User Interface Design in cRPGs
cRPG user interfaces have changed profoundly over the course of cRPG History; becoming undeniably more powerful and flexible but perhaps
at the cost of efficiency and ease-of-use.
UI Modes versus Floating-Window UIs
The biggest thing that stands out about modern computer game UIs is that they don't have dedicated, switchable modes of operation like classic engines do, but are instead made up of small, floating windowed panels.
UI modes are separate screens that dominate viewport space when called up. In addition, their call-up usually locks out and blocks off the playing field.
What that does is focus player attention on stats, inventory or dialogues. And since modes are full-screen or close to it, they usually contain more information than windowed panels, which is why windowed panels employ tabs and scroll-bars as crutches, thereby slowing down info-access: a precursor to the even more casual Baldur's Gate 3 cascading tool tips.
UI modes are easier to read, more pleasing to the eye and above all more efficient to interact with than multiple windowed panels that are scattered across screenspace.
Moreover, windowed panels need to be wrangled with whereas modes are unadjustable because they are well-designed by default. Some classic cRPGs almost perfected mode-based UIs whereas windowed UIs always have multiple issues.
Just look at how people have used multi-tasking OS GUIs for the past three decades. In most cases, did they prefer to have various windows littering their screenspace or did they prefer to switch between maximized internet browsing and maximized PDF files (for example)?
I rest my case.
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Left: Baldur's Gate Right: Neverwinter Nights 2 |
Grid-based versus List-based Inventories
In my commentary, list-based inventories, lagging UIs and console UIs are heavily penalized. In the past, list-based inventories stemmed from software and hardware limitations (lack of graphical fidelity) whereas their present-day germ lies in console input device limitations or smartphone emulations, both of which have no place in PC gaming. Grid-based inventories are far superior by virtue of their easily identifiable, drag-and-drop icons.
cf. KotOR (criticism) and cRPG History.
cRPG User Interface Tactility
Tactile cRPG user interfaces are those which are responsive (snappy) and supply audio and visual feedback as they are interacted with. Without a doubt, BioWare's Baldur's Gate supplies one of the best examples of UI tactility. If you have played Baldur's Gate or Diablo 2, you'll know exactly what I mean by UI tactility. Click an armor icon, put it on the paperdoll; Click a weapon: put it on the paperdoll.
See also: User Interface Presentation of cRPG Stats in cRPG stats.
cRPG Dialogue Mode
Ideally, cRPG dialogue would not be presented in a mere window but rather call up a separate unadjustable UI mode that consumes all available screen-space. That is how you make dialogue mode important. That is how you get players to read your writing. The only options given to the player in dialogue mode are dialogue options, nothing else. They can't quit out of dialogue until they have dealt with the dialogue.
***
The order I chose is loosely chronological as that allows for a smoother presentation. Coverage includes all expansions.
Note on the screenshots: Pics in the first two sections were taken at 640x480 resolution (800x600 for IWD2) and upscaled - maintaining 4:3 aspect ratio - to 1600x1200 to improve viewability on current gen displays. If your add-on/extension does not block the script, clicking a pic will enter Light Box mode, allowing you to mouse-wheel through the pics, at your leisure.
Infinity Engine User Interfaces
The Infinity Engine user interface originated in the Renaissance cRPG known as Baldur's Gate; undergoing a few changes in subsequent releases by both BioWare and Black Isle:
- First, it received a striking reskin and had its main interface modified to accommodate the dialogue focus and originality of Planescape: Torment.
- Second, it returned to the BG style but received a reskin for Icewind Dale.
- Third, it received minor improvements, additions and another reskin for Baldur's Gate 2.
- Fourth and finally, it underwent a major overhaul to accommodate the rules-heavy 3rd Edition, reaching its zenith of polish and functionality in Icewind Dale 2.
With the rare exception of PS:T's bungled portable pop-up, the IE UI is elegant, efficient, space-maximizing and a joy to use. In all incarnations it's a huge advancement over what predecessors offered, which - with a few notable exceptions - are just primitive kludge and clunk. The rest of this section is given over to treatment of the IE interface, as it appeared in Baldur's Gate and its sequel. Black Isle's three efforts will be covered in the next section.
Please note that for the purposes of this article I am unconcerned with UI mods or Beamdog's Enhanced Editions; my concern is just with the official interfaces as shipped with the original games. I also don't charge UIs for their lack of native scalability to other resolutions and aspect ratios: they are a sign of their times and it's totally forgivable. I really tire of the scrubs who complain how UIs don't scale and the fonts are unreadably small, when they're running a 1998 game with settings straight out of Silicon Valley. It seems everything is about "4k" to these people, or whatever the current gen "standard" is, nowadays. I simply run these classics using display driver scaling and can actually read the text without a magnifying glass.
Baldur's Gate User Interface
Main Interface. The main Baldur's Gate interface consists of three "gray-stone" panels of buttons bordering the bottom and both sides of the field of play. The buttons on the left panel call up the seven modes, which quickly and neatly "snap in" to entirely cover the action (all modes pause the game, except Inventory mode). The clock at bottom-left doubles as a pause button, though it's only used by those who play one-handed or have not yet learned to use the space bar, the hot-key for pause (many modes and modal operations take advantage of hot-keys, too).
