2 aspects of the current UI that could use some tweaking


pi972

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*  Hinterland didn't remove the temp gauge, they just relocated it to the F screen. But if precise measurement of your temperature is still available, people are still gonna use it, no matter how hard it is to check. So essentially what this patch did was slow down the gameplay by having you press F instead of tab when you want to see the temperature (because let's be honest, nobody is going to stick to tab only). Either remove it completely (and make the tab overlay a bit more informative) or put it back where it was. And since it appears that Hinterland wants to stick to this minimalistic approach to UI, the exact temperature meter should be removed. In its place, something as simple as more tiers of temperature could be added - Instead of 1/2/3 arrows for different levels of cold, perhaps we could have 5 tiers. That would make it more informative and we'd get used to it over time, wouldn't even miss the old gauge!

 

* The scent meter isn't very well designed. I see people asking "what are the 3 bars?" daily online, so it could be made more intuitive. I don't really have any ideas on how this could be managed (other than lines from the character, maybe) but it's important to point out as I feel that it needs changing.

 

Bonus feedback: The steamy breath that your character exhales is a bit too opaque, and a bit too bright. Many people have complained that this makes it very hard to see, especially indoors and in the dark.

 

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The actual temperature is not much of a concern to me. The thermometer icon and up/downwards arrows is enough indication and also lets you see (over a small period of time) how quickly it is going down and how long you can remain in such conditions. I'd wager that for most people, knowing the actual temperature actually equates to the equivalent of the arrows, whether it be from a 'slightly cold, but workable', 'yeah, it's pretty cold, but I don't need to stay out long' or 'damn it's freezing, I'll wait till later'.

The main reason I constantly open up the 'F' screen is to actually check the percentages on hypothermia risk/frostbite risk. The simple square icon in the bottom right does not convey enough information at all, with no obvious differentiation between a 1% risk or a 99% risk. It would be nice to have a percentage visible next to this - or a status bar if you are particularly against precise values on the quick 'Tab' overlay.

The other icon that is rather devoid of information is the 'overburdened' icon. It would help to have a quick indication of 'how overburdened' one is. i.e. only slightly? (that a drink and a snack will fix), moderately overburdened, or massively overburdened. (I am assuming the scale of how overburdened you are affects movement and sprained ankle chance - not only the drain on tiredness)

However, my biggest dislike, is the vagueness of the sun/moon cycle in the top right - mostly at the dawn/dusk points. It's somewhat difficult to equate the graphical view with a numeric value that is usuable when wanting to carry out a task with a given duration. That said however, at least now we can always see the sun/moon time of day regardless of whether the blizzard is so strong we can't even see the sky. Which is now actually more helpful than the old ??? hours left.

As a side note, the iconised temperature display also greatly benefits 'let's play' series or streaming - whereby viewers might who not be familiar with the metric or imperial measurement being used, don't have to perform any mental calculations to appreciate the information in the same way as the player.

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Considering the clothing items all have temperature values in degrees, you can't avoid using a temperature scale. You could STILL work it out just from the clothing you're wearing but it would be extra annoying. I think removing the figure already would be silly. Just allow customisation of the Tab overlay. Better yet; make it modable in the steam workshop.

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The specifics on the "F" screen are the trade off I believe, between what HL wants - to not have that specific information available to the player at all and what the player base has gotten too used to. Of course this is pure conjecture, but seeing the non-specific nature of the information being presented that they are moving towards, the information on that screen is out-of-place and I suspect that they decided, fine, you can have it, but it's not going to be readily accessible.

 I for one very rarely use the "F" screen. The arrows tell me all I need to know and as for the day/night indicator, while it took me a while, it's now quite easy to use effectively. Not trying to be a contrarian nor an apologist, but it has truly become quite comfortable and reliable.

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the information on that screen is out-of-place and I suspect that they decided, fine, you can have it, but it's not going to be readily accessible.

That's not a very good idea IMO. Players who miss it and feel like the current temperature icon doesn't give you enough info are going to continue checking the temperature gauge, doesn't matter where Hinterland puts it. This just results in a slowed down pace of gameplay. So as I said: Get rid of it completely, and make the temperature icon in the tab screen more informative.

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