MultiPlayer UI redesign feedback

Ok some feedback after a quick first look:

Lobby

The side selection buttons are way too big. It looks a bit childish now. Maybe its even better if you make them as tabs above the role selection box? That way it might be clearer for newcommers that other sides have different roles.

The "titles" of the three collumns (side - Roles for x - pool) should stand out more. Make it bigger, and not on one wide box, but in separate boxes above the columns.

The AI computer pictures in the role selection box are warped now. Maybe needs a data change so its not in the beta?

I like the whole spacious fullscreen layout tho. Much more overview this way. more space in the pool for names is welcome too.

Create game screen

Nice and clean, I like it. But it would be more logical if the mission sumary and description column is on the far right. Most people look from left to right: First select an island and difficulty, then select a mission and then look what its description is.

Most of the description images from the standard mission do not work.

Parameter setup screen

The old one was better, now the columns are so far apart, that its hard to see what setting belongs to what property. Either make it smaller again, or add alternating colors to the rows or smth.

So far It improves slowly with the latest beta's

Keep it up!

love the new mp gui. it so clean and easy to read.

only thing i dont like is what rundll.exe said about the side selection button. way to big

Some of the titles could be right-aligned, like: "Mission", "Description" in lobby or parameters' titles in MP params window.

Generally the new GUI is more usefull - fields are wide so nothing should be truncated like long nicks were in the previous one (lobby), but it looks a little bit poor / raw - only rectangles - similar to arma1.

Shortly: old one was looking better, new one is more practical. But I believe it could be mixed.

The "titles" of the three collumns (side - Roles for x - pool) should stand out more. Make it bigger, and not on one wide box, but in separate boxes above the columns.

Shortly: old one was looking better, new one is more practical.

My feeling exactly.

Hmm... I really liked the old one much more.

Can't point my finger on it but something didn't fit and the old one was much easyer to view ( everything was sorted much better ) now things are all over the screen.

But may it's just becouse i'm not familar with the new one and still have the old one in my head. ;)

I really miss the angled style of the windows. It's back to boring plain boxes now for everything. heh

The first 8 screenshots I'm not really a fan of. It's great to have more space for mission names but the amount of negative space around everything is boring and seems wasted. The size limit on overview pictures made sense, but now that it's much larger they look silly in the middle of this huge 50% screen wasteland. Again, I really miss the style of the old windows, shadows, bars and buttons. Plain boxes = ugh.

Multiplayer screen seemed to only be a taller banner backing and a highlighted filter header? *shrug* Sure, why not..

The original remote mission page suffered from the "plain box" syndrome which is apparently the preferred style (albeit with shaded boxes rather than empty) but the new one suffers from the plus data spreadage. Personally I'd move mission settings and summary below everything rather than in a new column. So you don't have to look in the middle to pick the map, to the right to pick a mission then all the way back to the left to see what the mission is about. Or move the description to the far right, so your eye flows from map -> mission -> details rather than -> map -> mission <-- details.

I like the new setup screen if it were darker and had the nipped corner thing I love so much. :)

I'm ambivalent about the admin pages.

Parameters suffers from the above. If you could make those drop downs that would be PERFECT so we didn't have to keep click, edit, back, edit, oops, back, double click, yikes, edit, back... The separate HUGE NEGATIVE SPACE option pages seem... very programming 101 and lack style.

I absolutely loathe the moving of the chat bar to the very bottom of the screen. Horrible idea. Keep the typing near eye level so I don't have to stare down to type.

I'm assuming the lack of a hint box in the last picture was merely an omission and not the removal of the hint system? :)

All in all I'm not thrilled about any of these changes. The more details viewable in MP seem nice, but there's a huge step back in style with regards to the UI, a definite misstep with regards to usability in the chat bar location and limited improvements overall. Sorry that this isn't nice feedback, but it's honest. :)

The resource for displaying chat text in map differs from that on the main screen. On map you get long lines. On main screen it is condensed and split into lines.

