well i was planning on fully librarying the entire UI(its only partially right now) When I am done I will release it to be used, it's made more for a hero usage than commanding more than one unit though.
It's looking very spiffy! I really like it. I wanted to do a equipment icon system like that but could never really figure it out. How long till you think its done? (:
Yea, it would be great for an RPG which involves the control of only a single unit. I'm curious if it would be possible, once you get the base UI Libraried, if you could make it possible to have a couple of other units on there as well, sort of like henchman and have their life bars under yours.
Take my map for example. While I control only a single unit most of the time there comes a point where I add another unit, controlled through a computer terminal, in order for my character to complete an objective she can't reach. I have Hib's Hero Select Library set up at that point so you can pick which unit you want to control. Most likely once I initialized Hib's interface it would nuke what ever other custom UI I had, but that could be easily fixed by running the UI function again after creation.
So here's a list of things that you could possibly add.
Changeable Portrait Style. Right now you have the static Nova portrait. I would be cool if you had a little + near the portrait that would replace that particular dialog bar with one that uses the animated 3D portrait.
Mini map Bolean/Position. When making the library, it would be nice if there was an option for the map maker to have a mini map, and if so, whether they want it place of the red square in the bottom left, green in the bottom right, or MMO style in the upper right.
Transmission Window. To help keep with the flow of the custom UI,
I'd probably also set up a transmission window in your same style, probably above the right square. If you do such a thing I would personally request (because I was just talking about wanting to see something like it in another thread) that the transmission box can slide from the edge of the screen and into position, with maybe the assistance of a graphical gear.
OR
make the red box a place to drop the portrait of the person sending the transmission and have it temporarily nuke the wireframe icon and character stats in the middle to display the text there.
Henchman/Party Health bars. I know I mentioned this earlier, but I'm trying to make things neat because I'm OCD and I wanted to expand upon that idea. Since this is something that other map makers will be using and some of those maps might be multiplayer, I would probably add in the ability to display the life bars of your ally's hero units. For a single player, it could basically be handled the same way. Each life bar gets assigned to a player's unit or a specifically stated extra unit for your hero.
Skill Tree. Love it. It could possibly be expanded Diablo/WoW style by adding different tabs to it. I'm still learning about the more indepth triggers and such so I'm not sure how hard turning this particular frame into a library would be because of the variance on abilities and trees. I would probably handle it in a grid system that map makers can set buttons into. You'd have your main rows, where the buttons go and possible the rows between them in which to draw lines of dependency (and possibly multiple dependencies like having to know ability x and y to learn z).
Exp bar. Can't tell from the screenies, but if you mouse over the Exp bar, does it show current exp and exp to next level in a little tool tip? If not that would be an awesome little extra.
Menu. I'd probably have it be collapse able. I'd also add the option to include another button for a map. Could be a more RPG style of handling the minimap by making the players pop it up only when they want to reference it.
Character stats. I love the transparent screen feel it has, it looks a little naked and I would probably include the units stats, like character level, total damage (e.g. weapon + strength + any other modifiers), armor, etc. Maybe move the attributes from the right of the icon to the left and use the right side for these stats. What would be cool is if you could make both of these collapse as well, leaving just the wireframe icon right in the middle by itself.
That's all I can think of right now. Awesome job and I hope I gave you something to think about. Honestly though, I wouldn't care if all of my suggestions were denied as long as we managed to get our hands on this UI.
Edit: If you want help with story and/or terraining, I can help with that. You're obviously a lot more knowledgeable when it comes to triggers than I. I'm also working on improving my skills with 3ds Max for model edits and imports.
my UI can be addapted to other applications it's just currently being designed around the map im making.
moving potrait might not be bad, not sure good it would look that small. i will test it out.
i havent added it yet because the terrain isn't quite finished but I'm adding a static map window to the UI a minimap doesn't fit my map and I think it adds to to strategery of having a static map.
The skill tree is literally just a place holder I haven't even begun creating my new abilites and It's going to be at least a little different between each unit. Later in development the skill tree is going to get a complete overhaul. I'm basing my game on the fact that each decision you make towards your hero effects you in a big way. So the attribute points system/skill tree by end game your hero can be almost completely diffferent possibilites.
the exp bar is giving me some problems right now so it's not functional but I will add a tooltip like the health bars.
