Forums » Suggestions
HUD improvements
New player here just want to point out some shortcomings compared to current MMO's such as EVE and Star Trek Online.
1. HUD/UI windows all need to be moveable and resizeable. I looked on the forums and there is constant request for hud changes by having a customizable one these issues go away forever.
2. Chat should be independent module that can be moved and resized. One should also be able to create tabs for different channels.
Thanks
1. HUD/UI windows all need to be moveable and resizeable. I looked on the forums and there is constant request for hud changes by having a customizable one these issues go away forever.
2. Chat should be independent module that can be moved and resized. One should also be able to create tabs for different channels.
Thanks
We do at least have a global hud resize via the F5 key.
Individual elements can potentially be moved and resized via plugin if you really want that and don't want to wait for the devs to get around to it. Draugath was working on something like that. I tried it out and it was pretty neat, though I don't really have any use for it myself since the default doesn't bother me. Might be useful as a framework for plugins that add new interface elements though.
I do agree about chat tabs, as long as the tabs are customizable so that we can still build combined tabs that have multiple channels. Otherwise, for the current size of the player-base I greatly prefer VO's all-in-one approach than the tab-based chats I've used in some other games (particularly Hazeron, where it was non-configurable).
Basically, I want to be able to just create a new tab, then go into it and /join whatever channels (including group, guild, PM, and sector) I want. So I could have an all-in-one tab, and one that's only sector, group, guild, and PM, and one that's guild-only, etc. Maybe even have an option to filter them by player, so that I could have individual tabs for different private-message conversations.
But I absolutely do not want a system where the game forces you to have separate tabs for PMs, guild, etc. That would piss me off.
I'm thinking about making a plugin to do this, but I really hate interface work and I've been pretty busy lately, so I haven't gotten around to it.
Individual elements can potentially be moved and resized via plugin if you really want that and don't want to wait for the devs to get around to it. Draugath was working on something like that. I tried it out and it was pretty neat, though I don't really have any use for it myself since the default doesn't bother me. Might be useful as a framework for plugins that add new interface elements though.
I do agree about chat tabs, as long as the tabs are customizable so that we can still build combined tabs that have multiple channels. Otherwise, for the current size of the player-base I greatly prefer VO's all-in-one approach than the tab-based chats I've used in some other games (particularly Hazeron, where it was non-configurable).
Basically, I want to be able to just create a new tab, then go into it and /join whatever channels (including group, guild, PM, and sector) I want. So I could have an all-in-one tab, and one that's only sector, group, guild, and PM, and one that's guild-only, etc. Maybe even have an option to filter them by player, so that I could have individual tabs for different private-message conversations.
But I absolutely do not want a system where the game forces you to have separate tabs for PMs, guild, etc. That would piss me off.
I'm thinking about making a plugin to do this, but I really hate interface work and I've been pretty busy lately, so I haven't gotten around to it.
Good observations.
heavyrunner, part of the problem with creating a HUD that is completely moveable and resizeable is the way you interact with your ship, and the way the current interface system works (IUP). The game engine needs to be able to intercept all inputs (keyboard and mouse) in order for you to be able to fly your ship. When a UI control has focus, it receives all inputs, not the game engine, so you're unable to fly, unlike in Eve and Star Trek Online (that you offered as examples) which are driven by interacting with menus and clicking on objects.
It's not impossible to make the interface work in this manner, as I have demonstrated to some degree with my experimental MDI HUD plugin. VO's implementation of IUP unfortunately has some limitations that make writing interfaces of this nature more difficult.
As for an enhanced chat window, this has also been on my list of things to work on, it's just a matter of getting the proper motivation to work on it.
It's not impossible to make the interface work in this manner, as I have demonstrated to some degree with my experimental MDI HUD plugin. VO's implementation of IUP unfortunately has some limitations that make writing interfaces of this nature more difficult.
As for an enhanced chat window, this has also been on my list of things to work on, it's just a matter of getting the proper motivation to work on it.
Joysticks and gamepads do continue controlling the ship while hud elements are active, for the record. That's a useful thing to know if somebody starts shooting at you while you're looking through your standings or whatever. You can start dodging and shooting back with one hand even as the other hand scrambles to get the gui out of your face. Mouse/Keyboard users are out of luck, though.