The buttons on the right panel are portraits of the party members, that when left-clicked select the unit and when right-clicked call up the oft-used Inventory mode, thereby saving one click. Symbols indicating any negative & positive statuses will also appear over the portraits, perhaps covering them entirely. The symbols are defined in Character Record mode so that, in time, players will learn to recognize them at a glance. Resting snugly under the portraits are the AI & "select all" toggles.
The bottom menu buttons activate various modes of play such as the basics of Speak and Attack/Stop, down to spell-casting and the modals of stealth and bard song; those modes sensitive in context to the selected unit. In addition, a few party formations are shown when more than one unit is selected, and right-clicking a formation displays the full array.
Just above the bottom menu rests the dialogue and combat feedback window, expandable to four times its height to make it easy to review what's just happened. My issues with the dialogue window are twofold: one, it does not expand to cover the entire playfield (why not?); two, the font is not exactly the most readable, being a lil' blurry and competing with the pane's backdrop (fixed in the sequel).
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Dialogue window: minimized & "maximized" |
Interface Modes. Area Map mode shows the explored parts of the current area from a bird's-eye view and indicates the exact position of the characters. Double-clicking on the area will conveniently exit map mode and center the playfield on that position; at which point the ground may be clicked on to have the units move there, even from off-screen. The Area Map would have availed of map markers to highlight points of interest; plus, the doors to buildings are difficult to find without the ability to highlight them (the sequel added both map-markers and Tab-key highlighting).
The World Map is accessed from the top-right golden globe and presented as a piece of unfurled parchment that can be "scrolled" north to Baldur's Gate city and south to the border with Amn. Each area has its own distinctive, recognizable icon that can be clicked on to move there, complete with tool-tip indicating the travel time in hours (added in TotSC).
For direct comparison, here are the sequel's Area and World Map modes; the latter of which scrolls in all directions, not just up and down. Note the map markers.
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(640x480) |
Journal mode chapters are separated into pages with quest and main quest updates mixed in and headed merely by dates, instead of having meaningful titles. While serviceable as is, the sequel made the journal more readable by separating it from Quest and Done Quest pages. While necessary due to the sheer amount of quests in Athkatla, the original could have availed of it, too.
Character Record mode contains an enlarged, painted portrait of the selected character in the center, with stat blocks on either side. The right-hand scroll is informative in that it shows almost every relevant piece of info related to the selected unit (some BioWare inclusions of the AD&D ruleset were not documented, let alone viewable in-game.)
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Character Record & Journal modes |
This mode also allows for basic customization (appearance, sounds, scripts), Dual-classing, party reformation and exportation of the PC; further opening to the Information and Biography panels, pictured below.
The painted portraits are shown in three different sizes: large in chargen, medium in Character Record and small on the main interface. Everyone loves them because they are gorgeous.
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An unforgettable cast. Who doesn't know their names at a glance? |
Inventory mode is the highlight of the UI, displaying a cute paper doll in the center surrounded by slots into which items may be inserted and removed (armor, weapon, belt, gloves etc). The backpack fills out the bottom, a grid of sixteen same-sized slots. As a nice touch, items are auto-assigned to their slot when dropped directly onto the paper doll, saving the player the hassle of hunting down the correct slot.
There are also two quick-slot grids for weapons and items that are shown on the bottom panel even when back at the main interface and playing field. Items may be picked up or dropped to the ground from this mode, though that can be a nightmare. The player may quickly examine any ID'd item by right-clicking it, ghosting out the main interface and adding a second layer with an artist's sketch and flavorsome Realmslore description, both nice touches.
The various sounds deserve mention as they give definiteness and weight to interactions, with each item type having its own unique sound: equipping a weapon, armor and shield to the paper doll is very satisfying!
Calling up the inventory does not pause the action as in other IE entries - and that means two things: first, the player can manage their inventory while the party walks from one end of town to the other; second, the player needs to think twice about mid-battle inventory management.
This is one of the best inventories in the cRPG genre: it's efficient, space-maximizing and I love its tactility and spartan aesthetic.
The paperdolls are adored by fans.
Paperdoll comparison: If you think the one on the right looks better than the one on the left then you have appalling aesthetic taste. For the sequel BioWare actually reduced the paperdoll's size and made it blurry. The Helm of Balduran looks pathetic and the large shield looks just awful. You know, there is a reason why the One Pixel Productions mod exists: it's because the sequel's paperdoll and avatar graphics are shit.
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(Same resolution, same char, same equipment): Left: BG1 Right: BG2 |
There is nothing wrong with the Mage Book & Priest Scroll modes except that I dislike the slight delay in assigning spells to empty slots. This was eventually fixed in Icewind Dale 2, the final IE title.
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Mage Book & Spell Info |
Vendor mode is simple and self-explanatory, though a double row of items in the Buy & Sell switch would have been nice, as scrolling down through a long list is a pain in the ass; but there simply wasn't enough room. The sequel added "double-click to bulk-buy": handy for snatching up arrow quivers (now double-capacity).
