UI Feedback/Criticisms

[Tide Hunter]

In the gripes and criticisms thread, Jacques responded to some discussions about the current UI (Link to the response in question). Jacques said he'll be looking into adding a "pre-legacy" UI, which would at least somewhat emulate the Flash version's UI, and would only impact the main UI format (won't touch stuff like the shop).

At the end of the post, he states this:

Again, I can't promise if and when I'll be able to start on the UI edits, but when I do, I have a pretty good idea on how to execute it. If there are any constructive criticisms you may have on the current and possible future of the UI, feel free to share (ideally on another thread, if so).

As such, I'm making this thread to be a place for those constructive criticisms to occur. In large part because I have some things to say about the UI.


So, starting with the bit of feedback about the UI I'm bringing in:

If a "pre-legacy" option is implemented, I probably won't make the layout 1:1 exactly like how it was in Flash, but I'll roll with the symmetrical two-bar design, as I think that's what original players liked most about that UI design. Most likely, I'll have the portrait, stats and menu buttons on the left side, and the map and navigation buttons on the right side. If it all works out, I think the layout will be a happy medium for those who prefer the OG layout with all the intricate data displayed at once.

This specifically, even if it's literally just dragging the present map and navigation stuff to the right side, would likely make me happy. One of the bigger parts of my dislike of the present UI is that, in the layout that lets everything be visible (having the map in the large mode), everything is lopsided to the left, which also decentralizes the text by shoving it into the side. Getting the map to the right side would be enough to fix that.

Though do note, with how the game's current UI layout is, I can only implement it for when the UI is in its Main Text state (the portion where you navigate and interact in scenes)--all other states, such as the Inventory, Shop, Codex, etc. will likely remain unchanged.

Although I still heavily dislike shops removing tooltips with stats entirely, the shop UI is otherwise better than the flash version, so I can get why Jacques probably won't touch the shop UI as part of this. The present shop UI heavily streamlined the buying part and allows us to bulk-buy more easily. That said, it's more difficult/annoying to determine if each item is something we should buy, since it takes significantly more steps to get any useful information about what the item in question is.

Hell, I think the problem isn't really that the tooltips are gone, because there's a box in the shop menu which has a description for the items. I think the problem is that the statistical information (stuff like shield points on a shield, or damage on a weapon) are not included in that box, and when buying gear, those stats are the most important pieces of information about the gear.

 

[Theron]

Re: Stats in Shopping Menu
Especially since the box generally just repeats the item's name. Unfortunately, I don't think there's enough room there for actually useful information instead.

It's also a lot harder to compare items in a shop to each other. There wasn't an explicit way to do this in Flash, but since the stats were in the Tooltip, you could hover over them sequentially.

 

[Theron]

The new UI changes are almost everything I could ask for.

The only things I can think of remaining:
1. A way to place the expanded map/busts on the right in the default UI. As Tide Hunter said, placing it on the left devalues the text by shoving it to the right. Placing the map on the right would center the text and make it easier to read.

2. A way to use items in bulk. It's a lot harder to use a stack of ex. Fertite+ or Bovinium than it was in Flash. (30 inputs instead of 1.)

 

[XBoxMaster131]

I'd if the second one is going to happen. That sounds like it would be a bit tricky to code.

 

[Bast]

The new layout is amazing. Minimap could be more zoomed out but I'm not too sure if that's even intentional.

 

[Jacques00]

Thank you very much for the comments and critiques. The new layout and other UI improvements have been out for a little bit now and I just want to make sure everything is working well. If there are any issues with the latest changes, feel free to list them here.

List of UI/UX improvements since the creation of this topic include:

• Addition of the "Pre-Legacy" UI layout as an option to toggle.
• Updated Image Viewer options as well as converting all image sizes to be more consistent (alongside the Art Gallery update).
• Implementing keybinds for almost all interface states (navigation in the Options screen is supported, but actual interaction is not complete).
• Minigames (Circuit, Lights Out and Blackjack) have keybind support as well as some visual improvements when interacted with.
• Added a toggle option for Extra Item Stat Detail, that will print out an item's full stats in the button tooltip and preview section, where applicable.
• Added a toggle option for displaying the Bust/Minimap rollout on the right-side of the screen (if not using the Pre-Legacy layout, of course).
• Save and Load Overwrite Prompt toggle options (for quicker save/load when using the data slots).
• Re-implemented the Compact Log Display toggle option from the Flash version as well as adding a toggle option to not colorize the timestamp.
• Moved some options around so they better fit the category they are in.

I am aware there is a requested feature to use items in bulk, but there is a technical hurdle for making that happen since not all items perform the same on use and there will need to be a way to distinguish between those usages. If and when I have time to review it, I'll see what is possible to do, but for now, and to play it safe, item usage should be singular.

• My initial thought is to make it a toggled option, when enabled, an item being used with more than 1 quantity will have a "Quantity" button next to its "Use" button. By typing in the valid quantity and confirming the usage, the items will be automatically used within a queue, interaction will be locked until all the items in the queue are used or the item's sub-menu appears. The hurdle with this method is how the automation works and how it will handle items with multiple scene changes and sub-choices. The upside to this method is less actions by user (clicking or pressing buttons).
• My alternate thought is just having an Item use-on-click toggle that will bind the "Use" key to the same key as the commonly used "Next". Would require testing, but this option is probably more easy to hold a button for, or less clicks for that matter. The technical issue with this one is the UI needing to remember what item is highlighted between interactions and how to handle an item that has been used up.

