Gehn, lord of ages
Joined: 13 Dec 2008
Posts: 251
Ed Oscuro wrote:
The brightness is actually strongest in these black and white (maximum contrast) images. I don't know what overwhelming visuals you're referring to; I pointed to the very simple text-and-tan-background look of the old interface windows. It's muted, simplistic, utilitarian and elegant, I think. Size matters: The font you used is pretty huge but isn't actually more easily readable than the small text of the old Uru menus. Imagine it's early in the morning and you want to catch a seminar in Ae'gura...Oops! You misread the text and deleted your character. I'm dramatizing, but I don't think that big + unusual + very white = better than simple and small. Books are printed in a serif font.
In somewhat of an order: While the black and white images may be technically brighter, they are perceived by the brain as darker. I'm not against making it less contrast for readability issues, though. '
I think you are going off my original idea. Instead, base your arguments off Tweek's proposal or my latest design, which use easy to read serif fonts.
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So Picture4.jpg, the one with Yeesha (Myst V?) on it, is that correct?
No. Go to page two, scroll about halfway down and you should see my designs and Tweek's in close succession. These are the two designs I support.
(mine starts with > http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg2/King_Canute/Uru/Picture1-2.jpg < this picture)
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... but when you've joined that shard you're done with that choice and now you want to look at the hardhat in a 3D model viewer (I don't know why, because the low-detail texture will probably be somewhat embarassing close up on my 1920x1200 monitor, and even worse on the larger 1600x1200 one).
The hardhat was an example of an idea I had. Shards would be given certain "seals" or "badges" to indicate if they are; following strict canon, exceptionally less buggy, including the Descent, easy for beginners, test or theatrical shards, etc. These would prevent the shards from misleading people who had no idea which shard to join. For example, a shard website or promotional piece might mention that they "have less bugs" then other shards, when all the other shards the writer visited were just really buggy, or "is the best shard for beginners" et cetera. Seals would verify specific pieces of information about shards. The hardhat was a quick representation of an icon used for a "testing shard" seal, showing that the shard it was on would be used for testing and might have bugs.
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I'll give it a shot; unfortunately this is going to run on a bit. Just to make sure we're clear, when I said "backend" (and I think also "tools") I meant the obvious game menus, things like character creation and video options; things that could spoil the immersion if they were constantly brought up during a game. Before they begin running around the Cleft, the player is ideally (I write 'ideally' because we're not going to spoil the plot arc for new players, I hope; it's a fun journey even the fifth time around, but carries the most impact the first time) coming into the game with no distinct impression as to what Uru will be (not counting installer or box spoilers from the days of yore). They are roleplaying themselves or a realistic person journeying from somewhere in the modern world into a secret world hidden beneath our feet that has not given up its secrets for milennia - until now never seen before. Now, this person might have played Myst (made by a gaming company and based on this hidden world) or even some of the later games more like Uru visually, but when they enter it'll still be a unique experience. This is all pretty solidly based in the game canon.
Backing up and catching our breath, many of these simple UI elements are necessary evils. The video options and the login to a shard especially - this is a quiet time where the player prepares themselves to get a good experience, and later they'll leave that. The avatar creation screen, once your game is started, would be best to integrate more naturally into the game because you're obviously playing with your character's looks in the game world, and I think it's most effective when you can pretend to some degree that you're in front of that dresser (naturally with some reservations for the sake of good taste). But for the first time you make your character, you didn't know what Relto was (if you played the boxed version first, anyway, which has the intro that makes the most sense).
So we see why it's not an especially good idea to put spoiler images of Ages not yet visited (Picture12.jpg) on a "Register/Login" page. Yes, I know that the original retail box's velcro flap has a full-panel screenshot of said Age, but when you look at those screens it's of interesting architectural details on the side, not a substantial part of one of the Age's prime vistas. If you were intending that these pictures only appear if somebody has gotten that far in the game, then what about people who share computers? Either way, this approach adds more overhead, which in today's world isn't a major thing (what's a few more graphics on the hard drive) but I think the coding time required to put in all these pictures and stuff could be used better elsewhere.
I see what you are saying now. Picture 12 is not in the later designs, and the choice of picture I used there was just one of the first pieces of concept art I could find.
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Of course it's a design feature; I'm not dumb. It's a design feature that I don't think works. Hopefully I have indicated above sufficently well why many of these choices don't work for Uru (and also that I did adjust for the inherently rough look of these screenshots). Uru is not in the same league as "many games;" it is about exploration, not about showing the bad boss's castle on the loading screen so you have a goal whilst slogging through another linear 3D action adventure with questionable production values and design choices. Uru has used screenshots in places, such as a few dialogs, the installation and box of the retail boxed release, but they were either details or were from parts that were relatively easy to find. It was mainly about selling the game. I don't think we need to sell Uru with screenshots on the UI, especially not to somebody who's already playing the game.
Okay, I do not know which design you are arguing on, so I will counter for each one
My original design: Probably you are right.
Tweek's and my use of the grayscaled cavern view: You can't really see that much, definitely no spoilers. It makes the design a little nicer looking, though.
Tweek's use of D'ni for the avatar view: I don't like the avatar view at all. However, I think that picture was just the first or easiest Tweek could get at. I would advise that if he wants to keep that function, he put it in the Cleft or somewhere.
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And I happen to like the black and white (/grey) design. It is clean, simple, and elegant. Colorful menus can too easily look cheap and childish.
Is the tan Uru interface "cheap and childish?" Whose interface mockup is cheap and childish? I'm not going to say anything else because I don't like where that is leading.
As I may have noted before, I never got to play MOUL and so I don't know what the "tan interface" looks like. I also do not wish to mock or put down any other person's designs or ideas. I was simply putting a cautionary argument against a colorful, tackily bright, or gimmicky designs. That is all. Thank you for asking me to clarify and not creating furor.
Okay: People seem divided on the dark high contrast color scheme. Could Tweek or someone else make a mockup of Tweek's plan or my latest design in a softer color? Perhaps Kadish purple, the tan color everyone is mentioning, or a white/grey color.
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It is unrealistic to change things drastically, but I think we should leave it up to the players. Maybe make it harder to change facial features, weight, etc. but let them do it nonetheless. People who want to be respectedly IC will be realistic (unless they have a specific reason to suddenly change color or something) and those who don't want to be will not.Quote:
I'm not saying it shouldn't be possible at all, just that it should be possible only before you actually log in the game. Because IC-speaking if someone can change his physical appearance it would take time, and it wouldn't happen in D'ni. That would avoid the weird situations of seing someone go to his Relto and come back just two minutes later looking totally different... While this can be fun I don't think it belongs to Uru.I don't see why not. I hate it when games don't let me change the appearance of my character after it's been created, or at least charge massive amounts of (in-game) money to do so. Most things can be changed in real life -- you can dye your hair, there are colored contacts for your eye color, you can gain/lose weight... skin color doesn't change, but you could say you're using body paint. Of course, changing some things would be unrealistic, such as facial features; nose length/width, chin structure, etc... unless you claim to be getting plastic surgery though I still think you should be able to change that, but maybe with a restriction on how often it can be done.
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The news scroll for one - not sure what I think about how useful it would be, since I find "regular" emails more useful. But it's an interesting use of the space for certain.
I also thought that was interesting.