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Splurging out at Sorcerous Sundries & Donating to the temple |
Playing Field. The UI allows for marquee selection group bandboxing, Guard Me mode and the rotation of party formations, the last of which can be awkward due to the isometric perspective. Marquee selection is pretty much perfect and superior to the NWN2 version because there is no delay or doubt in who is being grouped [1]. Items in the game-world (e.g, signs, statues) may also be clicked on to gain extra info.
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Marquee select & Guard Me mode |
Minor improvements and additions were made to the UI in the sequel, but the lack of complete redesign suggests that BioWare got it right, first time. This is quite a feat considering the campaign and engine were developed hand-in-hand...
Baldur's Gate 2 User Interface
(Sept. 24, 2000- 2001)
So what are these improvements and additions to the IE UI made by Baldur's Gate 2? Well, this won't take long..
First up, BioWare added official support for 800x600 resolution and enabled the unlocking of even higher (unsupported) resolutions in Config.exe (baldur.ini). The result was a larger playing field, though fog-of-war is still locked at 640x480. The spartan-stone UI of the original was changed to a "Suldanessellar" theme, the modes wreathed in vines at the higher resolutions to "fill in" that extra space.
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Right: Rest button relocated to main interface |
The ability to hide panels and even the entire UI was added (aka "drop-away" interface), presumably to expand the field of play, supply extra immersion and to accommodate BioWare's newfound love for scripted cutscenes. The dialogue window used a clearer font over a more contrastive backdrop pane to make it more readable; adding also the ability to click the dialogue itself and quickly skip through it (BG2 has masses of dialogue fluff).
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UI hidden & improved Journal mode |
I have already cited the following: relocation of the Rest button, Inventory pausing the action, bulk buy, the improved Journal, map markers and Tab-key highlighting. Mouse-wheel scrolling was implemented. Sub-inventories were added for the new Gem Bags, Scroll Cases and Bags of Holding - and the packrats rejoiced.
The Throne of Bhaal expansion added the ability to erase spells from the Mage Book, from which mode the new Contingency & Sequencer screens are accessed.
ToB also tweaked the Area Map to not pause the game, letting you marvel at lil' circles running across the map: big deal! Still, I think the improvements and additions made by the sequel would have been welcome in the original.
There was one problem posed by SoA & ToB as it pertains to the UI: how does one gain EZ access to the huge amount of spells and special abilities (e.g, HLAs) available to them? Were there ever enough Quick Spell slots to assign your oft-used spells to the bottom panel? - and special abilities were never assignable (or mappable to hot-keys, for that matter) [2]. So, searching for the correct spell or ability became an exercise in tedium, and though it was alleviated somewhat by Icewind Dale 2 (tripled the assignable slots and allowed for abilities to be assigned), it was not until the introduction of NWN Quickbars and the Quickcast menu of NWN2, that the problem was finally laid to rest.
All in all, the IE interface of the Baldur's Gate Series is rock solid and was not improved upon until the advent of Icewind Dale 2, the most polished of the IE cRPGs.
[2] Not outside of editing keymap.ini, that is (as detailed in Power Users.txt).
User Interface Evolution - Part II - Infinity Engine UI - Black Isle Studios:
The previous section introduced the Infinity Engine UI and treated it within Baldur's Gate and its sequel, concluding a rock solid effort by then-fledgling developer, BioWare. However, BioWare also licensed their engine to Black Isle, a division of Interplay, who went on to release Planescape: Torment and the Icewind Dale Series, modifying the interface along the way to suit their needs and tastes. So, how do their interfaces stack up against BioWare's efforts and what exactly did their changes, improvements and additions entail? That's what this section seeks to explore, and answer.
Part II: The Infinity Engine UI - Black Isle: Planescape: Torment (Dec. 12, 1999), Icewind Dale, Heart of Winter & Trials of the Luremaster (June 29, 2000-2001), Icewind Dale II, by Black Isle Studios (Aug. 27, 2002).
Black Isle Studios IE User Interfaces
(1999-2002)
Black Isle's Planescape: Torment was released just several months after Baldur's Gate received its expansion, TotSC. PS:T originated some UI tweaks that subsequent IE entries would later copy, such as Inventory mode pause, some aspects of its floating text, map markers on the Area Map and in-game hot-key mapping. For good and for bad it also experimented with the actual layout of the main interface.
Striking reskin aside, the first thing that stands out is New Life chargen, a sensible point-buy system streamlined by TNO's pre-fixed gender, race and appearance; and the fact that class, alignment and proficiency acquisition are a matter for in-game dialogue choices, rather than chargen selections.
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Massive nostalgia hit! |
The main interface was extensively modified, removing the side panels and resizing and relocating their mode & portrait buttons to the bottom panel. The eight modes were compacted into a circular interface located in the bottom-right corner. The portraits are lined up horizontally, leaving just enough space for two vertical rows of three buttons each (e.g, formations/AI toggle) and the clock/pause button. Unique to PS:T, the portrait buttons are animated and change expression to reflect the health of the character. Unfortunately, status effect symbols do not appear over them...
