Health Display Concept

[oDDity]

Of course, I play with no HUD at all, so it matters not to me. Still, it's really depressing how much you guys want to play everything safe and go with convention at every opportunity.So your collective big idea is 'I know, let's have a separate health meter, and let's make it the same as in every other game every made'.

If we are goign to go with convention, at least let's stick with THief convention and make a version of the shileds (which I kind of did, but across the top of the gem instead of separate, and pop-up)

[Macsen]

Still, it's really depressing how much you guys want to play everything safe and go with convention at every opportunity.

What amazingly original means of telling the player how much health he has would you prefer? That the healthbar is familiar to the player is a bonus. We don't want him to have trouble learning what everything on the HUD represents.

[Darkness_Falls]

Trust me, Macsen, you don't want to go there with oDD I'm sure you can find some archives where he talks about his preferences for this. Not bad ideas, just not popular among the team. I believe one suggestion was along the lines of heart rate/breating getting faster, slower movement, etc... and no HUD showing health.

[Springheel]

Well, other people are more than welcome to present their own ideas here in this thread. We can choose the one that pleases everyone the most. I personally want the health display separate, taking up a small bit of real-estate in the corner. The design doesn't have to be exactly the same as what I posted (which were nothing more than cut-and-paste jobs on Odd's lightgems), if someone wants to create something better.

[Darkness_Falls]

I'd like to propose putting the health bar above (or below) the light gem, as shown here. I don't understand why it would need to be a big bulky health bar wasting space in a corner, as the earlier proposal shows:

 

I'd actually like to take things a step further and put a rotating (in perspective) "half-"compass on the right side of the gem. And put the selected weapon with quantity of remaining ammo on the left side -- as shown in the next mockup (water arrow). Note changed ornamentation around gem also:

 

Close-up:

 

Actually, we could even take things a step further by moving the half-compass to instead be directly above the light gem/healthbar, and putting the selected alternate weapon (e.b., flash bombs, health potion) on the right side of the gem. Thus, it'd be easy to see what your left-mouse weapon is by looking at the left side of gem and what your right-mouse weapon is by looking at the right side of gem. Clean, concise, intuitive, your eye only needs to go to one part of the screen to see all your vital info, and no more need to keep big icons in the far-right and far-left corners of the screen like the way they were in Thief 2. EDIT: This last idea should be self-explanatory, but let me know if you want a mockup.

 

Side note: The big weapon/ammo quantity icons would still initially be in the left and right corners (for a few seconds) while you're making your weapon selections, but after you've decided on your weapon, have that big weapon/quantity populate to the center of the screen as small icons by the light gem, as my mockup shows.

Edited March 14, 2005 by Darkness_Falls

[sparhawk]

That design could work. But instead of numbers I would rather have Oddity's spikes. Numbers look to much technical for such a theme. It's ok for Doom 3, but it doesn't really fit into the TDM universe IMO.

[pakmannen]

That design could work. But instead of numbers I would rather have Oddity's spikes. Numbers look to much technical for such a theme. It's ok for Doom 3, but it doesn't really fit into the TDM universe IMO.

So if you have 20 broadheads you'd like 20 small little spikes representing them? Nonono, that's insane.

 

I like that darkness_falls. Could you make one with the healthbar under the gem?

[oDDity]

Haveiung a red line along the edge of the lightgem is an image I already mocked u and posted in one of the nuerous other threads, but the idea was rejected, I'm not adverse to that idea.

Defintiely no numbered health display though:/ :vomits: How dumb do you think the player is that he can't approximate it for himself using the bar, or spikes.

Why would a player ever need to know exactly how much health he has down to a precise number?

The sheer pointlessness of having an iconic health meter AND a numbered system beside it both showing the same thing is just a bit too ironic. I doubt anyone would laugh, but I'd hear them laughing IN MY HEAD and that's what counts.

Thinking about it, that compass would work, and it's the sort of minimalist thing I like.

Edited March 14, 2005 by oDDity

[sparhawk]

So if you have 20 broadheads you'd like 20 small little spikes representing them? Nonono, that's insane.

I thought that the number represents the health and not some inventory equipment.

[oDDity]

He was being sarcastic. If it was up to me the play would have to keep track of how much inventory he had, and how much he'd used by himself. We're limiting them to 30 arrows anyway, it hardly requires genius or a photographic memory.

God I hate trying to write just after I get out of bed and before my coffee.

Edited March 14, 2005 by oDDity

[Springheel]

I'd like to propose putting the health bar above (or below) the light gem

 

I'm not really opposed to this idea, though it should definitely go below. The gem will be referenced far more often than the healthbar.

