[WIPz] SkyUI : V

» Thu May 17, 2012 12:54 pm

Since there are not enough UI threads already, I thought I might add another one

The main goals of SkyUI are to rework the user interface and make it easier to use with mouse and keyboard, less wasteful of space and nicer to look at.

Overall we'll try to do that while keeping true to the existing style so everything looks as if it was there in the first place.
I'm saying we because I'm not in this alone. Currently the team consists of T3T for icons/art, and Kratos, Gopher and me for the programming. Also, Gibbed is working on a SKSE plugin to expose more game data to the interface, which we can then use to display individual weapon type icons and more.

The first menu we're taking on is the inventory. Here are a few screenshots that show the current status:
https://picasaweb.google.com/111359252630652788526/SkyUI?authuser=0&feat=directlink

The layout is loosely based on the mockup created by Wakeupbrandon.
Since my last progress report in the other thread the positioning has been mostly finished, the menu has been successfully converted to a single panel instead of two and keyboard navigation is working. There are still some pretty annoying issues to iron out, but overall it should hopefully be presentable soon. Unless the patch destroys all efforts of course

Oh and before I forget it, as a byproduct we also plan to release the decompiled and reconstructed (but unmodified) resources as sort of an unofficial UI SDK. Since we're busy doing changes at the moment, it would be good if we could find 1-2 more people to work on that part.

Anyway, I'll post new screens as progress is made. If you have comments/suggestions, feel free to share them.

» Thu May 17, 2012 1:13 pm

Well... my first suggestion is that the icons look too organic. I actually really like the sort of Celtic-Nordic geometric vibe the default UI has, so I'd love to see the icons done more inline with that aesthetic.

Second, I'd love to have attack speed displayed on weapons.

Third, it'd be great if equipped items could be displayed at the top of whichever section they're in (regardless of how you're sorting them... in armor, for example, sorting by weight, you'd have your equipped items sorted by weight and then everything else sorted by weight).

That's all I've got right now.

[EDIT] Oh, I forgot to give some words of encouragement. Looks great! Yay! Also, please don't mistake my glibness for insincerity. It's the best revamp I've seen so far.

» Thu May 17, 2012 8:12 am

Screenies look great. While interacting with containers and NPCs, I find that the "hot spot" (the clickable area) for the inventory categories doesn't cover all of the space it should. So inventories get accidentally closed with frustrating regularity. The buttons at the top might be a good solution to the issue, but will a mis-aimed click still close it? Looks good so far and I'm very much looking forward to seeing the finished product.

» Thu May 17, 2012 9:53 am

I think the links to the photos have some sort of issue. When I click on them they bring up an advertisemant for an x-rated chat in addition to the photo.

» Thu May 17, 2012 7:42 am

I love the UI save the icons as ishmaeltheforsaken notes. They aren't horrible or anything, I just don't feel like they match the rest of the UI super well.

» Thu May 17, 2012 11:37 am

Since there are not enough UI threads already, I thought I might add another one

The main goals of SkyUI are to rework the user interface and make it easier to use with mouse and keyboard, less wasteful of space and nicer to look at.

Overall we'll try to do that while keeping true to the existing style so everything looks as if it was there in the first place.
I'm saying we because I'm not in this alone. Currently the team consists of T3T for icons/art, and Kratos, Gopher and me for the programming. Also, Gibbed is working on a SKSE plugin to expose more game data to the interface, which we can then use to display individual weapon type icons and more.

The first menu we're taking on is the inventory. Here are a few screenshots that show the current status:
http://img5.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=03154_TESV2011_11_2923_00_41_58_122_381lo.jpg
http://img244.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=03154_TESV2011_11_2922_59_21_04_122_256lo.jpg
http://img224.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=03155_TESV2011_11_2922_59_02_69_122_1124lo.jpg

The layout is loosely based on the mockup created by Wakeupbrandon.
Since my last progress report in the other thread the positioning has been mostly finished, the menu has been successfully converted to a single panel instead of two and keyboard navigation is working. There are still some pretty annoying issues to work out, but overall it should hopefully be presentable soon. Unless the patch destroys all efforts of course

Oh and before I forget it, as a byproduct we also plan to release the decompiled and reconstructed (but unmodified) resources as sort of an unofficial UI SDK. Since we're busy doing changes at the moment, it would be good if we could find 1-2 more people to work on that part.

Anyway, I'll post new screens as progress is made. If you have comments/suggestions, feel free to share them.

Awesome, this looks to be the best made UI mod so far, the other two ones I have seen have some issue and don't look as polished. Do the sorting features work or is this a mock up? I hear there are issue with the crafting screens, that each need to be individually address and a one size fits all model does not work, are you making each optimized for itself? Other UI mod had an issue with delay as you move through catagories, does your mod have any delay as you move from items to magic,etc? Is your hud mod a separate download?