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Right: The circular interface was reused in IWD2, for good reason. |
Since the portraits fill the bottom panel, from where are modal actions, spells and special abilities accessed? Well, right-clicking anywhere on the main interface pauses the game and calls up the portable pop-up, a circular menu system that can be repositioned (i.e, dragged) around the field of play; that contains multiple switches for modes, modal actions, quick-slots and character selection (the last by means of the central portrait). Black Isle called it "nifty" but I would sooner call it "annoyingly fiddly" due to its need for right-clicking and its tiny rotation arrow buttons. Apart from that, I have two other issues with the pop-up: one, it takes two extra clicks to perform an action; two, it hogs "right-click on the field of play" - and that means no party formation rotation! I think it would have been better to simply add another row of buttons above the portraits, perhaps of half-height.
Maybe PS:T should have just stuck with the original BG layout, but I was pleased its experiment caused Icewind Dale 2 to reuse the circular interface - and not the gimmicky pop-up: instead, they simply increased the height of the bottom panel to cram it all in (made more comfortable by virtue of standardizing 800x600 resolution, it must be admitted).
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The pop-up! Grr, I hate this thing! |
Inventory & Statistics modes were revamped, for good and for bad. The first offered a larger backpack, added unique slots for tattoo, eye and ear; and was more generous with quick-slots and quivers (Nordom). Inventory pauses the game and as many consumables as you like may be used in pause mode (in other IE entries, each unit may only use one item per round) [1]. The paperdolls are bland and uninspired pre-renders, smaller in size than the charming BG originals.
The second (Stat mode) allowed for "mousing over" of the stat fields to receive further info that replaces the default rundown in the stat pane. For example, mouse over the Strength field and it gives you an explanation of the Strength attribute, also adding: Your strength marks you as one of the strongest men in the multiverse. You have +7 to-hit and +14 damage with all melee attacks.
Or mouse-over the prominent faction symbol to review your motto: Know the universe by experiencing it fully. The senses form the path to truth, for the multiverse doesn't exist beyond what can be sensed. - Society of Sensation. Very, very cool.
[1] Considering one of the most common consumables restored HPs and granted cumulative resistances, it's pretty unbalancing.
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Inventory mode with tattoos & Stat mode with faction symbol |
PS:T's dialogue window added smoothly-scrolling text complete with voice-overs, and sound effects to punctuate memory regain and experience rewards. I remember adoring this slickly presented text, but for a cRPG so heavy on dialogue and basically an interactive novel, I would have preferred Black Isle make the dialogue window extendable to full height; but no, it didn't happen. Sure, they threw in a click for more button to emphasize key moments and stem the tide of text that flows like a torrent, but when reviewing dialogue it just seems logical to take advantage of the space available to you, doesn't it? Anyway, I begin to suspect a hard-coded limitation, here.
In addition, Black Isle inexplicably removed combat feedback from the dialogue window and relegated it to "floaty text" above the units, barely readable in the heat of battle before it fades, forever - why did they do this? "This is not a serious combat cRPG!" does not wash with me; and besides PS:T has its fair share of combat, so why not give us a log of what went down?
The contrast between the clear, well-presented dialogue and the mess of combat feedback could not be starker (and reflects the contrast between the role-playing and combat itself, in PS:T):
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Left: Gorgeous. Right: How is one to make sense of this mess? |
Journal mode is pretty slick and separates the wordy Journal itself from Quests and the new Beasts section, a bestiary with a brief description on friends and foes thus far encountered, accompanied by pre-rendered portraits. This is unique to PS:T, and a pleasure to peruse.
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Journal & Beasts modes |
To my dismay the companion portraits were also pre-rendered instead of being hand-painted portrayals by a real artist, who could have done the characters justice. Still, they look ok.
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Left to right: TNO, Morte, Dak'kon, Annah, Grace, Ignus, Vhailor, Nordom. |
Icewind Dale User Interface
Unlike the original BG that was left as-is, the original Icewind Dale availed of certain additions and improvements that subsequent IE entries brought to the table, through its expansion, Heart of Winter [2].
IWD changed the chargen process to utilize Character Arbitration mode, a necessary inclusion due to the full party creation aspect that sets the series apart in the IE arena [3]. In this mode the portraits of created party members may be clicked on to review their stats, but no modification can be made short of scrubbing the character and creating one anew (no biggie).
[2] These were enumerated in the previous section; i.e, official support for 800x600 resolution, drop-away interface, container sub-inventories, bulk-buy, highlighting (Alt-key) and a non-pausing Area Map.
[3] The Baldur's Gate Series also allowed for the creation of six party members (i.e, "single-player multi-player"), though it was hardly dev intent that one play in this fashion.
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This was reused in the sequel, IWD2. |
The modify character button allows the player to recompose their party, on-the-fly, if they first click the Character Arbitration button resting at the bottom of the main interface's left panel. This is handy for newbies who are prone to making chargen or party composition errors and not realizing it until down the track.
Oft-used modes have been slightly rearranged but their function was not toyed with and their efficiency and ease-of-use remains exactly as per BG.
The customize character window added a biography field (also present in chargen) for players who wish to give their soul-less combatant a background and reason to move mountains, part seas, topple thrones and hack through hordes of mindless aggro - all in a day's work in IWD (the biography was not editable in Baldur's Gate because Charname's history was pre-defined.)
