Changing Cheat Death's HUD elements

[Lexilogo]

Cheat Death is a cool feature, but IMO Hinterland should take the chance, alongside making it an optional toggle in their future plans, to also change the way it appears on the in game HUD.

Here's a capture of what the HUD currently looks like:

And here's a crappy mockup of what I think it should look like instead:

Cheat Death uses don't need to be quickly checked up on, so IMO it should be squirreled away as a detail of the HUD rather than be prominent. I'm too inept to make this change in my mockup, but I would also ask a new icon be picked to represent the charges rather than a campfire (eg. a skull, or a heart?). I could easily see this current version, with three big campfires at the bottom of the screen, confusing new players as to what it's for. Three small skulls next to the healthbar would more easily indicate a "lives" system.

[Leeanda]

I can't see what's wrong with it..  my eyesight isn't the greatest I'll admit but I think it's fine as it is.

[Lexilogo]

1 hour ago, Leeanda said:

I can't see what's wrong with it..  my eyesight isn't the greatest I'll admit but I think it's fine as it is.

That's fair, it's a perfectionist tweak, UI adjustments often are.

To see what's wrong with it, it'd be better to ask someone who has never played The Long Dark what they think each HUD element is. They would likely correctly guess what each part means, except Cheat Death charges. (that and the Scent gauge, which isn't in my screenshot, and is also very unintuitive, but that one is a harder problem to solve)

Meanwhile, if you put the icons next to the health bar, people will more easily realize "oh, those are extra lives".

[Leeanda]

6 minutes ago, Lexilogo said:

That's fair, it's a perfectionist tweak, UI adjustments often are.

To see what's wrong with it, it'd be better to ask someone who has never played The Long Dark what they think each HUD element is. They would likely correctly guess what each part means, except Cheat Death charges. (that and the Scent gauge, which isn't in my screenshot, and is also very unintuitive, but that one is a harder problem to solve)

Meanwhile, if you put the icons next to the health bar, people will more easily realize "oh, those are extra lives".

Very true..  I do see what you mean though..    and i dont disagree with you ,each to his/her own...  As I said my eyesight s not the best so it's better for me how it is..

[Pencil]

It might make the most sense (and less confusing) if they only show up when you pause the game. If they show up when you press tab though, I'd also like them to be off to the side but it doesn't make much of a difference to me. I personally like the campfire but if it were to change, I think a heart would be the least confusing. 

[Serenity]

It doesn't need to be on the main HUD at all. That's just useless clutter. Having on the character status page is enough.

[MrWolf]

1 hour ago, Serenity said:

It doesn't need to be on the main HUD at all. That's just useless clutter. Having on the character status page is enough.

You beat me to it.  Why do I have to be reminded how many "lives" are left (whether I'm going to use that mechanic or not) every time I press tab to see the time of day?  I think the HUD should only contain pertinent info.

[ThePancakeLady]

There's a discussion on the Steam forums about this too, and one person there suggested the campfire icons be displayed on the Character Status Page. They don't really bother me as they are, but I use the Contextual HUD, so I only see them when I hit [TAB] to check my meters. But I do think moving them to the Status Screen would feel less intrusive, and serve the same purpose.

[UTC-10]

The current placement does not bother me (yet).  I was thinking that the devs might have thought that they didn't want to clutter up the regular status screen with too many symbols.  Perhaps one needs to look at all of the possible symbols that can appear on the status screen not just the ones we routinely see.  If they moved the symbols it would not bother me either.  

[Ghurcb]

9 hours ago, MrWolf said:

You beat me to it.  Why do I have to be reminded how many "lives" are left (whether I'm going to use that mechanic or not) every time I press tab to see the time of day?  I think the HUD should only contain pertinent info.

And yet pressing Tab doesn't show the temperature...

[MrWolf]

3 hours ago, Ghurcb said:

And yet pressing Tab doesn't show the temperature...

Does it need to?  In the HUD I can already see if I'm gaining or losing temperature and how quickly, and see it change if I'm out of the wind.  Personally, I don't need to know the exact temperature every time I press the tab key.

[Dr. S.]

18 hours ago, Serenity said:

It doesn't need to be on the main HUD at all. That's just useless clutter. Having on the character status page is enough.

💯

[Mroz4k]

I also agree it should not be in the HUD. For a while I was quite confused what it even was as I dont play challenging modes a lot so have not died in a while. If it were on status screen, it would be better imo. It could also be visible during "waking up day counter" message. Not much reason to have it on overlay.