Yeah my friend said something about having the HUD part top of it being open but I love the transparent HUD/windshield style feel it has. I plan on adding more stats and info to it to make it a lot more useful just haven't completely figured out what all i am going to put there quite yet.
The story has a basic idea there just isn't much story yet and the terrain is more than handled..
Thanks for the ideas. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about the editor or anything and if you want to join the team and help us make this map as awesome as it can be(then you can even be one of the first to get your hands on the UI) and after I am done with the UI/map or even towards the end in general if you have any personal requests for the UI after i make it a fully usable library I will gladly incorporate them for you
and sorry about the spelling I just woke up and not really caring enough to fix my errors haha
Yea, I know the thing is a work in progress and that your main priority is getting it to work the way you want it for your map. I just wanted to kick a couple of ideas around.
For the animated portrait, I could probably nuke the whole dialog box up there, including the HP and Energy Bar and remake one sized properly with the animated portrait.
I totally agree with you, I love the windshield feel the HUD has, which is why I think being able to minimize the attributes listed there would make it look cleaner.
As for the exp bar, I've seen some stuff out there for progress bars before and I'm not sure if the trigger editor can handle it, but you could make that dialog box have a mouse-over tooltip that just shows something basic like 999/1000 using variables to recall those numbers.
I love the idea of having a diverging story, based on your choices, and the fact that your abilities reflect that is even better. I think that's one of the reasons I'm really looking forward to SW:ToR and was tempted to make a Mass Effect inspired map.
ya if you check out the youtube video i have the tooltip on health/energy. the exp bar is giving me other problems i have to to mess with that later, it made me mad so i started on a hero selection tool. if i make the status window much taller itll start getting in the way and looking bad so i dont know.
the attributes list is just there to keep track until i figure out what else is going in there its all getting set up to fit pretty in the hud
I would absolutely love to help you with a storyline. I myself was working on an RPG but gave up on it after i seen the new trigger system, don't fully understand it. If you want send me what you have so far and I will gladly give you some ideas and if they work with your story throw em in :) Btw love the screenshots, wish I was as talented as you are when it comes to the coding.
If you haven't already, check out Hib's Hero Selection. I'm currently using it for my Nova map and it works great; I have a little bug with it, but it's not game breaking so I can still develop my map. I actually need to let him know about it.
ya ive seen it mines the same general idea i suppose but it was easier just to make my own and now i can make it fit with the rest of my ui. it's more fun making this stuff from scratch :)
If I had any skills with either of those I'd help. Plus I'm hoping I get mine finished in time to submit it into Blizzard's contest (not like it would win anyways).
ya i dont think even if i finished this in 2 weeks id stand a chance. though the one thing im looking forward to is being able to play the games good enough to win :) you any good with ability/item design? not really my strong side of creativity
Sorry I've been a tad busy. Would love to see how the selector is going. I just published a library based on using dialog and dialog items to replace the standard transmissions, so I think I'm ready to try tackling my own hero selector now too.
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@Paranoiks: Go
I am using the item containers to make things like picking up/dropping simpler but thats pretty much all they are doing.
That's a pretty spiffy UI. I certainly hope that you decide to release this as a library for other players to use.
@Mienk: Go
well i was planning on fully librarying the entire UI(its only partially right now) When I am done I will release it to be used, it's made more for a hero usage than commanding more than one unit though.
It's looking very spiffy! I really like it. I wanted to do a equipment icon system like that but could never really figure it out. How long till you think its done? (:
@Sweepingzero: Go
Yea, it would be great for an RPG which involves the control of only a single unit. I'm curious if it would be possible, once you get the base UI Libraried, if you could make it possible to have a couple of other units on there as well, sort of like henchman and have their life bars under yours.
Take my map for example. While I control only a single unit most of the time there comes a point where I add another unit, controlled through a computer terminal, in order for my character to complete an objective she can't reach. I have Hib's Hero Select Library set up at that point so you can pick which unit you want to control. Most likely once I initialized Hib's interface it would nuke what ever other custom UI I had, but that could be easily fixed by running the UI function again after creation.
So here's a list of things that you could possibly add.
OR
That's all I can think of right now. Awesome job and I hope I gave you something to think about. Honestly though, I wouldn't care if all of my suggestions were denied as long as we managed to get our hands on this UI.
Edit: If you want help with story and/or terraining, I can help with that. You're obviously a lot more knowledgeable when it comes to triggers than I. I'm also working on improving my skills with 3ds Max for model edits and imports.
