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[Jasmine]

i've always loved the UI of ultima underworld

almost every modern game seems to use the same boring "minimalistic" design.

I think that you and I have some similar tastes in game design.

[Armageddon]

Fallout 3/New Vegas

[Core Xii]

What do you mean by 'Responsive'?

I mean that, there's zero latency. You can press buttons and navigate menus as fast as you physically can. Panels don't have long animations of them fading in while not allowing you to press buttons.

For example, think Fallout 3 and New Vegas. Bringing up the pip boy has a tangible animation which takes some half a second or so during which you cannot produce any input whatsoever.

[Ben_Hurr]

What do you mean by 'Responsive'?

I mean that, there's zero latency. You can press buttons and navigate menus as fast as you physically can. Panels don't have long animations of them fading in while not allowing you to press buttons.

For example, think Fallout 3 and New Vegas. Bringing up the pip boy has a tangible animation which takes some half a second or so during which you cannot produce any input whatsoever.

Man that was stupid.
I'm sure its all immersive and shit, but really I just want to manage my inventory/check my stats/check my map.

[Jasper Byrne]

Persona 4.

[Gabriel Verdon]

Skyrim is an interesting case. I started out really liking it from an aesthetic point of view, but then after playing the game I began to hate it. There was a great post on reddit about the problems it had. Some of them flaws were mind-fuckingly obvious so it definitely soured me on it a little.

http://i.imgur.com/CrKAb.gif

[iffi]

I find Skyrim's interface to be a pain to use, even more so than that of Dwarf Fortress. In the (admittedly short) time I've spent so far on Skyrim, I think I've spent more time navigating the menus, especially the inventory, than I have actually doing stuff.

On the other side of the spectrum of interfaces, I really like TF2's interface. I don't think I've ever had a major problem with TF2's UI, at least after getting into a game (the server browser could be better, but it works for my purposes). In addition to simply looking nice and fitting with the rest of the game's aesthetics (I love the fonts!), it's intuitive and works the way one would expect it to work. Also, as Core said, it doesn't lag (at least most of the time) or waste time with fancy animations.
For example, the team selection dialog:

You can get all the important information from just a glance at this: What each button does, and how many people are on each team. The use of the doors here to represent the teams and the TV to represent spectating contributes to the overall aesthetic of the game without getting in the way of the actual interface. The doors are big, which happens to make them easy to click (the TV's a little harder to click, but it's still big enough to not be a problem). Also, I think you can use the number keys to choose the option you want, for those who want to get through the interface as quickly as possible or just prefer using the keyboard.

I could write similar stuff about the class selection screen, but it'd be redundant.
The in-game HUD is also simple and effective, emphasizing the most important information without getting in the way. It also allows extensive customization, which is always a plus, but I've never felt the need to muck around with that.


Somehow, I've grown to like Nethack's interface, in all its ASCII glory. After getting past the pain of memorizing what every single button on your keyboard does (such as Wearing armor and Putting on rings and amulets being different commands, both separate from removing equipment, which for some reason is bound to A), it's actually quite efficient in many cases. You could probably say something similar about Dwarf Fortress's interface, but there's a lot more to memorize in that case.

[Jasmine]

I don't much like the menu pictured above. It goes far beyond what is necessary for a menu.

Ornateness can be nice, as it adds mood and richness to a sensory experience. But an ornate menu should still look like a menu.

The thing above looks more like a picture than a menu. It's not even an attractive picture. It's extremely bland and emotionless.

[inkBot]

Metroid Prime, hands down.



Only Dead Space have gotten close to being as immersive as Metroid Prime imho. Everything you need to know is displayed very clearly on the hud and the fact that it's a part of Samus's visor adds to the immersion. Even moreso when lightning strikes and you can see her face briefly. It's not without its flaws. I recall sometimes wrestling a bit with the map screen. But it never felt obtuse.

[C.A. Sinner]

Somehow, I've grown to like Nethack's interface, in all its ASCII glory. After getting past the pain of memorizing what every single button on your keyboard does (such as Wearing armor and Putting on rings and amulets being different commands, both separate from removing equipment, which for some reason is bound to A), it's actually quite efficient in many cases. You could probably say something similar about Dwarf Fortress's interface, but there's a lot more to memorize in that case.

there are better keyboard-based roguelike interfaces than nethack's. in fact nethack is one of the worst with tons of redundancy (come on, does putting on rings and putting on armor really NEED to be two separate commands?).

also dwarf fortress's interface is a lot of things but it sure as hell ain't efficient and i'm saying that as someone whos been playing df for close to 3 years. one good thing about df's interface is that it makes me carefully consider each decision i make because of how slow it is. in most city builder-type games with normal interfaces i usually end up doing a lot of stuff i regret later but never in df.
 

I started out really liking it from an aesthetic point of view, but then after playing the game I began to hate it.

i actually DISLIKE skyrim's interface from an aesthetic point of view. it looks too sleek and modern to belong in a cliche-ridden high fantasy rpg.

[C]

System Shock 2 > E.Y.E.'s UI

[Pemanent]

I second the valve ui. For me the UI is something that should be as minimal as possible, within reason. Although I totally agree that skyrims ui is crap and way to minimal for the type of game (also seems to take no consideration for pc users).
For me the the UI is something that removes me from the game experience, un-immerses me. All of valves games only have ui elements when absolutely required and when they are there keeps them unobtrusive.

I love love love metroid primes ui because it keeps the immersion while still showing crucial information.

[Xion]

I started out really liking it from an aesthetic point of view, but then after playing the game I began to hate it.

i actually DISLIKE skyrim's interface from an aesthetic point of view. it looks too sleek and modern to belong in a cliche-ridden high fantasy rpg.

I agree. I like minimalism and all but it doesn't seem to match the tone of the game at all. Plus it's mad assy. The map is cool looking and all but even it is a pain to navigate (on xbox, it's probably easier to work with a mouse?). Everything else is just blegh.

but this thread isn't about hating it's about loving.

I'm afraid I have nothing to say on that front. I guess when UIs are done most well are when I least notice them, so I can't really recall any particularly good UIs since I never stopped to think "hey, this is a fucking awesome menu" I just went and did whatever needed doing.

[vinheim3]

i think Skyward Sword's UI with the display of the wiimote and nunchuk looked very effective. It was very easy to get used to the controls when you constantly see what each button does, and it doesn't get in the way of the game either. After playing through it and hero mode, the only time when the display bothered me was when anything in the top left blocked the top left of the sky map, but there were no islands there anyway.

[Pemanent]

I hated the giant controller ui of skyward sword. It was huge and obtrusive. Sure it had transparency but why would I even need that. No other game has a massive picture of the controller on screen to show you what buttons to push. It made me wonder who the game was designed for. 4 year olds? 60 year olds? They are the only age group that might need reminding of what buttons to push. It only took me a few minutes into picking it up and I wanted to turn it off. When it told me I could I did so immediately.