TW3 UI Aesthetics

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i would like to see some ornamentation. now ui looks too modern

 
I don’t have much to say in this thread other than my satisfaction with the current UI (sorry guys :p). However it would be cool if we were able to disable select UI elements we don’t want/need (as in 2014 Thief).
 
I was hoping for a more stylized presentation of the monsters, like they were sketched in sepia ink by an artist or with a woodcut design:

I agree.

But:
i would like to see some ornamentation. now ui looks too modern

You can't imo just change the presentation of the monsters. It has to fit to the rest of the UI (which it doesn't in the picture above imo, sry creator). Stylizing the monster would imo require to also stylize the rectangles or cut them out altogether.

Skyrim is (again) a good example for that. Less is more.

Deus Ex and DA:O are still among the best UI designs I've seen, balancing form and function very well, aside from minor issues with DA's functionality:





Deus Ex even allowed you to customize elements of the UI, and of course I always modded the hell out of DA:O. There were a number of mods that improved its scale and functionality. The care and attention to detail they put into UIs back then is not something you see much of these days.

The UI of DA:O with a grid based inventory instead of the list and mouseover information would be a pretty good solution.

I don't like the Deus Ex UI that much tbh. It's ok for a sci-fi/cyberpunk game but even then it's lacking. As Jupiter already pointed out text in the grids and above the item pictures is also a no-go.


But again, if CDPR would invest some time in effort to really support the strengths of each platform, something like the Diablo 3 UI is imo still among the best solutions in both functionality AND aesthetics.

1) It's minimalistic and keeps the focus on the game itself.
2) It's completely functionality oriented.
3) It uses as little screen space as possible.
4) It uses clever mechanics like mouse-over comparisons which is great for both functionality and aesthetics because something which you don't want to see isn't visible until you as a player decide so (see first screen below).
5) Its flexibility and modularity let you decide how it should look. It's up to you to open additional UI elements for more information (see second screen below).
6) The UI uses the exactly same color palette than the game itself. Although the game and overall color palette is quite dark strong colors are used to make the whole thing not too boring or depressing
7) The artistic tone of the UI is consistent with the overall consistent UI of the game.
8 ) The UI doesn't feel/look like an outside element but as a natural part of the game (setting). It's as much integrated as possible instead of being some kind of foreign object. Therefore as much immersion as possible is maintained imo.
9) The UI follows based PC conventions (like a small "x" in the upper right corner to exit the UI) which has both an effect on functionality and aesthetics.
10) It's based on rectangles but it doesn't feature them prominently. Instead the UI tries to hide its blocky nature by artistic elements (like scattered borders) and by the use of other (sophisticated) geometric forms and elements. That gives the whole UI a more natural look with a bigger identity than the "spreadsheet" look of a modern approach based on very clear and prominent forms, mostly rectangular. That spreadsheet look might fit to a modern sci-fi or cyberpunk game to eventually emphasize a cold, unwelcoming and "clinical, sterile" atmosphere. It just doesn't fit to a medieval fantasy game imo. It's imo also not a real contrast to it. It's just a different kind of artistic tone.





But of course the design is a whole lot different on console (see screen below) because items/objects have to be bigger for controller usage and it's not as flexible as the PC UI. It's imo still fitting from an aesthetical perspective. It's still minimalistic, focusing on the game itself. It uses the same color palette as the game. The atmosphere of the UI reflects the atmosphere of the game. The artistic tone of the UI is consitent with the artistic tone of the game itself.



Side note: as you can see from my Diablo 3 example it's more than obvious that the Witcher 3 UI is very much a console UI. That has a big influence on both the functionality and the aesthetics but that doesn't mean that it cannot be improved.

Side note 2: I don't want to say that the UI of W3 has to look like the UI of Diablo 3, not at all. I just used it as an example of an UI which imo fits very well to the game in which it is used.
 
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Jupiter_on_Mars

Guest
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You can't imo just change the presentation of the monsters. It has to fit to the rest of the UI (which it doesn't in the picture above imo, sry creator). Stylizing the monster would imo require to also stylize the rectangles or cut them out altogether.

Skyrim is (again) a good example for that. Less is more.

(...)
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My thoughts exactly. Insightful analysis, LordCrash.

That's a valiant effort B l a d y, but type is a conspicuous misfit in there. That design would require a serif. As LordCrash says, congruency would also require changing frames, filets, borders and gradients accordingly. Not that it cannot be done. It actually illustrates the current problem: that at present the UI is stuck in between places, somewhere in aesthetic No Man's Land.
 
