Ok, here's some information on the new HUD. It's not really very new, or very different from what we have now. The only really critical part of it is the new "attention icons" concept, since we're completely doing away with "mission chat". So, we need to tell people to look elsewhere for updated mission text. I'm aiming for this to not be a constant sort of thing, but rather a "next major mission stage" kind of thing. We'll see how it goes.

See info here:

http://design.vendetta-online.com/wiki/index.php?title=HUD

I welcome comments and suggestions. Keep in mind, we aren't doing major changes.. there's a lot of stuff like momentum indicators and things that I'd like to add, but I'm just trying to do the minimum right now. Also, I don't know how soon the "damage indicator" things will appear. I put them in the mockup, but I haven't spoken to Ray about how complex it may be to implement. At least we'll have the graphics for it if he has time. (In case it isn't obvious, the "damage bar" things aren't going to be there all the time, only when damaged from off-screen, to indicate direction of the attack).

[Edit: To see a little more of an "action shot", there's an older version of the mockup here: http://www.incarnate.net/hud/ The radars are not correct (too opaque) and some other things were changed, but it gives the general idea]

These hit indicators sound familiar :P
Why not go all the way and replace the bloodspash with them? If so I'd flash all of them for hits in the front and back though

Hmm, Plural Zed Alpha eh? When ARE we getting the improbability drive/a cup of hot tea? it better be in the next 30 seconds, or those guys are toast.

But seriously, I like it. the circular targetting is nice too.

I like it. Except the news ticker. Although that leads me to suggest that you guys create it so that you can turn certain aspects of the HUD off. Personally, I don't use half of the stuff sometimes, and it would be nice to be able to turn some things off to get more visual real estate, while keeping only what you need.

Otherwise, I like it.

Kool.
I like the side strafe indicator.

maybe an option to automatically turn off all the unneeded features when the player is threatened or engage in combat, to give him/her the maximum possible visibility during this time

No, mr_spuck, I would prefer a distinction be kept between front hits and rear hits.

For the powercell bar, could there PLEASE be an additional mark (or, even better, a color change) for "enough energy to sector-jump"?

For the selected target information, could there possibly be a line for experience reward (e.g. [+100 weapon, +250 combat])?

If the skill bar is used as a mission progress indicator, could there also be a textual representation (e.g. actually have the number 9 centered on the full part of the bar and have the number 10 to the right of the bar)?

Please do make the news ticker bar removeable (like with a checkbox in the interface options) -- sounds nice for trading, a distraction for combat.

The way it works in those mockups is that any of the indicators flash if you get hit in the back. And it show the same indicator if you get hit right outside the fov and in the rear.

Flashing all of them for rear hits would provide another distinction. yeah ..flashing for front hits is a bit pointless.

bah I don't really care. the feature is pointless anyway :P

To maximize visibility, would it be possible to leave the "distance from nearest object" meter at the bottom of the screen? Or like others have mentioned, have the ability to turn it off.

We can see about making options to disable individual parts of the hud. I'd like to do that, I just have to discuss the specifics with ray and find out how involved it is to implement.

it seems cool.

one thing i would say is that it might be less irritating to have all your skill bars display at once instead of just the one- having to switch between the one to display seems un-necessarily complicated.

also, by stretching the bar into a thin unobtrusive glowy line at the bottom of the hud, it's both easier to see progress and more difficult to notice any sort of grind.

Looks very cool. Reno, what you are describing sounds very similar to what they do on real fighter HUDs afaik... "HUD clutter" I think is the term; all unneccessary elements disappear during a dogfight so as not to provide any distraction.

Off what Uncle Dave said, how about if instead of a radio button to decide which skills are shown, 5 check boxes? So the user can have any number of them shown

Then the display will be huge. I was trying to put something useful on the HUD without obstructing too much. You can still see all your skill graphs with a whole two keypresses, this was just to see the one that you were, assumably, focusing on at the time. And to get a bit more feedback from botting and stuff.

mmm... I like the idea of a "danger rating" for the current target:

-for a UIT trader:

--"RelayeR" is UIT-admired, you are Serco-admired; "RelayeR" has few UIT PKs
-> 5-10% / "low" threat

--"Borb Sarken" is UIT-KOS, you are Serco-admired; "Borb Sarken" has a number of UIT PKs, but the vast majority of them were not Serco-admired
-> 15-20% / "moderate" threat

--"[syn]n00b" is UIT-KOS, you are Serco-admired; "[syn]n00b" has a laughable duel rating and K/D ratio
-> 0-5% / "pushover" threat

--"tumblemonster" is also a member of the UIT, but a notorious pirate... you have had previous encounters with "tumblemonster" that did not end well
-> 90-100% / "deadly" threat

having the radar hemispheres closer to each other and closer to the center of the screen would make it easier to check the radar while keeping an eye on your current target or to the target reticle...

I think it's too cluttered and has too many rectangular elements... :( Any chances to keep the old one available?

I actually am MORE excited about the "News Ticker" thingy at the bottom.
The things around the central circle look like gray segmented worms to me. The "Central Bars".

This interface is at the perfect level of "busy-ness". Anything more and it will be TOO busy.

I'm thinking that the Attention Icons are excellent. How about attention icons for "Engine Fire" and "Door Ajar"? Seriously good idea for what I predict will soon be called "Idiot Lights".

LeberMac, your comment wins, again, a golden star for "too funny"; I can't wait to see a newb launch from the station with the "door ajar" attention icon still on! *EEEeeckk whooosh!*

hmm.. I dunno, Lebs, the ticker seems pretty annoying to me, and a little usefulness-deficient... :o