I thought you might take that design approach. The second one is good, but the first one works better. The changes you have made so far seem to have improved it in my opinion. It looks great and should work out well. :)
In order to save some space for the user bar area, I've also considered the possibility of having the players UI icons appear on the bar when no target is selected as well.
That is an interesting idea, as long as it doesn't get too complicated when trying to switch between multiple players, including yourself.
Do you think it would be a good idea to have game updates posted in the red border area? Or would they look better if they appeared at the top of the screen instead?
I think that the red bar is a good point for players to focus on. Placing the updates on the red bar or slightly above would be a good location for this.
Placing it too high could be distracting, especially when things get more hectic during the game.
Overall, it looks awesome, keep up the good work. I am looking forward to playing the finished map!
A little confused by the two arrows pointing at the portrait on the top left, they seem to contradict each other.
Sorry about that, I fixed some of it up to actually not be completely wrong!
The one on the top left is more of a generic description about them. I might need to fix that image again just to make it less confusing.
I also removed the alternate one because I only kept it there for the smiley face. I was initially going to draw it with a tablet and then I gave up and used vectors.
What do you think of it if I scrap the portrait borders?
I kind of like them actually.
You could always put the icons that are below the health bar and overlapping the border above the health bar so everything is over the portrait image. The ones on the right could be pushed out slightly further so they don't overlap the border.
@VoidPotato: Go
Just to be clear, do you refer to text for the players information panel instead of icons? If you could draft out what you've pictured on a paint scribble or something that'd be great. I just want to be sure I'm envisioning your idea as how you see it.
I think I may have been slightly off here. I wasn't 100% sure what kind of icons and other stuff which had to be displayed. Now I see that the icons are used to contain tooltips which explain about their function. I also see that it would be hard to expand it out too much and you do not want to omit the information about the other players either.
What I meant mostly was having some text to the side or below saying what equippment and traps (etc.) they had and their health. This wouldn't help out much, because you would have to memorize all the equippment and traps or refer to a help section detailing this.
I am working on a picture at the moment and will post it soon.
@VoidPotato: Go
Do you mean when an opponent is selected, his character info appears on my UI bar?
I meant that you have a relatively simple bar with the health and other information about the target you selected above yours so it doesn't take up too much space and allows for more room on the screen. The picture I am working on should reflect this.
@VoidPotato: Go
Anyway, If you think more screenshots of how the game currently works would help, i'll make some and attach them. Forgive the super long post. Thanks for being the first to provide some feedback :) Really appreciate it.
It wouldn't hurt to include a few more, just so myself and others can get a better understanding of the game. I personally have not played Bang! before and loosely based some of my comments on a quick look at Wikipedia and Google image search.
Thank you for explaining more about the game rule and elements as well. I will think about it a bit more and hopefully be able to come up with some more suggestions. For now I will work on this picture. I wanted to reply first just to clarify some things.
Finally, I don't mind providing feedback at all, just happy to be of some assistance!
P.S. I now can see the gaps you have put there for non-widescreen users. For some reason the image wasn't being displayed on my screen and i should have scrolled over a bit to see the right side. I actually have a widescreen monitor, but I just wanted to make sure because it could drastically affect the gameplay for some people.
EDIT: Updated with image. I will check this topic again once I have had some sleep.
EDITS 2-5: Updated the image again, there were (more than) a few errors. Labeled the blue area as well.
Uploaded a second version so that posts below still make sense if its changed.
From what I understand about the game so far is that you will be up against all the other opponents at the same time.
If so, generally second option does seem to make things easier to see as a whole, however if cluttered and confusing it could hinder a new player starting off.
If possible, using text instead of icons to reduce clutter would improve the UI significantly, especially with the health bars.
You could make a health bar underneath the portrait and make it always visible. When you click on an opponent it shows their specifics in greater depth.
The portraits do look good, but I am not sure they help as much with the gameplay. It is important to know who is who, but considering how many opponents there are it could be a bit much for the user.
Widescreen monitors should have no issues with that interface, but a non-widescreen monitor might have problems with seeing everything. If you did go with the first option, placing the opponent's screen above your own UI section may be a good idea.
The first option could also be beneficial in some ways as well by adding an extra amount of skill or experience to the game.