Unrealated to MP, but an OK button (rather than just edit and cancel) on the difficulty screen would be nice. Usually I'm only interested in changing the actual difficulty, not change stuff in them. Saves a few annoying clicks.

Tested the interface size change thing. It's still not a fluid change (without restart), as chat text on the main display will be offset. However, a quick visit to map and back, makes it better.

I like the new GUI. It is much easier to read and feels less cluttered. A step forward IMO.

I like the new UI, it's very functional. The only thing I dislike (and already disliked about the original) is the parameter selection.

I'd prefer to be able to edit parameters without having to click "Okay". For example, some GUI where the parameter is followed by a combo box in a grid layout, clicking on the combo box allows selection of the parameter.

Add to that, a new parameter type could be a range value, for example specify a parameter "Patrol Length" that displays a slider instead of a combo box and allows you to set any value in a certain range instead of only 1 hour, 2 hours, etc.

I also agree that the buttons for side selection are a bit too large, and would probably be better off as tabs on top of the roles list.

...

Couldn't have said it better, and voted accordingly. I can see the need for some improvement to the UI in terms of available space, etc. but the new idea is just a bit over the top (an entire screen for a parameter? :rolleyes:).

Not trying to sound ungrateful, but I think a compromise between this new idea and the old system is needed.

Starting to agree on the parameter screen (vs the old window). I think a dropdown would be much better. And split it not 50/50 but 25/75 or 33/67; the name of the parameter are rarely big, but sometimes it's nice to have room to explain the parameter choice in terms of what it does.

james, i think You need to have mission which has e.g. 50 parameters and 20 options for some of them

Like Domination? :)

I cant speak for many online players who use certain modes but I can only speak of layout and space use.

I think the new version is better, yes I agree old is more fancy "outer design" UI with angled borders and cosmetic looking, but practical wise it was very shrunk and cramped yet you have an entire screen to use (especially 16:9). Also this helps with the scrolling aspect when you have allot of list options and missions, so I welcome it on the basis of usage of space and practicality.

I dont think it "looks" worse, I think it actually looks like a more professional approach, minimal and effective, as opposed to eye candy and cramped.

A healthy dose of UI space management :)

james, i think You need to have mission which has e.g. 50 parameters and 20 options for some of them ...

then You will understood it ...

I was more referring to parameter value selection rather than parameter listing. I think the latter looks fine, but the former just has a lot of space to the left and right side. I think it'd be better if you could change the values on the parameter list screen (such as via a drop-down, or arrow selections... we now have enough space for that - don't know how viable it is in-engine, though). My day job is working with/designing user interfaces - so perhaps I'm just a little more critical than most :icon_rolleyes:

In either case, I don't think it's bad, I just don't think it's as good as it could be. And please don't mistake my feedback for ungratefulness, I'm very grateful for the continual work you guys at BIS put into these games :)

Edit: For clarification, I voted "not good" because some of the aspects of the interface just aren't that good (mostly pointed out by kylania)... but, that's not to say that I don't believe they can be improved, or that I think any effort thus far is wasted... far from it! :)

I would like to see "Favorites" added. Otherwise it is fine.

looks good ;) I would like the whole UI looks a bit more "noble". The start screen with a Sidebar (or above) with all menus. If you click on a menue point the submenu comes on the rest of the screen. I think a bit BF2 layout describes it best ;)

http://images.fragland.net/screenshots/1874/96.jpg

In the current layout, the "side button" and the "AI icon" (the litle computer icon if AI is available) looks too big.

I like the new GUI as well, much better use of monitor space.

Still some of the icons (side selection for instance) could be slightly resized, but overall a big step in the right direction.

Cheers

Crusader

I would like to see "Favorites" added. Otherwise it is fine.

me too!

I'd like to see the nicely shaped boxes back, not those plain rectangles. Otherwise it is really a nice improvement. Oh and inverse the Mission selection plz, Mission left, description right.

it looks really nice! just like others said though, a favorites, and a FRIENDS list would make my day :)

well you can either have functionality or eye candy :)

i prefer first the usability ... and if possible then the eye candy :)

Do rounded corners and shadows break functionality?