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Dragon's flapping dogma had a cool easy grid type system.
I would also really like it, if devs let us see our Geralt avatar in full 360 view as we put new armor and swords on.
Let us toggle that shit in the character inventory screen please, so we can see Geralt in that badass stance.Freedom to see our 3D model of Geralt Front & Back as we try on new armor and swords is fucking awesome! It is very cool in dragons dogma, but I bet cdpr could do it like this but Way Better!!! I always wished TW2 had this cool feature because it is nice to see what all my new stuff looks like before I go off playing again. It also helps me bond better with my avatar so to speak, because it creates a feeling that Geralt's in game model is more connected between inventory and gameplay. I think It's a cool and seamless way, to keep things connected at all times. It would really work well and makes sense for this game I think.
;)
 
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Dragon's flapping dogma had a cool easy grid type system.
I would also really like it, if devs let us see our Geralt avatar in full 360 view as we put new armor and swords on.
Let us toggle that shit in the character inventory screen please, so we can see Geralt in that badass stance.Freedom to see our 3D model of Geralt Front & Back as we try on new armor and swords is fucking awesome! It is very cool in dragons dogma, but I bet cdpr could do it like this but Way Better!!! I always wished TW2 had this cool feature because it is nice to see what all my new stuff looks like before I go off playing again. It also helps me bond better with my avatar so to speak, because it creates a feeling that Geralt's in game model is more connected between inventory and gameplay. It's a cool and seamless way that would really work well and makes sense for this game.
;)
If you make the inventory UI smaller and the background transparent you don't need a special Geralt avatar for that. It just happens on the fly "in the game" and you could always just rotatet the camera to get a 360° view. There is absolutely no need to seperate the inventory UI and the game itself completely. Both can work hand in hand quite easily and have done so in many games before.
 
If you make the inventory UI smaller and the background transparent you don't need a special Geralt avatar for that. It just happens on the fly "in the game" and you could always just rotatet the camera to get a 360° view. There is absolutely no need to seperate the inventory UI and the game itself completely. Both can work hand in hand quite easily and have done so in many games before.
No way, it looks way cooler up close.
It's not the same as in game, and I still want to try stuff on before I play. I had to edit sorry... it is more than I can explain maybe devs would understand ;)
 
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No way, it looks way cooler up close.
It's not the same as in game, and I still want to try stuff on before I play. I had to edit sorry... it is more than I can explain maybe devs would understand ;)
I guess you misunderstood me. With the solution I have in mind you can rotate and zoom as much as you like, just in the game engine at the spot Geralt is standing at the moment you open the inventory. The game gets paused and you can try on stuff but without the need to make a special Geralt avatar in a special UI window because you can just try it on on your already existing Geralt avatar in the game. If properly implemented (with a really free camera) you could even zoom in much more than with a "firm" rotationable avatar as a UI element.
 
I agree with LordCrash. Diablo 3 has the best UI for me. But it's also because it was first a PC game and later console. Witcher 3 is a mult-platform game and hence they went to a One UI that rules them all (which heavily favors the console) in my opinion.
 
I actually don't like this "skeletons-everywhere" art style, if that means anything at all.
 
At first glance I'm digging the minimalistic UI, semi-transparent background would be pretty good (in my head). Also I dont like the style of TW1 UI with superflous ornaments, however its functionality was excellent.
The game already has the reputation of being edgy, putting skeletons/monsters everywhere in the UI that serve no purpose doesn't help at all (Im not talking about the griffin in monster entry, that was great and necessary). We want to create a dark atmosphere, but not unnecessarily so.
 
i've always imagined UI looking like a medival book, with similar fonts and background stylized as bleaked pages.
 
I'm more a fan of a clean artistic style than an ornate one.

For example, the UI on screen was very clean and minimal. Typography was professionally done when notices about new quests or different stages of the quest came up. I like this. It's contextual information, only provided to you when relevant. It keeps other immediately-irrelevant information off screen and out of mind. When there is too much noise from ornamentation, it pulls the eyes away from the content, which is the reason why we're there.

Apple's design theories right now tout that ornamentation should be used to subtly accentuate aspects of the UI, and not be used for an overly gratuitous "art for the sake of art". Of course, this is subjective; it's nigh-on impossible to make everyone happy. That's never the goal of a good interface.
 
The game already has the reputation of being edgy, putting skeletons/monsters everywhere in the UI that serve no purpose doesn't help at all (Im not talking about the griffin in monster entry, that was great and necessary). We want to create a dark atmosphere, but not unnecessarily so.

Well these skeletons are medievel art, they are not there to be edgy. ;) But I agree, that it would overdo it in the UI, although I think for Dice Poker it is great.
 
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