For example, say you have low health but people aren't selecting you and aren't attacking you either. If unnoticed, it could give you an edge over your opponents which could lead to you winning, or at least allow to harass them for longer.
Compare that to a situation where everyone can see you and you are low health. They'll finish you off quickly so you don't hang around for too long.
I'm not sure if I am entirely on the right track, but I hope that helps! :)
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I thought you might take that design approach. The second one is good, but the first one works better. The changes you have made so far seem to have improved it in my opinion. It looks great and should work out well. :)
That is an interesting idea, as long as it doesn't get too complicated when trying to switch between multiple players, including yourself.
I think that the red bar is a good point for players to focus on. Placing the updates on the red bar or slightly above would be a good location for this.
Placing it too high could be distracting, especially when things get more hectic during the game.
Overall, it looks awesome, keep up the good work. I am looking forward to playing the finished map!
Sorry about that, I fixed some of it up to actually not be completely wrong!
The one on the top left is more of a generic description about them. I might need to fix that image again just to make it less confusing.
I also removed the alternate one because I only kept it there for the smiley face. I was initially going to draw it with a tablet and then I gave up and used vectors.
I kind of like them actually.
You could always put the icons that are below the health bar and overlapping the border above the health bar so everything is over the portrait image. The ones on the right could be pushed out slightly further so they don't overlap the border.
Yes, I did use Photoshop. :) I was considering using paint but it would have taken longer and probably less clear.
EDIT: Fixed some errors and added a bit more. Also, I will actually sleep now I think.
EDIT 2: I might be slightly addicted to editing my posts, whoops.
I think I may have been slightly off here. I wasn't 100% sure what kind of icons and other stuff which had to be displayed. Now I see that the icons are used to contain tooltips which explain about their function. I also see that it would be hard to expand it out too much and you do not want to omit the information about the other players either.
What I meant mostly was having some text to the side or below saying what equippment and traps (etc.) they had and their health. This wouldn't help out much, because you would have to memorize all the equippment and traps or refer to a help section detailing this.
I am working on a picture at the moment and will post it soon.
I meant that you have a relatively simple bar with the health and other information about the target you selected above yours so it doesn't take up too much space and allows for more room on the screen. The picture I am working on should reflect this.
It wouldn't hurt to include a few more, just so myself and others can get a better understanding of the game. I personally have not played Bang! before and loosely based some of my comments on a quick look at Wikipedia and Google image search.
Thank you for explaining more about the game rule and elements as well. I will think about it a bit more and hopefully be able to come up with some more suggestions. For now I will work on this picture. I wanted to reply first just to clarify some things.
Finally, I don't mind providing feedback at all, just happy to be of some assistance!
P.S. I now can see the gaps you have put there for non-widescreen users. For some reason the image wasn't being displayed on my screen and i should have scrolled over a bit to see the right side. I actually have a widescreen monitor, but I just wanted to make sure because it could drastically affect the gameplay for some people.
EDIT: Updated with image. I will check this topic again once I have had some sleep.
EDITS 2-5: Updated the image again, there were (more than) a few errors. Labeled the blue area as well. Uploaded a second version so that posts below still make sense if its changed.
From what I understand about the game so far is that you will be up against all the other opponents at the same time. If so, generally second option does seem to make things easier to see as a whole, however if cluttered and confusing it could hinder a new player starting off.
If possible, using text instead of icons to reduce clutter would improve the UI significantly, especially with the health bars. You could make a health bar underneath the portrait and make it always visible. When you click on an opponent it shows their specifics in greater depth.
The portraits do look good, but I am not sure they help as much with the gameplay. It is important to know who is who, but considering how many opponents there are it could be a bit much for the user.
Widescreen monitors should have no issues with that interface, but a non-widescreen monitor might have problems with seeing everything. If you did go with the first option, placing the opponent's screen above your own UI section may be a good idea.
The first option could also be beneficial in some ways as well by adding an extra amount of skill or experience to the game.
For example, say you have low health but people aren't selecting you and aren't attacking you either. If unnoticed, it could give you an edge over your opponents which could lead to you winning, or at least allow to harass them for longer. Compare that to a situation where everyone can see you and you are low health. They'll finish you off quickly so you don't hang around for too long.
I'm not sure if I am entirely on the right track, but I hope that helps! :)