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The user interface, it doesn't have to be like this.
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Mishra Ninghor
The Scarlet Storm
#1 - 2012-07-20 11:23:37 UTC
I just came back to the game, and as usual the one thing that really bugs me is the user interface. It's clunky and in general poorly designed as far as space saving solutions go and how much space is wasted on useless features. There's never enough space and if you wish to fit everything in you can hardly see out the window.

I mean seriously, if you put up that much information on your car window and took it out on the highway, you'd be thrown in jail within the next 30 minutes.

Anyhow, what I want is a discussion on how we could streamline the current user interface so that we can get the same amount of information easily available. But cut down on the "crap" aka wasted screen real estate.

The first thing that comes to mind, is the drone window. For a drone user, you will have to sort through several categories as well as waste valueable space on headlines all around. For instance you will have title, "Drones in Bay", "Drones in Local Space", "Light Drones", "Medium Drones", "Heavy Drones" then 5 lines for viewing the information on each of your drones.

An example of this you can see here:http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/5672/droneui.jpg

I think 11 lines is a little bit excessive just for operating some drones. And with that kind of screen real estate already allocated, I have no doubt you could find a better solution for it. For instance you could use something like the current chat window system where you have multiple "tabs" filled with drones instead of spending multiple lines on different drone types.

What if instead of creating 5 lines of drones for 5 different types, you could make it two instead?

Instead of:
Drones: (5 of 5 max in space) (title)
Drones in Bay (folder)
Hammer II (5) (folder)
Hobgoblin II (5) (folder)
Warden II (5) (folder)
Drones in Local Space (folder)
Ogre II (5) (folder)
Ogre II (Idle) --- --- ---
Ogre II (Idle) --- --- ---
Ogre II (Idle) --- --- ---
Ogre II (Idle) --- --- ---
Ogre II (Idle) --- --- ---

You could have:
Bay : Hammer II (5) Hobgob II (5)
-------Warden II (5) Ogre II (in space)
Local (5/5): Ogre II - Ogre II
----Ogre II - Ogre II - Ogre II



And then you use background colors for each of them to show their health status and lower the recuired space for the controls. I know this is very far from a perfect example, but I think it clearly demonstrates how much space is actually wasted in the current user interface just on the drone window. The same kind of improvements could also be done with pretty much anything from the target window to the chat windows, optimizing the way space is used, minimalizing waste,
Crunchie Attuxors
Always Another Corporate Venture
#2 - 2012-07-20 11:27:10 UTC
You can group drones now. I do that. It only really becomes an issue in large dronebays.

I think you are too lazy to use the tools provided. 2/10
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Azami Nevinyrall
172.0.0.1
#3 - 2012-07-20 11:33:12 UTC
The UI has to be as complicated as possible!

...
Crunchie Attuxors
Always Another Corporate Venture
#4 - 2012-07-20 11:52:41 UTC
Azami Nevinyrall wrote:
The UI has to be as complicated as possible!


No, it can be improved and has been improved. Just that this suggestions fails to improve on anything that doesn't already exist.
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Mallak Azaria
Caldari Provisions
Caldari State
#5 - 2012-07-20 11:55:33 UTC
Get a better monitor.

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Goremageddon Box
Guerrilla Flotilla
#6 - 2012-07-20 11:58:48 UTC
Crunchie Attuxors wrote:
Azami Nevinyrall wrote:
The UI has to be as complicated as possible!


No, it can be improved and has been improved. Just that this suggestions fails to improve on anything that doesn't already exist.


this.
Alayna Le'line
#7 - 2012-07-20 12:10:23 UTC
Mishra Ninghor wrote:
And then you use background colors for each of them to show their health status and lower the recuired space for the controls. I know this is very far from a perfect example, but I think it clearly demonstrates how much space is actually wasted in the current user interface just on the drone window. The same kind of improvements could also be done with pretty much anything from the target window to the chat windows, optimizing the way space is used, minimalizing waste,


Let me start by being opposed to using colors for showing how healthy stuff is. Everybody sees colors differently not even adding in the fact that all windows can be transparent so the stuff in the viewport often messes with visibility and color percepten and then I didn't even mention the large amount of people suffering from deuteranopia (Daltonism, red-green colorblindness) among the male population (you were thinking about using red and green, weren't you?) and lesser numbers for various other forms of colorblindness.

The easiest thing to fix about the drone UI is to fully unfold the "drones in space" part whenever you launch drones, that would already save me 2 clicks after each undock (ok, not EACH undock, but just go with it, okay?). Another thing would be to get a warning when a drone gets targeted and combat log entries when they get shot at. That would already fix a big amount of my issues with the drone UI and would probably make heavies useful for killing stuff that isn't already humping your hull as you can pull them back as soon as they're getting targeted, instead of as soon as they are starting to visibly take damage, which with slowass drones like heavies means "dead drone" if they're even a little distance away. Seems to me like these changes would be trivial to implement.