I ignored the biography for the most part and was just focused on matching the portrait to the combat role of the character.
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Right: As you can see, I am no "role-player". |
Luckily for me Icewind Dale offered a broad range of painted portraits to choose from, the body shots conveying them more as combatants in contrast to the close-ups that reflected the personality of Baldur's Gate companions. Still, they are of very high quality and far superior to PS:T pre-renders.
Icewind Dale 2 User Interface
(Aug. 27, 2002)This is it, the title in which the IE interface hit its height of functionality and polish: Icewind Dale 2. This final incarnation returned to PS:T's main interface layout (not seen in almost 3 years) by nesting mode and portrait buttons in the now-enlarged bottom panel, along with the modal buttons. The UI is unified, symmetrical and compacted for space-maximization.
A total of nine Quick slots may be assigned, with any combination of modal action, spell or active Feat (e.g, Power Attack). That's six more assignable Quick slots than BG2: ToB, which also only allowed for spells to be assigned (outside of keymap.ini). This is as good as it gets until the advent of Quickbars in NWN.
The interface was standardized to 800x600 resolution in order to increase available space; and, unlike BG2 - which just added bitmaps to "fill in" mode borders at 800x600 - IWD2's UI actually uses this extra space (well, except for the dialogue window but I suspect that's a hard-coded limitation of the engine).
The sequel's implementation of rules-intensive D&D 3rd Edition demanded an extension to Character Record mode, which now features tabs to conveniently separate the stat categories of General, Weapons & Armor, Skills & Feats and Misc.
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The Weapons & Armor and Skills & Feats tabs |
Afterall, we are talking about a campaign that boasts 16 races, 16 skills, 60 basic feats, 11 base classes & 24 sub-classes; in other words, LOTS of stuff to cram into a UI that was designed to house far fewer rules. A commendable effort by Black Isle!
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Leveling up the Sorceress |
Inventory mode is space-maximized and enlarges the backpack to 24 slots (original BG had 16), but its runaway best feature is the inclusion of Weapon Combo slots that enable the player to set up four different wields and switch between them with ease; for example, switch between Sword n Board or a ranged weapon with a single-click (or two clicks from the main interface).
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Right: Gotta love the Weapon combos! |
But what on earth happened to the paperdolls? They are literally playing field sprites! You know, at least PS:T's paperdolls were pre-rendered to be somewhat different - this is just rubbish.
Mage Book & Priest Scroll modes are accessible from the one mode, simply called Spell Book. Note the Domain & multi-classing switches. To my delight, the yawn-inducing delay in assigning spells was finally fixed, too!
It's a recurring issue I have with the IE interface, that once again the dialogue pane is gimped in size... but in this case, my issue is also with the boxed-in combat log, separated from the dialogue pane in IWD2: I mean, seven? You give us just seven lines in a combat-heavy cRPG that also includes HoF mode? Yes, the window is scrollable but c'mon!
As mentioned in the previous section, IWD2 represents the zenith of the IE interface:
- standardization to 800x600 resolution and the UI designed explicitly for that resolution.
- the space-maximizing circular interface & bottom panel that hold absolutely everything, thereby reducing mouse-movement (to the left and right panels, which were done away with).
- a total of nine Quickslots, six more than the maximum offered by BG2: ToB.
- the inclusion of stat tabs (even the AD&D entries could have availed of them).
- the inclusion of combo slots.
IWD2 also fixed the annoying delay in assigning spells to empty slots (Spell Book mode).
Negatives: seven lines for a combat log and sprite-based paperdoll.
Conclusion
At the end of the day I love the IE interface and favor its IWD2 incarnation; flaunting the mod-cons of BG2 coupled with its own innovations and mode extensions. Writing about their interfaces has caused me to further appreciate PS:T's role in the evolution, too: it introduced the circular interface, floating text and map markers, for example. Sure, I dislike the portable pop-up but the slick dialogue window, Journal bestiary, animated portrait buttons and striking aesthetic were also unique to PS:T, and not duplicated in subsequent releases. Each IE interface certainly has its own charm, though.
And this concludes my treatment of the IE interface, the first stage of the evolution of the D&D UI (in my range, that is).
I've made some remarks on the Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition user interface in my IWD:EE review.
I've made some remarks on the Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition user interface in my IWD:EE review.
The next section will attempt to explore the UIs of two D&D cRPGs largely unknown to the mainstream, Stormfront's Pools of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor & Troika's Temple of Elemental Evil.
Part III: The Odd Ones Out: Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor, by Stormfront Studios (Sept. 24, 2001) & The Temple of Elemental Evil, by Troika (Sept. 16, 2003).
The previous section capped off my treatment of the Infinity Engine UI; holding its five examples in a favorable light with regard to aesthetics, functionality and ease-of-use. In this section I will treat two oddballs of the genre that were never popular and remain largely unknown to the mainstream: Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor & Temple of Elemental Evil. Both of these cRPGs are turn-based and implement the D&D 3.x ruleset, with the former being the first to implement D&D 3.0 and the latter being the first to implement D&D 3.5. Both were also critically-panned on release for several reasons, not the least of which was for their notorious bugs.
