HUD Progressive reduction, an alternative?

(chippy) #1

As of now, the objectives on the HUD often get very cluttered which hinders visibility, whether it be an enemy or the objective itself. I know that there have been a lot of talk about having a few options for this. Only icon, custom transparency and stuff like that. I am also aware that you can remedy the problem quite well by messing around with the .ini files.

But, how about implementing a progressive reduction? The more a user plays the game, chances are he or she will know where to go at the different stages. Which leads to, basically, the more gametime a user has, less information is shown. A crude example can be: The user have more than 15h of playtime and the names for the objectives are now gone or very transparent leaving only the icon for the objective fully visible.

Obviously this needs some thought behind it and maybe an introduction to it may be in place. The user boots up the game for the first time and get a message saying something “Hey, you’re new here, would you like to […]. You can always change this in the options menu later.”

Read more about progressive reduction here: http://layervault.tumblr.com/post/42361566927/progressive-reduction

Thoughts?

(murka) #2

That is an awesome idea!

(rand0m) #3

I’d just like an option from the get go to remove all this crap. Keep the HUD display up for revives and players requesting ammo, but pleas move everything else to my MINIMAP! I hate all this clutter on my screen. The only thing I wanna see is the enemy 99% of the time.

(en2ie) #4

That’s brilliant.

The easier way to implement this would be the minimalistic hud option, but some form of automatic swapping based on how many times you have played a map or performed an action would be neat.

(Jonny_Hex) #5

[QUOTE=chippy;448434]As of now, the objectives on the HUD often get very cluttered which hinders visibility, whether it be an enemy or the objective itself. I know that there have been a lot of talk about having a few options for this. Only icon, custom transparency and stuff like that. I am also aware that you can remedy the problem quite well by messing around with the .ini files.

But, how about implementing a progressive reduction? The more a user plays the game, chances are he or she will know where to go at the different stages. Which leads to, basically, the more gametime a user has, less information is shown. A crude example can be: The user have more than 15h of playtime and the names for the objectives are now gone or very transparent leaving only the icon for the objective fully visible.

Obviously this needs some thought behind it and maybe an introduction to it may be in place. The user boots up the game for the first time and get a message saying something “Hey, you’re new here, would you like to […]. You can always change this in the options menu later.”

Read more about progressive reduction here: http://layervault.tumblr.com/post/42361566927/progressive-reduction

Thoughts?[/QUOTE]

As I said in the other thread, we’re working on updating the HUD atm, but…

I REALLY like this idea, and I REALLY wish I’d thought of it myself. :slight_smile:

A very constructive post, and intelligently proposed - you are a most valuable player. We (SD) must do more research on this.

(iwound) #6

i mentioned something similar in the patch thread but giving control to the player to what he has showing.

[QUOTE=iwound;448412]re HUD

What do people think about a quick button for all HUD off/on.
pre select what you need to show all the time, maybe nothing.
then in game press hold for HUD to show. Release to turn off.

as you get to know things you’ll rely less and less on the HUD.[/QUOTE]

(Mustang) #7

TBH you could just implement this as a hints system where hints trigger after a certain length of time reminding you that this sort of stuff is toggleable from the game menu.

(Jonny_Hex) #8

I think there’s a few things which could work well together - progressive reduction for newcomers, a proper option to disable waypoints etc (instead of hacking the .ini files), and a ‘tactical view’ mode [press T] to show more in-world HUD info as and when you need, for example.

(Jonny_Hex) #9

Yep. This as well.

(rand0m) #10

I’m glad to hear you guys will be looking into this. It’s one of my biggest gripes with games nowadays with all that clutter on my screen. I’m an old school gamer the new style of gaming drives me nuts.

(MrEd) #11

This is a really good post chippy. So far most of the work going into the game has focussed on defining the direction of the core experience through gunplay, movement, objective structure and level flow. In this Alpha test there’s an element of assumption all the testers will get it or you’ll just have to be willing to l2p. However, over the last few months we’ve started talking a lot more about the player acquisition and retention loop that will be vital for the success of the game going forward.

As part of those discussions we’ve been talking about the first hour a gamer would have with Dirty Bomb, how much hand holding we should do, how much of the full experience to bombard them with in one go and whether we should allow them to be thrown straight into the deep end with the pro players. We’ve also extended the discussion to talk about what the first 10 hours of the experience should be and we should even start to look at what the game experience might be like after 100 or 1000 hours play.

HUD progressive reduction would definitely be one of the items that is covered by this evolution. So now that the Dirty Bomb closed alpha has been running for some time and most alpha testers here have had a good amount of time to get to grips with the game and the ideas behind it, what do you see as the key ways in which new players would approach the game? What would you suggest that first experience should be like? What restrictions or freedoms should be on it and how should the newcomer’s experience of Dirty Bomb evolve as they get more familiar with it?

(rookie1) #12

I think for those realy new at obj/class games,
in the learning mode ,Players should be Hints on theirs class in game…like …guiding them to what to do been this X class…and where to go
But never stop the game when these hints pop up …just give and option to fast quit all these things and run in Normal mode

(chippy) #13

For the new people trying out Dirty Bomb for the first time it’s definately important to give them a big gun. Now, I haven’t really been keeping up with the characters and how they will be available throughout the game, but if someone who plays the game for the first time is given a big gun so that he/she is able to get some frags will definately spark their interest. If they we’re thrown at the engineer and tried to repair and build stuff without having a clue on how the maps are or a sense of timing they would just become frustrated.

First let them get comfortable with the gunplay and movement then move them on to how each class is working. Now how this is going to get done, no idea. :slight_smile:

(Bangtastic) #14

a small part depends on how you desgin your advertisements, and what expectations has an average player for DB.

less is often more, just stick to the elemental stuff, but you could provide some optional guide for more information^^

In the beginning players should play the game as they know it from previous game. After you could remove the curtain a small bit and show them a bigger part of the picture (giving them more abilities and then classes). The rest is up to the player to explore the rest.
Surprises, twists are always good i guess.

I think its good to throw all the new players in the same pool. Same weapons same chars.
When I play a new shooter and have to play against some veteran, I blame my equippment/char for losing, because the enemy has different stuff^^

There could be a way to meet the “pro” players sure, but this is only interesting for some players who already invested some good time.

(rookie1) #15

maybe given them a .‘Beginner luck’ status (armor boost +25%) for a very short while so they don’t died too fast and quit without seem much about the game.

(ImageOmega) #16

Extra buffs because you’re new? Imagine you have a skilled player playing the game for the first time against you, rookie1. How upset are you going to be that you can’t kill them because they have extra armor and you don’t?

(Nail) #17

Tutorial/training map should be all that’s needed

(rand0m) #18

Beginner luck status? What is this determination buff from world of Warcraft LFR? Buff because you fail is basically what it is, starts at 10% and stacks each time you die. This is why I no longer play that game…everything handed out on a golden friggen platter.

+1 to IO above.

(rookie1) #19

…for a very short while
anyway its just a though …maybe not the best one …agreed

(Nail) #20

there will need to be a tutorial of some sort, no one reads manuals
I think it should also contain a “Shooting Gallery” moving targets at different ranges