We need a "UI" thread in the feedback - here's some issues

[Angier]

In case anybody at Turbine would like to promote this thread to the "TOD Feedback" board, I suggest commenting on the UI in this thread. The feedback already has a thread for graphics, but these aren't really graphics issues.

Not of these are "killers", at least for me; these are simply annoyances and worse than the current AC DM client.


1. When you buy something from a vendor, the inventory scrolls back to the beginning. The old client had an annoying rubber-band when buying items deep in the inventory, but even that is MUCH MUCH better than having the scroll reset.
This doesn't happen on "Add to list", but sometimes I just want to buy a few things and don't want to deal with the list.

2. The component counts in the component screen (used for /fillcomps) are flush right with the scroll bar. A slight margin here would make this much easier to read and set. They also don't seem to auto-select the current contents of the field when clicked on, so we must either use the delete key or manually highlight the old value to overwrite it.

3. Using the mouse to select things, especially in the radar area, seems a lot less forgiving than the old client. It often took me several tries to click on a dot on the radar even if nothing was around it. Selecting things in the 3D area seemed less forgiving also, though that's harder to say for certain.

4. The repeat rate on the backspace key in the chat area is very, very slow. It's often faster to highlight, delete, and retype than to use the backspace key for minor corrections.

5. I can no longer click the "X" in the upper-right then press "Y" to logout. The "Logout?" dialog doesn't accept keystrokes, only mouse clicks.

6. Dragging things with the mouse has a cutesy delay so the item trails the mouse pointer. This was obviously on purpose but it't quite annoying. Please either remove this or make it an option I can turn off.

7. The transparency of the dialogs in the 3-D area is too opaque for my tastes. Most games have a way for the users to control the transparencies of dialogs, and that would help here.

8. Dang that ugly chat font. Hard to read.



Hopefully this is most of the issues. I appreciate your time.



-Elije Zim of Destiny

[Lokania]

I would like to add one..

In the past you could use the mouse to move the camera up/down/left/right/around .. wherever you wanted. I could not do this in the Preview world, nor could I find any where to set this. Yes, I know I can use the numeric keypad to do this but after 5 years.. well, I am old and set in my ways <grin>

Or perhaps there is an option I just need to click to set this?

[Rhysem]

Dialogs don't respond to a "yes" or "no" key. You can't even "ok" thru informational ones with escape or enter.

[MaddyFF]

Or perhaps there is an option I just need to click to set this?

If there is I haven't found it yet. I'm use to moving the camera via the mouse too (and resetting it using the keypad).

[Zeds]

all those and more , and while they may not be deal breakers for the OP they certainly are for me.



the UI in the preview is vastly inferior to the DM UI

there is no other way to say it , it simply sux

[hippiechick64]

I dont use my mouse at all, well I didnt, maybe I just need to read the new key bindings and find out where all the stuff is moved to, but I think that when I do I will find out that some of my favorite key strokes no longer are there at all. Im sure some simply moved so Ill fnd out today or tomorrow when I play again.
I hope they only moved!
mj

[Balthazar]

If there is I haven't found it yet. I'm use to moving the camera via the mouse too (and resetting it using the keypad).

Hold down the middle-mouse button (if you have one) instead of the right-mouse button to do this.

The camera now feels like it is on a round arc, so when I press num-2 to make the camera swing UP, it goes OUT and UP then comes back IN. Like I am surounded by a bubble, instead of the way it worked before where I was surrounded by a box, and doing the same action would swing the camera pointed UP until it reached the ground, and only THEN would it come closer to my char.

I like the old way better.

[Aviar]

Last night I was able to move my camera around by holding down the Mouse Wheel.

I believe this was stated in the Training Hall when I went through it.

It was definitely a little different to hold in the mousewhell to look around, I definitely prefer using the numeric keypad to move the camera in this game. Guess it's just something I got used to back in the day.

[MaddyFF]

Hold down the middle-mouse button (if you have one) instead of the right-mouse button to do this.

I don't have a middle mouse button.

I hope the assumption isn't being made that people will have a middle mouse button. None of my computers do (4), nor do any of the wrokstations where I am employed have them (800 workstations).

[Zeds]

I dont use mouselook , never liked it

but I do mouseover critters on the radar and on the play area and target them , this is greatly fubared with this supposed UI "improvement"

there are too many problems with this UI to list all of them.
I do not know what they were thinking( or perhaps they weren't?)

as of this time , I still havent found anything that would lead me to purchase the Xpack, in fact I am finding more reasons to stay away from it( not what I wanted to find )


I plan on giving it a few more days,and praying for improvement

[MaddyFF]

Last night I was able to move my camera around by holding down the Mouse Wheel.

Well I got that, but I have it setup for scrolling, not to operate like a middle mouse button.

Kind of raises the question what issues were ebing caused by using the right mouse button that required the change to using the middle button/mouse wheel?

[Fyire]

I am sure they will address the issues with the mouse. Its the same issue I have as well... I do have a middle button but dang thats gonna take some gettin used to. also will take some getting used to the bubble world feel in caves and buildings (or is that just me).

[Pent]

No it's not just you. I fiddled with the settings to get rid of the "fishbowl" feeling outside, but I still have it when inside a building or cave.

