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Reaction To Fanfest UI modernization panel
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Khalida Nusaru
Deep Core Mining Inc.
Caldari State
#1 - 2015-03-27 16:44:14 UTC  |  Edited by: Khalida Nusaru
After watching the stream of fanfest I realized there wasn't any official way for me as a viewer from home to interact with what I was seeing. There was no way for or anyone else to actually give comments to the devs based upon the ideas that they were presenting/commenting on. I hope that maybe for next fanfest some threads titled something like "stream reactions to x presentation" will be started here.

As for actual content here are some of my thoughts from watching the UI modernization panel.


  • Notifications combined with the mail system is a really bad idea.

    • The mail system gets really cluttered when you get a million notifications about this structure is under attack or that skill has trained. If it is combined there won't be anyway to tell if you actually got an evemail or if it was just some random skill trained. Keep them separate and in the open; attached them to the neocom, brilliant, but don't hide them in something else. Maybe have them always be locked to the bottom of the neocom?

  • The simple shapes (crosses, squares, etc.) for the overview = much better than the triangles that are meant to be classes from ISIS.

    • You guys said it right in the presentation, the overview is meant for at a glance information. If these images are to close to one another that at a glance will not work. At a glance needs to be a key principle when looking at the overview. The more diverse a shape is from another the more likely that the information will be conveyed correctly. Along the same vein the fewer types of images there are, the less likely that sensory overload will kick in. If we are meant to memorize these images then give us a way to distinguish our types of targets: is this large and squishy? will it likely fire back? What kind of size am I looking at? Think the split second decisions that need to be made for pvp and less "we need to make it flow from one to the next."

  • The tactical overview cannot be real time if it is view able off grid.

    • This may not have been where you guys were going, but based upon the answers given to an idea presented (41:00 on the youtube upload of the presentation) I just wanted to make you guys think twice about this. The amount of information gathered from being on grid and knowing who is where on the grid for both your side and any enemies is to valuable to be available from anywhere but that grid. This would result in an FC being able to tuck himself away and command from safety, maybe even in a station/POS. Any tool where a major factor in a battle (like an FC, booster, skynet, etc.) can be off grid and not have the risk associated with the fight, flies in the face of the risk vs reward mantra that the games seems to be living by now. Would it be cool, you betcha. Would it be a good change, not in a million years.

  • Probe scanning not tied to the cluster wide map. A separate cleaner map would be better.
  • Beta map needs more readability for filters

    • Both of these things are kind of tied to the same problem. As it currently stands the beta map does a good job of orienting where someone is in space relative to everything else and gives a good sense of scale, exactly what your goals were with it. (It also looks really cool) What it doesn't do well is additional functions, like the filters, and probe scanning. Both of these things rely on the ability to see information with accuracy and speed. In its current state the beta map is to cluttered to meet either of these requirements.

    Filters
    The old map in 3D mode had much of the same problems, but its saving grace was the fact that it could be flattened. If you take away the 3rd dimension of a map it makes this type of information much faster to read because you are not processing the spatial visualizations. I think this is what you guys allude to when you say "something like dotlan." A simplified map for quick references. Take a look at Civ V's strategic map vs its world map. Bringing the spirit of plain shapes and simplified images rather than grand spatial references that look amazing is exemplified quite nicely in Civ V. It could be implemented the same way as well, just a button that turns the map from simplified mode to "awesome 'I feel so small' eye candy" mode. You almost had the right idea with the old map, the simplified mode just didn't go far enough to warrant swapping to the eye candy one.

    Scan Probes
    An idea that you guys mentioned as an option: having the probe scanning not on the cluster map, but on a separate solar system map. This map could be much simpler, but still needs to be large enough to be able to position your probes correctly. Perhaps use the same pop out/docking mechanism, but have this scanning map only open when your probes are launched and the scanning window is open. The current solar system map does a really good job of this already, it just needs to be easier to display its information and not hinder other systems like the overview, d-scan, or even the system scanner. This map could also be used to display the area being d-scanned as well, to give a much better picture of where you are actually sensing.

    Bonus thoughts: D-Scan
    As it currently stands d-scan is a test of spatial visualization more than a useful tool to most new players. It is like being handed a compass for the first time and having a map with no landmarks on it to orient yourself. What use is the compass if you don't know where you are relative to where you want to be. Seeing where you are facing and how far you are actually scanning would make both of these systems way more intuitive, and open up the potential for more people to use them in unison. Its almost as if you are adding a tooltip to d-scan; it is that kind of contextual information that is needed for the NPE. The system compass does an okay job of doing this exact thing with the system scanner for visuals in space. Now that same spirit needs to be brought to d-scan.
Leto Aramaus
Frog Team Four
Ribbit.
#2 - 2015-03-27 17:11:59 UTC
Good thoughts. I agree with most...

Definitely don't make every notification an EVE-mail, please.

I was on test server when they had the new shapes, and it was definitely worse than the "box" brackets we have for ships now. I would be staring at the grid, and just did not have the immediate connection of "oh! that's a ship!". The little triangles were all white, very small, and I basically was staring right at them, not registering that they were ships. A lot of this has to do with that I'm not used to them, but I think color coding would help a lot.

I definitely agree that an off-grid commander shouldn't be able to see the grid the way you can on-grid... but one of my visions for EVE is longer range "view" distance.

Please see my thread for the best UI idea since forever...

Future of EVE UI

The UI update we deserve