While RoMD is mostly remembered in a negative light (if not entirely ignored and forgotten [1]), ToEE has achieved cult status among the "hardcore" crowd and respect has steadily grown for it [2]; in fact, I have long regarded ToEE as THE model for D&D cRPGs, combining a top-notch implementation of the ruleset with genuine tactical combat that makes the Infinity, Aurora & Electron combat systems seem like a caricature in comparison. Moreover, its dialogue system is able to handle the role-playing aspect with consummate ease (that Troika failed to make meaningful use of it in their campaign is beside the point). RoMD is also not without virtue and is part of D&D cRPG history, whether we like it or not. Yes, the game gets heaps of hate but it's not the purpose of this document to criticize its dungeon design and combat encounters; the UI, as you will see, is quite ok.
Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor User Interface
(Sept. 24, 2001)
Stormfront wisely standardized RoMD to 800x600 resolution and crafted the UI to suit (well, mostly). The screens, panels and icons offer basic functionality but are pleasing to the eye and fairly intuitive, responsive and easy to use. There is nothing glaringly wrong with the UI but also nothing mind-blowingly cool about it, either: it's pretty much stock-standard stuff that we're dealing with, here.
Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor Chargen UI
As with the Icewind Dale Series, RoMD chargen consists of Character Roster (Arbitration) & Character Creation screens; the former for composing a party and the latter for creating each of the (four) individual characters that constitute it.
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Left: Character Roster Right: Character Creation |
The Character Roster screen consists of a central, shimmering "Pool of Radiance" surrounded by a circle of slots holding four (undeletable) pre-gens; also with two additional slots allocated for player-made characters (another circle may be accessed when those slots are filled, supplying the player with plenty of slots for experimentation). To form a party the player simply clicks on the 3D miniature and adds each character to one of four empty slots at the bottom. I like Stormfront's use of the word "miniature" and the rendering style that conveys them: they really do look like tabletop miniatures. The backdrop of the lush, elven forest of Cormanthor is lovely, too.
The seven-step Character Creation process is intuitive and well-presented; the player simply choosing their race, class, alignment, stats (point-buy), spells, miniature & name by clicking on the appropriate buttons lined up on the left side, causing the layout of the center to change each time. As chargen progresses the player's choices are listed on the right side, for reviewing.
Wait, what about gender? Well, the miniature stage of chargen offers an assortment of miniatures to choose from, both male and female (in most cases). Feats & Skills? To the dismay of all, they are not selectable by the player in RoMD.
Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor Main Interface
The Adventure Screen consists of a scrolling isometric playing field (the Adventure Map) that parties navigate in a point and click fashion. Yep, nothing new to see here. Nested in the lower left and lower right are two control panels holding several icons. (The top-left panel indicates initiative order and therefore only appears in combat mode.)
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Exploration mode & combat mode (with top-left initiative panel). |
You manage your party by clicking the icons in the lower-right panel. (Up to) six colored bars may be clicked on to select the characters and center the viewpoint on them; also showing their current health (but not any status effects). There is no marquee or "shift/ctrl" selection to group units: the circular blue button toggles between single unit and full party grouping, and that's it.
However, party formations may be set and then stored by the player while in single unit mode; then the party will move in the set formation upon returning to group mode. (This is superior to the pre-set IE formations because it gives the player full control of each unit's exact position within a formation; for example, instead of having a squishy unit positioned directly behind the tank, where they may still be targeted by the aggro, you can space them out more and they will always maintain that position of safety during group movement.) Beneath the save formation icon is a colored tent icon that changes to green, amber and red to indicate the danger of setting up camp (resting).
However, party formations may be set and then stored by the player while in single unit mode; then the party will move in the set formation upon returning to group mode. (This is superior to the pre-set IE formations because it gives the player full control of each unit's exact position within a formation; for example, instead of having a squishy unit positioned directly behind the tank, where they may still be targeted by the aggro, you can space them out more and they will always maintain that position of safety during group movement.) Beneath the save formation icon is a colored tent icon that changes to green, amber and red to indicate the danger of setting up camp (resting).
The lower-left panel icons call up Game Menu (an options screen just like any other), Quest Log (Journal) and the Area Map, a zoomable image of explored territory that allows the player to add their own notation markers - quite handy when delving the vast dungeons beneath Myth Drannor.
Modes and actions are called up by right-clicking the playing field, causing a Pop-Up Menu to appear. The contents of the pop-up are sensitive to the selected unit, branching into sub-menus for skill, feat and spell use. It's ok, but for its pitiful size and fiddliness. I mean, you gave us 800x600 resolution so why not scale the pop-up accordingly? Note the highlighted options below, and how thin they are. The pointer can easily slip off the menu and induce rage, if you're not careful.
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Double the size of the pop-up, ffs! |
The pop-up also grants access to the colorful Character Sheet; its tabs allowing for EZ switching between Inventory, Spell and Stat pages. To access more info, items and stats may be right-clicked to call up a transparent pane.
The grid-based inventory is impressive, featuring drag n drop of items from backpack to rotating miniature, and vice versa. Notice how the items are of different sizes? Aside from being a nice aesthetic touch and making them easier to recognize, it's more realistic (a set of full plate should take up more space than a potion).
