It's funny to see people saying the UI isn't broken on PC, since the button icons at the bottom of menus are static bitmaps, and don't reflect changes to keybindings. If I change my "Use" key from E to L, for example, the menus will continue to display E instead. This becomes problematic because the same button will often change context — the "Store" button becomes the "Take all" button, for example. One button doing the opposite thing on different menus, and it's not even listed properly if you've changed keybindings... no sir, that's not sloppy at all.

Some first-person shooters from the 1990s handled keybindings better than that. Either this is 2011 and that's the best Bethesda could do, or they just didn't bother to tailor the UI for the PC. I know which explanation I believe.

Also, the way some menus are laid out practically REQUIRES you to switch awkwardly between the mouse and keyboard buttons when navigating menus. If you try to use only the mouse or only the keyboard, you end up either having problems selecting and clicking everything properly with the mouse, or you end up having to reach over from the keyboard to use the mouse to click something (clicking "Yes" while smithing, for example). As well, having the mouse cursor anywhere near the inventory menu screws up what you're doing if you're trying to select things with just the keyboard, because the mouse and keyboard then "compete" for selecting things and scrolling the list.

There are many other usability issues with Skyrim's UI on the PC, from the favorites and spell menus to the perk constellation and everywhere in between. I've dealt with some pretty crappy PC UIs in my day, but this is a cake-taker.

Skyrim is great, but the UI is a sloppy, lazy console port that Bethesda spent absolutely no effort on. I know it, they know it, and you apologists know it, too. Have I learned to use this terrible UI fairly efficiently? Yes. Is it still sloppy and terrible? YES.

Tell that to my mouse cursor which almost never properly highlights what the cursor is hovering over. Or my keybinds which seem to randomly drop off for no apparent reason, and basically don't work for dual-wield combos. Or switching between my magic and inventory screens, requiring me to back all the way out and unpause the game, and then go back into the menu. And don't get me started on navigating the perks screen... *shudder*

This explain a lot about UI http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1267229-modding-the-gui/
Apparently UI was made with use of ActionScript 2.0 and some GFX files, both being expensive solutions from adobe?

Yeah, I found that thread earlier and just started reading through it. Not sure how much all the necessary software would cost, but if it's steep that would be a real pain. It sounds like alternate solutions may be available for modders, though.

I should be able to get the gist of where I'm going from the quest description without having to use the quest markers.

I have the ability to disable the quest markers, but then the quest description one liner doesn't tell me where or what I'm looking for.

Example, I have one to deliver a letter to some chick that some dude wrote incriminating someone else. Doesn't tell me what city the npc is located in. I picked it up 2 days ago somewhere and it was in town. The lady lives in the same town. Which one, I can't freaking remember, because of things like.. oh, sleep. Eating. Going out and doing errands. You know, not paying attention to the game for a short period of time, and having other things to do?

So I can't remember where the hell they're at, and to find out I either need to use the quest markers(some people are highly against these... I feel forced to use them even though I can turn them off entirely) or go look it up on the web. This should not happen.

I kinda think that mouse pointing at one option, and then clicking but the game selects another option that can potentially start fights or shut you out of quests by saying the wrong thing needs fixed.

The point was, that they don't want you seeing the UI most of the time. They didn't want you seeing hotbars or debuff timers and whatnot.

Good idea in theory. Bad idea in practice.

I have a few thoughts. Bethesda was completely tone-deaf to the interface complaints with Oblivion, I don't remember them ever mentioning them until Fallout 3 was being marketed. I doubt they'll even mention the PC complaints (at least until Fallout 4 is in development) let alone actually do anything to change it. The second I saw the screenshots of Skyrim's UI I knew it was going to be horrible, but what we got was even more horrible than I could imagine. At least Oblivion and Fallout 3 worked with a mouse. Skyrim's doesn't half the time. And really...the perk screen? Is that really "Working as Intended"? Nevermind the massive waste of time having to scroll through every skill to get to the one I want to look at, just getting to one perk over another in a single skill constellation is almost impossible without massive amounts of frustration. Why not just have a zoomed out view of the constellation and let me click on the perk I want to look at like any normal non-ported PC game would?

Not to be a Morrowind zealot (I love Skyrim btw, much better Elder Scrolls game than Oblivion) but One-click and everything is there...no fuss, no muss. That's a decade old game.

That said there are some positive developments with Skyrim, for example pushing "M" actually brings up the map, "J" the journal, "I" the inventory. Basic cRPG conventions that I'm glad Bethesda has finally caught on to. And the font seems to scale with the resolution, something that didn't happen with Oblivion (although the font is still ridiculously oversized).

In summary...why not just create a unique UI for PC? Is that really so difficult? Haven't we already been through this with Oblivion? Didn't Bethesda themselves acknowledge that the number one mods people used for Oblivion were UI mods (DarN etc.)?

nah sooner or later someone will mod a replacement. that's what I love about bethesda games, the modders are so devoted.

and yet I have to spend so much time navigating UI that my left hand begin to hurt...

I'm not saying the UI/menu system couldn't be better, but from reading the majority of the complaints I feel many of you haven't taken the time to figure out how it actually "works". Many of the things you're saying "can't be done" actually can and quite easily.

I do look forward to a mod though, I used mods in both Morrowind and Oblivion UI's. Until then, no big deal cause the one in place functions just fine.

There aren't enough of us playing on PC these days, so Bethesda doesn't care enough to spend money or manpower tailoring a PC-specific UI. It's shameful, because they wouldn't be where they are if not for the PC gamers of yesteryear. Morrowind was their first major game to even get a console port.

It's like being a second-class citizen, basically. PC players are Elder Scrolls fans, we support Bethesda, we buy Bethesda's games, we make (and made, in the past) tons of mods that increased the popularity of Elder Scrolls... but now most players are console gamers, so our needs are no longer important.

Search for my other posts (skill guide) for instructions. GlovePIE, get it... love it...

You're forced to raise your magicka, health, or stamina, but you can close the interface without having to assign skill points.