 

The weapon/inventory display I'm not so sure about. I'll have to think about that.

[oDDity]

Actually I just realised that the number is the weapon display, not health.

I think that would work well.

IF the health bar was below the gem, the half compass above it and the weapon/item icon at either side.

THat needs to be our one and only HUD, there doesn't need to be an option really, since it's so concise already (except an option to turn it off completely of course)

It's a nice little Swiss army knife of an icon.

If everyone is happy with that, I can make it in 3d and we can finally lay this HUD display to rest..

Edited March 14, 2005 by oDDity

[Domarius]

Spar, I don't know where you got the idea that the numbers were health;

...And put the selected weapon with quantity of remaining ammo on the left side -- as shown in the next mockup (water arrow)...

 

I like Darkness Fall's mock up best. I did like Spring's circle health bar, but then I saw oDDity's compact Health/Lightgem (instead of compass/lightgem) combo and realised that yes, health is more important than compass.

 

But then Darkness Fall's combines all 3 into one easy to read compact little thing.

 

I like that concept. I don't mind if people want to tweak it, like make the health bar less Sci-Fi.

[New Horizon]

Hmmm, inspired by Minimalist 1.3 perhaps? Just me stroking my ego.

 

[Macsen]

I also like the one Darkness Falls has come up with.

[sparhawk]

Spar, I don't know where you got the idea that the numbers were health;

...And put the selected weapon with quantity of remaining ammo on the left side -- as shown in the next mockup (water arrow)...

 

Hmmm... I read twice through the posting and haven't seen it.

 

But then Darkness Fall's combines all 3 into one easy to read compact little thing.

 

Which only leaves open the question how the player can see which weapon he currently has selected. In case of the blacjack it's no issue, but in case of the bow he can see only the bow until he pulls the string. With only the number this doesn't help much. So we have an icon where he can see the weapon, and the number is somehwere else? Not a good solution. Or do we have an ultra tiny weapoin icon, that you can barely see, just to not occupy the 30 pixels from the 320x256 display, that people usually use these days, and such a big icon would obviously clutter up the screen.

[Springheel]

Here's a modified version of DF's idea. It keeps everything balanced, but as Sparhawk said, we do need small graphic indicators for the weapons/inventory. This keeps everything in the center, and there wouldn't even be a need for the bigger icons on the sides. Just titles that appear while you are selecting and then disappear.

 

 

 

 

The whole thing takes up very little space on the screen, and could probably be even smaller than this:

 

[Macsen]

I like it Springheel.

 

Perhaps the lightgem could be lower down so it sticks with the healthmeter? Also, it might be worth making the red bot on the healthmeter thicker and the borders thinner.

Edited March 14, 2005 by Macsen

[BlackThief]

yeah lower the lightgem and it'll be cool.

[Springheel]

It would definitely require some adjusting...I did it in five minutes with a baby in my lap.

[Fingernail]

then it's even better!

[Macsen]

It would definitely require some adjusting...I did it in five minutes with a baby in my lap.

Well two heads are better than one.

Edited March 14, 2005 by Macsen

[New Horizon]

Well two heads are better than one.

Guys!! That's the Shiznit!! I really like that. Good work.

[Renzatic]

First off, that's awesome...but I don't think it should be the only choice of hud's we use. Instead we should have 3 to choose from:

 

Darkmod Default: The lightgem with the healthbar on the far left.

 

Darkmod Lite: The minimalist hud, what is shown above.

 

Darkmod Oldschool: You have healthbars reminscent of Thief 1 & 2, and the lightgem doesn't have any intersesting trappings to go along with it. For the hardcore fans that believe anything different from the original games is absolute blasphemy.

[New Horizon]

First off, that's awesome...but I don't think it should be the only choice of hud's we use. Instead we should have 3 to choose from:

 

Darkmod Default: The lightgem with the healthbar on the far left.

 

Darkmod Lite: The minimalist hud, what is shown above.

 

Darkmod Oldschool: You have healthbars reminscent of Thief 1 & 2, and the lightgem doesn't have any intersesting trappings to go along with it. For the hardcore fans that believe anything different from the original games is absolute blasphemy.

I would normally agree with that Renz, but in this instance...I say this should be the defacto choice. It's well designed, it isn't intrusive...and damn, it just looks good. I think in this instance, we should actually put our foot down. Multiple huds, while good for choice, isn't good for setting our own style and flavor. This is the type of hud display TDS should have aimed for...instead of the bright lights of Goth Vegas.