Are you planing on FWE/PN giant options menu mod for SR?

» Thu May 17, 2012 3:27 pm

Looks great. Needs to be scaled down by 50% imo.

» Thu May 17, 2012 2:28 pm

The icons are based on previous entries in the elder scrolls games Universal Interface. They're like easter eggs to series faithful.

» Thu May 17, 2012 7:15 am

The screenshots look awesome. Why'd you take them down?

» Thu May 17, 2012 10:18 am

Because there are people who still don't use adblockers and they're seeing some questionable ads on the image hosts we were using. We're looking for an alternative host.

» Thu May 17, 2012 11:34 am

You haven't heard of imgur? Seriously? =P

www.imgur.com.

Free image hosting. No ads. Unlimited bandwith.

» Thu May 17, 2012 2:39 pm

Thanks for the link. I'll pass it up to the bossman.

EDIT: We might be using Picasa.

» Thu May 17, 2012 7:18 am

Look fantastic aside from the icons, as some others have noted. I'd like it if they followed Skyrim's Nordic/Celtic theme, as ishmaeltheforsaken said.

» Thu May 17, 2012 8:21 am

As several has said, the icons are not up to snuff. They need to be more inline with the setting, Nordic/Celtic/something.
Not dizzing you T3T, you make great icons. Thanks for all your work in the past. just remake these a little to fit better in,
thank you.

@Sclangster - there is a similar mod out, and it has a feature that I personally see as absolutely necessary. It shows each
items V/W. This makes it a thousand times easier to decide what to pick up and what to ditch when over-encumbered deep,
deep down in that Dwemer fort.

Please, also make sure in the weapon and apparel menus that what you wear, is always shown at the top of the menu.

» Thu May 17, 2012 11:19 am

Will it be possible to group equipped items at the top of the item list? It's probably my most wanted feature. I hate having to scroll around to see what I'm wearing.

» Thu May 17, 2012 6:03 pm

Awesome, this looks to be the best made UI mod so far, the other two ones I have seen have some issue and don't look as polished. Do the sorting features work or is this a mock up? I hear there are issue with the crafting screens, that each need to be individually address and a one size fits all model does not work, are you making each optimized for itself? Other UI mod had an issue with delay as you move through catagories, does your mod have any delay as you move from items to magic,etc? Is your hud mod a separate download?

The sorting works, it's not a mockup. Currently we only modify inventorylists.swf, not itemmenu.swf etc., so stuff like magic is unchanged. For barter we might have to make some adjustments, though I haven't thought too much about it yet tbh.Overall I'd like to attempt doing some kind of split-view barter menu. gonna have to see if/how that's possible.

Are you planing on FWE/PN giant options menu mod for SR?

Maybe with some additional manpower we could consider that. Pelinor, you around?

» Thu May 17, 2012 5:16 pm

I could seriously see myself using this UI. Any chance you could add a damage/armor rating option to the list?

» Thu May 17, 2012 6:06 am

I could seriously see myself using this UI. Any chance you could add a damage/armor rating option to the list?

It's already there as you can see https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Y9pseYNYlCRyDF5E2OTYDtMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink but only displayed when in the respective category.

» Thu May 17, 2012 3:07 am

I'm in love with you guys now. What's stopping you guys from a full release? O.o

» Thu May 17, 2012 4:27 pm

I'd get used to the icons.

» Thu May 17, 2012 2:22 pm

Overall I'd like to attempt doing some kind of split-view barter menu. gonna have to see if/how that's possible.

Any chance of being able to have multiple items on either side grouped in a single transaction (a la Morrowind or [I think] New Vegas)?

» Thu May 17, 2012 12:15 pm

I'd get used to the icons.

Are the icons something that it would be relatively painless to replace independently of everything else? The icons as they are really are something that could (I won't say will until I've assessed the UI's ease-of-use first-hand) prevent me from using the mod. Obviously, I won't ask you to do more work just for my sake. But I'd love to know if, upon release, it would be possible for me to do up my own icons and just swap them out.

» Thu May 17, 2012 5:39 am

What about putting the category names in a small font just above or under the icons? And then distinguish the currently active category through either making that icon and name larger, bolder, or brighter? (Which might mean making the unselected items slightly smaller and/or dimmer. It might also mean abbreviating ingredients.) I think slightly dimmed icons for the non-selected categories would be nice.

» Thu May 17, 2012 11:38 am

"Gibbed is working on a SKSE plugin to expose more game data to the interface, which we can then use to display individual weapon type icons and more." -- Excellent news, from playing around with function calls within the in game scaleform player it seems that the functions available to be called are determined by which video is playing.. which seems strange (e.g. you can't call ShowTweenMenu from console.swf but you can from magicmenu.swf)

» Thu May 17, 2012 4:39 am

I don't get the dislike of the icons they fit nicely imo.
Looking great guys as usual, keep it up