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That's right, there is no spell selection in RoMD: you get what you're given. |
The two stat pages simply list modifiers and skills & feats. Again, right-clicking calls up a transparent pop-up pane that gives more info.
The combat log appears between the two lower control panels, showing just five lines at a time; moreover, its contents are non-reviewable and are lost forever, once faded. To be fair, the turn-based combat unfolds in a jaw-droppingly slow manner, so you're unlikely to miss any of the feedback. Also, unless dice rolls are toggled to on (Right Alt-key), feedback is limited to simple things like "You used the Improved Critical feat" or "You make a Sneak Attack!" So yeah, turn on dice rolls.
Conversational dialogue appears in two transparent panes overlaying the field of play, with NPC dialogue above the speaker and the player's responses just above the lower-left panel. The font used is clear; though again, its size could have been increased without causing issues.
Note the colored indicators beneath the units; these are toggled with the Left Alt-key. Enemy units may also be right-clicked to bring up a transparent pane showing their name, AC and hit dice. These are superior to the IE tooltips because they contain more info - and in cRPGs there is no such thing as TMI.
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Left: Combat log. Party is buffed with Bless. Right: Dialogue mode. |
Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor UI Conclusion
Pros:
- A pleasing-to-the-eye UI.
- 800x600 as standard.
- Fairly efficient pop-up menu.
- The transparent panes are informative and avoid clutter.
- Tabs in the Character Sheet (used also by IWD2, ToEE & NWN2).
- Drag n drop inventory, miniatures and different-sized item icons (love all that).
- Notation markers on the Area Map, zoomable maps, flexible formations.
Cons:
- All panels, icons, pop-up menus and transparent panes could do with an upscaling.
- The combat log is BASIC.
- There is no marquee selection.
Conclusion: The UI is solid, beating the IE UI in a few minor ways but overall not being as feature-packed and responsive. It's also much easier to make a UI when you dumb down the ruleset and remove many of its features...
The Temple of Elemental Evil User Interface
(Sept. 16, 2003)
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The backdrops in ToEE utterly destroy those of the IE cRPGs |
The Temple of Elemental Evil UI offers a few stand-out features that set it apart from most other titles in my treatment range; for example, the fully integrated rulebook, spell-targeting visual aids for fairly accurate AoE placement (they are not perfectly precise), and the feature-packed radial menu that offers tactical options other cRPGs can only dream about.
ToEE Chargen UI
Chargen consists of three main screens presented in the order of Party alignment, Character pool (Arbitration/Roster) and Character Creation. The scrolling backdrop is of the Temple interior, depicting stained glass windows, lit candles and burning braziers. Presentation, right there. Players may hide the pre-gens and also characters whose alignment is precluded by the party alignment, shaded red. Nice.
The thirteen-stage Chargen offers both "rolling" and point buy methods. I'm not going to bore the reader with every stage because it's standard fare that I've covered already with IWD2 and RoMD; in fact, that goes for the rest of this section in general, where I will attempt to highlight the key virtues and flaws, instead of laboring over every last detail.
Note the blue character abilities hypertext link. The entire D&D rulebook is accessible from any hypertext link - and that is simply awesome. Who needs a manual, SRD or wiki? It's built into the game. And the best part is: the combat log is also hypertexted so that the player has full access to the rulebook DURING COMBAT.
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Left: Point buy Right: Hypertext link. |
"Right-click" or "drag n drop" adds (or removes) a Feat or Spell to the selection field. My criticisms are twofold; one, the window should have been extended vertically to allow for a longer list; two, mouse-wheel scrolling should have been enabled (it's enabled elsewhere, so why not here?)
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ToEE Main Interface
Nested in the lower-right corner is the Main Icon Bar made up of eight icons that call up various modes. The inventory panel is similar in style to RoMD in that tabs are used to switch between skills and spell book pages. Inventory is drag n drop but I can't forgive the lack of sounds because the IE and RoMD featured them, and they are older titles. Every item icon is the same size, though they are large enough and well-drawn.
Portraits line the bottom of the screen, with little color-coded indicators for buffs and debuffs. Clicking on the indicator links directly to the specific entry in the rulebook. In combat, portraits of all combatants line up along the top of the screen and the order of allied actions may even be delayed by dragging the portraits up and down the initiative order (almost no one knows about this feature, and many who do forget to use it).
The visual aid for AoE placement is another highlight, a feature sorely lacking in other cRPGs in my treatment range. Here you can see the circular targeting aid for Fireball and the cone-shaped one for Cone of Cold.
Here is the targeting aid for Lightning Bolt. Another nice feature is the ability to hold down the Left-Alt key to view any Attacks of Opportunity against your unit before it makes its move (below right).
As with PS:T's portable pop-up, ToEE's radial menu is called up by right-clicking over the playing field. Exploring the menu causes it to branch out wildly (in contrast to NWN's "switching menus"), meaning in some cases the player has to scroll the screen in order to see all options. Slightly annoying, that. Thankfully, commonly used options can be hotkeyed (e.g, the famous and oft-used "five foot step"). Note the sheer number of tactical options available to the player, probably the reason Troika thought to use a radial menu in the first place.