[MaddyFF]

Solandra-LC posted some information (http://vnboards.ign.com/AC_Utilities/b5432/88429007/?3) on the Vault about dealing with some of the new mouse stuff:

I posted this over on the "Destiny (ToD Preview)" boards but thought it would also be useful here since it is a Utility, of a sort... wink
I thought it would be nice if there was a way to control the camera zoom feature via the Mousewheel, also some people might want to make the right mouse button be the "mouselook" feature again instead of the middle button.
All keyboard controls are saved in .keymap files in the "My Documents\Asheron's Call" folder under your user account... this location can vary depending on your version of Windows, usually you can access "My Documents" from the Start Menu. happy
If you open the "acclient.keymap" file (or any .keymap file you may have created and already saved) I will show you the lines to add to make your mousewheel useful in AC:ToD.
Once the file is open (use Notepad) scroll down to the "CameraControls" section.
In this section you will see this line:
CameraInstantMouseLook [ "" [ 1 DIMOFS_BUTTON2 ] ]
To change the mouselook feature to use the right mouse button instead of the middle mouse button simply change the DIMOFS_BUTTON2 to DIMOFS_BUTTON1! happy
Now, if you wanted to add the ability to zoom in and out on your mousewheel add these lines anywhere in the "CameraControls" section:
CameraMoveToward [ "" [ 1 DIMOFS_Z AxisPositive ] ]
CameraMoveAway [ "" [ 1 DIMOFS_Z AxisNegative ] ]
Note: Make sure they are formatted just like all the other lines in the section!
Now, when you scroll your mousewheel the camera will zoom in and out, of course, since your hand is on the mouse you might want to set a way to reset the view to default as well... just add the following line below the two you just added:
CameraViewDefault [ "" [ 1 DIMOFS_BUTTON2 ] ]
Or, you could use _BUTTON1 to make it the right mouse button, or even _BUTTON3, or higher if you have extra mouse buttons on your mouse.
Actually, if you have extra buttons you can use the method I have used here to assign any button to pretty much any fucntion AC can do. Pretty nifty or what? grin
An even better use for the mousewheel might be to scroll through nearby monsters, or perhaps your spellbar, or to set your attack power... I will show you how to set it up to select nearby monsters, the rest is left as an excercise for the reader. wink
To set up the mousewheel to cycle through nearby monsters remove the lines you added above for camera control (if you added them that is) as you can only control one thing at a time via the mousewheel.
Then, scroll down to the "ItemSelectionCommands" section and add the following lines to the section, remembering to keep the formatting the same:
SelectionNextMonster [ "" [ 1 DIMOFS_Z AxisPositive ] ]
SelectionPreviousMonster [ "" [ 1 DIMOFS_Z AxisNegative ] ]
SelectionClosestMonster [ "" [ 1 DIMOFS_BUTTON2 ] ]
Of course you could change any of these to other entries in the section to make the mousewheel select different things... perhaps changing "SelectionClosestMonster" to "SelectionLastAttacker" might be more useful, then with a single click of the mousewheel you would have the last mob that attacked you. grin
Additionally, if you do not wish to use the mousewheel on game controls that scroll you can remove these two lines from the "ScrollableControls" section:
ScrollUp [ "" [ 1 DIMOFS_Z AxisPositive ] ]
ScrollDown [ "" [ 1 DIMOFS_Z AxisNegative ] ]

Well, this post wound up being much bigger then I thought, but since I was up all night caring for someone who was sick I had nothing better to do! wink

***NOTE: ALWAYS BACKUP YOUR .keymap FILES BEFORE EDITING THEM***
If there is even a tiny typo or formatting mistake the game will erase your .keymap and overwrite it with the default one! You have been warned! grin

Final note, due to the way the client is coded you may have to click in the viewport (3D Area) to make the mousewheel perform the desired functions, unfortuantly, I don't believe there is a workaround or fix for this issue at this time.

[Lokania]

There are many games I can not play because they make me physically sick and in the past it has usually been games played in first person. I get motion sick. Last night I found the fishbowl effect doing the same thing to me. I hope this is something that can be eliminated through the settings or something.


(Although my posts today have been pointing out issues I had last night, let me say I am very excited about what I have seen so far and hopefully will be able to stay logged in longer tonight to explore some more.)

[toshiro]

Hmm heres one that i have found annoying,

If you have a stack of say peas and you want to only grab one, you used to just click the amount at the bottom and it would highlight then you could press one and voila you can move one.

Now when you click in the amount box it just puts in a cursor and you have to manually delete the number there and then type in how many you want, also the cursor doesn't auto appear at the end but where ever you click so sometimes you have to use both backspace and delete keys to clear the field :mad:

so now with 100 peas its 5 key presses instead of 2

A small but very annoying change!

[Skeksis]

When I ID a creature/person/object and that object gets out of range, the right panel disappears. AC-DM goes back to your inventory. Is this going to stay like that or is it a fix that didn't make the preview patch? It's very annoying to have to open your inventory every time that happens. I also agree with everyone else's comments.

[Angier]

-----
If you have a stack of say peas and you want to only grab one, you used to just click the amount at the bottom and it would highlight then you could press one and voila you can move one.

Now when you click in the amount box it just puts in a cursor and you have to manually delete the number there and then type in how many you want, also the cursor doesn't auto appear at the end but where ever you click so sometimes you have to use both backspace and delete keys to clear the field
-----


This is a good example of not doing exhaustive testing. The reason this wasn't noticed is because the most common way of splitting a stack of items is to press the "T" key, not highlighting the quantity with the mouse.

As most of the testers, internal and external, have been with the game a long time most of us have picked up on the "right" way to do things. With pure ad-hoc testing, the many alternatives the earlier client offered the players were apparently NOT tested.

Forcing the playerbase to re-learn how to use the interface is not good business sense at all. Turbine, you need to do full option testing on this client and stop expecting ad-hoc testing to catch everything.

Just in this thread, we see splitting stacks, camera movement, and selecting world objects as having multiple approaches where some carried over just fine and others blew apart. And by the way, I use a trackball and I don't have a middle button or wheel either.


-Elije Zim / Destiny