I am also aware that some users play with the aid of screen readers. If any of the UI is unclear while playing with such tools, please list them and I'll see what can be done to improve the play-ability of the game in those instances.

Thank you again for the feedback.

 

[Theron]

Would it be possible to allow manually rearranging items in the inventory? Being able to move Transformatives you plan to use soon would be a big help. Or a way to keep weapons at the top. If you want to keep weapons for different enemies, every time you swap the unequipped weapon goes to the bottom of the list.

As far as I'm aware, the only way to change item order is to move things to storage and back.

 

[Jacques00]

Would it be possible to allow manually rearranging items in the inventory?

After updating the Inventory's button interactivity, I've also added a "Sort Items" button to allow the player to open up a "dummy" storage space where the player can re-sort their various items if need be. This should work very similar to normal storage containers but you can only Accept the changes if there are no other items in the sorting column.

While the system isn't as feature-rich as I would like (as far as the current implementation) it is at least an option to allow the player to move things around if desired. Things like sorting by item type, quantity and name will be a bit more complex and will need specific UI bits that will allow for adjusting that. If I have the time, I'll try to look into it some more and see what I can do.

This change should hopefully appear in the next release.

 

[Theron]

We occasionally get people whose browsers suddenly decided now is a good time to clear out old, unnessesary data. Like the saves they were playing yesterday.

I understand there's only so much you can do about that, but is there a good place for a warning that it can happen? And that it's a good idea to use Save To File every so often?

 

[Jacques00]

I understand there's only so much you can do about that, but is there a good place for a warning that it can happen?

Already ahead of you. A few days back, I implemented a feature that, when attempting to save to a local save slot, should give a recurring warning that the save slots are to be considered temporary and that using Save To File is a better option for preserving save game data. The warning should also contain an option to adjust the frequency of how often the notification occurs (per version, daily, monthly, annually, or never). The notice can also be accessed manually in the data menu before starting or loading a game.

Or a way to keep weapons at the top. If you want to keep weapons for different enemies, every time you swap the unequipped weapon goes to the bottom of the list.

I've added some auto-sorting toggles to the sorting menu that may help with this. It will allow sorting by different categories you choose, including item type--though the order of item types is baked in, so you can't really define which item type order to have (at least not yet). As far as the default item order, clothing and armors are on top, weapons and gadgets second, then consumables, valuables, etc. Due to how item moving works, I can't apply auto-sorting everywhere, but it should trigger each time you access the inventory, after you equip/unequip an item, and after using an item (and its quantity is 0, to prevent potential item selection issues). The auto-sorting feature's settings are stored per-character, so each save file can have its own sorting setup.

These changes should hopefully appear on the next release.

 

[Amakawa Yuuto]

Whelp, might as well mention my pet peeve here again, since it is about UI.

With the kineticist focusing on Specials as attacks, having that button all the way on the right, on the opposite site of all other ways to attack, just… feels weird to me.

I think it would be better if Special Attacks and Special Abilities were split, with Special Attacks getting their own button in the spot where "Sense" is currently. Sense could be moved into the empty space above "Closer Look". That way, all attack options would be on the left, the info-options would be in the middle, and the right would continue to be a mix of all the rest.

It's not actually important, I just wanted to bring it up (again) since it's vaguely relevant to this.

 

[Skunkupine]

One oft-overlooked UI is the command line args - I'd love to be able to pass a save file name as a command line parameter, so that I could associate the TiTS app with the save extensions so that I could just double-click on a save to launch the game and load a save. Bonus points if that would also set the default path for saves.

 

[Theron]

This isn't a general UI issue, but it would be nice to be able to install two Implants at the same time, instead of having to go back into the shop and through the menus again.

The default Attack Drone has a damage readout in the Codex. It would be nice if the others did, too. (Tam-Wolf, Siegwulfe, Laser Sentry, Varmint, Shoulder Grunch, Kord'iiak)

 

[Amakawa Yuuto]

Whelp, might as well mention my pet peeve here again, since it is about UI.

[…]

It's not actually important, I just wanted to bring it up (again) since it's vaguely relevant to this.

And it's in the latest build!
Yay!

 

[Jacques00]

The default Attack Drone has a damage readout in the Codex. It would be nice if the others did, too. (Tam-Wolf, Siegwulfe, Laser Sentry, Varmint, Shoulder Grunch, Kord'iiak)

This was implemented at one point, but due to how some drones had their own damage values, attack movesets, or damage calculations entirely, it wasn't reliable at all so the stats for that section was hidden. Normal attack drone calculates its damage directly from the player character it's associated with, so that stat was kept visible.

 

[Theron]

Why are 'Other's Orgasms' in 'Personal'? Personally, I'd put them in Other.

E-mail: 'Hide Read' isn't saved. Defaults back to 'Show Total' after re-loading the page (but does persist between loads of saves in the same session).

 

[Theron]

Can we get an option to reset Achievements? Sometimes I load peoples' saves to help diagnose problems, and it gives me Achievements I haven't earned and don't want.