Now being able to launch groups of drones by using shortcuts etc THAT would be nice and I hope we'll see some of that instead of more fixes of wasn't really broken (yes, that was a stab at the unified inventory debacle)

As for how you're grouping drones: that won't work. There's enough ships on which flights of mixed drones are common (Myrmidon as a very popular example).
Rengerel en Distel
#8 - 2012-07-20 12:34:46 UTC
They could simply make the UI a client side thing, and let us change the windows how we want. Other games do that, and they don't seem to have issues with it.

With the increase in shiptoasting, the Report timer needs to be shortened.
Charles Baker
Aliastra
Gallente Federation
#9 - 2012-07-20 13:25:02 UTC
I still want an 'Action-Stations' UI minimization button that you could tune to make non-essential things disappear with a single keystroke like folding the Neocom in, closing chatboxes (of which i have three open) only things which should be left open are Overview, Fleet tab, Drones, etc
Mishra Ninghor
The Scarlet Storm
#10 - 2012-07-20 13:37:01 UTC
Alayna Le'line wrote:

Let me start by being opposed to using colors for showing how healthy stuff is. Everybody sees colors differently not even adding in the fact that all windows can be transparent so the stuff in the viewport often messes with visibility and color percepten and then I didn't even mention the large amount of people suffering from deuteranopia (Daltonism, red-green colorblindness) among the male population (you were thinking about using red and green, weren't you?) and lesser numbers for various other forms of colorblindness.


Fair point, but there's still a huge amount of wastage. And why not let us adjust the colors in the first place?
Colonel Xaven
Perkone
Caldari State
#11 - 2012-07-20 13:47:02 UTC
I personally prefer a "clunky and in general poorly" UI over a "hello kitty online" design.

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Halcyon Ingenium
Caldari Provisions
Caldari State
#12 - 2012-07-20 13:49:22 UTC
Double fail post. 1/10

1. None of the problems you have are problems with the UI, they are problems because you aren't using the UI effectively.

2. Your complaint is about drones, and you tried to hide that fact behind some faux advocacy of improving the UI.

By the way, since we're already talking, do you want to buy a rifter? I've got the cheapest rifters in Metropolis. If you can find a cheaper rifter, buy it!
Sentamon
Imperial Academy
Amarr Empire
#13 - 2012-07-20 14:15:34 UTC
3rd party UI's please.

Big smile pls with sugar on top.

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Freezehunter
#14 - 2012-07-20 14:46:09 UTC
Get a HD monitor that isn't tiny and you will not have these problems.

Inappropriate signature, CCP Phantom.
Skorpynekomimi
#15 - 2012-07-20 15:08:24 UTC
Don't listen! Don't 'simplify' things and make it all 'context based'! Don't make things vanish when unused! I want to see things. I NEED to see things. Everything.
Anyone who complains has a tiny monitor or something.

Economic PVP
Mishra Ninghor
The Scarlet Storm
#16 - 2012-07-20 15:09:34 UTC
Freezehunter wrote:
Get a HD monitor that isn't tiny and you will not have these problems.


I have a HD monitor 24" 1080p. It gives me more space but it doesn't change the fact that the current UI is crap.
Mishra Ninghor
The Scarlet Storm
#17 - 2012-07-20 15:10:56 UTC
Skorpynekomimi wrote:
Don't listen! Don't 'simplify' things and make it all 'context based'! Don't make things vanish when unused! I want to see things. I NEED to see things. Everything.
Anyone who complains has a tiny monitor or something.



I'm not saying information should be removed, I'm saying less space should be wasted by using inefficient solutions.
Sentamon
Imperial Academy
Amarr Empire
#18 - 2012-07-20 15:30:34 UTC
I wish I could remove the targeting lines that are drawn all over the screen.

7 targets and it's OMG!!! arghhhhhh *hammer screen* Shocked

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Rer Eirikr
The Scope
#19 - 2012-07-20 15:34:31 UTC
Mishra Ninghor wrote:
Freezehunter wrote:
Get a HD monitor that isn't tiny and you will not have these problems.


I have a HD monitor 24" 1080p. It gives me more space but it doesn't change the fact that the current UI is crap.


You are most certainly "doing it wrong" then, given the massive amount of real estate such a screen provides.
Mishra Ninghor
The Scarlet Storm
#20 - 2012-07-20 15:46:41 UTC
Rer Eirikr wrote:

You are most certainly "doing it wrong" then, given the massive amount of real estate such a screen provides.


Even if you make the best of it in the current system, it will still be clunky and poorly designed. I mean you can't possibly say the current one is "Good" as it is? It works, but there's a reason they mention time and time again that they're concidering a redesign even saying they "might" use a whole patch to do it.
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