@Mienk: Go
my UI can be addapted to other applications it's just currently being designed around the map im making.
moving potrait might not be bad, not sure good it would look that small. i will test it out.
i havent added it yet because the terrain isn't quite finished but I'm adding a static map window to the UI a minimap doesn't fit my map and I think it adds to to strategery of having a static map.
The skill tree is literally just a place holder I haven't even begun creating my new abilites and It's going to be at least a little different between each unit. Later in development the skill tree is going to get a complete overhaul. I'm basing my game on the fact that each decision you make towards your hero effects you in a big way. So the attribute points system/skill tree by end game your hero can be almost completely diffferent possibilites.
the exp bar is giving me some problems right now so it's not functional but I will add a tooltip like the health bars.
Yeah my friend said something about having the HUD part top of it being open but I love the transparent HUD/windshield style feel it has. I plan on adding more stats and info to it to make it a lot more useful just haven't completely figured out what all i am going to put there quite yet.
The story has a basic idea there just isn't much story yet and the terrain is more than handled..
Thanks for the ideas. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about the editor or anything and if you want to join the team and help us make this map as awesome as it can be(then you can even be one of the first to get your hands on the UI) and after I am done with the UI/map or even towards the end in general if you have any personal requests for the UI after i make it a fully usable library I will gladly incorporate them for you
and sorry about the spelling I just woke up and not really caring enough to fix my errors haha
@Sweepingzero: Go
Yea, I know the thing is a work in progress and that your main priority is getting it to work the way you want it for your map. I just wanted to kick a couple of ideas around.
For the animated portrait, I could probably nuke the whole dialog box up there, including the HP and Energy Bar and remake one sized properly with the animated portrait.
I totally agree with you, I love the windshield feel the HUD has, which is why I think being able to minimize the attributes listed there would make it look cleaner.
As for the exp bar, I've seen some stuff out there for progress bars before and I'm not sure if the trigger editor can handle it, but you could make that dialog box have a mouse-over tooltip that just shows something basic like 999/1000 using variables to recall those numbers.
I love the idea of having a diverging story, based on your choices, and the fact that your abilities reflect that is even better. I think that's one of the reasons I'm really looking forward to SW:ToR and was tempted to make a Mass Effect inspired map.
@Mienk: Go
ya if you check out the youtube video i have the tooltip on health/energy. the exp bar is giving me other problems i have to to mess with that later, it made me mad so i started on a hero selection tool. if i make the status window much taller itll start getting in the way and looking bad so i dont know.
the attributes list is just there to keep track until i figure out what else is going in there its all getting set up to fit pretty in the hud
I would absolutely love to help you with a storyline. I myself was working on an RPG but gave up on it after i seen the new trigger system, don't fully understand it. If you want send me what you have so far and I will gladly give you some ideas and if they work with your story throw em in :) Btw love the screenshots, wish I was as talented as you are when it comes to the coding.
@Sweepingzero: Go
If you haven't already, check out Hib's Hero Selection. I'm currently using it for my Nova map and it works great; I have a little bug with it, but it's not game breaking so I can still develop my map. I actually need to let him know about it.
@Mienk: Go
ya ive seen it mines the same general idea i suppose but it was easier just to make my own and now i can make it fit with the rest of my ui. it's more fun making this stuff from scratch :)
Still looking for help with triggering and ability/item design if anyone is interested
@Sweepingzero: Go
If I had any skills with either of those I'd help. Plus I'm hoping I get mine finished in time to submit it into Blizzard's contest (not like it would win anyways).
@Mienk: Go
ya i dont think even if i finished this in 2 weeks id stand a chance. though the one thing im looking forward to is being able to play the games good enough to win :) you any good with ability/item design? not really my strong side of creativity
ps you want a sneak peak at my hero selection?
@Sweepingzero: Go
I could offer my semi-decent item and ability skills to help if you wanted
How did you get the portrait? It wasnt a create portrait trigger as far as i can tell. the border isnt all bulky
You can work around that.
@drummerboy1151: Go
i could definitally use some help mostly just to design the stats of them. and its just a static image
@Kanaru: Go
how? besides just on key pressed event?
@Sweepingzero: Go
Sorry I've been a tad busy. Would love to see how the selector is going. I just published a library based on using dialog and dialog items to replace the standard transmissions, so I think I'm ready to try tackling my own hero selector now too.