top part: health and shield (it goes white when their shield takes damage, and red when their health is being hit).
Lower section (the narrow bar underneath) skill cooldown. If the bar is present, they are still cooling down.

[Elvis_Mazur]

The less the hud, the better it is.



Really, a big hud would just be there to say that I'm playing a video game, and this really break the immersion!

[morrie23]

I don't want a big HUD, just a more informative one. The HUD is quite big at the moment, just look at the ammo counter with the gun outline, its pretty big and doesn't add anything. The PC HUD is pretty big as well. I think they could do more while using the number of pixels.

[wwilt13]

I would hardly call that a big HUD, there are some status bars and a radar with enemy info overhead and the cooldown circle. The center of the screen, which I think is the best part to not clutter up is clear. I think it's a great HUD, very nice job morrie. I would love to have it.



I have no huge issues with the new HUD, but knowing squad health with just a quick look like this would be very helpful. And I don't think it breaks immersion based on the way combat is now done anyway as your constantly behind cover and can afford a quick look (well, the Vanguards don't really count for this comment).



I also love the cooldown timers for the squad. I think it makes timing your tactics actually doable; my inner clock is not that great apparently, especially with all the different statistics taking place behind the text that supposedly tells you how quickly you can reuse powers for the squad. It works well enough now, but I would prefer this HUD.



I would wish for us all to get our ideal HUD or at least the choice between a more clean HUD and a more detailed HUD. However, as mentioned above, they would not necessarily want to use resources for this as I'm sure it would double some peoples' work.

[vkt62]

morrie23 wrote...

Before I start I should clarify that I’m going to be talking about the Xbox 360 ME2 HUD as that is the one I have most experience with. Although, things that I mention here will probably also be relevant to the PC HUD.

I don’t think the current ME2 HUD is bad per se, in fact it has some good points. I particularly like the converging
semi-circles that signify when Shepard can cast a power again, they are subtle but informative. Also the level of detail given about enemy status is good and clear. However the HUD is lacking in some areas.

Firstly, the HUD provides no indication of how strong your shields are unlike in ME1 were more segments were added to the shield bar as Shepard levelled up etc. I know this seems like a minor point, but I think that giving a graphical representation of shield strength increase added to the RPG feel of the first game. Adding segments a al ME1 would instil a sense of progression that is often missing in ME2.

Secondly, I miss the radar. I know it’s sort of there, but you have to bring up the power wheel to see it. This adds
unneeded pauses to the combat. The fact you can still access it makes me wonder why it was excluded from the HUD. Please put it back in the bottom right corner, or at least give us the option to do so.

Thirdly, the squadmate shield/health and power use status is poorly presented and lacking in detail. This is no
consistency between the graphical representation used to show Shepard’s status and the status of the rest of the squad. Also those little portraits are a bit silly IMHO, I’d much prefer text. A bit of consistency and a little more detail
would be appreciated!

Finally, the Hammerhead as no HUD! There are many thing wrong with that vehicle, but the lack of information on health is glaring. If BioWare put a vehicle in ME3, they need to implement a HUD for it.

To end, here is my idea for a more informative HUD (bare in mind I'm not a designer!):



Edited formating.

Just wish they would tell you how much shield/armor/barrier/health you, your team mates and enemies have. Not just a %. I would like to know how many units. could be in bars like in ME1. Also who thought it would be a good idea not to have a map in the default hud? The above one is pretty good. One more thing, How can Shepard only have a shield and heath with no armor when most of the enemy have them along with shields?

[Minister of Sound]

I want the HUD that was originally supposed to be in ME1, in the X06 trailers.