Despite being small and fiddly, the crafting menu is serviceable. In the below vid, my cleric crafts a masterwork bastard sword to +3 enchantment, adding Holy & Axiomatic properties to it for good measure. Note how I give my item a shorter name - the reason? Lengthier names result in CTDs... so yeah, major point deduction for that kind of nonsense!
Everything else is standard fare, though player responses in the dialogue window use symbols to indicate the skill check. Here, the "Ear" symbol indicates that "Gather Information" has been checked. The writing in ToEE is bland and uninspiring, but the point is that the framework was there for proper role-playing in dialogue.
Moreover, if the dialogue window is scripted to pop up during combat, it does so smoothly and without the jarring effect that plagues the IE cRPGs. Though Troika failed to take advantage of it, this smoother sense of transition between combat and dialogue could have been used to make an enemy reactive to its situation, blurring the line between all-out hostility and dialogue, as the encounter is played out.
ToEE UI Conclusion
Pros:
- The UI panels are clear and full of info.
- 800x600 as standard and the UI designed with that in mind.
- A radial menu holding almost every single tactical option within it (and there are far more than any other cRPG).
- Tabs in the Character Sheet (tabs rule, it's not up for debate).
- Fully integrated rulebook (no other cRPG can boast of this).
- Draggable initiative order (again, no other cRPG has this).
- Marquee selection.
- Spell-targeting visual aid for AoE placement.
Cons:
- The crafting menu is annoying and its bugs may cause CTDs (fixed in Co8).
- Subpar portraits and paperdolls - to say the least.
- The UI is largely silent (there are almost no sounds to confirm selections, and the ones it does have are not agreeable to my ear).
- Slightly inaccurate, inertia-prone cursor.
- I'm annoyed by the inconsistency in the required method of selecting feats & spells: sometimes you can just right-click; other times you have to drag n drop to the empty field.
- Likewise, in chargen you should be able to assign ability scores by right-clicking instead of dragging them to the empty field. (Temple+ may address this in the future.)
Conclusion: Considering that Troika were able to draw from many UI examples of the past (what to do, what not to do), their effort is quite disappointing to me. Sure, in some ways the interface has not been matched even to this day (what a disgrace), but the crafting menu bug, occasional fiddliness, annoying cursor and lack of sound are unforgivable. That said, it's still a great UI and I have put up with its shortcomings over the years, long before the advent of Co8 and Temple+.
The Neverwinter Nights and Neverwinter Nights 2 UIs are covered in NWN1 versus NWN2.
EoP
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Interesting topic. I have long thought that it was noteworthy how the UI/Controls for IE games were for the most part so intuitive and simple to use, while those for so many RPGs since have not been, at least not to the same degree. I also liked the way that in those games they would do things like have one's journal and such appear on scrolls, against background art depicting a table with candles, etc. That sort of thing helped add to the atmosphere appropriate to a fantasy setting, while in many more recent RPGs stuff like Journal entries, character stats, etc. are presented in an immersion-breakingly modern format.
ReplyDeleteOne thing to keep in mind, though I do not know if it explains all the differences, is that IE games were designed to be primarily single-player PC games (though it was of course possible to play them mulitplayer), while many later RPGs were designed primarily as multiplayer and/or console games. This certainly makes a difference to how the UI/Controls are set up. E.g. in a single-player RPG campaign one of the main weaknesses of the IE's UI, lack of Quick spell slots, was no big deal, as one could just pause the game while searching for a desired spell, but in a MP game with no ability to pause that would be a serious problem.
Good points, and I agree with them. I have often struggled with post-IE interfaces and I think UI potential has gone down the gurgler because many of these "RPGs" are made with console limitations in mind (controller as input device instead of Kb/m). As an example, I dislike the replacement of grid-based inventories with list-based ones - mainly because they lack efficiency, tactility and charm. None of the RPGs in my range of treatment use list-based inventories, though.. it seems that's more your post-NWN2 RPGs (Dragon Age, Oblivion/Skyrim etc.)
DeleteThe visual look of the UIs nowadays is much poorer when it comes to the immersive RPG "feeling". It's also a very overlooked aspect of development in modern RPGs, IMO. It's not entirely just a console limitation to me, since something like Morrowind is playable on a console and has a decent old-school looking UI (the journal resembles a book, there is a paper-doll inventory that is not a simple list like Skyrim, etc..) It seems to me that it's rather a desire to be incredibly efficient and simpler to use. Bethesda has mentioned how they want to be the Apple of RPGs, for example.
DeleteThe end result is the UI looks like a sterile Excel spreadsheet or something, rather than an immersive RPG-looking style, like a book, or withered journal. It's certainly in style right now to have UIs in this style, and that's unfortunate.
I do think the Perk Chart in Skyrim is pretty cool, but the other menus are just too sterile to me. Nice blog once again, Lilura. :)
Hi, Fluent! And thanks for commenting.
DeleteThe Morrowind UI was indeed great. I liked the versatility in window pane management, and how you could continue to play the game even when those panes were called up. This is also a feature of NWN and NWN2, of course.
I don't find Oblivion and Skyrim UIs as efficient, as aesthetically pleasing, as intuitive or as EZ to use, even when extensively modded.